In Memoriam: Karl Malden

July 8, 10:50 AMWilmington Movie ExaminerBernardo Villela

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Karl Malden

At times it is difficult to gauge, or adequately summarize, a career and a life when one who has lived so long and accomplished so much leaves us. Perhaps this is what led the New York Times to announce the news of Karl Malden's passing with the headline "Karl Malden, Actor Who Played the Uncommon Everyman, Dies at 97."

It seems like such a gross understatement of the man's talent. He won an Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire and was nominated again for On the Waterfront. In 1994 he won an Emmy. It was his 5th nomination, the first four coming for Lead Actor in a Drama Series in "The Streets of San Francisco." He was nominated for three Golden Globes, two in film one in television.

He was the first man to portray U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks, in a TV movie released in 1981 called Miracle on Ice. He was in Patton, Hotel, The Cincinnati Kid, Fear Strikes Out, Pollyanna, Gypsy, How the West Was Won, The Birdman of Alcatraz, The Phantom of Rue Morgue and Winged Victory.

His impeccable, intelligent and understated work was what made I Confess, one of Hitchcock's most overlooked and underrated works, really tick.

However, to best encapsulate a man as a performer one can't just look at a litany of all his works because after a while it becomes just so much white noise. Even though the aforementioned list is full of names of historic significance that jump out at you, perhaps it's better to look at one film and one performance and discuss why Karl Malden was great - and why he will be missed.

In 1971 he appeared in Dario Argento's film Cat O' Nine Tails which was a follow-up to his debut film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the second film in his Animal Trilogy. Karl Malden plays Franco Arno an ex-journalist who is now blind. He lives with his niece Lori and is very sweet and kind to her. The intrigue comes when Franco is the only one on to the killer.

The inciting incident comes while Franco is doing his specially crafted crossword puzzle. Here without speaking you see an example of Malden's brilliance. First, when an actor is playing blind it is difficult for them to be convincing but he is. His head, whether wearing sunglasses or not, nary moves. He shifts the tiles about so quickly and adeptly. Cinematically speaking it’s a wonderful moment: the sound of the tiles sliding in their columns is hypnotic and Malden's pace adds to it.

Malden's character builds clues and enlists the aid of a journalist to try and crack the confusing case. There are scenes that if not played properly would be extremely dull because they involve pontification, re-examining evidence, searching for leads and not always finding anything promising. However, these scenes turn out to be fascinating and in the case of this film the best part - even better than the kills. Malden’s delivery is always so natural. He handles the dialogue, clumsy as it might be on occasion, so adeptly. His presence and demeanor engage you so you end up trying to crack the case along with them instead of just watching it on film.

Without having the benefit of Arthur Conan Doyle writing for him he transforms his character and proxy his partners into a modern-day Holmes and Watson attempting to crack the unsolvable case.

In short, as cliché as it is, his performance made the film worth watching, and though he always shined it was a lead performance, so you get to see a lot of him. Not having Karl Malden in this film would've left it seriously lacking and the film would've suffered greatly for it. Just as many of the films he made would have suffered had he not been in them and brought his special intangible greatness into the fold.