4. Vertigo (1958) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Actor:Kim Novak
Number of the roles she played in the film:Two
Name of the roles she played in the film:
1. Madeline Elster
2. Judy Barton
This is not a sensational performance by Kim Novak, at least not as great as most ones in this list. But the character setting is one of the big factors that make the film so great, that’s why I didn’t give this post the title “9 great performances” but “9 great films”. Ferguson(James Stewart)’s sexual fantasy was reflected on the two roles played by Kim Novak. It was his mad obsession that drove him to force Judy to become like Madeline, which eventually led to the doomed romance tragedy.
5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) dir. Stanley Kubrick
Actor:Peter Sellers
Number of the roles he played in the film:Three
Name of the roles he played in the film:
1. Group Captain Lionel Mandrake
2. President Merkin Muffley
3. Dr. Strangelove
Honestly, I didn’t find out the fact that these three characters were played by the same actor when I watched it for the first time. Because these are three wildly different roles,which could only be played by the talented actor Peter Sellers, who was one of the few actors Kubrick had worked twice with(Another film is Lolita, he played Clare Quilty in it). It is hard to give memorable performances in films, but Peter Sellers gave us, not one, but three in this film. Yes, the Dr. Strangelove role is the best among the three,but could you forget the other two? Think about it.
6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) dir.Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
Actor:John Cleese,Eric Idle,Terry Jones,Michael Palin
Number of the roles they played in the film:Twenty-three
Name of the roles they played in the film:
John Cleese plays six roles
1. Sir Lancelot the Brave
2. The Black Knight
3. Tim the Enchanter
4. Second Swallow-Savvy Guard
5. Peasant #3
6. Taunting French Guard
Eric Idle plays seven roles
1. Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Launcelot
2. Corpse Collector
3. Roger the Shrubber
4. Peasant #1
5. the First Swamp Castle Guard
6. Concorde
7. Brother Maynar
Terry Jones plays three roles
1. Sir Bedevere
2. Dennis’s Mother
3. Prince Herbert
Michael Palin plays seven roles
1. Sir Galahad the Pure
2. First Swallow-Savvy Guard
3. Dennis
4. Peasant #2
5. The King of Swamp Castle
6. Brother Maynard’s Brother
7. The Leader of The Knights who say NI!
Another funny one in the list, in this hilarious King Arthur and Round Table Knights fable. Monty Python group members played both the good and the bad guys. Not only did they save money by reducing the scale of the cast, but also by making super cheap props. They used coconuts to create the voice of a running horse(and actually presented it!), and used a huge ugly wooden rabbit model as the imitation of Trojan horse, let alone those phony wardrobes and arms. They did this again in their religion satire Life of Brian. So if you want to use the minimum budget to shoot the best comedy, learn from them!