He went to the mattresses.
Years before James Caan’s star turn as Sonny Corleone in “The Godfather” (1972), the actor was hard at work in the Hollywood trenches, throwing himself into roles both large and small in hopes of hitting the big time.
Every fan of the late actor, who died Thursday at 82, knows the Bronx-born legend as Axel Freed in “The Gambler” (1974), or the unlucky author in “Misery” (1990). But, you won’t find those widely-celebrated films on this list of underrated (and sometimes downright obscure or strange) Caan movies, starting all the way at the tail end of the black and white era.
Whether the film is really good or just plain odd, Caan is always a pleasure to watch.
Nobody was ready for this twisted thriller pairing Caan (playing a brutish, Brando-esque jerk) with screen legend Olivia de Havilland. Columnist Hedda Hopper called for the film to be burned. The sort of movie that most likely did well on 42nd Street, and almost nowhere else, it offers a punch-in-the-face look at a transitional moment in American culture.
Howard Hawks’ sort-of-remake of “Rio Bravo” was the first time Caan, playing a young gun out for vengeance, really got noticed — it didn’t hurt to have John Wayne as a co-star. Critics showed up for this one.
This “what the hell did I just watch” film stars Caan and Katharine Ross as a bored, immature Manhattan couple that invite a German cosmetics salesperson (Simone Signoret) into their home, only to mess with her…