Saturday, August 3, 2013

The Tragic Actress

THE PINA PELLICER STORY

Pina Pellicer

Mexican actress Pina Pellicer made one American movie, but it’s a great one: One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Marlon Brando directed and starred in this offbeat Western. Rumor has it he had an affair with Pellicer during the film’s making—which for her must not have ended easily.

Undeniable is that Pellicer gives one of the most sensitive and haunting performances ever seen on a movie screen. I compare it to the film appearances of James Dean. The character’s vulnerability is naked. Pellicer was not a classically beautiful actress, but her eyes, her soul, her very being are extremely beautiful.

Too sensitive for this world. Like James Dean, she died young. Pina Pellicer committed suicide in 1964, a few years after the release of the movie.

(For more discussion about One-Eyed Jacks, buy my ebook, ABOUT WESTERN MOVIES by King Wenclas, Kindle or Nook.)

11 comments:

  1. A most outstanding performance in 'Jacks' and among legendary stars. What a loss.
    MTG

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  2. She was beautiful in every way. I really like her in One Eyed Jacks. Her performance was quite real to me!

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  3. In the movie One Eyed Jacks you could tell she was real and in love with Marlon Brando. That's probably why she committed suicide she wasn't acting that part.

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    1. Marlon's secretary said she was gay. I suppose that could be cover for him but it was hardly necessary.

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  4. Those smoldering eyes of hers would haunt anybody. Hypnotic.

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  5. I saw this film yesterday and had to look her up. She was amazing and must have not known it. The performance is sensitive, genuine and vital.

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  6. You could see the sadness in her eyes.what a shame..a beautiful and talented actress R.I.P.

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    1. Damn she looked so wounded in that movie. No way they wrote that part that way. Who would? It came from her soul. Some people just don't seem to be at peace with the world. She was heartbreakingly beautiful to me

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