James Cromwell (“That’ll do, pig”) is one of the many faces in the Oscar-nominated film The Artist. He explains to Moviefone why.
In this brief piece, Cromwell says the movie is a “love letter” to Hollywood that reminds him of his parents. His mother was an actress in the first two sound films of Cecil B. DeMille. His father was a New Yorker with Broadway experience who migrated to Hollywood in the late 1920s.
James Cromwell plays a chauffer in the movie, which is in (mostly) black and white and is silent. I have not seen the movie. Maybe I will see the movie, even though Cromwell calling it a love letter to Hollywood turns me against it. When someone says “love letter” about a movie, I think “a wee bit over the top.” I think about fanfiction.
But I’m not ruling out The Artist by any means. The word is it’s a good movie. The word has been wrong before, especially around Oscar season, but… if nothing else, I can claim aesthetic superiority over those moviegoers who won’t go see the movie because it’s in black and white and silent. That’s worth the price of admission (bargain matinee).
For more on Cromwell, read the Who2 biography, and his entry in our Common Bonds: Critter Defenders.
(Main photo courtesy of WENN.)