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Spotlight

film reel graphicSpotlight Date: 16-June-02
 

Joseph Cotten (1905--1994)

Joseph Cotten is to me like a bowl of plain, buttered noodles — and this is a good thing.

I first discovered him in "Citizen Kane" at an embarrassingly late stage in my cultural development (early 20s). In this film he plays a kind of person that always gets me: the best friend/right-hand man of someone who is less decent and able, but who masters him (and the rest of the world) through irrepressible energy and sheer charisma. Though I became an instant fan of "Kane," it wasn't until a few years later that the image of him and his character, Jedidiah Leland, came back to haunt me. For some reason, I became obsessed with the thought of Joseph Cotten; his unspectacularly handsome face, his pleasingly droning voice, his wavy tan hair, and the clean suits that seemed a natural extension of his spare, no-frills physique arose before me as an almost hypnotic paragon of desirable monochromaticity, a welcome repose from the flashy, hard-to-digest, stress-inducing people of the world in their advanced stages of beauty or ugliness. His was the face I wanted to find at my table in the dining car as the train rolled toward an uncertain future; he was the man I wanted to run into immediately after my wallet was stolen. My love for him was anti-passionate; I turned to him devotedly but calmly, seeking peace and serenity.

I set out to see as many of his movies as I could, digesting about a dozen in a few months or so. This proved to be an extremely rewarding experience, since Cotten happens to be in some of the best movies ever made. A member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater troupe and twice tapped to play the lead by Alfred Hitchcock (including in Hitchcock's personal favorite, "Shadow of a Doubt"), Cotten's thoroughly accessible persona and easygoing talent allowed him to slip into many roles, though he generally played the affable everyman.

I also managed to locate and purchase a copy of Cotten's slim autobiography, "Vanity Will Get You Somewhere," which I read attentively. Did his own account of his life knock my socks off? Was he a brilliant writer, the product of a tortured home life, a misunderstood artist, a profligate, a communist, a red-hot lover? Naw, he was just a normal guy. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

By the way, look out for Cotten's talent for blowing smoke rings, which he displays in several of the movies listed below.

Must-See Jo Cotten Movies

Recommended Jo Cotten Movies

  • The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
  • Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
  • Duel in the Sun (1946)
  • Portrait of Jennie (1948)

Okay Movies To Watch if You Love Jo Cotten

  • Journey into Fear (1942)
  • Under Capricorn (1949)
  • September Affair (1950)
  • Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)
  • Niagara (1953)

Copyright © 2002 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.

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