The ultimate bad-guys of cinema-history?

[Frunobulax]

Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

That's a bingo!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Edward Arnold in "Meet John Doe." The epitome of the 1930s American Fascist.

 

[Fading Fast]

Ellsworth Toohey in "The Fountainhead." The perfect example of a vindictive social "do-gooder" who presents himself as a man of, and for, the people - a man for "positive" social change / a man who doesn't care about himself / a man who hates capitalists and profit - but who really wants to aggregate power for himself to wield dictatorially against individual freedom and choice. A man who claims to love the people, but who really hates and wants to rule them. Robert Douglass did a great job capturing the surface smarminess and the underlying evil of this man.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Warren William as Paul Kroll in "The Match King" (1932), the story of a ruthless, unprincipled capitalist who crushes all who stand in his way to the point of manipulating international events to further enhance his financial standing, only to die a coward's death by his own hand when his crimes catch up with him. The final scene of the picture shows his body lying in the gutter from whence he came. Not-so-loosely based on the real-life-story of Ivor Kreuger, whose astounding fall was fresh in the public mind when the picture was made.

William excelled in playing slimy businessmen such as Kroll, and this is probably his definitive role of this type.

 

[Fading Fast]

Warren William as Paul Kroll in "The Match King" (1932), the story of a ruthless, unprincipled capitalist who crushes all who stand in his way to the point of manipulating international events to further enhance his financial standing, only to die a coward's death by his own hand when his crimes catch up with him. The final scene of the picture shows his body lying in the gutter from whence he came. Not-so-loosely based on the real-life-story of Ivor Kreuger, whose astounding fall was fresh in the public mind when the picture was made.

William excelled in playing slimy businessmen such as Kroll, and this is probably his definitive role of this type.

I haven't seen this one - and don't know how I've missed it. But as you said, Warren Wiliams is fantastic at that type of roll as he usually brings humanity to his characters even when they are written - as they often were - as cardboard, evil "capitalists." I sometimes feel as if he rises above the script in that he shows a depth and dimension to his character - you'll see him struggling with his decisions, feeling pain as he hurts others - that wasn't written in the by-the-numbers anti-business scripts of the day.

 

[LizzieMaine]

William also had a sense of humor about this persona -- watch him in "Gold Diggers of 1933," where he's clearly playing a parody of himself.

 

[HudsonHawk]

There's only one movie villain that still creeps me out, some 40+ years later; Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

 

[Fading Fast]

There's only one movie villain that still creeps me out, some 40+ years later; Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

I doubt there was a kid of a certain generation - when "The Wizard of Oz" came on once a year and everyone gathered to watch it - who was at the right age - 5 or 6 - who wasn't scared out of their mind at Hamilton's awesome performance.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Carter Burke ("Aliens"), smart BAD-ass.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I doubt there was a kid of a certain generation - when "The Wizard of Oz" came on once a year and everyone gathered to watch it - who was at the right age - 5 or 6 - who wasn't scared out of their mind at Hamilton's awesome performance.

Hamilton appeared on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in 1976 specifically to subvert this image --- she slowly and methodically demonstrated how she applied the "witch" makeup and costume, and then removed them to demonstrate that she was not, in fact, a scary witch. Mister Rogers then added a helpful song, "Witches Aren't Real -- Even If They Seem To Be."

I was never scared of the witch, myself. I couldn't stand the Giant Flaming Head of Oz.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sydney Greenstreet in the 1947 movie adaptation of "The Hucksters." Greenstreet appears as Evan Llwellyn Evans, a ruthless soap tycoon patterned closely after George Washington Hill of the American Tobacco Company. Greenstreet perfectly captures Hill's crass megalomania in this seamy tale of advertising and show business.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Robert Englund's 'Freddy Krueger' ..............I know he was bad but I was always rootin' for him.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Robert Mitchum ( Harry Powell) in 'The Night Of The Hunter'

 

[Panadora]

Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal probably also deserves mentioning

 

[Bushman]

I'd say Emperor Palpatine, from Star War. Palpatine orchestrated the Clone Wars. He recruited Count Dooku, Dooku created the Confederacy and the Grand Army of the Republic. The GAR answer to Palpatine. The CIS answer to Dooku, who answers to Palpatine. No Palpatine means no Darth Maul, no Naboo Crisis, no voting out Chancellor Valorum, no Darth Dooku, no Confederacy, no Grand Army, no Civil War, no Order 66, no Empire, no Death Star, no Destruction of Alderaan, and no Galactic scale suffering. Anakin Skywalker doesn't become a Jedi, but the Jedi also remain alive, so it's mostly win/win. Palpatine is the key to everything in Star Wars, remove him from the equation, and the Republic simply remains a corrupt pile of dog puke.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hamilton appeared on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in 1976 specifically to subvert this image --- she slowly and methodically demonstrated how she applied the "witch" makeup and costume, and then removed them to demonstrate that she was not, in fact, a scary witch. Mister Rogers then added a helpful song, "Witches Aren't Real -- Even If They Seem To Be."

I was never scared of the witch, myself. I couldn't stand the Giant Flaming Head of Oz.

As a fan of old movies, I know you know she pops up on a bunch of them - and not always playing a meanie. But kudos to you, I, to this day, remember how scared I was of her when I first saw the movie. And OZ's Giant Head scared me, but not as much as Hamilton or those flying monkeys.

 

[Frunobulax]

The Wicked Witch of the West never bothered me. The only scene that gave me the creeps was when they set the Scarecrow on fire. That scared the bejeebus out of me as a tadpole.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Wicked Witch of the West never bothered me. The only scene that gave me the creeps was when they set the Scarecrow on fire. That scared the bejeebus out of me as a tadpole.

What is it with you and Lizzie, the Wicked Witch of the West was scary. And she's the one - and her ball of flames - that set the scarecrow on fire (it wasn't like he was cooking dinner and accidentally caught himself on fire). And her frightening and ominous delivery of "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too," didn't scare you? When she is sending the flying monkeys on their way - running around the castle waving her broom stick - didn't scare you? When her head appears out of nowhere in the crystal ball didn't frighten you to near death? God bless you, you both are made of stronger stuff than I am.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When Hamilton appeared with Mister Rogers she gave an absoluitely fascinating explanation of how she'd played the character. In so many words, she said that she'd always felt that that the Witch wasn't so much born evil as she was frustrated. She was upset and angry because she couldn't have what she wanted, and she was acting badly as a way of acting out her feelings.

Interestingly, a lot of the latter-day takes on the character, in the musical "Wicked" and other things, follow a similar line of reasoning.

My mother used to do a dead-on impersonation of the Witch's laugh, which may have desensitized me to the real thing. I do that laugh myself when testing the sound system at work, and have great fun startling the kids.

There's a strong similarity, by the way, between the Wizard and the Boys From Marketing, if you want another interpretation of things. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURAIN.

 

[Harp]

I doubt there was a kid of a certain generation - when "The Wizard of Oz" came on once a year and everyone gathered to watch it - who was at the right age - 5 or 6 - who wasn't scared out of their mind at Hamilton's awesome performance.

Aljean Harmetz's The Making of The Wizard of Oz is a slice of cinema history you will enjoy.

The flying monkees night flight and the Witch's palace guards at evening mount-bad ass cadence.

 

[Fading Fast]

When Hamilton appeared with Mister Rogers she gave an absoluitely fascinating explanation of how she'd played the character. In so many words, she said that she'd always felt that that the Witch wasn't so much born evil as she was frustrated. She was upset and angry because she couldn't have what she wanted, and she was acting badly as a way of acting out her feelings.

Interestingly, a lot of the latter-day takes on the character, in the musical "Wicked" and other things, follow a similar line of reasoning.

My mother used to do a dead-on impersonation of the Witch's laugh, which may have desensitized me to the real thing. I do that laugh myself when testing the sound system at work, and have great fun startling the kids.

There's a strong similarity, by the way, between the Wizard and the Boys From Marketing, if you want another interpretation of things. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURAIN.

Agree on the Boys From Marketing analogy. And I'm sure you know the original book was a parable for the gold vs. silver standard political debate of the day.