There he is. Name emblazoned over a Bruegel detail, accompanied by the sounds of the eternally damned screaming “let me out of here” — it’s Keenan Wynn, the Beverly Hills brat turned beach bum turned speed boat freak turned durable character actor. The guy whose wife left him for his best friend, Van Johnson, who was, in fact, gay.
And he gets fourth billing, even though he’s in the film for an entire 90 seconds by my count.
His son tells a heartbreaking story in his autobiography We Will Always Live In Beverly Hills of standing outside a liquor store at 6 in the morning, shaking with alcoholic longings, waiting for it to open. A car pulls up and an older man joins him. It’s his father, Keenan Wynn.
Picking up a bottle on the way to the set of The Devil’s Rain, no doubt.
A participating blog entry for Final Girl’s Film Club.
----------Tim Kirk---------- 