Most people have heard of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Buster Keaton and Mary Pickford. But what about the hundreds of other anonymous actors and actresses that pop up in film? You know, the ones that give you that faint glimmer of recognition and make you think "It's THAT guy!" Here we celebrate Hollywood's "that guy."
Enter Ernest Torrence.
You put him on screen and you had an instant conflict. At 6'4", he towered over most of his costars. He was an imposing figure. And frankly, he was ugly.
He had only acted in a couple of films when he won the role of Luke Hatburn in Tol'able David. Hatburn is one of a trio on the lam that take refuge in the quiet town that our hero David exists within. They kill David's dog, cripple his older brother and cause his father to have a heart attack. Ultimately, you know there is going to be a confrontation.
Torrence is perfect here. He is so creepy and menacing in that, you believe David (played by Richard Barthelmess is in real danger. There is a shot toward the end of him stalking David that is shocking and frightening.
The next role I saw him in was as Clopin in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. As the King of the Gypsys, he tries to keep his daughter Esmeralda from the captain of the guards Phoebus. Theirs is the classic Romeo and Juliet set-up. The gypsys are despised by the king and Phoebus directly reports to the monarch.
Again, Torrence's stature and imposing figure serve him well. We have to believe when he enters the ball to take Esmeralda away that he is a legitimate threat to the guards. You take one look at him and you know the sentries will let him pass.
A few weeks ago I saw Torrance in a very different film as William Canfield, Sr. in Steamboat Bill, Jr. As father to Buster Keaton's Jr., he still uses his large frame and frightening presence except now it's to get a laugh. Frankly, all you have to do is introduce the idea that this hulk of a man could be father to a wisp of a son like Keaton to get the chuckles flowing.
Torrence makes the transition into talkies and would star usually as the villain in films before his untimely death in 1933. I look forward to seeing more if his work, if only so I can point at the screen and say "Hey! It's THAT guy!"
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