YOUR MOVIE LISTS: Bruce Dern

By Michael Arruda

To go along with my recent review of NEBRASKA (2013), which starred Bruce Dern in an Oscar-nominated performance, here is a partial list of movies featuring Bruce Dern, excluding his many TV credits:

MARNIE (1964) – The first film in which I saw Bruce Dern. His brief appearance in a key flashback in this Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery is one of the movie’s highlights. In his one scene, Dern is oh-so-creepy, especially in his white wife-beater T-shirt.

HUSH— HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964) – Hanging out with Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland in a southern mansion in this disturbing thriller.

HANG ‘EM HIGH (1968) – Up to no good in this early Clint Eastwood western.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! (1969) – One of the villainous Danby family in this comedy western starring James Garner.

THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT (1971) – One of my favorite low-budget horror movies from the 1970s. Dern plays a scientist who for some reason thinks it’s a good idea to attach the head of a murderer/rapist to his slow-witted and immensely powerful gardener. Duh!

THE COWBOYS (1972) – Dern plays the villain in this John Wayne western, giving the Duke and his group of teenage cowboys all they can handle, and then some!

SILENT RUNNING (1972) – With robots Huey & Dewey in this 1970s science fiction classic directed by Douglas Trumbull.

THE GREAT GATSBY (1974) – Even though he’s miscast as Tom Buchanan, Dern makes the role his own, and the result is a somewhat fresh interpretation of the character.

POSSE (1975) – One of my favorite Bruce Dern roles, as an outlaw on the run from sheriff Kirk Douglas in this lively western.

FAMILY PLOT (1976) – Dern returns to work with Hitchcock twelve years after MARNIE in Hitchcock’s final film, a comedy thriller about murder and psychics.

BLACK SUNDAY (1977) – Hands down, my favorite Bruce Dern role. He plays a disturbed Vietnam veteran manipulated by a terrorist group into pulling off a terrorist attack at the Super Bowl. Exciting thriller by director John Frankenheimer. Also features knock-out performances by Robert Shaw and Marthe Keller. Memorable, intense conclusion in the skies above the Super Bowl as Dern and friends hijack the Goodyear Blimp and attempt to obliterate the stadium, while Israeli agent Shaw and American agents try to stop them. Dern’s never been more psychotic.

COMING HOME (1978) – Dern received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in this Vietnam veteran drama.

THE DRIVER (1978) – Dern is cast against type as a police detective chasing Ryan O’Neal’s getaway driver in this stylish thriller by director Walter Hill.

THE HAUNTING (1999) – Dern’s brief appearance does little to lift this awful remake starring Liam Neeson.

TWIXT (2011) – Stylish low-budget thriller written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Dern enjoys a substantial role as Sheriff Bobby LaGrange in this one.

DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012) – Small role in Quentin Tarrantino’s instant western classic.

NEBRASKA (2013) – Dern’s performance as aging alcoholic Woody Grant earned him an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor in this quirky slice-of-life drama by director Alexander Payne.

And there you have it, some highlights from the film career of Bruce Dern.

Thanks for reading!

—Michael