Sunday, November 25, 2012

And the Rest!


Matthew Abaddon: The Steely eyed associate of Widmore with intimidating cheekbones and a maleficent aura could be played by no other than Lee Van Cleef!








Captain Gault: The dutiful freighter captain who dies when trying to protect the crew members from Martin Keamy and his mercenaries.  Pedro Armendariz, of The Fugitive and Three Godfathers fame, would be perfect.





Naomi Dorrit: The first mercenary to reach the Island, was killed by John Locke at the end of season three.  The controversial Dorrit caused a rift among the survivors, with some believing her team meant to come and harm them, others believing they were there for rescue.  The great Katy Jurado would be perfect for Naomi Dorrit.




Martin Keamy: Glenn Ford, the dastard villian from Three Ten to Yuma would be superb in the role of the sociopathic mercenary Martin Keamy.








Roger Linus: Kirk Douglas would be perfect as Ben's abusive father, who rarely displays any redemptive qualities.








Ilana Verdansky: Femme Fatale Jane Greer, would be perfect for the part of the double crossing agent of Jacob's.








Sarah Shephard: Gene Tierney, the actress of Laura fame and fomer costar of Henry Fonda would be a good choice for Sarah Shephard.









Dr. Pierre Chang:  Ossie Davis would be good as the lead scientist on the Dharma initiative, and as Sydney Poitier's father.








Lara Chang: Pierre Chang's wife, Ruby would play the role well as Pierre's estranged wife and the aging mother (in alot of makeup!) to Sydney Poitier's Miles Straume.






 Jacob: Laurence Olivier, arguably the greatest actor of Hollywood's golden age is the natural choice to portray the Island's protective deity.





 The Man in Black: And of course, Orson Welles the show's creator would be perfect for the part as the menacing evil force bent on destroying the World as we know it.





Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore





Eloise/Widmore: Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore are the estranged parents of Daniel Faraday.  They both originated from the Island.  Charles, the Richard appointed leader was exiled from the Island following a Ben led coup.  His despotic rule over the Island was marked with such discretions as fathering a child (Penny) with an off-island woman, and commanding others with made up orders from Jacob.  His exile fueled his rage and set him and Ben up as mortal enemies, with his desire to find the Island once again consuming him.  Eloise, who briefly led the Island, before leaving to raise her son Daniel, serves as an off Island adviser to the survivors and Desmond.  Her relationship with her son is marked by years of pressure and sacrifice, despite young Daniel's talents and penchant for music, Eloise forces her son so give up his passions and devote his efforts to physics.  Eloise, fully aware that this path will lead to Daniel's early demise at her own hands, does this not for her son's sake but to protect the Island.  For Charles Widmore, I think Basil Rathbone would be very good as the domineering despot who only cares about revenge.  As for Eloise Hawking, I chose silent film legend, Mary Pickford.  Pickford retired from acting in 1933 when she could no longer play the young feisty women that were her trademark characters during the silent era.  Just prior to her retirement she was slated to star as Alice in Disney's live action Alive in Wonderland, the project was discarded when paramount released their own flawed version in the same year.  Despite her retirement from acting she remained active in film producing through her production company United Artists (also founded by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith).  Her close friendships with such luminaries as Albert Einstein, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Amelia Earhart and the Meher Baba make her an intriguing choice for the role of Eloise Hawking, and just the show of Lost in general.  Her missed opportunity to portray Alice, just makes the thought of her portraying a woman who gave up her leadership of a mysterious and mystic island to raise her son all the more meaningful.  This could've been her big comeback role, and she would have been phenomenal.  For the roles of young Widmore and Hawking as seen in season five I chose Peter Lawford and Janet Leigh.
 

Mary Pickford 
Basil Rathbone

Frank Lapidus






what the hell is he looking at?
the fuck's he lookin at?
Lapidus:  Frank Lapidus, was the pilot originally intended to man the doomed Flight 815.  Because of this, he realizes that the plane wreckage and dead bodies found underneath the sea purported to be flight 815, (containing the Pilot who took Frank's place that day) must be fake.  Charles Widmore recruits him to fly the helicopter aboard his freighter, and Frank becomes determined to find out what really happened to the downed flight of Oceanic 815.  Lapidus, the most laid back of the freighter's crew, plays sort of comic relief to all the going's on of the Island.  He is a believer in conspiracy theories, and a bit of an alcoholic.  Despite never having a centric episode, Frank was one of the more popular, and least polarizing characters on Lost when he arrived.  For the role of Frank Lapidus, I chose Jimmy Stewart (an accomplished pilot himself), due to his ability to play lovable characters and the occasional sluggard.  The meeting between him (Stewart) and Jack (Henry Fonda) in season 5 episode 6, 316, where Jack informs Lapidus that once again they are going to crash on the island, would be awesome with those two and Stewart would probably have alot of fun in that role.


Miles Straume


Miles: Miles is another crew-member aboard Widmore's  freighter with ties to Island.  His father, Pierre Chang, was a scientist for the original Dharma initiative, and their relationship plays a pivotal role during the time traveling storyline in season five.  His birth on the Island probably led to his unique abilities to communicate with the dead.  With his sardonic wit, and rebellious attitude Miles reminded many fans of Sawyer.  Yet his well developed relationships with the survivors, his father, and back story as a corrupt psychic from a broken home endeared him to all who followed the show.  Miles' attitude and apt abilities as a sort of medium-detective reminded me a lot of one of  the most iconic characters the reach the screen, Mister Tibbs.  One of Sydney Poitier's best roles, Tibbs and Straume share alot of the same characteristics.  And Poitier's range shown in such classics as Blackboard Jungle, A Raisin in the Sun, In the Heat of the Night, and even his comic work with Bill Cosby in Uptown Saturday Night, A Piece of the Action, and Let's Do It Again, would bring alot to the role of Miles as he progresses from a rebellious teen (in flashbacks) to a friend and confidant of Sawyer, Jin, Juliet, etc. 

Charotte Lewis


Charlotte: Charlotte was the cultural anthropologist selected to join Widmore's team.  She is driven by a desire to find her birthplace (The Island).  I believe Vera Miles would be excellent in the role, having displayed her talents in films such as The Wrong Man, Psycho, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.  In the series Charlotte is English, but it wouldn't really make any difference if she was American. 

Daniel Faraday


Faraday: Daniel Faraday was first introduced in season four as a physicist aboard Widmore's freighter the Kahana.  Prior to his arrival on the Island Daniel was raised by a single mother, Eloise Hawking, who pushed him into the field of physics.  Unbeknownst to him, Daniel's father is the wealthy industrialist Charles Widmore, and his parents were once inhabitants of the Island.  It is later revealed that Faraday has been developing groundbreaking work in the theory of time travel, and that he is in love with another member of Widmore's team Charlotte Lewis.  Faraday's expertise was vital to survival on the island in seasons four and five as the remaining members of Widmore's team, and the remaining survivors traveled through time.  I think Tony Curtis would make an excellent Faraday, as a bookish, intelligent type with a crush on Charlotte. 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Richard Alpert

Richard Alpert: Richard Alpert is the Island's ageless-counsel to Jacob, acting as a sort of Panchen-Lama for the others in choosing their leader.  He initially arrived on the Island as a slave via the Black Rock.  From there he made a deal with Jacob to help protect the island from the Man in Black, in exchange for immortality.  Richard  provided sound advice to Island leaders for generations, and his calm approach often contrasted him with such characters as Charles Widmore, and Ben.  For a a very brief period of time Locke had been elected by Richard as leader of the Island, and it would have been interesting to see him work with a more kind-hearted and introspective personality.  Unfortunately Locke had to leave the Island to bring  back the survivors who left and died.  Gregory Peck was an actor who not only closely resembled Alpert, but also had a similar way about him, the kind of person you turn to in a time of need, a solid voice of reason.