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The triumph of the super-ego
GREGORY PECK
Gregory Peck is a handy, all-purpose hero whose unobtrusive presence has, since 1944, adorned a great many expensive, serious, intelligent, but in the last analysis, uninspired, films. When he made The Keys of the Kingdom, James Agee mused on why, at first glance, Peck seemed to be a gifted actor and why that impression faded so quickly. "Now, it seems to me that he probably has talent, in a still semiprofessional stage, and that I was moved and misled rather by his newness, his unusual handsomeness, and his still more unusual ability to communicate sincerity."
Peck has professionalized his talent, but not, of course, as an actor. His profession is stardom, and upon his ability to play sincerity he has based his star personality. It is an extremely appealing one, strong, masculine, honest. He is effective in Westerns and adventure romances but his specialty is the modern, troubled intellectual. In Gentleman's Agreement, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Beloved Infidel he has played writers whose integrity, either as men or as artists was somehow threatened by the pressures of his time.
Peck's passion never leaps high; it smolders, and when he is called upon to play, for example, Ahab in Moby Dick, he cannot quite realize the full-scale emotionality of the role. He is, himself, the thoroughgoing professional, careful of himself, proud of his craft and, like his screen character, rather unegotistical. As a solid pro, Peck has always been careful to pick strong stories, and in no way has he allowed his personality to interfere with their telling. He is, in short, very much the model of modern movie star. His presence is more self-effacing than that of the superstars of the previous generation. He is not bland in the manner of the faceless youths who have been billed as stars in the fifties, but neither is he so engaging an individual as his predecessors. A quiet worrier rather than a passionate setter-to-rights, he is an idealized mid-century everyman in a button-down collar.
The white hunter in The Macomber Affair (1947).
The Gunfighter. "A man ought to have more to show for his life than a gold watch."
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