Pahonu wrote:Hey K Hale,
You seem to be the Hillerman expert on the forum.
What would you recommend as far as Hillerman’s work. I know about Ellery Queen, The Betty White Show, Blazing Saddles, and Chinatown. What other performances would you recommend, even obscure ones like the TV appearances we’ve mentioned? Thanks in advance!
Oh my! I would recommend him in anything because he's always worth watching, even when the movie or show itself was the pits. But to choose a few...
Looking through my archives... in 1975 he had a supporting role in the Peter Bogdanovich musical "At Long Last Love." This was shot in "color black-and-white," set in 1930s New York City and uses Cole Porter songs. Beautiful movie to look at and you can't beat the music. I have it on BluRay. It is NOT everyone's cup of tea and was roundly panned when it was released but has attained a bit of a cult following. Essentially a light, fluffy musical about three couples. Hillerman's other half of the couple is Eileen Brennan. She pursues him avidly, much to his dismay. They have great chemistry. IMO the whole movie should have been about them. He is the only one of the six stars who does not take part in a dance number, but he does sing beautifully.
You've probably seen this but he was in "Chinatown" as Russ Yelburton, an amoral water engineer. Amusingly described in Sparknotes as "a short, respectable-looking man." Excellent film.
Hillerman was in a little-known 1974 film "The Nickel Ride," where he plays a mobster involved in a scheme to buy warehouses on behalf of the mafia. Good movie, but a downer.
Surely everyone has seen "Paper Moon," possibly his best movie role as the chilling, corrupt deputy sheriff. He scared the hell out of me in this movie.
He was in "High Plains Drifter" in a tiny role as the bootmaker. Bizarre movie but a lot of people like it.
In 1989 they did another "Around the World in 80 Days" movie starring Pierce Brosnan, and Hillerman was in it as Sir Francis Commarty, a British expat on his way to India (or "Injah" as he pronounces it in his thick, plummy British accent, different from Higgins' accent!).
He was in a TV movie called "Assault and Matrimony" with Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry. They are a couple who can't agree on whether to sell their house; Hillerman is their neighbor who wants them to sell it to a cult that wants to buy his house and theirs, so he can move to the Bahamas. Tucker and Eikenberry wind up trying to kill one another. This is pretty dumb but also pretty funny.
He was in two episodes of "The Love Boat." One of them is mentioned in this thread, "The Last Case," where he plays a famous detective who is trying to retire but his female assistant won't let him. It really turns out to be a pretty sweet story.
He played the society columnist Maury Paul in the TV mini series "Little Gloria, Happy at Last" about Gloria Vanderbilt's childhood. It's not that great but his character is outrageous and fun to watch, plus he serves as the narrator of it.
He played Ann Romano's boss in several episodes of "One Day at a Time." These are all a good watch, especially the one where his wife leaves him and he gets picked up by a gold digging woman. Hilarious!
He was in an episode of Lou Grant called "Pack" where he plays one of a group of self-satisfied journalists who get a kick in the pants by a young reporter who reminds them of why they got into this business.
He played Jeff Goldblum's father (seriously!) in a really obscure 1980 TV show called "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe." Goldblum's mother was played by Dana Wynter, who played Higgins' ex-girlfriend in "Foiled Again"! Worth a watch.
He was in the Hart to Hart episode "Cruise at Your Own Risk" as a murderous, ax-wielding jewel thief masquerading as an insurance agent. Ridiculous show in a hundred different ways, but it does feature him swinging an ax, not something you expect to see every day.
Bob Newhart did a TV movie in 1980 called "Marathon" where Hillerman plays Newhart's wife's coworker, a sleazy teacher with a throat-clearing habit. There is a scene where he tries to come on to her in a conference hotel room that is very funny.
He played Morgan Fairchild's father, a wealthy railroad baron, in the crappy TV series "Young Maverick." I mention this only because the idea of him as her father was unbelieveable to me until I did the math on their ages and realized she's a lot younger than I had thought, plus she was in "Ki'is Don't Lie" so there's a connection.
He was in "Little House on the Prairie" as Harriet Olsen's cousin, a newspaperman who moves to town and prints some yellow journalism, so that Michael Landon can make a big speech at the end. OK if you're a Little House fan (I'm not), worth seeing because he wears glasses that have the world's thickest lenses and I don't know how he walked around in them without falling over things. The character's poor eyesight is a plot point. Anyway, this is notable because it was 1978 and he was already billed as a Special Guest Star.
The Mannix episode "Search for a Dead Man" is HIGHLY recommended. He plays a hit man who apparently missed his mark and hires Mannix to find out what happened to the man he says he "saw someone shoot." What he did with this role is impressive because he plays the character two different ways: first as a cold, expressionless killer, and then as a meek, timid fellow who hires Mannix. So in essence he plays a character who is playing another character, making it genuine enough that we will believe Mannix buys it, but still fake enough that it meets our idea of being less than genuine. Difficult work and he really pulls it off.
He was also in the 1975 movie "Lucky Lady" as a bootlegger out to get revenge on the film's heroes, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman, and Liza Minnelli. You wouldn't think a film with a cast like this would flop, but it's a terrible movie. Hillerman is by far the best thing about it, worth watching despite the awful, awful script.
There are more but I think I've said enough.
Many of these are on YouTube, others are on DVD.
