I enjoyed the actual film Tumbleweeds, but I'm restricting my comments here to Hart's famous farewell speech to his fans that prefaces the movie.
I have seldom seen or heard anything as moving as that speech. Yes, there are moments when it verges on becoming unintentionally humorous to a more cynical modern audience. Yes, Hart is highly dramatic, and very much the old time barnstorming actor that he had been before beginning his movie career. It is a heightened type of performance that is out of sync with the age we live in, and some viewers have described it as somewhat embarrassing to watch.
But none of that matters a bit. Hart's unquestionably sincere emotion and heartfelt expression of his feelings about the old days of movie making are so powerful that I can't watch this sequence without being moved to tears every time. There's one part where he has to pause for a moment before continuing, when he gets choked up over the memories of a beloved horse. The sheer, raw spectacle of such intensely personal feelings might well be too much for jaded modern audiences, and therefore might inspire embarrassed laughter.
But the sad dignity of the old actor transcends such scorn, and raises the speech to an unforgettable experience that every old movie fan should see at least once.
I have seldom seen or heard anything as moving as that speech. Yes, there are moments when it verges on becoming unintentionally humorous to a more cynical modern audience. Yes, Hart is highly dramatic, and very much the old time barnstorming actor that he had been before beginning his movie career. It is a heightened type of performance that is out of sync with the age we live in, and some viewers have described it as somewhat embarrassing to watch.
But none of that matters a bit. Hart's unquestionably sincere emotion and heartfelt expression of his feelings about the old days of movie making are so powerful that I can't watch this sequence without being moved to tears every time. There's one part where he has to pause for a moment before continuing, when he gets choked up over the memories of a beloved horse. The sheer, raw spectacle of such intensely personal feelings might well be too much for jaded modern audiences, and therefore might inspire embarrassed laughter.
But the sad dignity of the old actor transcends such scorn, and raises the speech to an unforgettable experience that every old movie fan should see at least once.