James Coburn's dry delivery and wide grin could make tough men good company. We value the economy of his acting, particularly in an ensemble, while wishing more scripts had given him something beyond a job to do.
Fi1m perspective
In The Great Escape (1963), James Coburn's Sedgwick is the manufacturer, and we understand what he contributes before we know much about the man. Coburn fits an ensemble built around men with useful skills: his economy keeps the work moving without making his part anonymous. We enjoyed the escape preparations because Coburn and the other specialists made the work so easy to follow. He does not need much biography to establish that this man belongs in the team.
John Sturges gets considerable value from that directness, but the role also exposes a limit in the material Coburn was often given. James Clavell and W.R. Burnett's screenplay makes the division of labour clear, then sometimes lets occupations stand in for personalities. We know what Sedgwick can do, but have less sense of what he is like when nobody needs anything made. A little more room for Coburn would have been welcome.
The appeal was established with the laconic gunman Britt in The Magnificent Seven (1960), before Our Man Flint (1966) made him a leading man in a spy spoof. The dry humour mattered as much as the toughness: Coburn could be amusing without appearing to work towards a joke. Repeated collaborations with Sturges and Sam Peckinpah sit within a career that moved through westerns, war films and later supporting parts. Typecasting restricted him, and some leading roles after Our Man Flint left him underused or miscast.
The later work gave a less comfortable use to that toughness. In Affliction (1997), his performance as the abusive father Glen Whitehouse brought renewed attention to his dramatic acting. Then came his voice role as Waternoose in Monsters, Inc. (2001), a film we recommend for its wit and unforced affection, chiefly carried by John Goodman and Billy Crystal. For Coburn, begin with The Great Escape; choose Monsters, Inc. for the friendship at its centre.
Biography
James Coburn was an American actor. Born in Laurel, Nebraska, he appeared in nearly 70 films and over 100 television productions across a career spanning five decades.
He is known for roles in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), Charade (1963), Duck, You Sucker (1971), Eraser (1996), The Nutty Professor (1996) and Payback (1999). Coburn voiced Henry J. Waternoose III in the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. (2001). In 1999 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Affliction (1997).
