Word: villainously
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...presidential nomination. The characters, moving woodenly through a familiar plot about political chicanery, include the usual domineering millionaire publisher, the conniving businessman who keeps Senators in his pocket, the venal journalist, the young idealist, the Communist-turned-anti-Communist, and droves of beautiful, compliant women. Almost everyone is a villain, and Vidal seems to dislike his characters even more than the reader is bound to. The author recently observed that American politicians "create illusions and call them facts." Washington attempts to dramatize this theme, but it's all an illusion-and that's a fact...
...disappointment, though, is that Isherwood stints. Patrick is fully as alive as Sally Bowles, the heroine of Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin, and could support a longer novel. But Patrick is too briefly met. For the reader taken with the charming villain, A Meeting by the River is only a teaser...
...best actors in the Ex production played with what-the-hell flamboyance. Timothy S. Mayer (the Devil's advocate) swept about the stage in a huge blue cape. He was as foxy as a Hollywood villain, as haughty as a Jacobean king. He relished his pronouncements like a small boy relishes his lemon drops. The worst actors stumbled towards self-effacement; Michael Boak (Sanitonella) became no more than an occasional buzz...
...potential presidential nominee, he has grave drawbacks. Four years and two babies after his celebrated di vorce and remarriage, his name still evokes indignant sniffs from many women-particularly matrons in their 40s. His refusal to support Goldwater made him a villain to the Republican right. But if the conservatives want a winner, it is conceivable that they might help him toward the nomination. In any case, it will probably take considerable public arm-twisting by G.O.P. powers to coax the reluctant Rocky into the arena. It might well prove worth the effort. He is a proved campaigner, effective...
...other end of the scale, Ford portrays Liberty Valance as the archetypal villain. The deadliest and most sadistic killer in all Ford's films, Liberty Valance has been filtered through all Ford's other villains, emerging as a composite of the worst features in each. Doniphon and Valance, then, represent the individuals of Ford's West, Doniphon standing for order, Valance for anarchy. When they confront each other in the restaurant, Ford cuts directly back and forth between close shots of the two of them, establishing the direct link between them and the instinctive understanding each...