For those who missed Glenn's superb acting/star turn in the recent commercial for Masters swimming, you can view it here.
One of the things that I admire so much about Glenn's style, and has really made him an "actor's actor" to those of us who take our thesbianism seriously, is how understated his role here--and how powerful it becomes as a consequence.
Glenn understands what all the greats have understood: a whisper attracts more attention than a shout, or, in Brando's case, a mumble.
As Glenn himself describes his work in this commercial:
It is very easy to miss me. I am shown right after the swimmer in the bathroom gets zipped up and gives a high five. I am out of focus on the left hand side of the screen. Luckily there is a freeze and frame by frame mode on the QT version of the video.
Thanks,
Glenn Gruber
Very easy to miss you? I say, Ha! You, Mr. Gruber, have redefined the power of understatement. From this day forward, when I search for a verb to describe a way of acting that smashes the viewer with subtlety, I shall simply say, "The actor Grubered me!"
Good show.
And now...the good show:
YouTube - SwimTV MASTER comp
PS if you recognize yourself and/or any of the other actors in this commercial, please identify yourself. I was particularly smitten by the actress who did the land flip turn and would like to join your fan club. Ditto for the breaststroker in the shopping cart.
Careful, Leonard. A certain Mr. R.K., Esquire, may be lurking, find your comments objectionable, and file a class action suit on behalf of the citizens of the Isle of Thesbos, which is where, incidentally, I caught my own acting bug.
I went on to play a sailor dying of scurvy in the Sewickley Academy's 5th Grade production, Magellan!, in 1963.
And I then went on, in 1975, to star as a zombie in a slightly oversized Brooks Brothers suit (with the smell of stockbroker panic in the armpits), clutching the Wall Street Journal (extremely prophetic, I might add!) in George Romaro's unforgettable second part of his triptych: Dawn of the Dead (the sequel to Night of the Living and prequel to Day of the Dead movies, respectively.)
I am pretty sure there is now a Sandals resort on the Isle of Thesbos, which is where, presumably, Glenn learned his own mad skills.
Note: after my own two films were finished, I retired--why risk a bomb after two such classic roles? Still, I miss it. I am looking for a new challenging role to tackle. Perhaps, sort of like Cliff Robertson's epic Charlie, I could attempt the Paul Smith Story--about a politically "challenged" man who temporarily finds enlightement, then tragically as the medication wears off resorts to his profoundly retarded view of the world?
I preminisce no dry ducts in the film house--and a small golden statuette of a bald headed man that I can set upon the starting blocks of all my subsequent swimming matches.
Former Member
to those of us who take our thesbianism seriously
Jim, we don't care about your sexuality. You should have the right to marry just like anyone else - assuming that anyone could be conned into it, of course.
-LBJ
Note: I am pretty sure that if you freeze the film somewhere between the end of the 18th second mark and the very brief nanosecond that inaugurates the 19th second mark, you can see Glenn.
I will research further how we in the Glenn Gruber fan club can capture this still image for use as a screen saver.
I know this is a swimming forum, and that there is no actual water depicted in this commercial. However, I invite all my fellow swim-actors to leave critiques and praise in this thread. Do not be shy!
Praise or condemnation: it doesn't matter. Both are mother's milk to the semi-professional actor! One spouts from the left ***, and the other from the right one, but the nourishment each gives an actor's soul is the same--like sweet and sour pork.
Glenn, who are some of the other stars in your commercial? Are any of them regular or even occasional posters? Is it possible that Mr. Negative wafts his way across the screen, for instance, like some dark Cheney slouching towards his man-sized safe to be stored?
That's peculiar. It's in the first post. You may have to be signed in to USMS to see it. Odd.
I will repost the link here, which you can copy and paste into the browser:
YouTube - SwimTV MASTER comp
I will also try it again here:
YouTube - SwimTV MASTER comp
If anyone else can't access it, send Jim Matysek a private message to see if he can figure out the problem.
