Saddest character on fillm?

Gollum

Lila Kedrova’s Countess Kuchinska in Torn Curtain.

Spectacular performance as a ruined aristocrat desperate to escape the Iron Curtain.

Great choice, r2

Dobby from The Harry Potter movies.

Ruth and Matt Fowler in ‘In the Bedroom.’

Ma Kettle in Ma & Pa Kettle Go To Town

Lucille Ball in MAIM.

Balthazar. Au hasard Balthazar

Gloria Beatty

Artax. Brutal.

Mafuckin!’

I wuz razed dat wayz.

Muriel’s mother played by Jeanie Drynan in Muriel’s Wedding.

Bobbie (Ann-Margret) in Carnal Knowledge.

Michael Corleone at the end scenes of GF II.

The harbinger that he would end-up alone was when he was young, alone at the dining room table as the shouts of Surprise! are heard in the background.

Rachel Zegler as Snow White.

Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest."

Because her own daughter couldn't give her the respect that she was entitled to. Her own daughter couldn't treat her like she would be treated by any stranger on the street!

Theresa Dunne in LOOKING FOR MR GOODBAR.

Sonny Crawford and Ruth Popper - Timothy Bottoms and Cloris Leachman - from The Last Picture Show, both incredibly sad and adrift. I’m never sure if they saved each other in the end.

The whole film is packed with great characters and performances, but these two made the deepest impression on me.

Juanita Moore’s Annie Johnson Imitation of Life.

Michael Corleone created his own moat. So, it wasn't "sad" in that I didn't feel sorry for him.

To R14, As good as Michael Francis Corleone was at the end of GF-2 and I know that Gf-3 has its Failures.

The ending of the GF3 on the steps of the Sicilian Opera house with the daughter getting killed with the bullet that passes thru Michael Corleone into his daughter& his silent scream as he watches her DIE was so personal& such High Drama.

It was like a Maria Callas opera.

Plus R19...OMG!! What a funeral with Mahalia Jackson singing, how do u not cry!! Unless ur a Monster with no feelings

Wendy in Wendy and Lucy

Conrad Jarrett.....

Bjork in Dancer in the Dark

Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights

Agree, r21. In a weird way, given that her character dies, Sofia Coppolo's absence of acting skill seems to work in that scene- "Dad?"

I don't ignore GF III's flaws, but it has a couple of good things, too and those ending scenes set at the opera are beautifully filmed.

Ellen Burstyn, "Requiem for a Dream" I really felt sorry for her, except the music and the fridge freaked me the fuck out!!

She had nothing left except for the pills, plus the 2 women at the end crying at the bus stop.

Jarod, Marlon, and Jennifer-Fuck'em...Drugs are bad!!!

George and Martha, sad, sad, sad...

Miranda Richardson in "Tom & Viv"

Maureen Stapleton as Inez Guerrero in Airport.

Natasha Richardson "The White Countess" Loved the film and LOVED her, hated her family.

How dare they HATE her for supporting them& they knew it-Fucking assholes. LOVED the film and her character, fuck those assholes. I loved Ralph Fiennes too

Precious - fat, ugly, stupid and had to eat Mama Monique’s pussy.

Wen Weaver

Nothing matches...her.

Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea ("You don't understand, there's nothin'. There's nothin' there. There's nothin' there.")

R18: Yes to both actors . Their scenes are burned in my mind. Timothy Bottoms was outspoken about the director’s public affair with C Shepard; his pregnant wife was working on set.

The director effectively blacklisted Bottoms. I read some article where he said he didn’t regret his actions.

That scene where the boy who sweeps the street ( Timothy’s actual brother ) was killed. Someone asks what the hell was he doing in the street. And Timothy said , he was sweeping it .

Sorry to go on so long . I’m going to rewatch again . Anyone who hasn’t seen it; it’s a must see ( Jeff bridges , Randy quaid, Ellen burstyn and more

I watched "Last Picture Show" relatively late in life. I watched it a couple of times in one sitting, each. I liked it.

The relationship between the older woman and younger man wouldn't really fly, today, but I did find it moving. The Cloris Leechman character was sadder than the boy character.

R35, here's an interview with the cast. Tim Bottoms is still speaking up, i.e., against Cybill Shepherd. There's also a podcast on what happened, You Must Remember This.

That whole back story was sad. Peter B's wife still helping Cybill to look pretty / prettier when Cybill is fucking Peter B.

I haven't watched the sequel, Texasville, as I've heard it's not really worth watching.

WHET Tim Bottoms' career? He was so much the IT Boy of the 1970s between Last Picture Show and The Paper Chase. Who didn't want curly hair like Tim's???

How did he not sustain a longer better career?

Stanwyck as/in Stella Dallas

Cabiria, “Nights of Cabiria”

I win.

Ms. Davis has the uncanny ability to draw you in with her ability to be the saddest looking human in the world, even when playing a comedy…….

The piano player in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (I've Written a Letter to Daddy.)

Victor Buono was the name of the actor.

Fredo Corleone

Claire Trevor's character in Key Largo

R37 The director of last picture show ( what is his name — recent he died ).

He told bottoms he would never work again because bottoms called him out in public for publicly cavorting with cybil Shepard . His wife was onset and pregnant — the director told him he would never work again — and he made good on his threat

Wanda Goronski in “Wanda” (1970)—a sad, passive, pitiful character. A woman who has completely given up on everything in her life. It’s devastating to watch.

I know this isn't usually seen as a sad film, but Shelley Duvall's Wendy Torrance in "The Shining" is perhaps the most amazing portrayal of a domestic abuse victim on screen.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Julian in "Less Than Zero".

R46 - The Director is Peter Bogdanovich. He’s dead now.

Sounds like a real scumbag, but I loved him as Dr Melfi’s (Lorraine Bracco), psychiatrist in the Sopranos.

This cowboy

Alain Leroy, Le Feu Follet

Ben Sanderson, Leaving Las Vegas

Boo Radley

Because he was black balled R37

Ernest Borgnine's Mary.

Diane Weist in Independence Day. It’s heartbreaking.

well, Marty. His mother was pretty sad, too, though.

Glenn Close towards the end of Dangerous Liasons.

Sydney Carton, A Tale of Two Cities.

Dukie and Randy in Season 4 of The Wire. OMG.

R37, that's an interesting story but not believable at all to me. Bogdanovich was never a very powerful force in Hollywood, was he?--just a weird, cravat-wearing Ivy League guy always pontificating about Orson Welles or what have you. I don't think he had the influence to destroy anyone's career except his own, with his generally putrid movies.

Bottoms continued to work after Last Picture, in major feature films such as that mid-70s classic, The Other Side of the Mountain. I always loved him as an actor, but I think his brand of Sensitive Sweet Smart Young Man just didn't survive into the Reagan 80s, when Tom Cruise and his ilk stepped in.

Just my thoughts from the peanut gallery.

Karl in Sling Blade

Wow, r44. Your post has me making it a tie between Fredo and Michael.

Michael at least had position and power. Even in the book, Don Corleone knows that Fredo doesn't amount to anything. Michael spared him and killed him at the same time - Neri shot Fredo in the head from behind- instant death.

Father Karas-The Exorcist.

Lives riddled with doubts about his faith, feels guilty about his dying mother, seems lonely as hell, has no other family, lives in a shithole dorm room, is poor, ends up killing himself to save a little girl (though I guess the end could be uplifting in a bittersweet way)

Marvin from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Morose little thing

The sad, tragic arc of Betty Heslop (as mentioned at R12) should almost be a THREAD CLOSED moment.

Another vote for Muriel’s mother….

Or Sarah Polley’s character in The Sweet Hereafter

[quote] Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights

Seriously.

Good one, r63.

Flo Owens (Betty Field) stricken, heartsick, watching Madge throw away her life for Hal, who will, for sure, 3 years later, still be unemployed, cheating on her, drinking and probably beating her, while Madge is 20 lbs heavier, one tugging at her skirt and one on the way, her beauty gone...

In Psycho 3 (1986) Diana Scarwid as a Nun who has lost her faith.

Timothy Bottoms starred in the hit film The Paper Chase after The Last Picture Show, so Bogdanovich wasn't very effective in stopping his career.

Another great and sad Donald Sutherland role : Calvin in "Ordinary People." He was pitch-perfect in portraying a man doing a very bad job at burying his grief and strain under bonhomie.

The mourning mother, Mrs. Daigle, in "The Bad Seed."

[quote] OMG!! What a funeral with Mahalia Jackson singing, how do u not cry!! Unless ur a Monster with no feelings

I was scarred by Imitation Of Life as a child. I cried buckets and my father found me prone on the floor, clutching one of my mother’s embroidered handkerchief.

R23 I disagree. I think Beth Jarrett is much sadder than Conrad. The movie ends on a hopeful note for Conrad and Cal Jarrett; the father and the son may be able to accept Buck's death and go on living. The brittle and appearance-obsessed Beth cannot. Not only has Beth lost her favorite son but the long-term marriage by which she has defined her life is over.

Beth was difficult but she clearly is the one who ultimately couldn't cope with Buck's death. At the end, she lost everything.

Linda Blair- sad in the Exorcist

Linda Blair- sad in Born Innocent

Linda Blair- sad in Sara T- Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

Linda Blair- sad Flautist but great ass in Roller Boogie

R49 I would have preferred Bogdanovic acted rather directed as time went on. He was a natural on screen.

Ruth, and her swamp family in Shy People. Their whole existence was so depressing, I'd have hung myself if my life were stuck like that.

Good one R12.

Charlotte Vale (before the transformation). Aggie Hurley, until the final moments. Clara in Marty until he finally calls.

Charlotte Vale had money.

[quote] [R49] I would have preferred Bogdanovic acted rather directed as time went on. He was a natural on screen.

I think, on the Sopranos, he was perfectly cast. The water bottle that he's drinking from is something that he actually was carrying around. If you watch him in interviews, he is very similar to the psychiatrist character.

That said, he did do a good job of being natural and un-self-conscious.

R75 Not OP but I would say Beth is more a tragic figure though than just a "sad character" though. I think Conrad fits that role more.

Bess in Breaking the Waves

Judith Hearne

Laura Palmer. She's a victim of a heinous crime in the TV show but a truly tortured soul in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

Actually pretty much everyone in the film was a complete basket case.

Leonard Bast, Howard's End

Ratso Rizzo and Joe Buck, Midnight Cowboy

Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits. And maybe 3/4 of her other movies.

Mayella in To Kill A Mockingbird

Blanche in ASND

Paul Giamatti in Sideways

The Elephant Man.

Edith Crawley.

Mrs. Margaret Ross (the extraordinary Edith Evans) in Bryan Forbes's The Whisperers (1967).

Rocky Dennis in MASK (1985)- I know he managed to be damn cheerful but there was still something quite sad about him anyway- the way people treated him.

Catherine Sloper and Morris Townsend in The Heiress.

Just saw a revival of the 1976 "Carrie," and Sissy Spacek deserved the Oscar. After the final humiliation at the prom and all the destruction, she returns home to Mama Margaret, who's lit up the house with every candle in the state of Maine and who's waiting to stab her with a butcher knife.

To R95, I felt sorry for Catherine Sloper, never Morris Townsend. He was on the prowl looking for a wealthy woman.

Josh O'Connor for most of God's Own Country

Neil in MYSTERIOUS SKIN

Francie in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (but at least she gets a happy ending).

Barbara Jean in NASHVILLE.

Muriel’s mom in Muriel’s Wedding

Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas

Earl Williams and Molly Molloy in His Girl Friday (and The Front Page).

R12 I posted without seeing yours!

She makes me cry every time.

John Merrick in The Elephant Man.

Blanche Hudson, in a wheelchair, eating rats for lunch, in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

Top that, bitches!

Colin Farrell’s cop character in True Detective. His father’s face at the end…ugh. So sad.

R19 Thats exactly who I thought about soon as soon as I saw this thread. My grandmuvah loved this film and had it on VHS, so we would watch it a lot during the summertime, you know when school was out. Me, her and my sister. I realize at 36 this shit registered differently for them being full black. It’s funny cause I’m not even lightskin lightskin. Like if I went to West Virginia, they would just think I was black. I’m a good brown. But my features and hair throw people off. They either think I’m Dominican or some East African. What was my point here lol. I’m stream of consciousness right now.

Ughh didn’t mean to type soon twice. Sorry OCD.

Joan Allen in Nixon

Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire

Steven Hills’s character as a stoic yet deeply hurt father, breaking down in Running on Empty, affects me a lot.

Robby Benson, Ode to Billy Joe

Jessica Lange in "Frances"

Sissy Spacek in Night Mother. Oh. Dear. God.

R106 How kind people are...

Martha Dobie, The Children's Hour

Kay, The Group

Gregg Adams, The Best of Everything

Shelley Duvall as Millie Lammoreux.

There is clearly no dearth of sad characters in the cinema.

'Dominic' (Barry Keoghan) in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Poor Pookie in the Sterile Cuckoo. My God, Liza played her so well that even as an 11 year old I felt secondhand embarrassment for her.

The virgin (Lawrence Monoson) in the movie Last American Virgin. Also, his small part in And the Band Played On as a victim of AIDS. He played sad really well.

[quote] Sissy Spacek in Night Mother. Oh. Dear. God.

The desperation of her mother is what kills me.

The 2 children, John and Pearl in ‘night of the hunter.

King Kong

To R125, I always felt sorry for King Kong, it wasn't his fault!!

They took him off his island where he lived with all his friends.

Dumbo's mother.

I win.

Definitely Robin Harris in Bebe’s Kids.

Having a feisty Lillian Gish in their corner will help restore them R124.

R124 How about Shelley Winters as their mother? Classic doormat.

Selena D'Arcey (Elizabeth Hartman) in A PATCH OF BLUE

R83- Perhaps sadder than Conrad was Karen who actually succeeds in killing herself.

George Wilson in "The Great Gatsby." Followed by Philip Seymour Hoffman's character in "Boogie Nights."

Karen Allen as Laura Wingfield in the 1987 version of The Glass Menagerie.

Mrs. Robinson. Of course from the Graduate.

Lola in Come Back, Little Sheeba. Shirley Booth plays the wet blanket perfectly. But, seriously, Wtf is this mess? Why does she call him Daddy? Did the film turn into a AA meeting? Why does he neighborhood look so desolate?

R132 MTM was pretty sad in Ordinary People too. I mean the woman flipped out over French toast. “You can’t reheat French toast”. All that delicious bread just poured down the garbage disposal. Sad.

David Keith’s character in An Officer and a Gentleman. His character’s suicide kind of came out of nowhere for me, but spoke to how sad he was because of his bitch ex-girlfriend.

Foxey

Thelma Ritter in [bold]Pickup on South Street[/bold]. An aging, world-weary street informer, who dreams of having a fancy funeral.

"I have to go on making a living, so I can die."

Old Yeller

Thread closed.