The Smokestack Twins, 'Smoke' and 'Stack' (Michael B. Jordan), in Sinners.
Michael B. Jordan’s Academy Award win for playing twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners is historic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is Jordan being only the 6th Black actor to receive the Best Actor Oscar.
He’s also the first to win Best Actor for a horror film since Anthony Hopkins' win in 1991 for his iconic Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Jordan's win, complemented by Amy Madigan's Best Supporting Actress win for Weapons, marks a historic rarity for a genre that is largely ignored come awards time. Rarer still is winning the award for playing twins… but it’s not the first time. That honor goes to Lee Marvin, who won the Best Actor Oscar for playing twins in 1965's Cat Ballou. Lee Marvin Is Hilarious and Horrifying in 'Cat Ballou' Cat Ballou centers around aspiring schoolteacher Catherine Ballou , who returns to her home in Wolf City to find that her father's ranch is in the sights of the Wolf City Development Corporation. With little help in keeping the ranch out of the hands of the scheming entity, and her father safe from the man hired to threaten him, notorious tin-nosed killer Tim Strawn , she reaches out to legendary gunfighter Kid Shelleen for help. Unfortunately, Shelleen proves to be little more than a drunken bum, who's only effective as a gunslinger when he's inebriated. As a result, Strawn, unchallenged, kills her father, and when the townspeople refuse to bring Strawn to justice, Catherine becomes"Cat" Ballou, a revenge-seeking outlaw. As Shelleen, Marvin is hilarious, sending up the trope of the white-hat gunfighter of the Old West, alongside his own typical roles as a Hollywood tough guy. It's a masterclass in slapstick comedy, with Marvin exaggerating the acts of the inebriated Shelleen to ridiculousness. He can't stand straight, can't shoot straight – literally can't hit the side of a barn unless he's drunk – or get on his horse, who is often shown to be just as unsteady as himself. In one of the film's standout scenes, Shelleen tries to hold a modicum of dignity during a barroom brawl and is comically unsuccessful at it as he falls onto tables and generally creates chaos. But as Strawn, Marvin is the complete opposite; a dark, ruthless, and cold-blooded villain with a cruelty that borders on sadistic. He's effective and precise, a professional hitman that's not only good at what he does, but chillingly loves what he does. Shelleen leaves chaos, where Strawn leaves heartbreak. In other words, if Shelleen is a send-up of the white-hat good guy, Strawn is the epitome of the black-hat villain, taken to an exaggeration – not to the point of ridiculousness, but to the point of having absolutely no glimmer of morals or goodness whatsoever. Lee Marvin Wins an Oscar by Playing Two Distinctly Different Characters But Best Actor Oscars aren't handed out to actors simply because they play twins: they're handed out to actors who play twins that are two distinctly different characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each worthy of an Oscar individually. Marvin's Shelleen is a comical drunk, but with a brokenness that lends the character a tragic undertone beneath the pratfalls. So, when he aims to redeem himself, working hard to sober up and become the hero that Cat needed, and still needs, there's a buy-in from the audience, who want to see him succeed. It simply doesn't work if Marvin makes the character a one-note joke.Posts 2 By Diego Pineda Pacheco What's interesting is that Tim Strawn actually is a one-note character, appropriately in contrast with Marvin's nuanced portrayal of Shelleen. Yet Marvin plays that one-note to perfection, much like Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, or even Hopkins' Lecter. Two disparate characters, each given life in an Oscar-worthy performance of their own, through a single actor who keeps them separate, but with an unspoken familial bond between them. Marvin perfected it, and over 60 years later, Jordan replicated the formula through his portrayal of the older, more serious Smoke and the younger, charismatic and talkative Stack. That ability to play each twin as their own entity is what ultimately earned both Marvin and Jordan their Oscars. Subscribe for deeper film awards and performance insights Join our newsletter to get deeper context and thoughtful breakdowns of film performances, award choices, and genre milestones. Subscribing delivers nuanced perspectives that deepen understanding of cinema craft and legacy. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. Single actors playing twins on film isn't unprecedented: Hayley Mills pulled the feat in 1961's The Parent Trap; Lindsay Lohan in the 1998 remake; Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers, and so on. But the only other actor to come close to the feat that both Marvin and Jordan pulled off is Nicolas Cage, who played Donald and Charlie Kaufman in 2003's Adaptation., losing the Best Actor race to Adrien Brody for The Pianist. The fact that the Academy has only recognized single actors playing twins three times in a period just shy of a century, and awarding it only twice across 60 of those years, is proof-positive of just how excellent Marvin and Jordan are in their respective film roles. That Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito weren't acknowledged for playing twins in Twins? That's something different altogether. Cat Ballou Not Rated Western Comedy Release Date June 24, 1965 Cat Ballou follows a young schoolteacher who turns to an unlikely gang of outlaws to seek justice for her murdered father. As she transforms into a notorious train robber, her quest for vengeance leads to a series of comedic and unexpected challenges in the American West. Cast Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan, Dwayne Hickman, Nat 'King' Cole, Stubby Kaye, Tom Nardini, John Marley Runtime 97 Minutes Director Elliot Silverstein Writers Walter Newman, Frank Pierson, Roy Chanslor Powered by Expand Collapse
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