Roy Scheider, who died today at the age of 75, may have been best known for playing Chief Brody in Jaws (and its first sequel).
That's one of my favorite movies, but I'll remember him even more for his magnificent performance in another, Bob Fosse's All That Jazz, as Joe Gideon, the director/choreographer largely based on Fosse himself.
In this sequence, Scheider might not seem to be the focus, as he mainly watches his daughter Michelle(Erzsebet Foldi)and girfriend Kate(Ann Reinking). They're performing a dance to try to boost Gideon's spirits after the opening of his new film.
But look at the way he's watching them. I believe how actors watch other actors is very important, and here Scheider gives a lesson in it.
A badly underrated film of his was Cohen and Tate, which in one line is a sort of high-octane updating of Ransom of Red Chief. Scheider (Cohen) and Adam Baldwin (Tate) play hit men who are transporting the young son of their last victims to their boss, and he plays them against each other.
I forget the reasons why they have to take the kid (it's almost 20 years after I saw it), but what I do remember is the intensity of the performances and a screenplay I never knew how would unfold.
Here's a short scene from it. This looks as though it was made by pointing a video camera at a TV screen, but it gives you a rough idea.
A greatly skilled actor. He will be missed.
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