He/She Who Gets Slapped

This is very good, but the best repeated-slap of all (starting at 1:21) is self-administered. Anyone can slap anyone else, but when you whack yourself in a fit of self-loathing…watch out. Name the actress and the film. Hint: The self-slapper is being honored tonight at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

My personal favorite isn’t included. That would be James Cagney‘s one-two-three slap of a bartender in William Wellman ‘s Public Enemy (’31) — choreographed as carefullly as one of Cagney’s dance steps in Yankee Doodle Dandy. First a backhand, then open-handed and downward, and then an upwards backhand on the chin. It starts at 1:15:

22 thoughts on “He/She Who Gets Slapped

  1. I believe that’s Annette Bening in American Beauty.

    My personal favorite (and I don’t know if it was on there, if it was I missed it) is Bette Davis slapping Errol Flynn in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Long story behind it but suffice it to say it was a real slap and, as you can see from Flynn’s reaction, he gave serious consideration to returning the favor in spades.

  2. That’s a good one, JLC – Flynn’s reaction is priceless.

    I’ve said before, buy my personal favorite “slapper” was Vivien Leigh…she has this crazy wind-up when she slaps Butterfly McQueen in Gone with the Wind – great slap.

  3. Annette Bening’s is epic for sure. One of my favorite scenes of the film.

    I love Kurt Russell’s smackdown/slapdown of Billly Bob Thornton in TOMBSTONE.

  4. Shane5 gets my vote.

    *Smack* “Skin that smoke wagon and go to work.”

    *Smack again* “I said throw down, boy.”

    *Smack AGAIN* “You gonna do something or just stand there and bleed?”

  5. Thanks, Kit Sung! Now that I know that, I’ll COMPLETELY re-evaluate my feelings of “Natali” Portman. (I guess she’s an Arab woman now?)

    I mean, until you enlightened us, all of our praise of Ms. Portman’s performance was based entirely on her dancing and had NOTHING to do with her acting.

    Who are you, Nicole Kidman?

  6. @arispil..It was Lambert who slapped Ripley for refusing to let Dallas, Kane, and herself back on board, right? Great one nonetheless.

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