Heflin wasn't precisely handsome, but what he might not have had in looks he more than made up for in charisma and acting ability. Last weekend I pulled up an old review in which I wrote that Mr. Heflin could read the phone book and make it interesting!
After doing some theater, Heflin appeared in a few RKO programmers in the late '30s, including ANNAPOLIS SALUTE (1937), then hit it big on Broadway in the original cast of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1939). Heflin played Mike Connor, the role for which James Stewart would later win an Oscar.MGM called -- though not for their 1940 production of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY -- and in quick succession Heflin appeared in THE FEMININE TOUCH (1941), H.M. PULHAM, ESQ. (1941), and JOHNNY EAGER (1941), for which he won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor.
He went on to appear in KID GLOVE KILLER (1942), GRAND CENTRAL MURDER (1942), SEVEN SWEETHEARTS (1942), POSSESSED (1947), GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (1947), THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1948), ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948), MADAME BOVARY (1949), and EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE (1949), as well as many more titles than could be listed here. I think the first role I ever saw him in must have been Athos in THE THREE MUSKETEERS, which I saw when it was revived in a Westwood theater when I was around 12. He was particularly compelling in the historical melodrama GREEN DOLPHIN STREET, a film which should be seen by all Heflin fans. He's in the middle of the action which includes an earthquake, a tidal wave, and a Maori uprising, while quietly loving married Lana Turner.
As the brief list above indicates, Heflin did everything from "B" detective movies to musicals to film noir to costume pictures.
One of his best-known roles, in the Western SHANE (1953), came after he left MGM. AIRPORT (1970) was one of his final performances, and he passed on the following year at the age of 60.
A bit of interesting trivia is that Heflin's sister, Frances, appeared for decades on the soap opera ALL MY CHILDREN.
Tributes have been posted at Edward Copeland On Film, 50 Westerns From the 50s, and Screen Savers, which I originally linked to last weekend.
December 13, 2011: Van Heflin films reviewed in the past year: SHANE (1953) and TOMAHAWK (1951).
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