He Was a Quiet Man: William Holden, the Resigned Macho

While many associate William Holden with his collaborations with Hollywood wunderkind Billy Wilder, I will always associate him with two of his most cynical roles: Pike Bishop in [The Wild Bunch] and Max Schumacher in [Network](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/network.html). Both roles put a human face on the self-indulgent yet oddly appealing concept of the bygone era where great men were of the strong, silent variety. In The Wild Bunch, he's a hushed pillar of experience, the man who's seen it all but knows well enough not to preach about it. Even in Network, when he's at his most chatty, his tired fury brings Paddy Chayefsky's grandiose speechifying back down to earth. In them, Holden's defiantly resigned to his fate, making his sad, patronizing eyes a symbol of his inner strength and his indomitable intestinal fortitude. Even in Wilder's [Sunset Boulevard](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/sunsetboulevard.html), where he plays flippantly jaded screenwriter Joe Gillis, he's so sure of himself that he only really needs to smirk to say, "Try me." When asked, "Don't you sometimes hate yourself," he replies only half-seriously, "Constantly." Though he's a writer, he's a man's man through and through, a romantically doomed skeptic who would like to believe in everything he knows cannot be true.

Understandably my image of Holden is a limited one, one that does not take into account his swaggering playboy from [Sabrina] or his mouthy American soldier in [The Bridge on the River Kwai](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/thebridgeontheriverkwai.html). Starting today, the Film Society at Lincoln Center will screen 20 of Holden's films, providing a perfect opportunity to see the different sides of the actor through his various roles, from standards like [Stalag 17](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/stalag17.html) and The Wild Bunch to more obscure titles like [The Lion](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/thelion.html), cinematographer turned director Jack Cardiff's love letter to Kenya and [S.O.B.](http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/williamholden/sob.html), Blake Edwards' vent against the many hypocrisies and inanities of Hollywood.

The program is a great way to catch up with the quiet star thanks to its "Double Feature: Back 2 Back" initiative, where you buy one ticket and get a free ticket to the next show. For an overview of the program, click [here]. William Holden: A Different Kind of Hero runs from July 2nd-15th at the Walter Reade theater (65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue).