Legacy Matters
Movie critic A.O. Scott in an appreciation of Karl Malden, A Character Actor of Intensified Normalness
Mr. Malden’s achievement as an actor was both substantial and modest. The paradox of great character actors is that they are at once adaptable and unmistakable, irreducibly individual yet able to be typecast. And Karl Malden, especially in the 1950s, was one of the best. No other guy could ever be the other guy the way he could.