Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401250276
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
He has repeatedly hooked up with Jack Lemmon for such classics as ``The Odd Couple'' and the current ``Grumpy Old Men.'' On television, Matthau and Harry Morgan perform a hat trick with their third ``Incident'' movie.
In ``Incident in a Small Town'' (Sunday at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7), Matthau reprises his role as attorney Harmon Cobb. Morgan is back as Judge Stoddard Bell, this time accused of murder and in need of his friend Cobb's help.
The two first appeared as the rumpled lawyer and stern judge in 1991's ``The Incident.'' That was followed the next year by ``Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore.''
The veteran actors - sharing salads, cappuccino ice cream and a window table at a Beverly Hills tennis club - look as if friendship has emerged from their collaboration.
``I love this guy,'' says Morgan. ``Well, I'm very fond of him,'' he adds, amending his remark with a smile.
``I wouldn't go to dinner without him,'' Matthau says, referring to their daily evening meals while filming ``Incident'' in Vancouver. ``He's the only one I can hear.''
Matthau, 73, and Morgan, 78, play off each other easily, trading memories and wisecracks.
``We had a director who understands the needs of geriatric personnel,'' Matthau says of ``Incident'' director Delbert Mann, also an industry veteran who worked with Matthau in a 1952 production of ``Othello.''
What needs?
Matthau: ``You gotta have a toilet nearby.''
Morgan: ``Air tank.''
Matthau: ``It can't be too hot, too cold. Got to have plenty of orange juice around.''
Morgan: ``Young girls. Walter likes young girls.''
``I'm a naughty talker,'' Matthau says, demurring. ``No action. Even when I was young, no action.''
Then he continues. A seasoned professional like Mann ``says `How do you feel?' once in a while. And he has the intelligence to know when the take is good.''
``Sometimes even the first take,'' says Morgan.
``There are some directors who cannot believe it can be any good because they don't understand what they're doing unless they do 25 takes,'' Matthau concludes.
Co-starring in ``Incident'' is Stephanie Zimbalist. She plays Judge Bell's estranged, unmarried daughter Lily, mother of a teen-age son (Nick Stahl of ``The Man Without a Face''). The return of the boy's long-absent father triggers violence.
Matthau and Morgan have high praise for their co-stars, including the young Stahl. ``The boy was very good,'' says Morgan. ``He was like a grown-up to work with, the instincts were all right on.''
The new generation of actors, in general, is treated less kindly.
``They no longer have any respect or regard or talent for speech,'' says Matthau. ``As a matter of fact, the clearer you speak the less chance you have of getting a job.''
He launches into an imitation of a mumbling thespian, one that sounds suspiciously like Marlon Brando.
``It started with Brando,'' confirms Morgan.
``No one trains for the stage anymore,'' Matthau says. ``They just train to know how to see an agent.''
Both men started in theater. Matthau has appeared in more than 20 plays on Broadway and won two Tony Awards (for ``A Shot in the Dark'' and ``The Odd Couple''). His Oscar came for ``The Fortune Cookie'' in 1966.
Morgan recalled living on starvation theater wages until marriage pushed him out to Hollywood in search of better-paying movie roles. He eventually turned to TV, starring in what may be a record number of series, including ``Dragnet and ``M*A*S*H'' (for which he won an Emmy in 1980).
When talk focuses on past roles, Morgan offers that he has played a judge at least once before, in the film ``Inherit the Wind'' about the famed trial on teaching evolution.
That triggers a bit of friendly competition.
``I was a Supreme Court judge in `First Monday in October,''-' says Matthau, practicing one-upmanship.
``I played [President] Truman one time,'' retorts Morgan.
``I got you beat,'' says Matthau. ``I played an ADVISER to the president. `Fail Safe.' Hank Fonda was the president.''
Despite their long careers neither man seems seriously to consider retirement. Matthau has remained busy despite health problems, including a bout with double pneumonia after filming ``Grumpy'' in Minnesota.
``What else have we got to do? We're very old people,'' Matthau says.
``I could [retire], but Walter can't,'' Morgan says.
``I have a big nut. My wife's a depraved spender and I'm a degenerate gambler,'' says Matthau.
``Bad combination,'' deadpans Morgan.
by CNB