Monday, February 1, 2010

Favorite Keith Scene in The Partridge Family

Well, seeing as David Cassidy considers himself "first and foremost an actor", I would be remiss not to muse about his acting roles once in a while. Honestly, when I rediscovered him via YT, his talent as a vocalist wowed me so much that it overshadowed his acting for me and fueled pretty much half of my blog posts.

Let's turn to his acting now. Most of us discovered him through "The Partridge Family", so tell me about your favorite scene of his in that show. Now that the whole series is available on DVD, it will be easy for us to identify the scenes correctly.

First, let's get some obvious assumptions out of the way:

-Keith Partridge was NOT a complex role and no one is proposing that David Cassidy's performance was Emmy-worthy
-"The Partridge Family" was a lighthearted sitcom built around selling records - its creators and producers had no aspirations to create a show worthy of critical acclaim or a spot in a time capsule (if they had, perhaps they would have paid more attention to story continuity!)
-We are commenting on DC's acting here (did he elicit the correct emotions from you and was he believable in the scene?), not the script quality nor the story plausibility

When I can actually stop my eyes from ping-ponging all over David Cassidy's gorgeous face during close-ups and concentrate on his expressive eyes and his delivery, one scene does stand out. It's from the first episode in Season 3, "This Male Chauvinist Piggy Went To Market". You remember the episode? Keith loses a "battle of the sexes" challenge to his sister Laurie and Goose, the school bully, makes fun of Keith for losing to a girl. Their verbal exchange escalates and Laurie intervenes and physically prevents Goose from hitting Keith. To be disabled by a girl further humiliates Goose who vows revenge on Keith.

The confrontation between Keith and Goose happens after a concert (from the 19 minute mark) and Keith plainly tells Goose he has no intention of fighting him. Cassidy plays this scene subtly and convincingly. His stance, his voice and his eyes especially, convey the natural fear, defiance and resignation one would expect to feel when standing up to a bigger opponent. Look at his eyes when Goose asks him "You mean you're going to stand there and let me take a poke at you?". He even gulps at the right time. That might be my favorite scene of DC's in the show.

Your turn.

7 comments:

RandomFan22 said...

I'm usually a lurker and enjoy reading everyone's comments, but this subject really caught my attention. I too thought that 'Chauvinist' was a great episode for David. He does a really good job in that one - the line about being called Geraldine and glancing at his hands when Laurie is reading the note from Goose....very subtle.

My other favorite is the show where Danny and Chris steal items from Keith and then sell them - 'I Can Get it For Retail'. My favorite scene(s), ok, there are two, are when Keith is in the kitchen with Shirley and Laurie wanting to call the police. The line 'it all started when I lost my pickle' is delivered just perfectly. I also love the scene where he's composing at the piano and when he turns to try something on his guitar, Danny swipes the sheet music. Keith's totally puzzled search for the missing paper is hysterical. The look on his face is priceless.

I'm sure if I thought about it for too long I'd have more. In fact one comes to mind when the family is kidnapped in their own home by Arte Johnson. When Keith shoots the toy arrow and hits the window - dead center - then tries to look all non-chalant on the floor. He really was a decent comedic actor.

British fan said...

I can't wait to hear everyone's recollections! I don't have any PF DVD's yet so I can't really t contribute much. I have see the 'Goose' episode on a certain site and thought David was marvellous in it. As soon as I saw that picture I knew which episode it was! I thought David made Keith very believable and even if David 'hated' doing such a lightweight show, it never surfaced in his acting of the part. Some of his facial expressions as Keith are priceless.

British fan said...

I also love the scene where David sings a lullaby to a horse (dont know the episode). It encompasses both his acting ability, facial expressions and stunning, unplugged singing! What more could a girl want?!!

Bottom line is: The man should be proud of his contribution to this genre, not embarassed or dismissive!

singmedavid said...

I've only watched maybe 20 episodes tops so far. But I needed a fix of David as Keith this weekend and I watched Dora, Dora, Dora, Season 2, Episode 1. One of the scenes I enjoyed was when Shirley was in his room with the cold hands (ears in this case), warm heart talk about why he thought Dora was such a great singer when she really wasn't. David turns around initially puzzled when Shirley says her singing isn't very good "C'Mon, what are you talking about. I heard it with my own ears." Then Shirley goes on to awkwardly say that "When a young man sees a beautiful girl, things happen." David’s expression, while the changes are very subtle, turns immediately to this surprised-amused look. It looks like he genuinely found amusement at that moment. I found it very funny too so I’m not surprised.

Another I love is when he tries to take on responsibility for the kids. The scene where first Chris and Tracy come to him saying that everyone is telling them they can’t be what they want to be when they grow up. There again, when they say it, you can see David trying really hard not to laugh, and then he turns his expression into frustration as he gets up. I thought that scene was extremely funny because I had a similar conversation in the grocery store with my kids when they were 6!!!! The other scene I love in that episode is when Danny asks him to tell him about the facts of life. Danny asks at the end why people go through all that trouble if they don’t want to have any kids. And Keith says, “You have to be there.” I thought he did a really great job in that scene.

I think he does a great “embarrassed” too.

I was very impressed with his acting in the Chauvinist too, projecting real fear. And whenever he sings live on the show is a wonderful treat!!!

He's fun to watch as Keith. In fact, I probably enjoy that more than any of his other TV acting because the awkward situations he's always getting into are really funny, and I think he pulls it off so well. Very believable.

They are enjoyable episodes all around, perfect for what they were intended for. It's a fulfilling escape. I can’t wait to see all the episodes.

I agree with you, BF, he really should not feel embarrassed or dismissive about that role. I thought he worked really well with the others and he did a great job as Keith.

Daydreaming David said...

Thanks for your input, RandomFan22. "I Can Get it to you for Retail" is another favorite episode of mine as well. Keith-centric episodes are the ones I enjoy the most which makes me wonder if I'd enjoy the show at all if he weren't in it.

Britishfan, the lullaby scene is from "Nag, Nag, Nag", episode 12, Season 3. Yeah, not much to dislike in that scene. :)

SingmeDavid, have you seen much of DC's TV acting besides PF and "Ruby"?

singmedavid said...

I've seen the following, DD:

• Officer Dan Shay, David Cassidy--Man Undercover, NBC, 1978-1979
• “Unholy wedlock / Elizabeth”, Fantasy Island, Season 3, episode 54
• "The Law and Billy Burgess," Bonanza, NBC, 1969
• "Stolen on Demand," Ironside, NBC, 1970
• "The Fatal Imposter," The F.B.I., ABC, 1970
• Tim Richmond, "Log 24: A Rare Occasion," Adam-12, NBC, 1970
• Officer Dan Shay, "A Chance to Live," Police Story, NBC, 1977
• John Gordon Boyd, "Joey's Here," Matt Houston, ABC, 1982
• "Heir Presumptuous," Tales of the Unexpected, 1982
• Joey Mitchell, "Career Move," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, USA Network, 1988

I thought he was really good in all of these, so I am surprised to be saying that I’m enjoying him most in PF so far. I know the stories lack depth and realism, but I think the lightness is part of what makes them enjoyable.

In addition to what I said in my first comment in this post, I think that there is a genuine chemistry between the actors. That’s one of the reasons why I really liked Ruby, and why I always love seeing David with his brothers. Ironically, he seems very at home with the Keith character. Even though we all know he wasn’t that innocent, shallow guy, he certainly knew how to play him, and I imagine he had been “acting” certain characteristics of that part numerous times in real life, like when he would visit his dad. Plus he says in his second book that he likes to think that the essence of him came through in Keith. And I think I can see some of that – the sweeter things for sure.

I’ve been reading through some of the second book again and I forgot about all the things that he hated about PF being such a serious actor. The things that weren’t authentic in the show, the ridiculousness of not letting the characters grow more, etc. He didn’t get very good reviews for that role – “Pretty face, no talent.” Plus the fact that he felt he had to ALWAYS project that Keith persona to the public. That must have been really hard. And of course, the gross exploitation.

Anonymous said...

I like the scene (in the episode about Gloria Hickey) where Keith is in bed asleep and jealous Danny pours corn flakes on him while he is sleeping. This scene is NOT on the DVD version, though. Makes me think that they used the syndication versions for the DVD. :(