Keith Carradineis a stage and screen actor who was particularly active during the 1970s and ’80s. A member of the Carradinefamily of performers, he first gained attention with his standout role inRobert Altman’sMcCabe & Mrs. Miller, and he continued to captivate audiences with performances inNashville,The Duellists, andSouthern Comfort. His projects lean toward Westerns and dramas.
In addition to a host of movies, Carradine has also turned in fantastic performances on TV, including appearances inDexter,Madam Secretary, andDeadwood.His talents extend beyond acting, however; he is also a skilled musician and songwriter.He even won an Academy Award for one of his original songs. Carradine continues to work today; his latest project, a horror movie called Afraid, is currently in post-production. His filmography thus includes plenty of gems to entertain long-time fans as well as those unfamiliar with his work. Here are Keith Carradine’s ten best movies, ranked.
10’A Quiet Passion' (2016)
Directed by Terence Davies
“Poems are my solace for the eternity which surrounds us all.” This thoughtful biopic chronicles the life of American poetEmily Dickinson(Cynthia Nixon). She penned classic poems like “Hope is the thing with feathers” and “Because I could not stop for death”. The film delves into Dickinson’s complex relationships with her family and friends, as well as her intense internal struggles with faith, love, and mortality. Writer-directorTerence Davies’sensitive direction highlights the contrastbetween Dickinson’s sharp intellect and her sheltered existence.
Carradine appears asEdward Dickinson, Emily’s father. It’s not a major part, but he’s sturdy in it, doing everything the movie requires of him and more.The end result of the cast and crew’s efforts is an unusually literary film that serves as a study of a singular artist and of her time.It’s slow-paced and insular, of course, so it won’t please everyone, but there’s certainly a lot to admire here. Fans of the poet’s work, in particular, are unlikely to be disappointed.
9’The Moderns' (1988)
Directed by Alan Rudolph
“If it weren’t for me, these people would think surreal was a breakfast food!” Set in the vibrance and chaos of 1920s Paris,The Modernstells the story of Nick Hart (Carradine), a struggling American artist involved in the Bohemian art scene. His life is complicated by his involvement with a wealthy art patron (John Lone), and his rekindled romance with his ex-wife Rachel (Linda Fiorentino).
The film beautifully captures the era’s decadence and artistic fervor.The main characters are members of the Lost Generation, who experienced the convolutions of World War I and the Great Depression. This cohort included legendary figures likeErnest Hemingway,F. Scott Fitzgerald, andGertrude Stein. As a result, the movie gives off major Midnight in Paris vibes, but with a darker and more realistic edge. It’s one of Carradine’s richest performances, but the real highlight is Lone, who was highly praised for his work here.
8’Thieves Like Us' (1974)
Directed by Robert Altman
“I come from the Ozarks. All we grow there is rocks and tomatoes.“Thieves Like Usis a moody, somewhat revisionist crime drama fromthe great Robert Altman. Set during the Great Depression, the film focuses on three convicts who escape from prison and embark on a bank-robbing spree across Mississippi. The trio, played by Carradine,John Schuck, andBert Remsen, navigate the harsh realities of life on the run, forming fragile connections with those they meet.
Carradine’s character, Bowie, finds an unexpected romance with Keechie (Shelley Duvall), offering a glimmer of hope amid the bleakness. In other words, this is Altman’s riff onBonnie & Clydebut set in a more realistic world wracked by economic upheaval.The characters are desperate and damaged rather than evil or heroic.Carradine plays this kind of character well. He fleshes Bowie out and makes him sympathetic despite some of his more unsavory behavior.
7’The Power of the Dog' (2021)
Directed by Jane Campion
“Deliver my soul from the sword.” Among the most acclaimed Westerns of recent years,The Power of the Dogfollows the intense dynamics between two brothers, the domineering Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the gentle George (Jesse Plemons). When George marries a widow named Rose (Kirsten Dunst), Phil’s hostility towards her and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) brings underlying tensions to the surface.
Carradine makes only a brief appearance, showing up as the governor of the medical school. His performance is typically strong and believable.It’s also a neat bit of meta casting, evoking Carradine’s background in Westerns likeThe Long Ridersand the TV showDeadwood. While the film isn’t the best showcase of Carradine’s talents given the smallness of his role, the movie itself is terrific and certainly worth seeing for those who might not have caught it yet. It’s a rich, psychological Western that ranks among directorJane Campion’sfinest work.
The Power of the Dog
Charismatic rancher Phil Burbank inspires fear and awe in those around him. When his brother brings home a new wife and her son, Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to the possibility of love.
6’The Long Riders' (1980)
Directed by Walter Hill
“First getting shot, then getting married - bad habits.” Speaking ofThe Long Riders, this Western recounts the exploits of the infamous James-Younger gang, known for their daring bank and train robberies in the post-Civil War era. The film is unique in that it features real-life brothers portraying the historical siblings:JamesandStacy KeachasJesseandFrank James, the Carradines as the Younger brothers, andDennisandRandy Quaidas the Miller brothers.
This is a blatant gimmick, but the performers are talented so it works.Keith Carradine is the volatile and more romantic Jim Younger, who marries a woman engaged to someone else even as he plots his next bank robberies. Reportedly, Keith was not interested in doing the film, but his brothers signed on before him and essentially forced his hand. While not especially innovative otherwise, the movie does boast some impressively gritty realism courtesy of directorWalter Hill. The landscapes and locations are especially authentic.
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5’Southern Comfort' (1981)
“I ain’t gonna kill y’all if I don’t got to.” Another film from Walter Hill, this thriller follows a group of National Guardsmen on a weekend training mission in the Louisiana bayou. When they unwittingly antagonize local Cajun hunters, their exercise turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse. The soldiers, led by Private First Class Spencer (Carradine) and Corporal Charles Hardin (Powers Boothe), must navigate the treacherous swamp and evade their relentless pursuers.
Southern Comfortis a bit of aDeliverancerehash but it’s tense and gritty enough to be entertaining nevertheless.The eerie bayou setting is also vivid and unsettling.In terms of the story, the script doesn’t give the main actors all that much to work with, but Carradine makes his character a little more three-dimensional than he would be just on paper. The director would probably concur with this assessment. “I was very proud of the actors in it,“Hill later said. “It was a tough movie to make, and they put up with a lot.”
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4’Emperor of the North' (1973)
Directed by Robert Aldrich
“You had the juice, kid, but not the heart, and they go together.” Another movie set during the Great Depression,Emperor of the Northcenters on the intense rivalry between a homeless drifter named A No. 1 (Lee Marvin), and a sadistic railroad conductor known as Shack (Ernest Borgnine). A No. 1 is determined to ride Shack’s train, the No. 19, without paying. He is idolized by the young Cigaret (Carradine), who follows him everywhere and gets tangled up in his troubles. Cigaret is also selfish and claims credit for his companion’s daring feats.
In this role, Carradine is brash and immature; an incorrigible loudmouth lacking in good sense.Cigaret is borderline villainous, in contrast to the virtuous A No. 1, a kind of holy fool figure. As these descriptions make clear, the movie is undoubtedly weird and a little unfocused, but some viewers will enjoy its zany action and melodrama. The stunts are also impressive, harking back to physical cinema of the early 20th century.
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3’The Duellists' (1977)
Directed by Ridley Scott
“By every rule of single combat, from this moment your life belongs to me.” This historical drama wasRidley Scott’s feature debut. It’s about two French officers during the Napoleonic Wars whose obsessive rivalry spans decades.Harvey Keiteland Keith Carradine play the dueling officers, Feraud and d’Hubert, respectively. Their initial conflict over a perceived slight escalates into a series of duels that continue even as their lives and the political landscape around them change dramatically.
Indeed,the best part of the movie is the way it uses these characters as a lens through which to examine a tumultuous period in French history.We see seismic events like the rise and fall ofNapoleon, as well as the French invasion of Russia. Scott’s meticulous attention to period detail and the stunning cinematography bring the era to life. The film is simply beautiful to look at. Both lead actors rise to the occasion with strong performances. Carradine plays d’Hubert as fundamentally decent, while Keitel imbues Feraud with almost feral intensity.
The Duellists
France, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d’Hubert is forced into a duel with hot-headed irrational Lieutenant Feraud. The disagreement ultimately results in scores of duels spanning several years.
2’Nashville' (1975)
“I see their lives, rather, as a study in grayness.“Nashvilleis an ensemble drama that weaves together the lives of twenty-four characters over five days in the country music capital. Here, Altman creates a mosaic of personal stories set against the backdrop of political campaigns and social turbulence. It’s like a slice of the 1970s frozen in amber.
The sprawling cast includes many fantastic performances, including from Carradine as folk musician Tom Frank. He abandons a successful trio in the hopes of making it as a solo artist and gets mixed up in two intense romances along the way. The character is a bit of a riff on country singer Kris Kristofferson.Carradine shows off his musical talents in the role, even penning the original song “I’m Easy” for the film. It won him an Oscar and also became a hit, reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1’McCabe and Mrs. Miller' (1971)
“So far you’ve cost me nothing but money. Money and pain.” This revisionist Western introduces viewers to John McCabe (Warren Beatty), a gambler and businessman who partners with a shrewd brothel madam, Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie), to establish a successful enterprise in a small frontier town. Their venture flourishes until a powerful mining company seeks to take control, leading to a deadly confrontation.
The film is a trailblazing subversion of Western tropesand was ahead of the curve when it came to 1970s Westerns that deconstructed the genre. Carradine appears as an unnamed cowboy who rides into town full of naivety and optimism, only to run afoul of the mining magnate’s hired guns. The character is tragically comical, wearing oversized chaps and a ridiculously large hat. It’s a supporting part but Carradine is great in it, embodying the mythical goodhearted cowboy. However, his character meets an ignominious end, becoming a metaphor for the kind of Western that Altman is skewering. Even in a role where his main purpose is simply to die, Carradine is excellent.
