Euphoria #55: The best line reading ever.

This was suggested by Keiran Thomson, which is all the more impressive since he’s too young to have seen it. It’s an 18 Certificate, kid!

The film in question is George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the performer in question is actually the film’s production manager, George Kosana, as “Sheriff Colin McLelland.” Apart from appearing in Romero’s second film, THERE’S ALWAYS VANILLA (a true film maudit, that one) Kosana appears not to have had any film acting career at all. I get the impression that in this scene they just asked him to be a sheriff and answer some questions, unscripted. Since he knows the film’s plot set-up, he has all the answers at his fingertips and can answer glibly and smoothly, like a real politician. The only time he stumbles is on the line, “Yeah, they’re dead, they’re… all messed up.” And the effect is so BEAUTIFULLY AUTHENTIC. I just get an aching sense of sheer wonderment, combined with total childish amusement, whenever I hear it. It makes me want to seize Kosana manfully by the hand, thrust a drink upon him, introduce him to my family, maybe even marry him, in a civil ceremony presided over by Dario Argento.

“I now pronounce you…”

I’m hereby giving George Kosana the first Shadowplay Award for Ineffable Brilliance, known as the “Effie”. If he’s still alive, and anybody has any kind of contact details for him, I will actually send him the award. It will look a lot like a cheap golf trophy, or possibly like a piece of paper, but I will incur the postage costs in order to commemorate his indelible contribution to thespian history.

Failing that I’ll send it (whatever it proves to be) to Romero himself, if anybody can suggest a way to get it to him. Damn, wish I’d got John Harrison’s contact details when I met him!