Playing Captain Hook in NBC’s live staging of the classic musical seems a great fit for a latent comic actor who won’t grow up.
By Jere Hester ••
Steven Spielberg's underrated 1991 fantasy film "Hook" lifted the Peter Pan story to new heights, starting with the revisionist title. Sure, we're fascinated by flying boys who won't grow up – but seafaring villains with development issues of their own wield an even sharper lure.
That's why the inspired casting of Christopher Walken as Captain Hook in NBC's "Peter Pan Live!" Thursday (December 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT) offers a draw well beyond the ambitious airing of a Broadway-level high-wire act without a net, from a pirate ship or otherwise. Walken arrives with the promise of chewing up the scenery with the voraciousness of the crocodile than chomped off Hook's left hand. You should never smile at a crocodile, but it’s okay to laugh at Christopher Walken.
Walken, at first glance, doesn’t scream out as a song and dance man. But as he’s shown on “Saturday Night Live,” he can carry a tune and pull off a credible soft shoe, most memorably performing “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” a couple decades back. The star of “The Deerhunter” also emerged as an unlikely TV comedian with his cries for “more cowbell.” His live stints, even in the name of humor, land with an air of, if not danger, then a portent of the odd and unexpected.
The Walken of “SNL” appears made for Neverland. Judging from his Hook get-up, the 71-year-old actor wouldn’t be out of place with Johnny Depp and Keith Richards at a Sparrow family reunion, whether in the Caribbean or on a Hollywood lot. But unlike the movies, there are no second takes when mounting a live TV musical.
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In the 1983 classic "A Christmas Story," all nine-year-old Ralphie wants under his tree is a Red Ryder BB gun. But his mother, teacher and a plump department store Santa all say the same thing: "You'll shoot your eye out!" Luckily, Dad is cooler than Mom.
Rankin/Bass/ABC
Santa Claus Is Comin to Town follows the orphaned Kris Kringle from his humble beginnings to his time as an outlaw and onward to fame and glory.
Twentieth Century Fox
"Miracle on 34th Street," the 1947 classic starring Edmund Gwenn and a very young Natalie Wood, has everyone thinking Santa Claus (legal name: Kris Kringle) is nuts until an ace lawyer proves he's the real deal.
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In 1994's "The Santa Clause," Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) gets stuck with the role of a lifetime when he accidentally turns into Kris Kringle.
WJAR
In "White Christmas," a successful song-and-dance team meets a sister act two weeks before Christmas As they team up to save a failing Vermont in, the four become romantically involved. Featuring the talents of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, it's the 1954 holiday classic that made the song "White Christmas" famous.
Warner Home Video
in 1966's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch was a mean one until his heart was warmed (and expanded) by the goodness of Cindy Lou Who. You've got to be as charming as an eel and as prickly as a cactus to steal someone's presents.
Paramount
In the 1946 classic "It's a Wonderful Life," George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) thinks he's worth more dead than alive. But an angel shows him just how rotten Bedford Falls would be without him around. Zuzu's petals!
Castle Rock Entertainment/Warner Bros.
All aboard the Polar Express! The computer-animated film follows a doubting boy as he boards a magical train that's headed to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. With it's catchy tunes and classic storyline, it instantly became a must-see movie during the 2004 holiday season.
Twentieth Century Fox
In "Home Alone," Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) keeps the bad guys (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) at bay when his family accidentally goes on vacation without him.
Universal Studios Hollywood
In the stop-motion classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," misfits Hermey and Rudolph star as a Christmas elf who wants to be a dentist and an outcast reindeer with a shining nose. And it turns out Abominable Snowmen are really good decorators.
AP
The 1938 classic "A Christmas Carol" brings to life the story of Ebenezer Scrooge. On Christmas Eve, the old miser is visited by the spirit of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. After dismissing the apparitions warning to change his ways or face the consequences in the afterlife, he's taken by the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
Touchstone/Disney
In "The Nightmare Before Christmas," all hell breaks loose when the tall and spindly skeleton Jack Skellington, known as the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, kidnaps and tries to replace the much rounder Santa Claus.
New Line Home Entertainment
In 2003's "Elf," Buddy (Will Ferrell) is a really large man who's been raised as an elf at the North Pole. Identity crisis, anyone? Luckily, he discovers himself while working in a New York department store during the holidays. Merry Christmas!
Warner Home Video
In "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a down-in-the-dumps young boy, his mischievous dog and a bossy wannabe psychiatrist team up to figure out the true meaning of the holiday.
Featuring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young."The Bishop's Wife" is a 1947 Christmas classic. As the romantic tale opens, a bishop prays for guidance about building a new cathedral. But when an angel arrives, his guidance isn't reserved for just fundraising.
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Everyone's done their take on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," but none can match "The Muppet Christmas Carol." With their large personalities, the Muppets bring new energy to the classic tale.
Warner Home Video
In 1989's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," the Griswold family's misadventures continue.
Studio Canal/Universal Pictures
Set during the frantic month before Christmas, "Love Actually" follows the lives of eight very different London couples. As the 2003 romantic comedy progresses, many tales are shown to be interlinked.
Legend Films
Perhaps the first great Christmas flick was the 1934 classic "Babes in Toyland," in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy star as a pair of toymakers who borrow some money to save Mother Peep's shoe from foreclosure.
Miramax Home Entertainment
"Bad Santa" is not one for the kids, but grownups will love Billy Bob Thornton as a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking con man disguised as a department store Santa.
Classic Media
In 1969's "Frosty the Snowman," Frosty has the kids grinning — until the warm weather starts to get the better of our hero and he has to hop a northbound train.
Macy's/CBS
In "Yes, Virginia" the year is 1897. Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon is preparing for Christmas until her classmate brings up the age-old question: "Is there a Santa Claus?" Seeking advice concerning his existence, she sends a letter to the editor of The New York Sun.
FBI
In the 1988 film "Scrooged," Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is every bit as much of a jerk as Ebeneezer, but like his predecessor, he has a change of heart after spending an evening with some ghosts.
"Arthur Christmas" was recently released on video. In this film, an aging Santa's oldest son prepares to take over the family business, but it's up to his younger son, the bumbling Arthur, to make sure that one little girl doesn't get overlooked.
That’s a challenge for the whole “Peter Pan Live!” cast, especially Allison Williams, who is setting out to prove she’s more than the one-note wannabe singer Marnie on "Girls." Her performance as the airborne title character will be measured against Mary Martin’s legendary 1960 TV turn in the role. Williams’ bigger test, though, might be standing out amid Walken and other more seasoned cast mates.
Big-stage musical neophyte Carrie Underwood found that out last year in NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live!” when working hard to hold her own against veteran Broadway talent like Christian Borle and Laura Benanti. Borle, who played proto-Hook Black Stache on stage in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” is back Thursday as Hook’s left-hand man, Smee.
Peter Pan might have top billing, but it’s Hook’s show for the grabbing – a sign of a classic that’s as only as good as its villain is bad. Check out a preview as Williams, Walken and the “Peter Pan Live!” creative team prepare to take flight.
