i wrote recently about the reason for watching paul verhoeven's erotic thriller basic instinct [1992] because poet michael lally had had a role in the film.  i remembered the movie as being bad; watching it again not only confirmed it but tattooed that god-awfulness on my grey matter.  no fault of lally's, as he is a good actor, as most of the actors in the film did a pretty damn good job given the crappy writing, goofy direction and chocolate frosting-like photography.

i wondered about poets and acting.  there are a few poets who also developed careers in front of a camera.  there is one poet who was a one-shot actor in a film based on his own novel.  james dickey portrayed the sherrif of aintry, a soon-to-be submerged town, in the movie deliverance [1972], a film that has become so iconic that even a humming of a few bars of its signature theme song 'dueling banjos' conveys danger and dread.

as far as i know dickey's oeuvre as an actor is limited to these couple of minutes of screen time.  what a couple of minutes!  dickey plays the sherrif as a smart man who grasped the depth of the horrors by his grin.  a marvelous performance that makes me wish the oscars -- broadcast this sunday -- should have sub-categories for acting poets.  i love dickey's face in this clip.  when ned beatty speaks behind the sheriff the reaction, how dickey moves his glance from beatty back to jon voight, is a miracle of minimalism.