Talk:Martin Miller (actor)/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Zanimum (talk · contribs) 21:33, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

I'll do this. -- Zanimum (talk) 21:33, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

As a placeholder until I can review the prose, "Filmography" is an easy pass. The fair use license on the image of Miller should be changed to represent the article's current title, as opposed to the title when it was uploaded. Once that's done, the image is a "pass". -- Zanimum (talk) 21:03, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

When I initially saw this article, I was eager to read it. Three paragraphs into the 1940s, I'm struggling with its format.

Filmographies are a good place for every role, ever. But in the actual biography of an actor, you don't need to recount them all, unless the role is significant to understanding their life, or there's additional information about their involvement. Had you met Mr. Miller in 1968, and asked him about his time 19 years prior in The Huggetts Abroad as "Customer", do you think he'd even remember it?

Doctor Who has an enormous fan base, and while the current programme is the most popular, the original has been dissected for years. Surely there must be some critical review of Miller's portrayal of Kubla Khan? A quote from the Doctor one of the companions of the time, on what it was like to work with Miller?

Reviews of single episodes of 1950s and 1960s television are somewhat hard to find, most of the time. But with such a list of film roles, was his acting never once reviewed by a critic?

It just seems that the most prose in the biography section of this article isn't directly connected to Miller. If you were to delete the role, film/show, and co-stars, and you're mostly left with the facts that bear little relevance. Yes, The V.I.P.s was one of MGM's biggest films in years, and yes, other people won awards for it, and yes, the characters that he didn't play were based off real people. Wonderful. It's great to know that he was in a film that attracted serious attention. But did he?

Peeping Tom, was Dr. Rosen the killer, a victim, the doctor of the killer, an aide to the police? It's great to know that the film is notable for its reception then and now, but during the controversy, did Mr. Miller have anything to say about it? Did he ever do an interview in his entire career? What style of acting did he use? How was he on set?

I'm just realizing that his career from 1925 to 1946 is skipped over. Was he trained as an actor? Did he go for a certain type of role, a certain type of play? Was it even plays he acted in, or was he a venquilotrist? His first major role was in Squadron Leader X... was he an extra in something before that? Was he ever in a Austro-Hungarian film? He booked a role in The Last Valley (is that a TV programm or film?) and died while filming something, but what? "Booked" suggests that The Last Valley was still upcoming, and that he was on another set entirely while shooting in Innisbruck.

Other than being born, fleeing the Nazis, marrying, he just comes across as anonymous, an acting automaton that never expressed opinions, and no one ever had an opinion of. I would love nothing more than to have passed this article, as Wikipedia dearly needs balance in the arts towards things and people not from the last thirty years. This, sadly, isn't there yet. -- Zanimum (talk) 01:06, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

As I close this, I'd encourage you to look at Film career of Audie Murphy for a possible table format to list appearances. You don't need a long article to get a GA status, just a complete one. Your attempt is certainly complete, but in an odd format. If no information about his early career is available, and no critical analysis of his appearances, I can certainly see someone still passing this as a GA.

As I'm about to hit save, I noticed he originated a role in The Mousetrap. This is paramount to his career... the play is still running, continuously since 1952! Agatha Christie is a notable writer, but this play in particular is one of her best known, and one of the best known theatre productions ever.

Also, I found this free excerpt about him on Google Books. -- Zanimum (talk) 01:09, 9 April 2014 (UTC)