Tags
James Garner, Mariette Hartley, Murphy's Romance, nostalgia, Polaroid commercials, The Great Escape, The Rockford Files
The loss of James Garner has left me nostalgic for the Polaroid ads he did with Mariette Hartley in the late 70s. As a girl, I used to enjoy his sexy, slightly grumpy Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files (Maverick was a bit before my time). My heart went out to kind, handsome “Hendley the Scrounger” when his stolen airplane crashed in The Great Escape.
A stunning James Garner at the peak of his gorgeousness, filming “The Great Escape” with Steve McQueen (1963). Click for source.
In Murphy’s Romance, I wondered why on earth Sally Field would have anything to do with her jackass ex-husband when gorgeous older man James Garner was right there, waiting for her to recognize his manly virtues. I cried watching Garner’s portrayal of the sweet, devoted husband in The Notebook.
But he had such amazing chemistry with Mariette Hartley… people were utterly convinced that they were married in real life! They made 250 commercials together. As Michael Phillips said, they were the Beatrice and Benedick of the ad world.
Farewell, Beautiful Man! There will always be a brilliant Polaroid instamatic photo of you in my heart!
Linnet Moss 
Thank you for the post Linnet! I’ve heard today James Garner’s voice for the first time, and it was so beautiful. Dubbing is a curse… 😦
Yes, he had a beautiful voice. I had to laugh at your comment about dubbing. Ciarán Hinds made a movie called Il Tempo dell’amore, and I have only been able to obtain a dubbed version. The actor playing him has a voice about one octave higher than his, and the effect is ridiculous! (The Long-Suffering Husband was highly amused by this.) I ended up watching it as a silent movie.
Wonderfully said. I had never seen these ads but was a ‘big little girl’ Rockford Files appreciator. The Great Escape rocked. Sayonara Beautiful Man.
Makes me want to watch some old episodes of the Files! Mariette Hartley is still alive by the way. She is 74 now.
Oh, he was so adorable in The Notebook!
Yes, what a great role for him! He was 76 when that came out!