Over the past couple of weeks I have re-watched Citizen Kane, Sink the Bismarck, Seven Samurai, Gone with the Wind and Sunset Boulevard.
While I think the stories, cinematography and characters in these films are all first rate, the one thing that I have noticed which bugs me is the theatrical “over-acting” by many of the actors. I’ve come to the conclusion that this was just the established acting style for that time period since so many actors of that time came from either a stage or silent film background.
You are likely right for US film. The watershed in acting in the West was the exposure of the fledgling US film industry to Russian 'method' acting in the 1930s. Prior to the method, the direct translation of acting skills displayed in moving pictures was necessarily from the stage. Brando for example was notable because he was a method actor.
For foreign films such as Kurosawa's, which are post-WWII, he was evoking stylization even as he was inserting realism. When Mifune's character hams it up it's to contrast his other, darker aspects. His performances are often forgotten aside from the most well known Kurosawa films. Have you seen 'Sword of Doom'? Mifune is also fine in Inagaki's 'Samurai' trilogy of films.
