Best Supporting Actor 1941

1927/28 through 1997

Best Supporting Actor 1941

Walter Brennan - Sergeant York
1
5%
Charles Coburn - The Devil and Miss Jones
1
5%
Donald Crisp - How Green Was My Valley
12
55%
James Gleason - Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1
5%
Sydney Greenstreet - The Maltese Falcon
7
32%
 
Total votes: 22

The Original BJ
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by The Original BJ »

Big Magilla wrote:Don't you think you're being a bit overly obsessive about this?
No.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Big Magilla »

The Original BJ wrote: I timed it -- Charles Coburn is absent from The Devil and Miss Jones for about a five minute chunk of scenes. If the movie were more well-known, I imagined he'd be cited as one of the all-time worst cases of category fraud, as he's the clear protagonist of the movie. But the performance is solid work, right in his wheelhouse of amusingly gruff father figures, if not so special a creation to choose as a winner even had it been in the correct category.
(Tangent: the rampant category fraud on display throughout the 2015 awards season really got my back up about this issue, and I decided, even in our little game here, I can no longer even grudgingly vote for performances that strike me as clearly miscategorized. So I went back and tweaked a few of my write-ups so I'm at least no longer on the record as a complete hypocrite.)
Don't you think you're being a bit overly obsessive about this? To me it's only category "fraud" if someone campaigns for, or is campaigned for, a nomination in a category that will give a better chance of winning.

Pre-1945, after the double nomination of Barry Fitzgerald the year before, there was no campaigning per se and Academy members selected the categories in which actors could/should be nominated. Generally speaking, a star was a star and a character actor was a supporting player. In the case of The Devil and Miss Jones, the film was billed as a starring vehicle for Jean Arthur. All other actors including second billed Robert Cummings and third billed Coburn were listed below the title. Personally I think Coburn's supporting nomination for The Green Years was more eyebrow-raising in that he was given top billing in that film.
The Original BJ
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by The Original BJ »

A fairly solid batch, though a couple of these movies could have double-dipped with nominees, as Peter Lorre and Roddy McDowell would have been hugely deserving as well.

Walter Brennan, wonderful character actor though he may be, just doesn't have a lot to do in Sergeant York, and the scenes he does have basically show off the same persona -- the lively, rural common man -- he does in countless other films. There are certainly more noteworthy places to enshrine him for more memorable versions of this shtick.

I timed it -- Charles Coburn is absent from The Devil and Miss Jones for about a five minute chunk of scenes. If the movie were more well-known, I imagined he'd be cited as one of the all-time worst cases of category fraud, as he's the clear protagonist of the movie. But the performance is solid work, right in his wheelhouse of amusingly gruff father figures, if not so special a creation to choose as a winner even had it been in the correct category.

(Tangent: the rampant category fraud on display throughout the 2015 awards season really got my back up about this issue, and I decided, even in our little game here, I can no longer even grudgingly vote for performances that strike me as clearly miscategorized. So I went back and tweaked a few of my write-ups so I'm at least no longer on the record as a complete hypocrite.)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a movie full of memorable character actors in good roles, and James Gleason is probably the standout of the supporting cast. He's a very charming confidant for Montgomery's character, and manages to create a recognizably human yet comic character without going too broad. Still, I don't think he makes quite as much of an impact as the other two nominees.

I see a good chunk of voters here have gone for Sydney Greenstreet, and I certainly wouldn't argue with that assessment. His Fat Man is a wonderfully malevolent presence, and it's not just his physical size that commands the screen every time he appears -- it's his determined sense of authority that casts a shadow over all of his scene partners, and the actor pulls this off while maintaining a cunning sense of black humor throughout. A very memorable performance, in a movie full of them.

But I'm going to say that this category is one How Green Was My Valley deserved to hold onto, for Donald Crisp's stern yet sensitive father. The actor does a wonderful job conveying both his character's resolute belief in the righteousness of his own ways, but also the way his deep affection for his family cracks through despite this. The great pain in his eyes when tragedy befalls his family, and his heartfelt final moment when it befalls him, mark this as a performance of great power and human feeling. He gets my vote.
FilmFan720
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by FilmFan720 »

Another category I can finally knock off.

I voted Donald Crisp for a touching performance in a lovely film. Sidney Greenstreet is an astonishing debut. Walter Brennan has some nice moments in Sergeant York, but is trapped in the half of the film that is difficult to slog through and never gets a great moment to separate this from his usual performance. I always like Charles Coburn, although The Devil and Miss Jones isn't one of his better vehicles. James Gleason is a great character actor, and it's nice he got a nomination.
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ITALIANO
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by ITALIANO »

Haven't seen Coburn and I don't remember Gleason well, so I can't vote - otherwise it'd be Sydney Greenstreet for me.
bizarre
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by bizarre »

I'm not incredibly well-versed in American film or acting showcases of the 40s but I must say I've always wondered why Herbert Marshall was ignored for his excellent work in The Little Foxes, especially in the decade of this category noticing veterans for one or two scenes.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Big Magilla »

Maybe that's becasue we don't think cotten was overlooked. :)
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Greg »

I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned as overlooked for a nomination Joseph Cotten in Citizen Kane.
Mister Tee
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Mister Tee »

I like this batch considerably more than the previous year's. The only semi-bummer is Walter Brennan, for, as has been said, a performance way below the standard he'd established and matched later in the decade. It's kind of sad, in general, that Howard Hawks, who made so many cool movies, should get his only Oscar attention for this backwoods buncombe.

The Devil and Miss Jones -- the rare film more obscure than its porn-title knock-off -- is an amusing enough proletarian comedy of the era, and Charles Coburn is fine. But, if you're going to vote for him (something about which I've not yet decided), the time to do it is two years hence.

James Gleason was always an enjoyable presence in film, and I think Damien pinpoints what makes his Here Comes Mr. Jordan work special: you always feel his complete allegiance to Montgomery's Joe even while he's going through comic contortions of befuddlement. A highly creditable nomination.

I see Donald Crisp is taking the crown here, but, as usual, Universe Ford remains alien to my temperament. I just don't respond all that well to gruff-but-loving-beneath-the-surface fathers, or to performances as dry/humor-lacking as this. Crisp had an admirable career, and it's fine he won, but he'd never win my heart.

As it happens, The Maltese Falcon was on TV this evening, and, as often happens, I found myself watching more of it than anticipated. Sydney Greenstreet just takes command when he appears (not an easy feat, with not only Bogart, but Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook hanging around all the time). His is a performance of great wit and controlled menace, which is altogether more up my alley than Ford's & Crisp's sentimental family vibe. An enthusiastic vote for Sydney Greenstreet.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Big Magilla »

dws1982 wrote:You aren't alone, Magilla. I'm working on a top 250 of all time (will probably post it here before too long) and How Green Was My Valley is my number six. Citizen Kane is somewhere in the thirties or forties, I think. Both amazing movies, of course. I voted for Donald Crisp--one of the best (the best?) winners ever in this category.
Cool. I'm working on my revised 250 list as well.

Crisp is certainly in my top five winners in this category, not quite sure if he's my number one, but he certainly comes close.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by dws1982 »

You aren't alone, Magilla. I'm working on a top 250 of all time (will probably post it here before too long) and How Green Was My Valley is my number six. Citizen Kane is somewhere in the thirties or forties, I think. Both amazing movies, of course. I voted for Donald Crisp--one of the best (the best?) winners ever in this category.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Reza »

My picks for 1941:

Donald Crisp, How Green Was My Valley
Roddy McDowall, How Green Was My Valley
Conrad Veidt, A Woman's Face
Edward Arnold, Meet John Doe
Sidney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon

The 6th Spot: Peter Lorre, The Maltese Falcon
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Damien »

Big Magilla wrote:I am one of the few, certainly the only one on this board, who thinks that How Green Was My Valley is a better film than Citizen Kane.
Big, I do think that Citizen Kane is the superior film, but How Green Was My Valley was close behind. And I've lost count of how many times I've said in interviews when asked about the best choice the Academy ever made for Best Picture: "Well, How Green Was My Valley is the greatest film ever to win Best Picture. It just wasn't the greatest picture of 1941."
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Big Magilla »

I am one of the few, certainly the only one on this board, who thinks that How Green Was My Valley is a better film than Citizen Kane. I can't top Damien's assessments of Donald Crisp in Valley and James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan so I won't try. Pity these two great performances were up against one another in the same year, but Crisp's is easily the superior one. Pity, too, that Sara Allgood didn't win the Supporting Actress award as the two complement each other so beautifully. It's downright scandalous that Roddy McDowall wan't nominated or at least given one of those juvenile Oscars for his towering performance as well.

James Gleason was also excellent this year in Meet John Doe. Walter Brennan was in that, too, more memorable than he was doing his backwoods schtick as the preacher in Sergeant York, but not award worthy in either.

Charles Coburn was terrific in The Devil and Miss Jones but he would be more so in The More the Merrier for which he was rightfully awarded his own Oscar two years hence.

Sydney Grenestreet made an interesting urbane villain in The Maltese Falcon but he was a decided also-ran in my book.

Others of note this year: Herbert Marshall in The Little Foxes; Nigel Bruce in Suspicion; Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook, Jr. in The Maltese Falcon and Conrad Veidt in A Woman's Face.
Last edited by Big Magilla on Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1941

Post by Damien »

Walter Brennan has very little to do other than his patented rustic bit (one could say this was a dry run for his work on the long-running TV show The Real McCoys) so he easily gets the boot. Ironically, he did give an award-worthy performance in 1941, but it was in Jean Renoir's Swamp Water. Who could have guessed at the time this would mark the end of Brennan's Oscar involvement, especially with his superior work in To Have And Have Not, My Darling Clementine and Red River still to come?

Charles Coburn's gruff-exterior-covering-a-heart-of-gold act is pretty wearisome. I much prefer him when he really uses his porcine features and shows a dark side, most notably as Bette Davis's loathsome lecherous, incestuous uncle in In This Our Life. He gets no consideration from me this year.

Sydney Greenstreet created a memorable figure in The Maltese Falcon, and his urbane villainy is quite effective. There's not a whole lot of range or depth to the character though, so he must fall by the wayside.

James Gleason was a wonderful character actor, always a warm addition to a movie. I'm glad the thin little Irishman received an Oscar nomination, and his mixture of devotion to Robert Montgomer's character and utter befuddlement is delightful. He makes a very nice runner-up.

But for me there can only be one choices. Donald Crisp gives a performance of such power and grace, effortlessly conveying deep love and affection for his family and gentle strength as to create one of the most indelible screen fathers ever. A beautiful characterization and a great choice by the Academy.

My Own Top 5:
1. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley
2. Laird Cregar in I Wake Up Screaming
3. Roddy McDowall in How Green Was My Valley
4. Walter Brennan in Swamp Water
5. Edward Arnold in Meet John Doe
Last edited by Damien on Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:43 am, edited 2 times in total.
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