1936-1947 Best Supporting Actor Winners

[Mister Tee]

This is a pretty solid group, and it wasn't easy making a choice.

The Academy's over-generosity makes it necessary to deal with the whole Walter Brennan thing. As I see it, his first win was well within the range of justifiability, and his last (and most griped-about), for The Westerner, is flat-out deserving. It's the Kentucky one that really screws the pooch, and makes everyone view Brennan's entire Oscar run as mere pandering by the extras -- he not only wasn't close to John Garfield that year, he wasn't even especially worthy of nomination. If I were picking him for any of them, it'd be The Westerner. But this embarrassment of riches slate leads me to other candidates.

Joseph Schildkraut is the only other one I give no consideration. I've watched the movie multiple times, and can never find any reason why he'd win the category.

I can't get as enthusiastic as some of you about Crisp. It's solid work from a dependable veteran, but it doesn't shine extra-bright, for me.

On the other hand (and again, in disagreement with many here), I DO find Van Heflin a complete standout in Johnny Eager -- his character is far and away the most interesting part of the otherwise humdrum Johnny Eager.

But so many of these guys are terrific, even if I wouldn't have voted for them in their particular years. I'd have gone with Richard Widmark for Kiss of Death, but how can you not love Edmund Gwenn's Kris Kringle? Harold Russell is immensely moving -- even though Claude Rains/Notorious would have been my choice that year.

But still there's more. Thomas Mitchell was indelible in Stagecoach (and his other 1939 roles were pretty damn impressive, as well). Charles Coburn was at his estimable best in The More the Merrier. James Dunn broke the heart in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

But I'll go for someone no else here has chosen, for a movie I seem to like way more than most: Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way. Absolute perfection.

[Reza]

Heflin's performance was at best, OK. My favorite young actor in a supporting role that year was the non-nominated Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons.

I absolutely love Henry Travers in Mrs Miniver and find it a miracle he was nominated. His face-off with Dame May Whitty is one of many tiny delights in this film. I'm glad the Academy noticed his presence amongst all the big leading and supporting stars in the film.

[Big Magilla]

Crisp for sure for me, but Gwenn, Coburn, and Dunn were letter perfect as well. Mitchell by virtue of his overall performances in 1939 was also quite deserving. I appreciated Fitzgerald's performance, but Clifton Webb was so much better and both Webb in The Razor's Edge and Claude Rains was in Notorious out-acted Russell whose special award should have been enough.

Brennan did deserve his 1940 Oscar, but not the earlier two, though a case could be made for Morgan who should have at least received nomiantions for both The Mortal Storm and The Human Comedy three years later.

I like Schildkraut, but I liked Roland Young and Ralph Bellamy more.

Heflin's performance was at best, OK. My favorite young actor in a supporting role that year was the non-nominated Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons.

[mlrg]

If Clifton Webb had won for Laura he would get my vote. Otherwise, I choose Crisp.

[Reza]

Shouldabeens:

1936: Eugene Pallette, My Man Godfrey
1937: Edward Arnold, Easy Living
1938: John Garfield, Four Daughters
1939: John Barrymore, Midnight
1940: Frank Morgan, The Mortal Storm
1941: Donald Crisp, How Green Was My Valley
1942: Rudy Vallée, The Palm Beach Story
1943: Claude Rains, Casablanca
1944: Clifton Webb, Laura
1945: James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
1946: Harold Russell, Best Years of Our Lives
1947: Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street

Of my winners corresponding with the Academy's winner's list - Crisp, Dunn, Russell, Gwenn - my vote easily goes to Crisp.

[Big Magilla]

As with supporting actresses, the two winners at the end of the first decade are included with the ten from the second here.

Aside from the ridiculous three awards for Walter Brennan in the first five years of the award, these were all solid winners.

Brennan, of course, won all those awards because of then Academy president Frank Capra opening up the voting to extras who stacked the deck in favor of one of their own, former extra Brennan.

Schildkraut as the tragic Capt. Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola, Heflin in his breakthrough performance in Johnny Eager, and non-actor Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives, as brilliant as they were, can be considered also-rans in this lofty competition.

Mitchell's performance in Stagecoach was the best of five memorable performances he gave in some of the year's best films, the others being those in Only Angels Have Wings, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Gone with the Wind.

Donald Crisp gave the performance of his long career as the patriarch of the coalmining family in How Green Was My Valley.

Charles Coburn was at his affable best as the merry matchmaker in The More the Merrier.

Barry Fitzgerald's cranky old priest in Going My Way was so popular that he was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same performance, causing an immediate rule change beginning the next year.

Edmund Gwenn was Santa Claus from 1947 to the present for every child discovering the Miracle on 34th Street for the first time.

So, who was best or most deserving?