Best Actor 1943
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Bruce_Lavigne
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I haven't seen Rooney.
Paul Lukas gives an actually respectable performance in Watch on the Rhine; a very human, very believable portrayal of heroism. An Oscar is, of course, too much - more a sign of the times than a sign of greatness. The play itself - which was extremely successful back then - isn't Lillian Hellman's finest, and her tendency towards a certain ideological simplicity is even more evident here than in her other plays, to the point of coming close to propaganda.
Casablanca is an infinitely more complex and more nuanced piece, and the same applies to Bogart's legendary turn as Rick.
Paul Lukas gives an actually respectable performance in Watch on the Rhine; a very human, very believable portrayal of heroism. An Oscar is, of course, too much - more a sign of the times than a sign of greatness. The play itself - which was extremely successful back then - isn't Lillian Hellman's finest, and her tendency towards a certain ideological simplicity is even more evident here than in her other plays, to the point of coming close to propaganda.
Casablanca is an infinitely more complex and more nuanced piece, and the same applies to Bogart's legendary turn as Rick.
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Mister Tee
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I'm already deep into preparing-Oscar-party mode, so this'll be briefer than usual.
I agree with the omittees people have most noted, especially Joseph Cotten.
Walter Pidgeon gets a second consecutive along-for-the-ride citation.
Alot of people mentioned, on the '43 supporting actress thread, how tough it is to get through For Whom the Bell Tolls. Having recently had it on during an afternoon I worked from home, I can vouch for that. Bergman and, in her hammy way, Paxinou are at least worth watching. Cooper, dull as dishwater.
When I was about 13 and first looking through the full list of Oscar winners, Paul Lukas' name stuck out like a sore thumb. Who was this nobody, somehow perched between Cooper/Cagney and Crosby/Milland? I thought it must be some sort of amazing performancce, but, no, it was just an "in the spirit of the times" heroic piece. Dullish film and performance.
Of course, in hindsight, the real spirit of the times was in Bogart's iconic performance. I watched about half of Casablanca on TCM last week, and reveled again in his deft line readings ("Occupation?" "Drunkard"), and his right-on-the-surface but never-dwelt-on pain. I more or less expected he'd triumph here...
...but I'm the one guy who voted for Mickey Rooney, and I'm glad to give him at least one vote, even though I could as easly have chosen Bogart. The Human Comedy is of a breed I'd have thought impossible to achieve -- a schmaltz masterpiece -- and Rooney is its soul. The speech BJ references, about all the things you learn in life being sad, is beautifully written and exquisitely delivered -- the centerpiece of a performance well beyond what I'd have ever expected from the annoying kid.
As I say, very close between the top two, but I may vote for Bogart elsewhere, so I'll put one on the board for the Mick here.
I agree with the omittees people have most noted, especially Joseph Cotten.
Walter Pidgeon gets a second consecutive along-for-the-ride citation.
Alot of people mentioned, on the '43 supporting actress thread, how tough it is to get through For Whom the Bell Tolls. Having recently had it on during an afternoon I worked from home, I can vouch for that. Bergman and, in her hammy way, Paxinou are at least worth watching. Cooper, dull as dishwater.
When I was about 13 and first looking through the full list of Oscar winners, Paul Lukas' name stuck out like a sore thumb. Who was this nobody, somehow perched between Cooper/Cagney and Crosby/Milland? I thought it must be some sort of amazing performancce, but, no, it was just an "in the spirit of the times" heroic piece. Dullish film and performance.
Of course, in hindsight, the real spirit of the times was in Bogart's iconic performance. I watched about half of Casablanca on TCM last week, and reveled again in his deft line readings ("Occupation?" "Drunkard"), and his right-on-the-surface but never-dwelt-on pain. I more or less expected he'd triumph here...
...but I'm the one guy who voted for Mickey Rooney, and I'm glad to give him at least one vote, even though I could as easly have chosen Bogart. The Human Comedy is of a breed I'd have thought impossible to achieve -- a schmaltz masterpiece -- and Rooney is its soul. The speech BJ references, about all the things you learn in life being sad, is beautifully written and exquisitely delivered -- the centerpiece of a performance well beyond what I'd have ever expected from the annoying kid.
As I say, very close between the top two, but I may vote for Bogart elsewhere, so I'll put one on the board for the Mick here.
I haven't seen Lukas, Pigeon, or Rooney, so I can't vote. I sincerely doubt I'd vote for anyone besides Humphrey Bogart. Why was Ingrid Bergman nominated for For Whom the Bell Tolls instead of Casablanca. It's been a while since I've seen the former, so I don't know if it's a better showcase.
"How's the despair?"
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Big Magilla
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Lukas won the New York Film Critics award - Bogart wasn't in contention as Casablanca had been a 1942 release in New York. It was on the National Board of Review's ten best list but Bogart wasn't one of the three actors and three actresses cited for acting - Lukas was. Lukas also won the first Golden Globe award. I'm not sure if Casablanca was under consideration for them.
The thing of it, though, is that the film's best picture win was a surprise - The Song of Bernadette had been the expected winner, but the extras who had a large voting block within the Academy loved the film - it had always been popular with the masses - and were generally credited with its win. Why that didn't carry over to Bogart, I don't know, but Lukas' performance was much admired. Like Bogart, he had been in films for a long time, and was playing what was for him a rare leading role. The extras liked that, too. They always held out hope that they, too, would be elevated to featured roles, if not leads, which is why they voted for Walter Brennan in three out the first five years of the supporting actor award. Brennan had been an extra, then a bit player before Come and Get It made him a household name.
The thing of it, though, is that the film's best picture win was a surprise - The Song of Bernadette had been the expected winner, but the extras who had a large voting block within the Academy loved the film - it had always been popular with the masses - and were generally credited with its win. Why that didn't carry over to Bogart, I don't know, but Lukas' performance was much admired. Like Bogart, he had been in films for a long time, and was playing what was for him a rare leading role. The extras liked that, too. They always held out hope that they, too, would be elevated to featured roles, if not leads, which is why they voted for Walter Brennan in three out the first five years of the supporting actor award. Brennan had been an extra, then a bit player before Come and Get It made him a household name.
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The Original BJ
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A weak field, IMO. Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt, Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident, and McCrea in The More the Merrier would have been stronger candidates than most of the actual nominees.
I could put ditto marks under everything I wrote about Walter Pidgeon last year and apply it to this year, adding that I think his husband in Madame Curie is even less interesting than his husband in Mrs. Miniver.
Gary Cooper was better last year as well -- for me, For Whom the Bell Tolls features the actor at his blandest, and the film is such a bore.
I can't fathom how Paul Lukas managed to win this award. While watching Watch on the Rhine, I kept waiting for him to do ANYTHING that would justify a nomination, let alone a trophy. Then he had that speech near the end of the movie, and I thought, okay, that was at least something. But enough for an Oscar? No way.
I usually have very little use for Mickey Rooney. But...I will admit that he was at the top of his game in The Human Comedy. The two moments that stand out to me are the "When a fella gets to learning about things, most of them are sad" speech, and that beautiful scene on the porch with the soldier at the end of the film. He gives a heartfelt, touching performance, but the role isn't so dominant, and besides, I can't vote for Mickey Rooney at his best when we have...
...Humphrey Bogart at his best on the ballot. I think he's WAY above the competition here, in a role with more memorable lines and moments than one could cite. And beyond his great, crackling hard-boiled line readings, he handles his character arc (from the "I stick my neck out for nobody" loner to the hero who values "beautiful friendships") with masterful skill, so that we see the way Rick changes, bit by bit, after Ilsa comes back into his life. How this iconic actor in this iconic movie lost to Lukas is beyond me. Even if one assumes the anti-Nazi message put Lukas over the edge...why wouldn't that have been a benefit to Bogart as well? Or were the complex shadings of Rick not clearly anti-Fascist enough for voters?
I could put ditto marks under everything I wrote about Walter Pidgeon last year and apply it to this year, adding that I think his husband in Madame Curie is even less interesting than his husband in Mrs. Miniver.
Gary Cooper was better last year as well -- for me, For Whom the Bell Tolls features the actor at his blandest, and the film is such a bore.
I can't fathom how Paul Lukas managed to win this award. While watching Watch on the Rhine, I kept waiting for him to do ANYTHING that would justify a nomination, let alone a trophy. Then he had that speech near the end of the movie, and I thought, okay, that was at least something. But enough for an Oscar? No way.
I usually have very little use for Mickey Rooney. But...I will admit that he was at the top of his game in The Human Comedy. The two moments that stand out to me are the "When a fella gets to learning about things, most of them are sad" speech, and that beautiful scene on the porch with the soldier at the end of the film. He gives a heartfelt, touching performance, but the role isn't so dominant, and besides, I can't vote for Mickey Rooney at his best when we have...
...Humphrey Bogart at his best on the ballot. I think he's WAY above the competition here, in a role with more memorable lines and moments than one could cite. And beyond his great, crackling hard-boiled line readings, he handles his character arc (from the "I stick my neck out for nobody" loner to the hero who values "beautiful friendships") with masterful skill, so that we see the way Rick changes, bit by bit, after Ilsa comes back into his life. How this iconic actor in this iconic movie lost to Lukas is beyond me. Even if one assumes the anti-Nazi message put Lukas over the edge...why wouldn't that have been a benefit to Bogart as well? Or were the complex shadings of Rick not clearly anti-Fascist enough for voters?
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca is arguably the most iconic performance in an American motion picture of all time. And it's not just iconic, it's a great performance. The many layers of Rick are exposed ever so carefully and thoughtfully, and his cynicism, romanticism, sense of humor, toughness, idealism and compassion are on viewed at different times but ultimately all combine into a magnificent whole. This is screen acting at its best. I can't even conceive of voting for someone else. (Bogie was also pretty damned fine in Sahara that year, as well.)
Pal Lukas was the major critical favorite in 1943 (Besides the NY Film Critics, he was also the first actor to win a Golde Globe.) He's as idealistic as Bogart in Casablanca, and he commands the screen but the performance is slightly dry. It doesn't excite one. It is hard to understand the acclaim for him back then, other than for the topicality of Watch on the Rhine and his character.
Mickey Rooney gives a lovely, uncharacteristically low-keyed performance in The Human Comedy. He brings a deeply moving sense of melancholia and kindness -- along with his patented charm -- to this uneven film about small-town America during the war.
Walter Pidgeon was perfectly cast last year in Mrs. Miniver. As Pierre Curie, not so much (but then neither was Miss Garson).
Because Ingrid Bergman is so fresh, so compelling, so glorious in For Whom The Bell Tolls, her unaffected brilliance makes Gary Cooper by comparison seem even more wooden than ever. A shame Paramount didn't borrow Henry Fonda from Fox or John Garfield from Warners for the role. (Or if they wanted to keep it within the home studio roster, Joel McCrea or Rod Cameron would have been vast improvements.)
My Own Top 5:
1. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
2. Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident
3. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy
4. Charles Laughton in This Land Is Mine
5. Joseph Cotten in Shadow of A Doubt
Pal Lukas was the major critical favorite in 1943 (Besides the NY Film Critics, he was also the first actor to win a Golde Globe.) He's as idealistic as Bogart in Casablanca, and he commands the screen but the performance is slightly dry. It doesn't excite one. It is hard to understand the acclaim for him back then, other than for the topicality of Watch on the Rhine and his character.
Mickey Rooney gives a lovely, uncharacteristically low-keyed performance in The Human Comedy. He brings a deeply moving sense of melancholia and kindness -- along with his patented charm -- to this uneven film about small-town America during the war.
Walter Pidgeon was perfectly cast last year in Mrs. Miniver. As Pierre Curie, not so much (but then neither was Miss Garson).
Because Ingrid Bergman is so fresh, so compelling, so glorious in For Whom The Bell Tolls, her unaffected brilliance makes Gary Cooper by comparison seem even more wooden than ever. A shame Paramount didn't borrow Henry Fonda from Fox or John Garfield from Warners for the role. (Or if they wanted to keep it within the home studio roster, Joel McCrea or Rod Cameron would have been vast improvements.)
My Own Top 5:
1. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
2. Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident
3. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy
4. Charles Laughton in This Land Is Mine
5. Joseph Cotten in Shadow of A Doubt
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Big Magilla
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Among the missing: Henry Fonda in The Ox=Bow Incident; Jseph Cotten in Shadow of a Doubt; Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier; Monty Woolley in Holy Matrimony.
Of the actual nominees, Walter Pidgeon is once again nominated for playing Greer Garson's leading man in ]i]Madame Curie[/i].
Gary Cooper get his third consecutive nomination for For Whom the Bell Tolls, a performance I didn't particularly care for.
Mickey Rooney is nominated for what was arguably his best screen performance in The Human Comedy and Paul Lukas wins recreating his Broadway triumph as an anti-Nazi in Watch on the Rhine, but the performance has has best stood the test of time is Humphrey Bogart's cynical bar owner Rick in Casablanca.
I voted for Bogie.
Of the actual nominees, Walter Pidgeon is once again nominated for playing Greer Garson's leading man in ]i]Madame Curie[/i].
Gary Cooper get his third consecutive nomination for For Whom the Bell Tolls, a performance I didn't particularly care for.
Mickey Rooney is nominated for what was arguably his best screen performance in The Human Comedy and Paul Lukas wins recreating his Broadway triumph as an anti-Nazi in Watch on the Rhine, but the performance has has best stood the test of time is Humphrey Bogart's cynical bar owner Rick in Casablanca.
I voted for Bogie.