Best Actor 1949

[Big Magilla]

Alec Guinness was an absolute riot in 'Kind Hearts and Coronets.' Extremely well-acted and the pioneer role(s) that Eddie Murphy would expound on in 'Bowfinger' and 'The Nutty Professor.' Superbly-acted.

True, but Kind Hearts and Coronets was a 1950 release in L.A. and thus not eligible for 1949 Oscar consideration.

[ksrymy]

This was a tough pick for me but I went with Kirk Douglas in 'Champion.' Absolutely riveting.

John Wayne's performance was good but not anywhere near deserving of an Oscar.

Broderick Crawford was good but I don't feel his performance was worthy of the Academy Award.

My personal list would be
_______________________________
Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men
Kirk Douglas - Champion
ALEC GUINNESS - KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS
Toshiro Mifune - Shizukanaru ketto
Edward G. Robinson - House of Strangers

Alec Guinness was an absolute riot in 'Kind Hearts and Coronets.' Extremely well-acted and the pioneer role(s) that Eddie Murphy would expound on in 'Bowfinger' and 'The Nutty Professor.' Superbly-acted.

[Damien]

If John Wayne had been nominated for She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, he would have been an easy choice. It's probably his best performance, certainly his most deeply felt and affecting. But, no, he was nominated for Sand of Iwo Jima -- he's good, but not good enough to merit an Oscar.

Of the nominees, I go with Kirk Douglas for his dynamic, unflinching performance. He superbly convey's the hunger and rage of his character, and he and the film are also to be congratulated for making that character unlikable but understandable.

Richard Todd is fine in The Hasty Heart, but the arc of his character is too schematic to be convincing.

Broderick Crawford is perfectly serviceable in All The King's Men, but it's a surface performance (just as the movie itself is completely superficial). I preferred him in his dumb mug comic performances (such as Larceny, Inc. and the following year in Born Yesterday), and his later tough guy work in Phil Karlson's terrific Scandal Sheet and Andre de Toth's magnificent western, Last of The Comanches. Gregory Peck is stolid in the Gregory Peck way and doesn't really put across the supposed anguish his character is feeling.

My Own Top 5:

1. John Wayne in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
2. James Mason in Caught and The Reckless Moment
3. Van Heflin in Madame Bovary and East Side, West Side
4. Joseph Cotten in Under Capricorn
5. Edward G. Robinson in House of Strangers



Edited By Damien on 1300514789

[ITALIANO]

SO fake - both the movie and his performance.

[Big Magilla]

The Hasty Heart may be old-fashioned, but it was still potent as late as 1983 when it was revived on TV with excellent performances by Gregory Harrison in Todd's role, Cheryl Ladd in Patricia Neal's and Perry King in Ronald Reagan's.

Todd's performance is excellent and led to a long and steady career that took him well into his doltage.

[dws1982]

I like The Hasty Heart more than most here seem to. Haven't seen it in a few years, but Vincent Sherman gives a mediocre play a lot more conviction and resonance than another hack from Warner Brothers would have. It's not on the level of his masterpiece, Nora Prentiss, but few films are. I like Richard Todd in it, and I think he's in the right category. (Supporting would be Anthony Nicholls's small but excellent performance.)

If John Wayne were nominated for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon instead of The Sands of Iwo Jima, it would be easy. Broderick Crawford is fine in All the King's Men, but a nomination seems like enough. Ditto Kirk Douglas in Champion. I'll vote Gregory Peck here. I think it's an excellent performance, and I'm also not sure that I'll vote for him for his next nomination.

My picks:
1- John Wayne, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
2- David Farrar, The Small Back Room
3- John Ireland, I Shot Jesse James
4- Chishu Ryu, Late Spring
5- Joseph Cotten, Under Capricorn

[Reza]

Was White Heat any kind of serious contender? I see it has a Motion Picture Story nomination, but that doesn't mean a ton as half the films nominated in that category I have never heard of.

If White Heat was nominated then Cagney must surely have been a contender. Actually this film was the best of the bunch nominated and should have won for Motion Picture Story instead of The Stratton Story. And surely Margaret Wycherly, as Cagney's mother, deserved a nod.



Edited By Reza on 1300482456

[Sabin]

I have not seen enough to respond. I would like to see Champion and Sands of Iwo Jima at some point, but I've no interest in The Hasty Heart. I vaguely recall plot details of All the King's Men and Twelve O'Clock High. I don't care much for this race.

Was White Heat any kind of serious contender? I see it has a Motion Picture Story nomination, but that doesn't mean a ton as half the films nominated in that category I have never heard of.

[ITALIANO]

Richard Todd had a cute face and maybe some talent, too, but his mechanically sentimental performance in that tearjerker The Hasty Heart (the drama equivalent of a dinosaur) is easily the worst of these five.

And while I can understand why John Wayne would be nominated, years later, for True Grit, this early nod for a performance which isn't worse but certainly isn't better than other typical Wayne performances of this period is kind of puzzling.

My problem with Twelve O'Clock High is simple - I can't remember most of it. I guess I saw it when I was too young. Dean Jagger, for example, has completely vanished from my memory (I'll try to see the movie again before we get to Supporting Actors). I do remember Gregory Peck's tormented character though - by far his best early performance, and his first mature one. But I will vote for him next time, of course.

As far as boxing movies go, Champion is definitely tougher and more biting than this year's mysteriously praised The Fighter. Fast moving, terse, compact, not one word that isn't necessary - I mean, this admittedly has never been "my" kind of movie, but now I look back at its qualities and I realize that I miss them. And Kirk Douglas, while never an actor one could feel much "affection" for, is perfect for this role.

Broderick Crawford's best performance - a great performance actually - would be in a little-known Fellini movie called Il Bidone (aka The Swindlers). Co-star Franco Fabrizi used to tell me that during the shooting Crawford was always so completely drunk that he could barely stand on his feet. They were worried about him and about the movie itself, which totally depends on Crawford's character, and then they were relieved and surprised when the final result was so unexpectedly great. Drunk or not, Crawford could be an excellent actor; he's wonderful in the movie, a touching and unusual mix of cynicism and humanity. (The worst actor to win an Oscar? Jamie Foxx I guess). His Willie Stark isn't as complex, but still a memorable creation. And my pick, certainly.

[Big Magilla]

Unless I've forgotten something, Peck's win the following year was the first and only time the New York Film Critics gave one of their prizes to someone in a film who had been nominated for that performance the prior year.

I believe Jack Nicholson's 1974 win was a tie between his two performances in Chinatown and The Last Detail, the latter of which had of course LA-qualified for the Oscar the previous year.

Of course, just as Peck's win had also been for The Gunfighter.

[Mister Tee]

Unless I've forgotten something, Peck's win the following year was the first and only time the New York Film Critics gave one of their prizes to someone in a film who had been nominated for that performance the prior year.

I believe Jack Nicholson's 1974 win was a tie between his two performances in Chinatown and The Last Detail, the latter of which had of course LA-qualified for the Oscar the previous year.

[Mister Tee]

Other non-nominees I'd mention would be John Dall in Gun Crazy and Juano Hernandez in Intruder in the Dust -- though the latter is probably closer to supporting. And, yes, Ralph Richardson in lead for The Fallen Idol.

Of the nominees:

I know all revisionism tells me I'm supposed to think John Wayne was actually a great actor, but he's just not to my taste, and most especially not in Sands of Iwo Jima.

Richard Todd is, I suppose, OK, but hobbled by the corniness of his role and vehicle. Someone once wrote that when critics around this time proclaimed South Pacific such a strong drama it could have been performed without its music, they were actually indicting the mediocrity of all the non-Williams/Miller plays of the era. The Hasty Heart, with its easy moralizing and sappy sentimentality, is a prime example.

The other three are all worthy entrants.

I can't say Kirk Douglas' style of acting was ever my favorite, but Champion is probably the best of his three nominations.

I've mentioned in previous years that I only endorse two of Gregory Peck's five nominations, and Twelve O'Clock High is definitely one of those two. It's a relatively complex role for a WWII lookback so soon after the war. Both the script and Peck make us see the distance that has to apply between a commander and the men he sends off to potentially die -- as well as the psychic cost such a job takes on that commander. Had Peck finally won here, I don't think many would have complained.

But Broderick Crawford did, in my view, give the most impressive performance of the year. This is not to endorse his career as a whole, which was undistinguished at best. I think Crawford may be the worst actor to ever win the top Oscar and actually deserve it. Obviously it's mostly the perfect fit he has with the role of Willie Stark, but for me there's just no denying his dynamism and the pent-up rage he embodies for all the hicks who otherwise had no voice. All the King's Men isn't as good a film as it was thought to be in 1949 -- it really sinks into melodrama by the final reel -- but the two Oscar-winning performers, Crawford and McCambridge, fully live up to their real-time reputations. Crawford gets my vote easily.

[Reza]

I recently reviewed All the KIng's Men after almost 20 years and was surprised to discover that Crawford is very good. Voted for him.

My picks for 1949:

Broderick Crawford, All the King's Men
Ralph Richardson, The Fallen Idol
James Cagney, White Heat
Kirk Douglas, Champion
James Mason, Caught



Edited By Reza on 1300515294

[Big Magilla]

All the King's Men was the film of the moment and the Best Picture winner so Broderick Crawford's win for Best Actor isn't suprising even if he arguably didn't give the year's bet performance.

That said, I really don't have a problem with any of the nominees, although John Wayne's nomination should have been for She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, not Sands of Iwo Jima.

There should have been room for James Cagney in White Heat either in place of Kirk Douglas in Champion or by moving Richard Todd in The Hasty Heart to the supporting ranks.

Whichever category you place Tood in, though, he comes in second in my book to either Gregory Peck in Twelve O'Clock High in lead or Raph Richardson in The Heiress in support.

Peck's best character might be Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, but his best perforamcne was as the young shell-shcoked air force general in Twelve O'Clock High.

A bit of trivia:

Unless I've forgotten something, Peck's win the following year was the first and only time the New York Film Critics gave one of their prizes to someone in a film who had been nominated for that performance the prior year, Twelve O'Clock High, along with The Hasty Heart and My Foolish Heart not having opened in New York until 1950. New York got Adam's Rib instead, which did not become Oscar eligible until the following year.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1300418908