Best Supporting Actor 1945

[Mister Tee]

was a teacher, not of the Chekhov method (there was no such thing) but of the Stanilsalvsky).

Well, the Stanislavsky method was more or less created for the original productions of Chekhov's plays, so I think everyone knew what you meant.

[Big Magilla]

Sometimes I post things in teh middle of the night without checking facts as is the casse with Michale Chekhov, who was Anton's nephew, and was a teacher, not of the Chekhov method (there was no such thing) but of the Stanilsalvsky). He was, however, not just a bit player in Hollywood films. I remember him quite well in three films that had a lot of TV exposure when I was growing up:

Specter of the Rose, directed by Ben Hecht, in which he outdoes Clifton Webb as a thinly disguised larcenous gay character.

Abie's Irish Rose, in which he plays the Jewish father.

Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven in a key supporting role along with James Dunn.

Dunn was a big star in the early 30s, particularly in Bad Girl, for which Frank Borzage won his second Best Director Oscar and those three Shirley Temple classics: Stand Up and Cheer; Baby, Take a Bow and Bright Eyes. His best late career role was probably as another alcholic in the quickly forgotten 1960 film, The Bramble Bush in support of Richard Burton, Barbara Rush, Jack Carson and Angie Dickinson.

[ITALIANO]

I also haven't seen A Medal for Benny, so I guess that I shouldn't vote, and I won't vote. Plus, even I'd find it difficult to choose between Robert Mitchum and James Dunn. Dunn has the better role, and does it well - but I don't think I've seen him in other movies, so I don't know if he was a consistently good actor. Mitchum, of course, became not only a star but also one of the most memorable "faces" of American cinema. The Story of G.I. Joe is a good war movie, and the young Mitchum is already solid in it.

John Dall was also young and promising, but had a very different, much less impressive career. It's not difficult to understand why. He's not bad in The Corn is Green, and he suggests - intentionally or not - a sort of inner torment which is good for the character he plays and for his development in the movie. But he seems unconfortable in front of the camera, and the camera, in turn, doesn't love him.

MIchael Checkhov was Anton's nephew, not son, and was one of those great European actors who had left their country because of the war and had found work - and respect - in the US. He had also been a friend of Stanislavsky's, and, like Stanislasky, an important acting teacher and theorist. His first wife was the legendary Olga Tschechowa, who also had an incredible life and later became one of the big stars of Nazi cinema (and, some say, Hitler's lover; others say that she was actually a Soviet spy in Germany). Because of their age and accent, these European actors could only have small roles in American movies, so one is grateful that the Academy gave Checkhov this nomination-tribute. He has a nice little part in Spellbound - a part he could have played in his sleep.

[Mister Tee]

I've been letting myself slide some on the "must see all nominees to vote" rule, but here I'm going to have to abstain, because I've never been able to track down A Medal for Benny. (If it was on in NY in the early 70s, as Damien remembers, it must have been during my away-at-college years) I don't really mind holding back my vote, because I'm not 100% sure for whom I'd cast a ballot.

When I first watched Spellbound, I spent the first half hour wondering if Michael Chekhov was that really wigged-out patient. Then, of course, it got later in the film, and it was obvious which actor it was -- he LOOKED like a Chekhov. I can't say I was especially impressed with his work, though. The nomination is plenty.

Speaking of wigged out: John Dall had a vaguely crazed look that served him well in Rope, Gun Crazy and (yes) Atlantis, of which I watched about half recently on TCM. But in The Corn is Green he just looks sort of uncomfortable. And I can't say the inspiration served up by Corn is much to my taste.

GI Joe (sometimes prefaced by The Story of) was long an elusive film for me -- I only finally caught it sometime in the past decade, and found it quite good. Robert Mitchum's nomination for the longest part of the running time seemed a mystery...but then in the final reel he got a strong scene all to himself. It is, of course, not a patch on what he delivered over the decades that followed. But this is the only time you can vote for his great career, so I'd be tempted.

The other temptation is James Dunn, who of course has a major Oscar-seeking role -- the equal parts lovable and pathetic drunken father. I feel like it's a performance right on the edge -- at moments I'm greatly moved by it, and at others I think he's just not that good an actor but getting by on the inherent pathos of the character. I certainly don't begrudge him this win, and might even be persuaded to vote for him. But it'd be a tough call between him and Mitchum.

For the moment, the absence of J. Carrol Naish enables me to defer that decision.

[Damien]

Michael Chekov's nomination is reminiscent of Abert Basserman's in 1940 -- a highly regarded emigre doing solid if unspectacular work in a Hitchcock movie.

John Dall was also solid in The Corn Is Green, perhaps not as charismatic as the role called for. He was a lot more entertaining in Rope and camping it up in Atlantis, The Lost Continent -- a childhood favorite of mine. Leo G. CArroll would have been a much better nominee from Spellbound.

J. Carroll Naish's performance was standard Latino impersonation stuff, but his character is actually quite affecting.

Robert Mitchum was one of the great screen actors and at the very least should have had Best Actor nominations for Night of the Hunter and Home From The Hill. that his performance in The Story of G.I.Joe brought him stardom and an Oscar nomination has always puzzled me -- he simply doesn't have much to do in the film. I guess his presence just made audiences stand up and take notice, whereas us those of us who were privileged to see another 40-50 years of his performances already had the benefit of knowing his work when we got around to seeing G.I.Joe.

I think the only possible choice is James Dunn for his lovely, wistful heart-breaking performance. He truly convinces as a dreamer and works perfectly with Dorothy McGuire's realist. That Dunn himself had a drinking problem that hurt his career makes the performance all the more moving.

My Own Top 5:
1. Henry Travers in The Bells Of St. Mary’s
2. Reginald Owen in Kitty
3. Charles Bickford in Fallen Angel
4. Leo G. Carroll in Spellbound
5. Edmund Lowe in Dillinger

[Reza]

Dunn is just wonderful, a heartbreaking performance in a movie I love more with every viewing.

I agree. In fact every member of the cast is superb.

My picks for 1945:

James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Walter Brennan, To Have and Have Not
Jack Carson, Mildred Pierce
Zachary Scott, Mildred Pierce
Lloyd Nolan, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

The 6th Spot: Dan Duryea, Scarlet Street

[Greg]

It appears that my views of the best of the 1940s is sometimes slightly off from the others here. I guess this probably continues in that I think Spellbound just edges out Notorious as my favorite Hitchcock film.

[rudeboy]

Have only seen Dunn and Chekhov so can't vote. Chekhov is enjoyable enough in a small, slight role but as Magilla already mentioned, Leo G. Carroll was surely the supporting actor in Spellbound deserving of recognition.

Dunn is just wonderful, a heartbreaking performance in a movie I love more with every viewing.

[Big Magilla]

James Dunn's daydreaming ne'er-do-well, but lovable, piano playing father who fritters his life away in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a richly textured lived-in performance. It was not a comeback per se as many think. Dunn had continued to make movies after his star faded in the wake of his early 30s successes in Bad Girl and the Shirley Temple films, but this was his first A film in some time. Although he would make several more films and become a fixture in the early days of television, this was his shining moment on screen and for once the Academy awarded the right actor for the right role.

Robert Mitchum's role of the young lieutenant, later captain, in The Story of G.I. Joe was his breakout role and properly noted with an Oscar nomination. It's shocking that he was never again nominated, and were it not for Dunn's heartwrenching performance would be an easy choice to win.

John Dall gives an earnest performance as the young Welsh student saved from a life in the coal mines by Bette Davis in The Corn Is Green and was deserving of his nomination.

Michael Chekhov was okay in Spellbound but his nomination was really because he was the son of Anton Chekhov and a famous acting teacher in his own right. Leo G. Carroll was the real standout in that film's supporting cast.

If I saw A Medal for Benny it was so many years ago that I have no recollection of it or J. Carrol Naish's performance.

Others that might have been considered: George Sanders in The Picture of Dorian Gray; Walter Brennan in To Have and Have Not and Howard Da Silva in The Lost Weekend.

[ksrymy]

I've only seen Spellbound and The Story of G.I. Joe so I can't vote although I'm tempted just to throw a vote at Mitchum since this was his only nomination.