Wednesday 23 March 2011

Best Actor 1961: Results

5. Charles Boyer in Fanny- Boyer is fine enough but his role is too small and simple for him to accomplish all that much.
4. Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg- Tracy gives a quietly affecting portrayal of a man quietly coming to grips with a terrible situation. 
3. Maximilian Schell in Judgment At Nuremberg- Schell's performance is a triumph of so powerfully presenting on the wrong side of an issue.
2. Paul Newman in The Hustler- An absolutely terrific performance, where Newman really creates a fascinating original character in Fast Eddie Felson. Newman never goes the easy way with his character, always going for instead a complex and creative character.
1. Stuart Whitman in The Mark- This one was extremely close for me, and much harder to choose than I expected it to be, before I watched the Mark. Whitman though completely threw me off with his extremely powerful complex performance of a deeply troubled man trying to change his life. I will say I do not think Whitman is better Newman, they are both equally great, but the nature of the award is choosing one, and for the moment I will choose Whitman. This is a year though where I am sure my choice could easily go back forth, because both create such memorable and powerful portraits of two incredibly unique characters.
Deserving Performances:
Open to Suggestions.

7 comments:

dshultz said...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! NEWMAN!!!!!!
Oh well.
Now I really have to see "The Mark".

Oh, you should do 1980 Best Actor for your next year.

Anonymous said...

Yes It will be extremely hard to pick.

dshultz said...

Sage: by "It", do you mean the contestants of 1980?

dinasztie said...

Wow, this year seems to be interesting. I knew after a while that Whitman would win but I haven't seen him, he must be fantastic. Do you have a link to the movie, possibly?

Fritz said...

I haven't seen Whitman but it sounds surely interesting!

Louis Morgan said...

Dinasztie:No, I rented the Dvd.

Anonymous said...

Interesting choice. I haven't seen The Mark and Newman is my current choice, so I guess I'll to find a way to see Whitman. How do you feel about Mastroianni in La dolce vita or Gable in The Misfits as alternates?