Monday 11 June 2012

Alternate Best Actor 1971

And the Nominees Were Not:

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry

Michael Caine in Get Carter

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange

Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs
I will be reviewing five performance from a year that are either considered to be among the five best of the year, as well as one's considered iconic or very memorable in regards to an actor's filmography. These will not necessarily all be good or great performances just notable one's for the year in question. I will perhaps even throw in a terrible performance on occasion as long as it is extremely risky, the only type of performance I want  to avoid is a phoned in boring one.

So for the first year I will take a look at performances of five men portraying not exactly the most hinged of characters. Feel free to predict the ranking as well as if any of them will unseat Gene Hackman for the French Connection, if you accurately predict my ranking of just the five you can request the next year i do, just make sure it is in a different decade, as well one performance you would like to review for that year.

35 comments:

GradyTripp said...

Wow, great idea! I was hoping you'd figure out a way to continue writing this blog.

My prediction:

1 McDowell
2 Wilder
3 Caine
4 Eastwood
5 Hoffman

(Well, this is how I would rank them myself. And this comes from someone who gives Hoffman five wins...)

Anonymous said...

Fun idea!

Gene Wilder is a lot of (semi-creepy, at least for me) fun here, and Malcolm McDowell is sufficiently offputting. I don't know jack about Get Carter or Straw Dogs, but here goes:

1. Caine
2. McDowell
3. Hoffman
4. Wilder
5. Eastwood

Anonymous said...

Nice idea Louis? I hope you do Hackman in The Conversation for 74 sometime

RatedRStar said...

Louis I could kiss you =) haha its a great idea, people who never got nominated like Peter Lorre and Fred Macmurray finally have their moment to shine. I reckon McDowell will win this.

1.Malcolm McDowell
2.Michael Caine
3.Gene Wilder
4.Clint Eastwood
5.Dustin Hoffman

Anonymous said...

Great idea Louis.

My predictions are

1) Malcolm McDowell
2) Gene Wilder
3) Michael Caine
4) Clint Eastwood
5) Dustin Hoffman

moviefilm said...

An idea is funny. Here is my predictions:
1) Malcolm McDowell
2) Gene Wilder
3) Michael Caine
4) Clint Eastwood
5) Dustin Hoffman

Anonymous said...

Great idea to keep the blog going! :D

1. McDowell
2. Caine
3. Eastwood
4. Hoffman
5. Wilder

Michael Patison said...

I'd guess:
1. McDowell
2. Caine
3. Wilder
4. Eastwood
5. Hoffman

RatedRStar said...

What if 2 people guess the correct prediction Louis?

Louis Morgan said...

They can each request a year and a performance.

Edward L. said...

A great idea! It's going to be fun reading these.

For 1971 I've seen four out of five (everyone except Caine). Here are my rankings:

1. Eastwood
2. McDowell
3. Wilder
4. Hoffman
5. Caine

Robert MacFarlane said...

A shot in the dark, but...

1. Eastwood
2. Caine
3. Wilder
4. McDowell
5. Hoffman

Lezlie said...

This is great! :)
I hope McDowell wins.

Anonymous said...

1. Malcolm McDowell
2. Clint Eastwood
3. Dustin Hoffman
4. Michael Caine
5. Gene Wilder

Of the nominees, who would you remove from the list?


Eddie

Louis Morgan said...

Eddie: Well I will rank them all at the end to show who my top five would be.

Lezlie said...

This is great! :)

I hope McDowell wins, but somehow I think you won't give him the first spot. My guess:

1. Clint Eastwood
2. Malcolm McDowell
3. Gene Wilder
4. Michael Caine
5. Dustin Hoffman

Paul_Dickinson said...

IMHO 1971 is a great year.
Other performances I really likes are:
- Nicholson in "Carnal Knowlende"
- Gian Maria Volonté in "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion" (was nominated this year for original Screenplay)
- Alberto Sordi in "In Prison Awaiting Trial"
- Al Pacino in "Panic in Needle Park"

Michael Patison said...

Two other performances that you could've considered this year would be Bud Cort in Harold and Maudconic iconic movie and performance to at least some extent, and Warren Beatty in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, almost definitely his best performance as I feel he doesn't really on his arguably existent charisma very much at all.

Louis Morgan said...

I considered those two as well as Jack Nicholson, Hoffman took the open spot because I thought I might as well keep with the theme of unstable potentially violent men, and yes Willy Wonka definitely is unstable and potentially violent as well.

GradyTripp said...

I wonder: did you consider Dirk Bogarde for "Death in Venice"? He's #4 in my personal line-up for 1971. (It goes: 1 McDowell, 2 Scott, 3 Hackman, 4 Bogarde, 5 Wilder, 6 Caine, 7 Cort, 8 Beatty, 9 Sutherland, 10 Nicholson.)

Louis Morgan said...

Well I'll say this just because I am doing these five that does not mean I am done I very well could come back later doing Cort, Nicholson, Bogarde, Beatty, and someone else from the large group of actors still remaining even after four more.

Michael Patison said...

I totally agree that Wilder is absolutely a potentially unstable character. I was just asking if you had considered them before choosing the final five you did. I can't really argue with any of the performances you chose, but it wouldn't matter anyway because it's your blog. Anyway, you're doing an awesome job and I hope that you keep doing it for a long time.

Anonymous said...

No Dirk Bogarde for Morte a Vanezia makes me sad =/

Louis Morgan said...

Michael: That wasn't directed toward you that was just preemptive in case anyone called me out on Wonka.

Unknown said...

Hey bro who wud u say if u top 5 actors of the 1970s and the top 5 movies of the same decade

Unknown said...

And wat do u think deserved best picture for 1971 I say last picture show or a clockwork orange

Louis Morgan said...

Sorry about the late response.

Actors:

1. Robert Shaw
2. Jack Nicholson
3. Gene Hackman
4. Al Pacino
5. Clint Eastwood

Films:

1. Jaws
2. Apocalypse Now
3. Alien
4. Chinatown
5. The Conversation

A Clockwork Orange for picture.

Unknown said...

It's ok and nice picks

Unknown said...

Wat wud be ur next 5 favorites of actors and films for the 70s

Louis Morgan said...

Actors:

6. Robert De Niro
7. John Cazale
8. Gene Wilder
9. Michael Caine
10. Max von Sydow

Films:

6. Badlands
7. A Clockwork Orange
8. 10 Rillington Place
9. The Godfather Part II
10. The Godfather

Unknown said...

U prefer the 2nd godfather over the 1st may I ask why just want to no

Louis Morgan said...

I find the story a bit more dynamic and I particularly love the story of the two remaining brothers.

Unknown said...

Wat wud u say who deseerved best director for each yr from 1970-1979

Louis Morgan said...

Out of the Nominees:

1970: Franklin K. Schaffner - Patton
1971: Stanley Kubrick - A Clockwork Orange
1972: Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather
1973: William Friedkin - The Exorcist
1974: Roman Polanksi - Chinatown
1975: Milos Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoos's Nest
1976: Alan J. Pakula - All The President's Men
1977: George Lucas - Star Wars
1978: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter
1979: Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now

Overall:

1970: David Lean - Ryan's Daughter
1971: Stanley Kubrick - A Clockwork Orange
1972: Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather
1973: Terrence Malick - Badlands
1974: Roman Polanksi - Chinatown
1975: Steven Spielberg - Jaws
1976: Alan J. Pakula - All The President's Men
1977: George Lucas - Star Wars
1978: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter
1979: Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now

Unknown said...

Louis wat wud u say r the top 5 best yrs overall for movies and top 5 overall for acting performances