Alternate Best Actor 1935: Edward G. Robinson in The Whole Town's Talking and Results

Edward G. Robinson did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Arthur Ferguson Jones and "Killer" Mannion in The Whole Town's Talking.

The Whole Town's Talking is a rather enjoyable screwball comedy about a mild mannered clerk being mistaken for a hard edged gangster.

The Whole Town's Talking offers Edward G. Robinson the chance to go far out of his type, but also play right into it. The out of it type is in the role of the clerk Arthur Ferguson Jones whose main worry at the beginning of the film is just getting to work on time. As usual Robinson proves his measure in yet another type of role here. I've covered him in somewhat meek roles before in his film noirs with Fritz Lang, but this is step away from those roles even. Robinson isn't just meek here he's hilariously meek. Robinson's great though in that he's not playing a guy who is pained in any way due to his modest nature, it's just the way he is. Robinson is delightful in throwing himself fully into playing the role to a tee with every little mannerisms, from his slight smile, to his unassuming physical posture, that just emphasize how much of a harmless man Jones is. There's even a particularly enjoyable scene early on where Jones attempts to fashion a more normalized Edward G. Robinson look, and Robinson is great in portraying Jones awkwardly attempting to contort his face into his normal gangster expression. Robinson though is wonderful though by just how endearing he makes everything about Jones, in just how earnest his depiction of every one of those mannerisms are. There's nothing difficult about them in Robinson's approach, they just are the normal behavior of this sweet clerk.

Unfortunately for Jones he happens to look just like the gangster "Killer" Mannion, which leads him to be arrested early on though eventually released when the mix up discovered. Now after some rather amusing moments from Robinson depicting first an abject terror then an abject joy due to first the mix up then random boons due to the mix up we run into Robinson's second performance. The evil Killer Mannion first appearing deep in shadow there at Jones's apartment to exploit the mix up for himself in order to commit crimes more easily. Now Robinson obviously should be more comfortable as Mannion given this sort of role is how he became a star to begin with, and to be sure he's very comfortable in the role, however this isn't just a copy of Little Caesar here. Robinson actually purposefully overplays the role a tad, in a good way, in that he sort of does a Edward G. Robinson parody type of gangster performance as Mannion. This could be a bit much, but it's just right for the tone of the film. You of course have to still take him seriously as Robinson is always menacing whenever he wishes to be, yet he keeps Mannion from being a downer on the fun by accentuating his typical mannerisms a tad. Robinson finds the right balance as he does make Mannion a genuine threat, yet he's still funny as well by being such an obvious gangster even when he's pretending to be Jones.

Many of the highlight scenes of the film are of Robinson acting against Robinson, this being a fairly early example of the single actor sharing chemistry with himself. He has a real way of acting terrifying while acting terrified at the same time, or acting vicious and gentle at the same time. Robinson has a great deal of fun in every one of these scenes developing a rather amusing dynamic with himself as Mannion misuses the poor clerk. Eventually though the best Robinson scene though does come alone when the meek Jones must pretend to be the tough gangster in order to save himself and his friends. Robinson is sort of outstanding in this sequence as he effectively portrays a struggle just to play his usual part in a most entertaining fashion. The best part being without a doubt when Jones has to brandish a Tommy gun himself and fires at Mannion's henchmen. Robinson is downright hilarious in portraying Jones almost crying as he shoots the gun, and wrenching in fear as he attempts to be menacing even for a moment. This is yet another terrific performance from Edward G. Robinson as he excels at not just one but two types of roles in this screwball comedy.

Updated Lead Overall
Updated Supporting Overall

Next Year: 1949 Lead

Best Supporting Actor 1935

Again 1935 is not a year where there are a clear five or even a clear four that stand clearly out as most films really focused heavily only on the leads such as in 39 Steps where the main villain gets only a very brief scene. Still I will cover a few performances quickly.

James Cagney in A Midsummer's Night Dream- James Cagney plays a self absorbed player Nick Bottom who eventually get a donkey head in place of his own. Where some of the actors fail to make the Shakespearean material come to life like Dick Powell or Mickey Rooney who is just terrible as Puck, Cagney though knows how to bring it to life quite brilliantly even though he is not the first actor that would come to mind as Shakespearean. Cagney though is a whole lot of fun in the role and the film really comes to life when he is on screen. He is very funny in his portrayal of Bottom as he fails to act out the part in his play doing it instead in a properly hammy fashion. Cagney surprisingly is not overshadowed by the scene with the Donkey head and actually manages to be very amusing through simply his voice and his physical reactions to dealing with the donkey head. It is Cagney who really makes the story come to life with a great deal of humor. This is a different type of role by Cagney and very well handled one actually. 4/5.

W.C. Fields in David Copperfield- W.C. Fields was usually known for his role as W.C. Fields the likable drunkard a comic star in the vein of Laurel and Hardy. Here in David Copperfield he plays a more traditional type of character as Mr. Micawber a kingly if somewhat incompetent business man who takes David under his wings. Fields nicely moves into the character actually and gives a nice performance as Mr. Micawber. He stresses above everything else the warmth of his character which Fields makes genuine, and he stands well as a wonderful character while outside of his presence David consistently suffers. This is not incredible work by any means but Fields stays in the character and brings out the tenderness that Mr. Micawber should have. 3.5/5

Charles Laughton in Les Miserables- Charles Laughton portrays Javert the inspector who stop at nothing to catch Jean Valjean. Laughton is pretty good in portraying the strictness of Javert's belief in the law system and is actually quite moving when he subtly suggests that without the law there is nothing to Javert. He is quite strong in both of his most pivotal scenes when Valjean lets him go and his last scene. He expresses the conflicting emotions of hate, disbelief and distress over Valjean's actions quite powerfully. He is not the very best Javert I have seen, that would be Philip Quast in the musical concert. I did feel that he could have been a little more imposing on the whole, and he is somewhat limited by the fact that the conflic between he and Valjean could have been done better in term of the film's direction. Nevertheless he is a strong Javert that meets the complexities of the character that some unfortunately ignore. 4/5.

Edward Arnold in Crime and Punishment- This version of Crime and Punishment is told very dispassionately in terms of direction but the performances by Peter Lorre as the man who believes in the right of murder to the superior sort, and Edward Arnold as the police inspector who becomes suspicious of him offers the film some life. This is not a great role, but Arnold shows his skills as an actor well here offering the right sort of presence in the role and being properly incisive that would make it believable that Peter Lorre's character would become as nervous as he does by the inspector's increasingly suspicious nature.  3/5

Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein-Thesiger plays the evil mad scientist Doctor Pretorius who convinces doctor Frankenstein (Colin Clive) to make a bride for the monster. Thesiger takes the opposite of Clive's manic approach to the mad scientist instead he emphasizes the madness in his mind through his face. Thesiger plays his role with a certain flamboyancy all his own that has just a creepiness that oozes from him without effort. He makes the derangement of Pretorious quite unique, and is pretty effective in the part. He does not leave the biggest impression on the film, that would be Karloff, but he is quite good in the role. 3.5/5.

Overall Rank:

1. James Cagney in A Midsummer's Night Dream
2. Charles Laughton in Les Miserables
3. Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein
4. Lionel Barrymore in Public Hero No. 1
5. W.C. Fields in David Copperfield
6. Herbert Marshall in The Dark Angel
7. Edward Arnold in Crime and Punishment
8. Frank McHugh in A Midsummer's Night Dream 
9. Charles Ruggles in Ruggles of Red Gap
10. Wallace Ford  in The Informer
11. Joe E. Brown in A Midsummer's Night Dream
12. Edward Everett Horton in Top Hat 
13. Basil Rathbone in Anna Karenina
14. Roland Young in Ruggles of Red Gap
15. O.P. Heggie in Bride of Frankenstein 
16. Donald Meek in The Whole Town's Talking 
17. Joseph Schildkraut in The Crusades
18. Eugene Pallette in The Ghost Goes West 
19. Ted Healy in Mad Love 
20. Joseph Calleia in Public Hero No. 1
21. Godfrey Tearle in 39 Steps
22. Reginald Owen in A Tale of Two Cities 
23. Edward Brophy in Mad Love 
24. Cedric Hardwicke in Becky Sharp
25. William Harrigan in G Men
26. Freddie Bartholomew in Anna Karenina
27. Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty  
28. Cedric Hardwicke in Les Miserables
29. Lionel Barrymore in David Copperfield
30. Guinn Williams in Private Worlds
31. Edward Brophy in The Whole Town's Talking 
32. Barton MacLane in G Men
33. Colin Clive in Bride of Frankenstein
34. David Manners in The Mystery of Edwin Drood
35. Basil Rathbone in David Copperfield
36. Donald Woods in A Tale of Two Cities  
37. Nigel Bruce in Becky Sharp 
38. Chico Marx in A Night at the Opera  
39. Joel McCrea in Private Worlds
40. C. Aubrey Smith in The Lives of the Bengal Lancers
41. Gavin Gordon in Bride of Frankenstein
42. Henry B. Walthall in A Tale of Two Cities
43. Hay Petrie in The Ghost Goes West 
44. Basil Rathbone in A Tale of Two Cities 
45. Donald Calthrop in Scrooge 
46. Charles Grapewin in Alice Adams
47. Roland Young in David Copperfield
48. Henry Stephenson in Captain Blood
49. Harpo Marx in A Night at the Opera
50. Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood
51. Robert Armstrong in G Men
52. Thurston Howell in The Black Room 
53. Fred Stone in Alice Adams
54. Victory Jory in A Midsummer's Night Dream
55. Lionel Atwill in Captain Blood
56. Oscar Asche in Scrooge
57. Gyles Isham in Anna Karenina
58. Hugh Sinclair in Escape Me Never
59. Robert Allen in The Black Room
60. Griffith Jones in Escape Me Never
61. John Beal in Les Miserables
62. Richard Cromwell in The Lives of the Bengal Lancers
63. Dick Powell in A Midsummer's Night Dream
64. Mickey Rooney in A Midsummer's Night Dream

Next Year: 1991 Lead