Best Actor 1974: Results

5. Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express- Finney is not anything overly great in the film, but I thought he did what he needed to.

4. Dustin Hoffman in Lenny- Hoffman never really seems like he is Lenny Bruce and he is a bit boring at the beginning, but later on he gives a very effective performance.

3. Al Pacino in the Godfather Part 2- Pacino is completely brilliant as Micheal Corleone and successfully continues the story of an incredibly memorable character

 

2. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown- Nicholson creates an incredibly memorable private detective, and makes the most of his natural charisma to deliver one of his finest performances.

1. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto- Art Carney creates a perfect portrait of an elderly man. Carney completely deserved to win and is unfairly maligned by people who probably have not seen his brilliant performance.

My Nominees:
Art Carney in Harry and Tonto
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2
Gene Hackman in The Conversation
Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein

Best Actor 1974: Jack Nicholson in Chinatown

Jack Nicholson received his fourth Oscar nomination for playing private detective Jake Gittes who is in way over his head in Chinatown.

Chinatown is a brilliant film noir, that is just about a perfect film. Everything about it is excellent the story, the direction, the music, the look of the film and of course the acting.

Jack Nicholson is the third nominee from this year that gives a flawless performance. Nicholson is perfect as Jake Gittes in Chinatown. This is a performance where Nicholson is in his top dramatic and charismatic form. Nicholson creates a unique and interesting private detective even though that type of character has been played millions of times before. Nicholson carries himself with the proper energy and strength throughout the film. He carries the audience through the complicated plot perfectly.

Nicholson again is perfect in every scene, and he properly depends on his natural charisma. He does not over do it, though and still creates the character of Gittes which is more than just Jack Nicholson. Gittes begins the film as a fairly confidant private eye, who successfully finds out if people are having affairs for people.  Every scene were Gittes manipulates someone so he can get information or do something else, seems completely realistic because Nicholson is so perfectly charismatic in the role, and brings the film a certain gravity which it might not have been able to attain without him.

I particularly like the scene where the man in the barber shop ridicules Jake's line of work. Nicholson is perfect in his anger and annoyance that anyone would think he was doing something wrong. Gittes attempt to always be right and correct, even when he doesn't know what is going on is always spot on. Nicholson is of course perfect in the final scene, where his plans collapse on him. His final face he gives in looking back at what happens helps in making that ending so memorably tragic. This is not a performance that seems overly difficult from a brief description but Nicholson is always interesting and entertaining. Perhaps the character in the wrong hands could have been off but Nicholson makes Gittes into one of the most memorable characters in cinematic history. He give a great performance and is integral to the film and of course earns:

Best Actor 1974: Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2

Al Pacino received his third Oscar nomination for again playing Michael Corleone the head of the Corleone crime family in the Godfather Part 2.

The Godfather Part 2 is of course the sequel to the great Godfather. I believe Part 2 is a successful sequel, although I don't believe it is better than the original as some believe. It still obviously is a great film with some great performances.

The greatest being Al Pacino's performance as Michael Corleone. Michael now is cold and a much darker man than he was at the beginning of the first one. His transformation though is not fully complete and that is part of the brilliance of this performance. Michael begins in this fully in control of the Corleone family. Pacino shows very well the cold calculating character of Michael now. The way his face conveys that he is always business and always determined to succeed. He has no joy in his work here but only determination for power.

It is interesting to compare how Pacino handles Micheal early dealing compared to how Brando handles Vito's dealings. Pacino is always cold and proficient. He always seems fully in charge as Michael and all to intelligent. Nothing causes him to accept defeat, Pacino completely convinces us of his nature. Michael never seems to be acting cold, and dark, but instead that is merely what he is. Pacino is perfect at completely establishing Michael as a fully realized person.

Pacino is great throughout the film but he has some particular stand out scenes that show the brilliance of his performance. Such as when he realizes Fredo's betrayal and then when he tells Fredo of the betrayal. Both scenes Pacino excels and creates incredibly effective scenes. Also the scene where Kay tells Micheal about the abortion. Pacino face as he realizes what she is saying is incredible. Finally the last scene where it shows the differences between the young Micheal and the current Micheal. Pacino makes the transition of the character believable, and fully memorable. Pacino performance is essential for the film, and  Pacino does absolutely nothing wrong in this performance and is simply perfect. It is a performance that is hard describe because of the withdrawn nature of so much of it, but it is a perfect and unforgettable performance.

Best Actor 1974: Art Carney in Harry and Tonto

Art Carney won his only Oscar from his only Oscar nomination for playing an elderly man Harry Coombes who travels across country with his cat.

Harry and Tonto is one of those dramatic comedies that follows an aging man through his travels, as he meets his relatives old friends, and strangers along the always side by side with his Cat. This is not a great film, but it serves its purpose well and it has a great performance in it.

Art Carney probably best known for playing Ed Norton in the Honeymooners shows in Harry and Tonto that he was as good of a dramatic actor as he was a comedic actor. First of all he fulfills that technical aspects of the parts perfectly. Carney seems like the exact age of the over 70 years old man despite the fact that Carney was only in his fifties at this time. Carney though completely seems to be the age, and never once looks or acts younger than he is suppose to be.

Art Carney is brilliant throughout the film from beginning to end. Harry starts out as an old man who lives with only with his Cat in New York City. Carney gives a very subtle portrait of a man who is not lonely even though he lives alone and has energy despite being old. Harry has not been forced in submission by his age, and Carney shows this without ever going over the top. After being taken out of his old apartment building he goes to live with one of his sons for a while. Again Carney is perfect here to interacting with his semi dysfunctional family. He shows his frustrations perfectly. A great scene in these early moments is where he goes to identify the body of a Russian friend of his at the Morgue. Carney's face and reaction to seeing his deceased friend is brilliant, and perfectly subtle.

Later Harry leaves his son to go out west. His last scene with his son is again perfect, and properly heartfelt. He goes out west and comes across different people and different places. Particular scenes are stronger than others but Carney is great in all of the scenes. He is especially brilliant in the superior scenes. One example being when he meets with his daughter (Ellen Burstyn). Both actors handle this scene especially well, showing a long troubled relationship with only this single scene. A big challenge but the actors pull it off.

Three other moments really exemplify the power of his performance. The scene where he meets his old girlfriend strikes the perfect emotional chord, which is achieved through Carney pitch perfect expressions, and emotions. The other scene where he meets his other son, and he tells his son that he can't live with him. Carney handles this talk so perfectly that it makes one memorable scene. Carney perfectly channels his caring for his son, but also his wish for his son to grow as a man. Then the final scenes where Tonto become sick might be the best. His final expression he gives to the kid and the cat, is incomparable. Carney is just absolutely perfect. He fully and perfectly creates a sympathetic portrait of the aged man. Carney gives a performance that no one could really imitate and he easily earns:

Best Actor 1974: Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express

Albert Finney received his second Oscar nomination for playing famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express.

Murder on the Orient Express is a movie that seems to have been made to be like a old fashioned movie. With its particular use of editing, cinematography, and acting. I actually enjoyed it well enough. I really have not seen a lot of Agatha Christie work so I cannot compare it to others, but I liked it as it is.

The acting in this film has a lot of over the top nature to that, and no one goes more over the top in this movie than Albert Finney. Again I have not seen other portrayals of Poirot so I am basing this solely on his performance and how it works in the film. Finney certainly is mannered here, by arching himself to have his head under his shoulders to look all the stranger. He uses a strange accent that is a bizarre mixture of his own British accent with a Belgianish accent. With all those oddities, I did like his performance actually. It is not subtle or really brilliant but I was entertained by his performance.

An interesting thing is that despite being the lead Finney's character really has very little to him, since I guess the other novels fleshed out Poirot instead. Finney is there as almost a machine just to solve the mystery. He has no personal stories or personal investments in the murder, he is just there to solve it. He does that with his various interrogations, which amount to basically the same thing over and over, but I find Finney makes them entertaining. Then Finney has his last scene involving the long explanation. I do believe Finney puts the right amount of energy into this scene to keep it going, and he almost makes the explanation seem believable. This is not an amazing performance at all, but I enjoyed it enough, and I thought it worked well for the film.

Best Actor 1974: Dustin Hoffman in Lenny

Dustin Hoffman received his third Oscar nomination for playing controversial comedian Lenny Bruce in Lenny.

Lenny is not a great film. It is a bit too random in the early moments. It fails really to show any greater significance of Lenny's life. It is slightly to introverted in its view, and it gets repetitive in the second half. Lenny gets in trouble for his speech and he tries to fight back, then repeat. Also what kills Lenny really is not dealt with.

Dustin Hoffman first of all never for a second really seems like Lenny Bruce. I never felt he really was Bruce, but I always saw Hoffman playing Bruce, but that does not mean this is a bad performance. Throughout the film Hoffman does performs a Bruce act which interconnects with everything else occurring in the film. He handles all of this well, not as Bruce but he does seem like a competent comedian.  In the actual story part of the film, Hoffman starts out as the up and coming comedian. In these early scenes he is a bit dull, and just does not really put that much energy in his performance.

His scenes with Valerie Perrine  who plays Lenny's wife Honey, are all very good though, they are not really romantic but they work in their own strange way. Honey and Lenny's relationship is very strong but I find both of them make it work well. I find though most of the effort seems to come from Perrine, who I find is actually more essential to making it work. Hoffman is generally the reciprocal one and the non emotional one of the two. Although the scene where they get into a car accident, Hoffman shows his grief and anxiety incredibly well.

Later though Perrine goes away and it starts to focus much more on Lenny and his censorship. Hoffman is strong in these scenes very strong. Everyone one of these scenes Hoffman handles them very well. His fights in the courts and his playing around with his own censorship are well handled by Hoffman. The best part of his performance is his final act. His tired, manner and dread are perfectly handled by Hoffman, and it is a memorable scene. Overall the performance is good despite having problems, such as never seeming like Bruce, or the fact he never really presented Bruce's morphine problems well, or his affairs well. The film itself doesn't deal with these problems well either, so it really is not Hoffman's fault. Still overall a very good performance from Hoffman.

Best Actor 1974

And The Nominees Were:

Art Carney in Harry and Tonto

Albert Finney in The Murder on the Oreint Express

Dustin Hoffman in Lenny

Jack Nicholson in Chinatown

Al Pacino in The Godfather Part 2

Who do you predict, Who do you pick, Who are you rooting for?