Best Supporting Actor 1941: Walter Brennan in Sergeant York

Walter Brennan received his fourth and final Oscar nomination, and his only nomination for which he did not win for portraying Pastor Rosier Pile.

Walter Brennan is almost always a dependable character actor and here he gives by far the best performance in the film. But that is hardly much of an accomplishment I mean he could be sort of bad and he still could have been the best actor in the film. He is the best actually for many reasons one reason is he the only performer who really actually tries to bring any life or energy into his character. Another stranger reason is at times he seems to be the only one who knows how to do basic acting, for example he is one of the few actors who actually reacts in the film when he is not talking, some just seem to stare blankly at times.

Brennan though is a good as he can be as the pastor, having the right old country feel for the part. He is always believable completely even when his eye brows are not.  I like what he does as the pastor it is not that it is that much of a part but he does a good job with it and is the stand out in the film. He has the right amount of passion and energy in the role to get the pastor's message across well. He is strong in all scenes with the pastor trying at first to change Alvin York's ways than later trying to help him avoid military service. He is always right in every scene having the right tone and emotions when ever their required. That is not that much for an actor to do but it is the high point of any actor in this film. This is a bit of problem with his performance since he has no one to work with since Cooper does basically nothing and Margaret Wycherly as Sergeant York's mother is awful. Still despite having no one to work with he still is successful at being a strong presence in the film and does everything he can with what he has.