Saturday 25 September 2010

Best Actor 1939

And The Nominees Were:

James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights 

 Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips

 Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms

Clark Gable in Gone With The Wind

So will it be one of the three screen legends, the then young star, or the actor who should be far better remembered than he is?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My pick is Clark Gable...pretty easily. Although I think this is one of Olivier's best performances.

Fritz said...

Yeah, great year! Very exciting!

Steward and Gable give the most famous performances here but for me, the Academy made the right choice in Robert Donat, one of my favorite winners in this category (of thise I have seen).

Brandon said...

It's so wierd, I was just thinking about this category and year last night! We finished watched GWTW in history yesterday.

But Gable, to me, is the weak link in this perfect film. Too much charm and not enough real acting, until the final scenes where he's called upon to go a little deeper. Not a bad performance at all, but just not as surprising or deep as I expected it to be.

joe burns said...

Only seen Gable and loved him. I'l predict a victory for Stewart though.

dinasztie said...

I have only seen Stewart and Gable. I wanted to see Donat, but his movie got removed from Youtube. I think you may go this way:
1)Donat
2)Stewart
3)Gable
4)Olivier
5)Rooney

I might be wrong though, as you really seem to like Olivier. We'll see.

Goonerette said...

Robert Donat - easily !! What an actor.

Louis Morgan said...

Hmm this year looks more open to discussion on who is the best choice, than I thought it would be, it ought to be very interesting.

Unknown said...

Wat wud u say r the top the best acting performances of the 1930s

Louis Morgan said...

1. Clark Gable - Gone With The Wind
2. Pat O'Brien - Angles With Dirty Faces
3. Robert Montgomery - Night Must Fall
4. Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII
5. Clark Gable - It Happened One Night
6. Victor McLaglen - The Informer
7. James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
8. Thomas Mitchell - Stagecoach
9. Claude Rains - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
10. James Cagney - Angles With Dirty Faces