Alternate Best Actor 1961: Results

5. Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun- Poitier tends go a little more theatrical at times than he needs to but for the most part Poitier gives an effective performance as a character that is far from the heroic roles he usually played.

Best Scene: The opening scene.

4. Clark Gable in The Misfits- Gable gives a moving portrayal of a individualistic cowboy past his prime that is worthy of being his swan song.

Best Scene: Gay goes to recapture the horses.

3. Dirk Bogarde in Victim- Although I do wish the film let Borgarde explore his character a little more, Bogarde still gives a powerful portrayal of a repressed homosexual.

Best Scene: Melville Farr reveals the truth to his wife.

2. James Cagney in One, Two, Three- James Cagney gives a very entertaining and incredibly energetic performance that could not be a better fit for the screwball comedy he leads.

Best Scene: MacNamara tries to solve all his problems in a few hours.

1. Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo - Well I did not even need to have a second to think of my favorite performance by a leading actor from 1961. This is one of the very best performances from Toshiro Mifune creating one of the most memorable heroes in cinema.

Best Scene: The Final Duel.

Overall Rank:

1. Tatsuya Nakadai - The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
2. Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo
3. Stuart Whitman in The Mark
4. Paul Newman in The Hustler
5. Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce, Italian Style 
6. James Cagney in One, Two, Three
7. Dirk Bogarde in Victim
8. Clark Gable in The Misfits
9. Peter Cushing in Cash on Demand
10. Alberto Sordi in A Difficult Life
11. Vincent Price in The Pit and Pendulum
12. Jean-Paul Belmondo in Leon Morin, Priest
13. Anthony Quinn in Barabbas
14. Marcello Mastroianni in La Notte
15. Andre Morell in Cash on Demand
16. Keiju Kobayashi Happiness of Us Alone
17. Kirk Douglas in Town Without Pity
18. Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun
19. Spencer Tracy in Judgment At Nuremberg
20. Alberto Sordi in The Best of Enemies
21. David Niven in The Best of Enemies
22. Masayuki Mori in The Other Woman
23. Rock Hudson in Lover Come Back
24. Tatsuya Nakadai in Immortal Love
25. Peter Finch in No Love For Johnnie
26. Franco Citti in Accattone
27. Gregory Peck in The Guns of Navarone
28. Anthony Perkins in Goodbye Again
29. Toshiro Mifune in The Important Man
30. Ebbe Rode in Harry and the Butler
31. Marc Michel in Lola
32. Loredana Detto in Il Posto
33. Osvald Helmuth in Harry and the Butler
34. Edward Judd in The Day the Earth Caught Fire
35. Giorgio Albertazzi in Last Year in Marienbad
36. Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass
37. Yves Montand in Goodbye Again
38. Marlon Brando in One Eyed Jacks
39. Rod Taylor in 101 Dalmatians
40. Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages
41. Richard Widmark in Two Rode Together
42. Alec Guinness in A Majority of One
43. Cliff Robertson in Underworld USA
44. Fred MacMurray in The Absent Minded Professor
45. Charlton Heston in El Cid
46. James Stewart in Two Rode Together
47. Jeffrey Hunter in King of Kings
48. George Peppard in Breakfast At Tiffany's
49. Richard Beymer in West Side Story
50. John Kerr in The Pit and Pendulum
51. Hiroyuki Nagato in Pigs & Battleships
52. Glenn Ford in Pocketful of Miracles
53. Horst Buchholz in Fanny
    
54. Warren Beatty in The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

Next Year: 1961 Supporting