Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1965: Results

7. Jack Lemmon in The Great Race - I decided not to review Lemmon here for a few reasons. The first being after watching the film I felt he was definitely lead along side Tony Curtis and in no way supporting him. Then I did not really feel it was quite a good enough performance worthy for his own separate lead review. Also no reason to ruin the perfect streak of the previous six performances reviewed. It is amusing to note that the previous collaboration between Lemmon and director Blake Edwards was The Days of Wine Roses so Lemmon went from a harrowing depiction of alcoholism to playing a live action Saturday morning cartoon villain right down to his name of Professor Fate. The film itself I felt was too bloated as you can probably only have so many slapstick gags before they wear a bit thin which is unfortunately the case for this film. Lemmon is quite the energetic presence and his over the top performance is actually fitting for the film. He does his best to sell every gag and his whole portrayal is amusing enough though it can't quite sustain the running time of the film. It's hardly a great performance from Lemmon, but he is indeed the best part of the film. 

6. Ian Bannen in The Hill - Well this was in no way a pleasure to even place the seventh spot in my ranking since I love all of these performances. Bannen merely gives another great performance of one man's own clever ways of survival as military prison guard while never losing his frustrations underneath.

Best Scene: The final confrontation.

5. Ian Hendry in The Hill - Hendry is also great in his uncompromising depiction of his character's sadism. What makes him standout though are the very human weaknesses he also brings to the character particularly in his portrayal of his character's attempt to be the proper military man. 

Best Scene: The final confrontation as well.

4. Oskar Werner in A Spy Who Came In From The Cold - Werner actually does not have too much material but has to make a whole lot of it. Well he does so giving so much life and genuine passion to his character Fiedler that he makes it heartbreaking when it turns out that Fielder has been used all along.

Best Scene: Fiedler realizes he's been had.

3. Toshiro Mifune in Red Beard - The last great performance to be found from the collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. Mifune takes a rather unorthodox somewhat colder approach with the character of the wise mentor but succeeds wholly in earning the palatable emotions of every scene he is in, and effortlessly becoming a personification of compassion.

Best Scene: Red Beard goes to retrieve the patient from the Brothel.

2. Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago - Steiger has a great character and brilliantly realizes his complexity. He's a perfect smiling devil yet Steiger importantly shows that there still a bit of humanity to be found.

Best Scene: Komoravosky tells Zhivago what happened to Pasha.

  1. Harry Andrews in The Hill - Andrews gives an outstanding performance as he carefully differs himself from the other two men playing guards by showing a man utterly devoted to the mindset of the military. Andrews never allows himself to be one note though using every moment to fully realize his character as man who tries to conduct things as a machine. It's hard enough ranking these six but becomes even harder having to consider Tom Courtenay's work in Doctor Zhivago as well, which only improved all the more on re-watch. I really hate to have to leave the Ians out of the top five. Now I do feel I could give any one of these men the win and they would be more than deserving. My choice goes to Courtenay as it's a performance that only gets better the more I think about it, plus if I want to cheat in my reasoning he was also great in King Rat.

Best Scene: Wilson deals with the potential riot.

Overall Rank:

1. Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago
2. Harry Andrews in The Hill
3. Robert Shaw in Battle of the Bulge
4. Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago
5. Richard Harris in Major Dundee
6. Toshiro Mifune in Red Beard
7. Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
8. Ian Hendry in The Hill
9. Ian Bannen in The Hill
10. Tsutomu Yamazaki in Red Beard
11. Ossie Davis in The Hill
12. Gian Maria Volonté in For A Few Dollars More 
13. Charlton Heston in The Greatest Story Ever Told
14. Claude Rains in The Greatest Story Ever Told
15. Donald Pleasence in The Greatest Story Ever Told
16. Tom Courtenay in King Rat
17. Roy Kinnear in The Hill
18. Cyril Cusack in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
19. Michael Redgrave in The Hill 
20. Junzaburō Ban in A Fugitive From the Past
21. Tom Courtenay in Operation Crossbow
22. John Gielgud in Chimes at Midnight
23. Hans Christian Blech in Battle of the Bulge 
24. James Mason in Lord Jim
25. Edward G. Robinson in The Cincinnati Kid
26. Trevor Howard in Von Ryan's Express
27. Klaus Kinski in Doctor Zhivago
28. Noel Coward in Bunny Lake is Missing 
29. Telly Savalas in Battle of the Bulge
30. Alec Guinness in Doctor Zhivago
31. Leo McKern in Help!
32. Nigel Green in The Ipcress File
33. Richard Attenborough in The Flight of the Phoenix
34. Jack Watson in The Hill
35. Terry Thomas in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines 
36. Roy Kinnear in Help! 
37. Peter van Eyck in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold 
38. Warren Oates in Major Dundee 
39. Burgess Meredith in In Harm's Way
40. Hardy Kruger in The Flight of the Phoenix
41. Alfred Lynch in The Hill 
42. Charles Bronson in Battle of the Bulge
43. Van Heflin in The Greatest Story Ever Told
44. James Coburn in Major Dundee
45. Dean Martin in The Sons of Katie Elder
46. Eijiro Tono in Samurai Assassin
47. Alberto Sordi in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines 
48. Wallace Ford in A Patch of Blue 
49. Richard Harris in The Heroes of Telemark 
50. Christopher Lee in in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
51. Jose Ferrer in The Greatest Story Ever Told
52. Michael Hordern in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold 
53. Anthony Quayle in Operation Crossbow
54. Ralph Richardson in Doctor Zhivago 
55. Peter Sellers in What's New Pussycat?
56. Eli Wallach in Lord Jim
57. Dirk Bogarde in Darling
58. Keenan Wynn in The Great Race
59. Ronald Fraser in The Flight of the Phoenix
60. Victor Spinetti in Help!
61. Peter Falk in The Great Race
62. Sergio Fantoni in Von Ryan's Express
63. Geoffrey Keen in Doctor Zhivago
64. Vladimir Mensik in Loves a Blonde
65. Woody Allen in What's New Pussycat?
66. Michael Craig in Sandra
67. Karl Malden in The Cincinnati Kid
68. Denholm Elliot in King Rat 
69. Michael Redgrave in The Heroes of Telemark
70. Robert Morley in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
71. James Donald in King Rat
72. Ken Takakura in A Fugitive From the Past
73. David McCallum in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
74. Peter Finch in The Flight of the Phoenix 
75. Patrick Cargill in Help!
76. John Mills in King Rat  
77. Jean-Claude Brialy in I Knew Her Well
78. Marino Mase in Fists in the Pocket
79. Sal Mineo in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
80. Patrick Wymark in Repulsion
81. Jack Weston in The Cincinnati Kid 
82. Joseph Schildkraut in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
83. Paul Lukas in Lord Jim
84. Arthur O'Connell in The Great Race
85. Telly Savalas in The Greatest Story Ever Told
86. Norman Bird in The Hill 
87. Ben Johnson in Major Dundee 
88. Donald Sutherland in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
89. Ed Wynn in The Greatest Story Ever Told
90. Jaime Sanchez in The Pawnbroker 
91. Klaus Kinski in For A Few Dollars More
92. Bernard Lee in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
93. Derek Jacobi in Othello
94. Ernest Borgnine in The Flight of the Phoenix
95. Richard Haydn in The Sound of Music  
96. Mario Adorf in I Knew Her Well
97. Williams Daniels in A Thousand Clowns
98. Mario Brega in For A Few Dollars More
99. Brandon De Wilde in In Harm's Way
100. Henry Fonda in Battle of the Bulge
101. Dennis Hopper in The Sons of Katie Elder
102. Michael Gough in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
103. Desmond Llewelyn in Thunderball 
104. Jeremy Kemp in Operation Crossbow
105. Finlay Currie in Bunny Lake is Missing 
106. Peter Cushing in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
107. Laurence Harvey in Darling
108. Trevor Howard in Operation Crossbow
109. Robert Ryan in Battle of the Bulge
110. Guy Doleman in The Ipcress File 
111. Dana Andrews in Battle of the Bulge 
112. Jim Hutton in Major Dundee
113. Kirk Douglas in In Harm's Way
114. Harry Andrews in The Agony and the Ecstasy
115. Christopher Plummer in Inside Daisy Clover
116. Adolfi Celi in Thunderball 
117. Gene Saks in A Thousand Clowns
118. James Gregory in The Sons of Katie Elder
119. Tom Tryon in In Harm's Way 
120. James Fox in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
121. Bernard Lee in Thunderball
122. Rip Torn in The Cincinnati Kid  
123. Hardy Kruger in Lord Jim
124. Maurice Dallimore in The Collector  
125. Martin Landau in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
126. Charles Bronson in The Sandpiper 
127. Michael Anderson Jr. in Major Dundee
128. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns
129. Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools
130. George Segal in Ship of Fools 
131. Robert Redford in Inside Daisy Clover
132. Lee Marvin in Ship of Fools
133. Ian Bannen in Flight of the Phoenix
134. Brock Peters in The Pawnbroker
135. José Ferrer in Ship of Fools
136. Barry Gordon in A Thousand Clowns

Next Year: 1957 Supporting