Sunday 10 May 2015

Alternate Best Actor 1936: Results

5. Spencer Tracy in Fury - Tracy is charming and moving in his depiction of a man wrongly facing death, but he plays the second half too much like a villain.

Best Scene: Embracing Rainbow.
4. Jean Gabin in The Lower Depths - Gabin gives an enjoyable portrayal of a charismatic thief which effectively matches the tone of this version of the story.

Best Scene: His first meeting with the Baron.
3. Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times - Chaplin gives a very entertaining and rather wonderful sendoff to his most famous creation.

Best Scene: The Ending.
2. Charles Laughton in Rembrandt - Even with the film's rather swift pace Laughton gives a remarkable portrayal of the famous painter throughout his life's journey. 

Best Scene: Rembrandt attempts to paint his wife one last time.
1. Edward Arnold in Come And Get It - Good Predictions RatedRStar, Michael McCarthy and Luke. The underrated Edward Arnold is given the chance to depict the origins of one of his rich and powerful men, and does not waste that chance. He gives a heartbreaking performance that realizes what such a man might sacrifice to earn that power.

Best Scene:  The Ending.
Overall Rank:
  1. Edward Arnold in Come And Get It 
  2. Charles Laughton in Rembrandt
  3. Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times
  4. Walter Huston in Dodsworth 
  5. William Powell in After The Thin Man
  6. Jean Gabin in The Lower Depths 
  7. William Powell in My Man Godfrey
  8. William Powell in The Great Ziegfeld
  9. Leslie Howard in The Petrified Forest
  10. Clark Gable in San Francisco
  11. Warner Baxter in The Prisoner of Shark Island
  12. Errol Flynn in The Charge of the Light Brigade
  13. Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
  14. James Cagney in Great Guy
  15. Boris Karloff in The Invisible Ray
  16. C. Aubrey Smith in Little Lord Fauntleroy
  17. Oskar Homolka in Sabotage
  18. Fred Astaire in Swing Time
  19. Freddie Bartholomew in Little Lord Fauntleroy
  20. Fred Astaire in Follow the Fleet
  21. Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur 
  22. John Gielgud in Secret Agent
  23. Roland Young in The Man Who Could Work Miracles
  24. Gary Cooper in The General Died At Dawn
  25. Fred MacMurray in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
  26. Spencer Tracy in Fury
  27. Jack Hayley in Pigskin Parade
  28. Henry Fonda in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
  29. Fredric March in Anthony Adverse
  30. Robert Taylor in Camille 
  31. John Loder in Sabotage
  32. Leslie Howard in Romeo and Juliet
  33. Kenneth Craig in Reefer Madness
Next Year: 1936 Supporting

23 comments:

Luke Higham said...

I'm a lucky son of a bitch, I won the prediction, since I told Louis, I was going back to my previous prediction, which had Arnold in first place.

GetDonaldSutherlandAnOscar said...

Thoughts/ratings on:

William Powell in After The Thin Man
Errol Flynn in The Charge of the Light Brigade
James Cagney in Great Guy
Boris Karloff in The Invisible Ray
Leslie Howard in The Petrified Forest
John Gielgud in Secret Agent
Fred Astaire in Swing Time
C. Aubrey Smith and Freddie Bartholomew in Little Lord Fauntleroy
Roland Young in The Man Who Could Work Miracles
Kenneth Craig in Reefer Madness

GM said...

I'm glad for Powell.

Jules Berry - The Crime of Monsieur Lange
Louis Jouvet - The Lower Depths
Frank Morgan - The Great Ziegfeld
Peter Lorre - Secret Agent
Oscar Homolka - Sabotage
Humphrey Bogart - The Petrified Forest
John Carradine - The Prisoner of Shark Island

GM said...

Louis: Your Top 1936 films?

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your Ratings & Thoughts on Loy in After The Thin Man and Greta Garbo in Camille.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Actually, just your thoughts on the two.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: My request is Mads Mikkelsen in A Royal Affair.

RatedRStar said...

Frank Morgan - The Great Ziegfeld
Peter Lorre - Secret Agent
Oscar Homolka - Sabotage
James Stewart - After The Thin Man
Humphrey Bogart - The Petrified Forest

Anonymous said...

What are your top 10 films of 1936 Louis?

Michael McCarthy said...

What are your ratings and thoughts for William Powell in My Man Godfrey?

GM said...

McCarthy, Powell was nominated for My Man Godfrey.

Michael McCarthy said...

Also, I think my request is gonna be Oskar Werner in Jules and Jim for 1962 lead.

Michael McCarthy said...

Whoops, forgot about that.

RatedRStar said...

Ill decide my winning request later.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Really, Werner for that? I mean, he's fine but hardly worthy of talking about that much.

Michael McCarthy said...

I couldn't disagree more, I think it's his best performance.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Eh. Then again I hated Jules and Jim.

Michael Patison said...

Humphrey Bogart in The Petrified Forest
Peter Lorre in Secret Agent
Robert Young in Secret Agent

Louis Morgan said...

GetDonaldSutherlandAnOscar:

Powell - 4.5(After the Thin Man is a great sequel and Powell once again brings his a-game as though it is directly continuing off his first film. Powell once again brings everything that made that first performance so good, from his chemistry with Loy, to the wisecracks, and just enough weight in the dramatic moments. A great reprise.)

Flynn - 4(It's a good heroic style turn from Flynn. He carries himself with the right sort of dramatic gravitas in the action scenes while still bringing a certain charm, but here he smartly tones down which makes sense for the character. This film also marks a different relationship for him and De Havilland, and they create their distant relationship quite well)

Cagney - 4(The film is basically just a bunch of setups for Cagney to be the titular great guy who won't compromise his morals no matter what. The film is thin but Cagney brings his presence sells it to his fullest)

Karloff -4(Karloff is great at being a crazed villain since he always manages to underplay it while being so insane sometimes. Here he's given a semi-tragic back story, which Karloff handles nicely, but the best scenes are that of his crazed intensity which is always a delight to watch with Karloff)

Astaire - 3(Astaire gives a charming enough turn doing his usual thing)

Smith - 4(Smith gives an effective performance as basically the lead of the second half of the film. He does a good job of going from the slightly cold old man to eventually a loving grandfather. He depicts this possibly this transition in a natural and rather moving fashion)

Bartholomew - 3(The role does not test him much here. He just needs to be a charming kid, which he is, so a job well done)

Young - 3(Young is kinda charming as a guy who's found he has super powers, but he sometimes comes off as a tad creepy and fails to be as endearing as the character probably should be)

Craig - 1.5(Reefer Madness is mostly just kinda boring as shown by Craig's performance most of the time as he's just gives a fairly lifeless performance. When he does smoke marijuana something happens which is becoming psychopathic which is way over the top and kinda funny, although not too funny)

Might as well ask about Howard and Gielgud later on....

Luke:

Loy - (Like Powell it is just a marvelous reprise of the role. Her combination of a certain posh sweetness but with the same biting tounge is simply wonderful. She and Powell just flow together basically at one that it is just so much fun to watch the two of them interact)

Garbo - (Well this is exactly how you lead a melodrama. Garbo earns her status as the legendary movie star as she comes off the screen in such a unique way. Her allure is always so prevalent as she remains captivating in every frame. Although that is important for her character that's not all there is to it though. This is a great acting performance as well. Garbo brings a certain humor that keeps the story from ever becoming stuffy, and also makes her all the more appealing. She never overplays this keeping the conflict of her character in the human terms and effectively making sense of some of the foolish decisions made by the characters.)

GM:

1. Modern Times
2. After The Thin Man
3. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
4. The Lower Depths
5. Dodsworth
6. Rembrandt
7. Come And Get It
8. Secret Agent
9. The Charge of Light Brigade
10. My Man Godfrey

Luke Higham said...

I've got five performances left to request.
Oliver Reed in The Devils
Jon Finch in Macbeth
Vincent Price in Witchfinder General
Mads Mikkelsen in Open Hearts
Sam Riley in Control (2007 will be coming after 1936, so I hope Louis holds off on seeing it until the bonus rounds)

Michael McCarthy said...

Also just out of curiosity Louis, do you know when you're planning on getting 1928 out of the way yet?

Luke Higham said...

Michael McCarthy: It should happen between '76 and '62.

Louis: Since we are coming into the final phase of the alternatives, can you give us your schedule for the remaining years. (1939 is obviously coming last)

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

Well I'd like to keep it as some surprise, although it appears you have it all worked out......or do you!!!!!