Best Supporting Actor 1950: Results

5. Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow- Chandler is already miscast around actual Native Americans, and his dull performance never makes up for this problem.

4. Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880- Gwenn is properly sweet and charming in his part, but the part of the most benevolent of criminals is not much of one.

3. Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.- Stroheim is perfectly cast adding another layer to his character simply through his own background. He also is always proper in his role, but his performance never becomes that amazing for me. Max Meyerling is certianly an interesting character but a limited one.

2. Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle- In many years I sort of look forward to rarely talked about nominated performance which are ample in this category. I usually find out why they are rarely spoken of like Gwenn, and Chandler, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find Jaffe's incredibly strong work. Jaffe's performance is subtle even simple work at times, that is amazingly effective and very memorable.

1. George Sanders in All About Eve-Sanders simply could not be better in the role of Addison De Witt. He channels the snarky smug, yet incredibly intelligent and suave ways of the character. Sanders always makes his presence known with every single comment he makes, and to top it off he has one unforgettable scene that is just a magnificent piece of acting.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.

Erich von Stroheim received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Max von Meyerling in Sunset Blvd.

Now here is a performance and character I find that raises the interesting question of the difference between great casting, and a great performance. It must be said that it was quite brilliant to cast Erich von Stroheim as Norma Desmond's butler. The fact that Stroheim really was a famous director as Meyerling reveals himself to have been does add an extra layer. That Stroheim just like Meyerling had been reduced from once being a great director not quite to being a butler, but still being reduced to playing a butler. This casting just does add to whole underbelly of Hollywood feel to the film that works quite well in its favor.

Now his actual performance is a different story, since if you had no idea who Stroheim was his casting really would not have added an extra layer to the film. Stroheim early on just does a the butler duties of a butler role. He does them well with the right undercurrent of strangeness which goes well with the strangeness of the whole life of Norma Desmond. Stroheim is not given much to do, but he stays noticeable as a fixture of Norma Desmond's mansion. Stroheim does display the right odd devotion and caring of Meyerling to Desmond, and I do like his small way of revealing more of Max along the way, such as when he says not to look to closely at Norma Desmond's fan letters.

Meyerling is of course not just a butler but Desmond's ex-husband, and director. Stroheim does handle this reveal well, and did suggest it properly beforehand. He also is good at showing his inability to disappoint Norman when he is unable to tell her the truth about her popularity. Also Stroheim is good in the final scene showing Meyerling inner director come out at the end. I think Meyerling is a very interesting character far more so than he needed to be. Stroheim also does really portray the part as well as one could, his background does add to the film, but I do not think this is an amazing performance though. It is good Stroheim was perfectly cast, but I just cannot call this a great performance.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: George Sanders in All About Eve

George Sanders won an Oscar from his only nomination for portraying Addison De Witt in All About Eve.

All About Eve is a well made, well written, and well acted drama about the aging theater actress Margo Channing  (Bette Davis) having her position of star of the stage being usurped by the manipulative Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter).

Addison De Witt is the most famous theater critic in the world at least according to himself, who is well known in the theater world for his sardonic wit, and criticism. Sanders seems simply the only person for this role. There is something about Sanders which he utilizes so well in this film, and that is he seems to be in a class of his own. Sanders just has this perfect quality that suggests he is simply functioning on some sort of different level which could not work better for Addison De Witt.

Sanders fully and brilliantly realizes his characters incredible wit, intelligence, and his overly classy way he acts and moves. Each movement he makes are always more fully amplify Addison way and nature. Sanders is not in the film overall actually that much, but he is always noticeable, and always brings the right amount of attention to himself. Sanders is just compulsively watchable in his performance, whether he is making a remark made as witty and sardonic as possible with Sanders' impeccable voice, or is reacting to another speak with his perfect reactions always dissecting them, and finding weakness or strength or what that say.

Sanders makes Addison the perfect pompous but incredibly intelligent critic, in this lively completely entertaining performance. A great performance in almost every moment he is in adding everything he can even in the smallest of moments, but he is also given one scene just for Sanders to be completely outstanding. This is of course his scene where he finally manipulates Eve, and shows her how things really are. Sanders is simply incredible as Addison destroys Eve's facade and breaks her down. He also shows a slight sensitivity breifly when Eve laughs at him, that Sanders quickly but perfectly weaves into the razor sharp edge of his character. Sanders holds no bars in this scene, and is chilling as he tells of Eve how she is now his. Sanders for this scene alone deserved an Oscar it is that good. With this incredible scene, and all of his other short but scene stealing moments this was an Oscar well deserved for George Sanders.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle

Sam Jaffe received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Doc Erwin Riedenschneider in The Asphalt Jungle.

The Asphalt Jungle is a well made and an effective crime thriller.

Doc Erwin Riedenschneider conceives the plot to heist jewels. He is the brains behind a small group of men in this scheme. Jaffe portrays the part with a very smooth, and proper demeanor. Jaffe just gives this perfect smoothness to his performance. He shows well that the Doc is a man who knows precisely what he is doing, and never at all loses his cool no matter what the situation.

 Jaffe's very calm and cool presence always adds to The Asphalt Jungle, and I was always very much interested in what he was doing even with the simplest actions. I think the heist scene shows best how quietly interesting  and effective Jaffe is in his role. He moves throughout the scene with an effective precision showing this as something that Doc has done more than once before. Also just when he is waiting for the others to do their jobs, Jaffe makes the Doc just quietly smoking a cigar somehow riveting.

Jaffe is not given an enormous amount material but he makes so much of the little he does indeed have. I think I particularly liked his performance near the end, where Jaffe shows a slightly less business oriented Doc. He has some oddly poignant moments that Jaffe creates very simply. I say odd because I think he sort of makes one briefly with Sterling Hayden, anyone who makes a scene at all poignant with him deserves an Oscar nomination. I particularly liked his final scene where he spends too long to "enjoy" life. Jaffe finds just the right note for this scene to make a fascinating end to his performance. A quietly effective performance by Jaffe, that I was pleasantly surprised by.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow

Jeff Chandler received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Cochise in Broken Arrow.

Broken Arrow is not terribly made, and it is interesting to see an early film that shows the Native Americans in a more positive light, but the film just never becomes that good though.

The film does try to tell a story more fully about the Native Americans, but the main characters which are Apache are portrayed by white actors like Jeff Chandler. This does most certainly does lead to a good amount of non authenticity with his performance. I never really believed him as Cochise. This is certainly at least partially not his fault. It was miscasting to have a white actor portray the lead Apache especially since most of the supporting Apache are portrayed by actual Native Americans.

Chandler technically could have been worse and really fell flat as Cochise into embarrassing territory. Chandler instead is just mostly dull in his performance. He stands up straight with a very dignified leader sort of posture, and speaks in commanding enough fashion I suppose. He never makes Cochise all that interesting, nor does he get over his miscasting. His performance just stays a mostly dull, and at best at becomes a functional performance. His performance just is not at all special and I doubt I would remember it at all if he had not been nominated for an Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880

Edmund Gwenn received his second and final Oscar nomination for portraying 'Skipper' Miller in Mister 880. 

Mister 880 frankly is not that interesting of a tale about a secret service investigator tying to find a small time elusive counterfeiter, it is made even less interesting due to a tacked on love story.

Mister 880 is the counterfeiter who eludes the secret service at every turn, no one has been able to catch him so much they call in an specialist by the name of .... I don't remember even though I just watched it yesterday, frankly it doesn't matter since his character is so unremarkable, but anyways he is played by Burt Lancaster. So who is this criminal they need Lancaster for well a sweet old man played by that sweet old man Edmund Gwenn, who may be even sweeter as Skipper Miller than when he played Kris Kringle, after all in Miracle on 34th street he at least hit someone on the head.

Skipper Miller's crime is he peddles one dollar fake bills to get by in a very modest life style. He only ever spends uses one dollar per store, and even tries to buy something else with the change he is given. The Skipper also does this to avoid actually to save the government money, since he could go to a Veteran's home but that would cost more money than he requires. The Skipper is the friend to everyone, and everything.

Well since Skipper is such a perfectly nice criminal with really almost selfless tendencies, this really allows very little for anything for Gwenn to do but be a nice charming old man. He is just that in everything scene, a sweet old man. The role requires little else of him, except at the end when he is caught. He shows a slight bit of sadness giving up his printing press, and later a sort of exhausted relief when he finally gives himself up. This little bit of extra emotion amount to very little, but it technically is perfect for as Skipper is written. Gwenn is charming, and does as required, but Skipper is a little too simple of a character for his performance to amount to much of anything.

Best Supporting Actor 1950

And The Nominees Were:

Erich Von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.

Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880

George Sanders in All About Eve

Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow

Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle

Before I jump back to Best Actor and gain back my ability to relax as I review here is another Supporting year.