Best Actor 1964: Results

5. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady- Harrison effectively plays Henry Higgins throughout the film, and is perfectly cast in the part of the snobbish English Professor.

4. Richard Burton in Becket- Richard Burton gives a quietly effective performance as Thomas Becket.

3. Peter O'Toole in Becket- I would have not minded giving Peter O'Toole two wins for playing King Henry the II because he plays him very differently even though he still shows the same man. O'Toole shows a younger Henry and gives an effective and in many ways entertaining performance as Henry.

2. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove- Peter Sellers succeeds completely in making all three characters different  and he gets a good amount of laughs from each.

1.Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek- Quinn is another perfectly cast actor, and he makes the most out of his role filling it with a great amount of life and depth. Who really could have played this role besides Quinn?

Best Actor 1964: Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek

Anthony Quinn received his fourth and last Oscar nomination for playing Alexis Zorba in Zorba the Greek.

Zorba the Greek is a fairly interesting film about an Englishmen and a Greek going to Crete, where there lives are affected by the various goingons in the village they stay in.

Alexis Zorba is one of those characters that seem to have a person tailor made to play them, and that person is Anthony Quinn. He just fits the type of Zorba brilliantly, and here is a performance that would be very difficult for anyone to replicate. Quinn fully throws himself into this role, and fills his performance with incredible strength and energy.

Zorba is a man with many lusts, and he does not mind acting upon them constantly. Quinn never overplays this fact about Zorba and instead he is as naturalistic as possible. Quinn shows the self-described madness of the man perfectly. The dance that Quinn does works incredibly well, and Quinn uses it show the nature of the character fantastically. Every lust that Quinn shows Quinn handles as well as any lust can be. Quinn makes it a fully natural aspect of the character with the lusting after the various women and the  enjoyment of alcohol. His scenes where he romances Madame Hortense (Lilia Kedrova) are brilliant.

Zorba played by Quinn is not just a crazy Greek man, but Quinn puts more depth into him, making Zorba a wild man but also a real and in some ways a poetic one. Quinn is equally effective in Zorba's quiet moments as he is in his loud moments. The almost silent moments were Zorba reflects on his life, or the scenes where he reflects on death are just perfect. Quinn seemed born to play this role, therefore he claims his birthright creating a memorable and incredibly effective performance.

Best Actor 1964: Peter O'Toole in Becket

Peter O'Toole received his second Oscar Nomination for playing King Henry II in Becket.

This is the first time O'Toole played Henry II since he would play him again in The Lion in Winter. O'Toole is possibly the only person who was nominated for the same role twice and is almost equally great in both. O'Toole really shows a different side of Henry in Becket but still the same person as in the Lion in Winter. He shows a younger Henry, a more exuberant Henry, and a Henry with vastly different problems than the one in the Lion in Winter.

O'Toole plays Henry in a very loud and almost over the top manner, but I do not ever think he goes completely over the top. He shows Henry to be a boisterous man, but also at times one who has a greater understanding of things. O'Toole is always effective and Henry changes emotions in a heartbeat, which O'Toole handles very well. O'Toole makes it believable that Henry would say how he hates Becket so much, but then despair over having to mistreat him.

O'Toole like Burton commands great presence in this film. He always gives the proper strength to his performance to show the strength of the King. O'Toole controls the scenes without Burton impeccably well, and never does anything that is even slightly dull. Something interesting I found in his performance was that is was both dramatically compelling and very entertaining at times too. I really enjoyed the scenes where he ridicules his children and mother, because O'Toole was so entertaining in them. O'Toole finds the proper balance though and never forgets the different facets of the character. 

Like I said in Burton's review, Burton and O'Toole work fantastically together.  every scene they share together is brilliant. Their best scene though being their last scene together which works incredibly well because both men are at the top of their form. O'Toole best scene probably alone though is his scene where he indirectly signs Becket's death warrant.O'Toole shows all the sides of Henry here brilliantly. He shows the man's humble and his cruel side, and is the equal of Burton's last scene.

Best Actor 1964: Richard Burton in Becket

Richard Burton received his third Oscar nomination for playing Saint Thomas Becket the martyred Arch Bishop of Canterbury in Becket.

Becket I found to be a very effective period piece, and sometimes very entertaining. I liked the film the whole way through really, and it was helped overall by the two leads.

Becket is an example where both of the leads did deserve their nominations, and one does not just make the other seem pointless. They both are important to the film, and they both handle their roles very well but in massively different ways. O'Toole gives a very loud performance, and Burton gives a very quiet performance.

Burton has the title role who goes through several changes throughout the course of the film from King Henry II's (Peter O'Toole) loyal council to his fierce rival at the end. Burton is effective throughout the film, and I thought there was particular strength in the early scenes that show his friendship with Henry. O'Toole and Burton work fantastically together, they share the scene rather than trying to steal it from each other. They play off each other well with O'Toole being so loud and Burton being very quiet and withdrawn. His reactions to what O'Toole says are always superb. Particularly strong moments are when Burton reflects about a old Saxon's life and another scene where he realizes the King's rather pitiful request of him.

Burton though changes and advances Becket as he becomes the Arch Bishop of Canterbury and begins to realize his duties must cause him to strive away from King Henry. I felt Burton handled his conflict well without ever over doing it, since he showed a little bit of it beforehand making it so it was not a sudden and unrealistic change. Burton handles his changed ways very well. He never over plays the goodness of the character and still shows him to be man. Burton shows excellent command and gives the proper power to the character. The scene where excommunicates the noble is perfectly done by Burton.

As Becket slowly determines his fate Burton brilliant conveys this realization with perfect subtlety, never just openly saying it but rather perfectly showing through his face. His final scenes are all brilliant, particularly the final two. His last scene with O'Toole is truly effecting and his very last scene holds incredible emotional strength due to Burton's performance. His whole performance until he meets his fate is incredible. Burton creates a perfect and effective portrait of man, and succeeds fully with every challenging aspect of Becket.

Best Actor 1964: Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove

Peter Sellers received his first Oscar nomination for playing Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove in Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Dr. Strangelove is a brilliant satire by Stanley Kubrick, It has an excellent story, excellent art direction and excellent cinematography.The acting is also brilliant but it is not the kind of traditional brilliance usually found in great acting.

Sellers is one of the few Oscar nominees to be nominated for more than one role, and he is the only one to be nominated for three roles in the same film. The best way to review his performance than is to take each part of his performance separately.

The first role you see him in the film is that of Group Captain Mandrake. Mandrake is a very particular character in the the film since he is not insane. Sellers perfectly plays Mandrake as the very proper RAF English Captain, who tries to learn the recall code from the crazed general Ripper. As Mandrake Sellers creates a satisfactory character who works very well in his scenes, and although he is not exactly going for laughs he helps create them through his restrained delivery. I really enjoyed how Mandrake always kept completely proper with all the insanity around him. Not an overly memorable character exactly but certainly fulfills his role exceedingly well. 

The second role is that of the President of the United States Merkin Muffley. Sellers completely plays Merkin differently from Mandrake and creates completely separate characters. Merkin again does not seem totally insane but not really completely sane either. He plays Merkin equally well as Mandrake. Sellers characterizes Merkin very well as the not particularly confidant but concerned President of the United States. This time though Merkin is more in the position to create more laughs which Sellers does quite well. Many coming from his phone scene with the Russian leader. His president is incredibly memorable, and again he gives a perfect performance as Merkin.

His third and strangest role is Dr. Strangelove. This role really has no seriousness to its role, and Sellers handles the purely comedic role exceedingly well. Everything he does as Strangelove makes his scenes as memorable as they are. His mannerisms in this scene are perfect as is that very odd voice he used for this character. Strangelove could easily have fell flat and the movie really would have suffered but Sellers takes on the challenge succeeds fully. As Strangelove he again creates an unforgettable character who always creates many laughs. All three characters are created completely differently by Sellers. He plays each one exceedingly well, and gives a perfect performance for three different characters. His voices and mannerisms are all perfectly effective. Sellers succeeds with all three characters. Now they are all basically caricatures, but that does not matter for that is their purpose.

Best Actor 1964: Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady

Rex Harrison won his only Oscar from his second and final Oscar nomination for playing Professor Henry Higgins an English professor who decides to mold a flower girl into a proper lady.

My Fair Lady is one of the over the top 60's musicals. I did kind of enjoy it well enough, even though it is a bit too long, and slightly too slow at times.

Rex Harrison is a lead in a musical, but he really does not sing any songs. He strangely talks through them instead. It is a bizarre method but it does work for the character who is a bit too stuck up to sing. That really represents his whole performance though. Everything he does in the performance no matter how strange it seems to be it works very well for the character. He never really changes his facade very much and even when he does it is very minimal. But again that seems exactly as Higgins should be. Harrison really does play Higgins definitively. Would anyone else really seem correct in his role, I do not think so. Harrison simply personifies Higgins perfectly. Harrison never does falter and always comes off correctly as the overly proper English professor. Harrison plays the role with the proper amount of determination and humor. His posture and mannerisms are always positively proper and his arm gestures and everything else. Harrison is always somewhat enjoyable to watch in this, because he stays the same way basically throughout the film. His role though is not one of over complication because of this. Everything is fairly on the surface with this performance, and he is not entertaining as some performances.

Best Actor 1964

 And the Nominees Were:

Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady

Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek

Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove

Peter O'Toole in Becket

Richard Burton in Becket

Who do you Predict? Who do you Pick?