Alternate Supporting Actor 1947: Ranking

 The simple truth about this year is that there are not a great deal of performances that really stick out that need to be nominated. The lead performances just stand out with far more strength than the supporting ones. Even in a film like Odd Man Out, which has a solid supporting cast none of the supporting players hold attention nearly as well as James Mason's lead performance. That is the case for almost every film this year. I will instead just do five short reviews of some fairly random performances, since this year in film there just are not a great deal of supporting performances that stick out as something that really must be reviewed.

Kirk Douglas in Out of Past- Douglas gives an an appropriately devious performance as the film villain. He has a great deal of fun when his character is in control of the situation, but he dials it back properly when he is not. This is not on the level of Richard Widmark's work from this year, since Douglas is not in the film all that much. It is an effectively handled slimy characterization though, and Douglas adds a great deal to his film with his presence. 4/5

F.J. McCormick in Odd Man Out- Odd Man Out has a great deal of fine performances from Robert Newton as a lunatic painter to Robert Beatty's loyal man who tries to help the injured IRA operative Johnny McQueen (James Mason). My favorite though is with McCormick as a slightly daffy bird keeper who tries to profit from finding the operative, but is quite in over his head in the whole affair. McCormick gives a enjoyable performance, that lights up the latter half right when the film needs it. He is quite a bit of fun, and is an effortless comic relief. He also quite effectively brings about a conscious in his character even if it is hasty, McCormick believably handles it. In fact he eventually almost becomes a moral compass of all his own as he sees where the story goes. McCormick's final reactions to end are particularly moving, and powerfully handled. He frankly makes far far more out of his part than really ever seemed required of him. 4.5/5

Gene Lockhart in Miracle on 34th Street- Gene Lockhart is quite enjoyable in this film as the judge who presides over the trial to prove whether Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) is Santa Clause or not. His motivation almost entirely comes form his election prospects which he is reminded of constantly by his political manager (William Frawley, doing his usual thing but doing it well). Lockhart's reactions throughout the trail scenes are quite enjoyable, and I particularly enjoy his direct conversations both verbal and non verbal with Frawley's character. This is a nice enjoyable part of the film that is appropriately entertaining. 3.5/5

David Farrar in Black Narcissus- Farrar's character in this film acts as a temptation for the Nuns who have recently come to the Himalayas. Farrar's performance is appropriately virile in his own way, and he makes the problems that develop because of him believable. The main reason for this is that a coldness perpetuates within his performance, though as he both seems to encourage as well as discourage Nuns to have interest in him at the same time. He is not incredible but he serves his function well within the film. 3/5


Charles Coburn and Charles Laughton in The Paradine Case- The Paradine Case is not a very remembered Alfred Hitchcock thriller for a reason. It is rather poorly handled, the leading performance by Gregory Peck does not carry enough of an internal conflict necessary for the film. There is some of Hitchcock's trademark directorial flair but not enough to make up for the lackluster story. The film does have two great character actors in it, Charles Coburn and Laughton who besides sharing a first name also share similar ability to steal scenes through their witty styles. I would say though that Coburn always comes off as a much warmer personality, and Laughton as a colder one. In this film Coburn is the legal adviser for Peck's character. Coburn is his usually charming self, and does his best to add some life to the proceedings. Although he does not save the film he successfully steals all the scenes from Peck that he is given the chance to effectively bringing to life the great legal mind his character is suppose to be. Laughton is given an odd role in that he has a subplot that is bizarre and really does not go anywhere about his character seeming disinterested with everything. Laughton tries to do something with his part, and with his natural charisma does his best, but unfortuantely nothing really comes from the part due to the bizarre requirements of it. Coburn 3.5/5, Laughton 2.5/5

Overall Rank:

1. Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death
2. Louis Jouvet in Quai des Orfèvres
3. F.J. McCormick in Odd Man Out
4. Toshiro Mifune in Snow Trail 
5. Walter Slezak in Born to Kill
6. Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past
7. Robert Ryan in Crossfire
8. Hume Cronyn in in Brute Force 
9. Everett Sloane in The Lady From Shanghai
10. Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse
11. Charles Bickford in The Woman on the Beach
12. Gene Lockhart in Miracle on 34th Street
13. Van Heflin in Possessed 
14. Robert Beatty in Odd Man Out
15. Lee J. Cobb in Johnny O'Clock
16. William Frawley in Miracle on 34th Street
17. Robert Newton in Odd Man Out
    
18. W.G. Fay in Odd Man Out 
19. Ray Collins in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
20. Charles Bickford in Brute Force 
21. Denis O'Dea in Odd Man Out
    
22. Sam Jaffe in 13 Rue Madeleine 
23. Ian Keith in Nightmare Alley
24. George Sanders in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 
25. Cyril Cusack in Odd Man Out
    
26. Arthur Kennedy in Boomerang! 
27. Monty Woolley in The Bishop's Wife 
28. Richard Conte in 13 Rue Madeleine
29. Elisha Cooke Jr. in Born To Kill 
30. Akitake Kono in Snow Trail
31. Charles Coburn in The Paradine Case
32. Jerome Cowan in Miracle on 34th Street 
33. Clifton Young in Dark Passage
34. Patric Knowles in Ivy
35. Lee J. Cobb in Boomerang!
36. Robert Mitchum in Crossfire
37. Edmond O'Brien in A Double Life
38. David Farrar in Black Narcissus 
39. Raymond Massey in Possessed
40. Philip Tonge in Miracle on 34th Street 
41. Fred Clark in Ride the Pink Horse 
42. Ted De Corsia in The Lady From Shanghai
43. Tom D'Andrea in Dark Passage
44. James Gleason in The Bishop's Wife
45. Herbert Marshall in Ivy
46. Harry Davenport in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
47. Percy Kilbride in The Egg and I
48. Porter Hall in Miracle on 34th Street 
49. Cedric Hardwicke in Ivy
50. Boris Karloff in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
51. Rudy Vallee in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
52. Keenan Wynn in The Song of the Thin Man
53. Charles Dullin in Quai des Orfèvres
54. Art Smith in Ride the Pink Horse 
55. Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter
56. Charles Laughton in The Paradine Case
57. Leo G. Carroll in The Paradine Case
58. Raymond Massey in The Mourning Becomes Electra
59. Louis Jordan in The Paradine Case
60. John Garfield in Gentleman's Agreement
61. Kirk Douglas in The Mourning Becomes Electra 
62. Bruce Bennett in Dark Passage
63. Philip Terry in Born to Kill
64. George Cooper in Crossfire
65. Brian Donlevy in Kiss of Death 
66. Rory Calhoun in The Red House
67. Leo Genn in The Mourning Becomes Electra 
68. Glenn Anders in The Lady From Shanghai 
69. Sabu in Black Narcissus

Next Year: 1954 Supporting

Best Supporting Actor 1946: Results

5. William Demarest in The Jolson Story- Demarest has a simple role as a supportive mentor, he is properly supportive but little is asked of him.

4. Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge- Webb has a simple role as a pompous snob, which is portrays with proper snobbishness but again like Demarest little is asked of him.

3. Charles Coburn in The Green Years- Coburn's gives an entertaining and warm performance. He realizes his particular character quite well that only succeeds in adding to his film.

2. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives- Harold Russell gives a terrific heartbreaking performance that never fails to be moving.

1. Claude Rains in Notorious- Good prediction RatedRStar. The top two of this year are both absolutely terrific heartbreaking performances. What I find amazing about Rains though is that his character never had to be heartbreaking to begin with since he portrays a villain. Rains is astounding in his ability to give both a chilling villainous performance as well as give a sympathetic portrait and turns his character into almost a tragic man.

Deserving Performances:
Henry Travers in It's a Wonderful Life
Lionel Barrymore in It's a Wonderful Life

Best Supporting Actor 1946: Charles Coburn in The Green Years

Charles Coburn received his third and final Oscar nomination for portraying Alexander Gow in The Green Years.

The Green Years portrays the growth of a young Irish orphan Robert Shannon who goes to live with his sometimes distant relatives in Scotland.


Charles Coburn portrays one of Robert's relatives his Great Grandfather specifically. Alexander Gow is the ends up being the warmest of his relatives who is a bit of a rouge among the family. Coburn despite a rather odd hairstyle, and a fake nose as well still once again proves himself to be one of the best character actors of the period. Although interestingly enough this is his only nominations that is a completely supporting role, unlike his previous two nominations that can both be easily argued as leading roles.

Charles Coburn gives a performance that is an interesting contrast to his bitter millionaire in The Devil and Miss Jones, and the fun loving millionaire in The More the Merrier. This time he portrays a not too rich Scotsman who although has a handsome life insurance policy he is not that wealthy of a man. Coburn handles his Scottish accent in a restrained but effective fashion, and also has certain mannerisms that only add to the character. From the way he walks, to the way he sits all really adds to showing the age and history of his character.

Alexander Gow does not have a great deal of time to himself, but Coburn always makes the most of every time he is on screen. Alexander Gow is an interesting character because he tells some tales about his past that may or may not be complete tall tales or something that might have actually happened to him. Coburn handles these story scenes perfectly telling the story as if it is something that happened to him, but in in a certain fantastical fashion that suggests maybe it did not.

The most important moments in Coburn's performance come from his scenes with his Great Grandson Robert. Coburn is genuinely warm in these scenes. He never overplays the part, and he has the right chemistry with both actors who play Robert. What makes his scenes work well is that Coburn never shows Alexander be overbearing with love, but there is always an honest joy in all of his reactions as he sees his great grandson achieve.

Coburn gives an appropriately fun loving performance here, that is perfect for the almost too fun loving nature of Alexander. There is not a moment where Coburn does not find a way to bring something more to the film through his performance. It is a consistently enjoyable performance of the aged Alexander Gow it is easy to make a role like this frankly too colorful and one can overact. Coburn never does this always finding the right tone, and giving a wonderful supporting performance.

Best Supporting Actor 1946

And the Nominees Were:

Claude Rains in Notorious

Charles Coburn in The Green Years

Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives

Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge

William Demarest in The Jolson Story

Best Supporting Actor 1943: Results

5. Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls- Tamiroff gives a far too simple approach as Pablo, and fails to bring the depth to part that could have easily been found.

4. Charles Bickford in The Song of Bernadette- Bickford is satisfactory enough as the priest who eventually comes around to helping Bernadette, particularly when he is doubting. His character never requires much though and frankly his more tender scenes seems a bit rough around the edges.

3. J. Carrol Naish in Sahara- Naish has an extremely limited role but manages to create a sympathetic portrait as well gives a passionate speech. Not much but he does a fine job.

2. Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier- Coburn gives a great comedic performance. He is completely steals every single scene he is in and makes the most of every opportunity he has with his character. 

 

1. Claude Rains in Casablanca- Rains gives an extremely flashy always trying to steal a scene no matter how he does it, and certainly does just that.

Deserving Performances:
Dana Andrews in The Ox-Bow Incident

Best Supporting Actor 1943: Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier

Charles Coburn won his Oscar from his second nomination for portraying Benjamin Dingle in The More the Merrier.

The More the Merrier involves the misadventures of three people who find themselves in the same apartment due to a housing shortage in Washington D.C.

Charles Coburn really is not all that much of a supporting performance for about a half to a third of the film where he basically is the lead being the primary force in moving the story along. I do not mind this placement though because he almost disappears in the later part of the film, which is too bad for the film though because if he had remained the lead the film would have probably been better on a whole, since for me the film lost almost all of its steam when Coburn was not on the screen because he makes the movie.

Coburn plays Benjamin Dingle a rich eccentric billionaire who arrives two days early than expected forcing him to find housing by sharing an apartment with a woman Constance (Jean Arthur). Coburn with ease brigns out all the humor with the situation as he shows that Dingle is always in control of his situation. Not in some sort of dictator fashion, but just a man who always knows what to do, and takes the initiative as Dingle says "Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead.".

Coburn is just great in every scene he has with always pitch perfect comedic reactions to the the various complexities that occur thanks to the unusual room arrangement that Dingle makes even more unusual by renting half of his half to a younger soldier also in town named Joe (Joel McCrea). Every moment Coburn makes the most of with his exceedingly charming and entertaining performance. He always takes every line, every reaction and practically brings each to its fullest potential.

 There is not a scene, even the with the later ones where Dingle is unfortunately pushed in the back where Coburn does not make Dingle the man in charge who can't help but be a joyous presence. I only wish Coburn had been the lead because his part is so enjoyable. This is a performance I simply love and he always makes the film a very easy watch. A eccentric comedic character like this is easy to get very wrong but Coburn always brings the humor and the charm of his character into each and every moment he has in the film.

Best Supporting Actor 1943

And the Nominees Were:

Claude Rains in Casablanca

Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bells Tolls

Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier

J. Carrol Naish in Sahara

Charles Bickford in The Song of Bernadette

Best Supporting Actor 1941: The Results

5. James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan- Gleason does not give much of a performance here, and basically does nothing but making surprised and confused faces over and over again.

4. Walter Brennan in Sergeant York- Although I do like what he does, and his performance is by far the best in the film, that just is not that much.

3. Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley- Crisp gives a very quiet and subtle performance that is very effective throughout the film. Also it always has the right realistic and authentic quality needed for the film.

2. Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones- Coburn gives a charming and very funny performance as a rich millionaire who finds out his workers are not exactly what he thought they were. His slow transition is perfectly handled and just gives a strong performance throughout the film. He might in fact be my personal choice for lead this year.

1. Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon- Greenstreet is just great as Casper Gutman, creating an incredibly memorable villain. He is only in really three scenes but he is absolutely brilliant in all three scene finding the perfect style and demeanor for his character, making him both fascinating and entertaining to watch.

Best Supporting Actor 1941: Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones

Charles Coburn received his first Oscar nomination for portraying rich millionaire John P. Merrick in The Devil and Miss Jones.

The Devil and Miss Jones is a somewhat charming romantic comedy of a very strange sort, that involves a business man (Coburn) who goes undercover to try to uncover potential pro union workers in his department store.

Charles Coburn is an example of a supporting nomination who is in fact the lead in the film, I guess character actors could not be lead, although interesting enough one of the lead nominations Walter Huston in the similarly named The Devil and Daniel Webster was really supporting, so technically they could have swamped nominations and everything would have been fine. Either way the film follows him as the very rich man who pretends to be a worker. Coburn is an actor who's presence instantly suggests a man of some sort of power. Just the way he acts and carries himself is always perfect and here is no different. Despite being an older man and usually described as a character actor Coburn does completely carry the film.

Coburn is simply wonderful from beginning to end in this picture. He starts out just perfectly as the rich man who everyone is a little scared of. He is in charge in the right way and is incredibly funny as this man who really does not exactly know what is going on completely despite acting in charge since he is not quite sure if he even owns his own store at first. He then goes undercover and his performance continues to be strong. His first scenes in the store are quite hilarious. I love how he is surprised as how he is treated as a worker and how he finds trouble with saying sir to his supervisor (Edmund Gwenn). He is just perfect showing the millionaire's troubles at adapting but also having him take down notes about firing the supervisor at the same time. Coburn is always just right with his comedic performance here. He never ever foes over the top he just stays the right way in his performance to be really as funny and charming as possible. He has some very good scenes again and again and I do not think they would have been nearly as strong if it were not for Coburn's perfect performance and comedic timing. Such scenes as when he deals with cops or tries to use his butler to sell a pear of hard to get rid of shoes in the store. 

The greatest strength in his performance though is the slow transformation of the rich man from hating the workers to slowly growing greater love and respect for them. Coburn is perfect at this transition because he again never over does it. He makes the transition perfectly slow and deliberate. He shows the millionaire never really was a completely hateful man but that there was a more likable man always sort of in him. Coburn is just great as he develops his relationship with a fellow female worker (Spring Byington) that works extremely well. Also his friendship with Jean Arthur is equally well handled by Coburn because again he never over does it at all but makes his realization of how the people are as realistic as possible because of his perfectly astute performance.

Best Supporting Actor 1941

And the nominees were:

Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon

Charles Coburn in The Devil and Miss Jones

Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley

James Gleason in Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Walter Brennan in Sergeant York

Who is your pick? What do you predict my ranking will be?