Alternate Best Actor 1945: Results

5. Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter- Although overshadowed by Celia Johnson Howard still fulfills his part well through his considerable charm and honest chemistry with her.

Best Scene: Alec and Laura declare their love for one another.

4. Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven- Best his actual nominated work in every way through his adequate work for most of the film and his powerful performance at the end.

Best Scene: His courtroom testimony.

3. James Mason in The Seventh Veil- Although his role is very limited Mason still steals it through his ability to make his character's bitterness something truly palatable.

Best Scene: Nicholas ignores Francesca's marriage plans.

2. Edward G. Robinson in Scarlet Street-Robinson gives a moving depiction of a meek man abused to the point of insanity.

Best Scene: Christopher is haunted in his room.

1. Jean-Louis Barrault in Children of Paradise- Barrault gives a wonderful portrayal of both his character's stage portrayal of a romantic mime, but as well the subtle differences found in the equally romantic and charming but much more flawed real man off the stage.

Best Scene: Baptiste recreates a mugging through a pantomime.

Overall Rank:

1. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend
2. Laird Cregar in Hangover Square
   
3. Pierre Brasseur in Children of Paradise 
   
4. Jean-Louis Barrault in Children of Paradise 
5. Claude Rains in Caesar and Cleopatra
6. Edward G. Robinson in Scarlet Street
7. James Mason in The Seventh Veil
8. Roger Livesey in I Know Where I'm Going
   
9. Aldo Fabrizi in Rome, Open City  
10. Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter
    
11. Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven
12. Errol Flynn in Objective, Burma!
13. Robert Donat in Vacation From Marriage
    
14. Basil Rathbone in The House of Fear
    
15. Edward G. Robinson in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
16. Rex Harrison in Blithe Spirit
17. Georg Rydeberg in Two People
    
18. Denjuro Okochi in The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
19. Marcello Pagliero in Rome, Open City
20. Robert Walker in The Clock 
21. Joseph Cotton in Love Letters 
22. Mervyn Johns in Pink String and Ceiling Wax
    
23. Henry Danielle in The Body Snatcher
    
24. James Cagney in Blood on the Sun
    
25. Susumu Fujita in Sanshiro Sugata Part II
26. Nigel Bruce in The House of Fear
27. Burgess Meredith in The Story of G.I. Joe 
28. Danny Kaye in Wonder Man
    
29. Robert Montgomery in They Were Expendable
30. John Wayne in They Were Expendable
31. Humphrey Bogart in Conflict  
32. Raymond Rouleau in Paris Frills
33. Paul Bernard in Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
    
34. Zachary Scott in The Southerner 
35. Robert Young in The Enchanted Cottage
    
36. Robert Walker in What's Next Corporal Hargrove?
37. Dana Andrews in Fallen Angel
    
38. Dick Haymes in State Fair
39. Paul Muni in A Song to Remember 
    
40. Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh
41. Gregory Peck in The Valley of Decision
    
42. Stanley Clements in Salty O'Rourke
    
43. Alan Ladd in Salty O'Rourke
    
44. Tom Neal in Detour 
45. John Garfield in Pride of the Marines
    
46. Lawrence Tierney in Dillinger
    
47. Bing Crosby in The Bells of Saint Mary's 
48. Lloyd Nolan in The House on 92nd Street
    
49. Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember
50. Dennis Morgan in Christmas in Connecticut
51. Arturo de Cordova in A Medal for Benny 
    
52. Gregory Peck in Spellbound
53. Russell Wade in The Body Snatcher
    
54. Hurt Hatfield in The Picture of Dorian Gray
    
55. William Eythe in The House on 92nd Street
    

Next Year: 1945 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1945: Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven

Cornel Wilde did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Richard Harland in Leave Her to Heaven.

Leave Her to Heaven is an effective film about a man whose life and those around him seemed threatened by a woman obsessed with him.

Cornel Wilde was indeed nominated for Best Actor in 1945 for A Song to Remember (which was forgettable, rim shot please). Anyway his performance was dullness incarnate and all the life seemed to be sucked out of Frederic Chopin. One could perhaps attach this to Charles Vidor's direction who also went on to suck out the life from Franz Liszt and Dirk Bogarde in A Song Without End (which felt endless). Well there is no Charles Vidor around this time so no accusations of soul stealing can be made. Well Wilde proves himself not to be some hollow shell here giving a considerably better performance than his performance as Chopin which naturally means the it's the one the Academy doesn't nominate, but I suppose that's just how it goes

The part of Richard Harland is a fairly simple one early on in the film as he meets with the mysterious woman Ellen (Gene Tierney) who instantly grows strong attracted to him, and even forces a proposal on him. Now this might be some cause to step back for a moment, but since she looks like Gene Tierney it's pretty easy to understand Richard's lack of hesitation.Wilde mostly on just needs to make us invest into Richard's story. Wilde's does do this as he he is appropriately endearing and charming in the role. There is not anything particularly special about Richard, but there is not anything wrong with him he just is a nice guy who cares about those around him particularly his handicap brother. Wilde brings the right enthusiasm and energy into the role that sets up Richard very nicely to make his fall have the right impact. 

Wilde does not play Richard as some sort of fool though and he is very good in his scenes with Tierney. They don't have the usual type of romantic chemistry but they really should not as this is not a normal romance in any way. Instead she seems completely entranced by his appearance as she notes that he reminds her of her father, which again is creepy enough all by its lonesome but Wilde makes it work by the way he plays his affections back. Wilde does not necessary really show that Richard is in love with her exactly, but rather is mutually entranced by her appearance although this time in a more basic sort of way. Wilde takes the right approach in doing so and he makes it believable that he would take so long to catch on as he helps create the allure of Ellen through his own performance that reinforces it.

Wilde is good in the earlier scenes fulfilling the part of Richard well, although Richard purposefully does not make too much of an impact overall as the film focuses on the insanity of Ellen's desires. This changes though when Richard finally finds out about some of Ellen's actions which even includes causing the death of someone. Wilde is very effective in his confrontation scene as he personifies the moral outrage in Richard with the proper ferocity. His best scene though comes after further developments and he has to end all speculation with a court room testimony. Wilde's is fantastic in his delivery of the final monologue bringing the right passion of his resolve to defeat Ellen's plan, but as well Wilde  brings a very powerful haunted quality within it that properly suggests how the whole affair has left Richard.

Well as usual you can leave it to the academy to make such a foolish mistake as nominating Wilde for A Song to Remember instead of this it is even more questionable when the nominations so that they indeed had watched Leave Her to Heaven. If they had not only would they have given Ray Milland, but they also would have made Wilde one of the better nominees for Best Actor rather than one of the worst. For my rating this time I have to basically average out things. He is about a 3.5 for most of the film but he brings the right life to the part and allows us to easily sympathize with Richard's dilemma but then in the end of the film when he finally gets the opportunity to completely soar he absolutely seizes that opportunity that would make him almost worthy of a five.

Alternate Best Actor 1945

And the Nominees Were Not:

Jean-Louis Barrault in Children of Paradise

Trevor Howard in Brief Encounter

Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven 

James Mason in The Seventh Veil

Edward G. Robinson in Scarlet Street

Best Actor 1945: Results

5. Cornel Wilde in A Song To Remember- Wilde performance is just a dull boring performance lacking in any redeeming factors.

4. Bing Crosby in The Bells of St. Mary's- I will admit Bing certainly smiles a lot but does little past that. He sings, and smiles that is it.

3. Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh- Kelly does his usual thing here, some like it, I don't really.

2. Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom- Gregory Peck gives a nice charming performance as a Priest, who stays interesting and effective to watch throughout the film.

1. Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend- No doubt about this one Milland by far gives the best performance, in a harrowing, and very effective turn as an alcoholic writer. His performance is exceptionally effective, and shows incredibly realistic performance of a man who is just about over the edge.

Deserving Performances:
Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven

Best Actor 1945: Cornel Wilde in A Song To Remember

Cornel Wilde received his only Oscar nomination for portraying composer and pianist Frederic Chopin in A Song To Remember.

A Song to Remember is a incredibly dull and boring movie, that fails to capture anything about Chopin's life in any interesting fashion, also it fails to really shows his genius as a composer in any way.

Cornel Wilde's performance is much like the film very dull and boring. Part of the film he just stands around being told what to do by his mentor played by Paul Muni. His performance suggests nothing of an actual genius, and he makes Chopin a very boring and uninteresting man. Well I suppose perhaps I should not blame him entirely since the film writes Chopin in such as simple way, but Wilde adds nothing that the script failed to add. He plays the piano mostly and listens a lot to what other people say, anything. His reactions though are not even interesting when listening.

He does act out when hearing about the Russians or seeing Russians, and has to show his hatred for them. He still does nothing special when he lashes out at them either. I was really surprise by how overly dull Wilde performance is in this movie. Every aspect of his performance is dull and boring, just as the character is dull and boring. There is not really much to say about this performance because the character is so underwritten, and utterly dull. Also Wilde is a  incorrectly nominated too, because he is infinitely better in Leave Her to Heaven from the same year. 

Best Actor 1945

And the Nominees were:

Gregory Peck in Keys of the Kingdom

Bing Crosby in Bells of Saint Mary's

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend

Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh

Cornel Wilde in A Song to Remember

Is this the biggest one horse race in this category or will it be someone else? Oh and I guess this is my Christmas edition due to Bells of Saint Mary's.