Alternate Best Actor 1944: Results

5. Eddie Bracken in Hail the Conquering Hero-Bracken gives an enjoyable performance and handles his final dramatic speech well, but his best performance of the year was in the other Preston Sturges comedy he starred in.

Best Scene: The "hero" tells the truth.

4. Peter Lorre in The Mask of Dimitrios- Lorre really does not have a character so it is to his testament that he still gives an effective and enjoyable performance.

Best Scene: Cornelius finds the smuggler in his room.

3. Ray Milland in Ministry of Fear- Milland leads this thriller effectively throughout and delivers when needing to delve in his character's dark background.

Best Scene: Stephen tells about how he murdered his wife.

2. Edward G. Robinson in The Woman in the Window- Robinson gives a subdued and effective performance as the lead in a noir who is frankly to old for a noir.

Best Scene: The professor tries to come up with a way to kill a blackmailer.

1. Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity- Good Prediction Michael Patison, JackiBoyz, RatedRStar and moviefilm. (I should note I allowed the correct prediction apply in terms of Milland whether your prediction correctly placed him for The Uninvited or Ministry of Fear) MacMurray wins this year without a second thought as his portrayal of the insurance salesman whose lusts get the better for him stands easily as the strongest leading performance of the year.

Best Scene: Keyes lights the match of Neff.

Overall Rank:

1. Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity
2. Laird Cregar in The Lodger
3. Laurence Olivier in Henry V
4. Charles Boyer in Gaslight
5. Alexander Knox in None Shall Escape
   
6. Alexander Knox in Wilson
7. Edward G. Robinson in The Woman in the Window
8. Ray Milland in Ministry of Fear
9. Claude Rains in Mr. Skeffington
10. Errol Flynn in Uncertain Glory 
11. Charles Laughton in The Suspect
    
12. Gregory Peck in The Keys to the Kingdom 
    
13. Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not 
    
14. Dick Powell in Murder, My Sweet
    
15. Robert Newton in This Happy Breed 
16. William Powell in The Thin Man Goes Home 
    
17. Fredric March in The Adventures of Mark Twain
    
18. Alf Kjellin in Torment
    
19. Paul Lukas in Uncertain Glory
20. Charles Vanel in Le Ciel Est à Vous
    
21. Van Johnson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
22. Peter Lorre in The Mask of Dimitrios
23. Ray Milland in The Uninvited 
    
24. Eddie Bracken in Hail the Conquering Hero
25. Pedro Armendariz in Maria Candelaria
    
26. Dana Andrews in Laura 
27. Ray Milland in Till We Meet Again
    
28. John Carradine in Bluebeard
    
29. Luciano De Ambrosis in The Children Are Watching Us
    
30. Nikolai Cherkasov in Ivan The Terrible Part I 
31. Dennis Price in A Canterbury Tale
    
32. Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace 
33. Clive Brook in On Approval
34. Ronald Culver in On Approval
    
35. George Sanders in The Lodger 
36. John Sweet in A Canterbury Tale
    
37. Spencer Tracy in The Seventh Cross
38. Bing Crosby in Going My Way
    
39. Cary Grant in None but the Lonely Heart
40. Mickey Rooney in National Velvet
    
41. Robert Young in The Canterville Ghost
    
42. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Parkington
    
43. Zachary Scott in The Mask of Dimitrios
    

Next Year: 1944 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1944: Eddie Bracken in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Eddie Bracken did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying either Woodrow Truesmith in Hail The Conquering Hero or Norval Jones in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.

Both of the Preston Sturges comedies of 1944 are both very entertaining films with Hail the Conquering Hero about a man who could not get into the marines being made a false hero by a group of real marines, and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek about a small town girl who finds herself married and pregnant to a man she can't even remember the father's name.

Eddie Bracken plays the lead to both films and in both films he plays a sad sack who is unable to make it in the military due to failing the physical examine. The performances are similar in nature but differ in that his performance as Woodrow Truesmith is a bit more serious as Woodrow is a smarter sad sack, and his performance as Norval Jones is more directly comedic as Norval is a not particularly bright sad sack. Both find themselves in absurdest situations who don't really know how to handle them although, except for the ending to Hail the Conquering Hero, Norval is allowed just a little more control in them giving frankly some more space for comedic moments.

Out of the two performances I would say I prefer The Miracle of Morgan's Creek because of the nature of the performance being just simply funnier. Bracken is good in Hail the Conquering Hero though as well and does deliver particularly well with the dramatic final speech in the film. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek simply gives Bracken more opportunities to be funny in the film. Eddie Bracken plays the role of the somewhat whiny rather wimpy semi-romantic lead. This sorta part can often be a rather obnoxious character to say the last, but frankly Eddie Bracken is quite a master of this type of role as shown in Hail and even more so in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. 

Bracken is an easy charm as Norval and rather then the less then positive qualities of Norval being obnoxious in anyway they actually are all made rather endearing by Bracken energetic performance. Eddie Bracken manages never to go overboard with his portrayal of Norval even if the character behavior is rather absurdest to say the least. Bracken fits the screwball atmosphere perfectly and makes the most of every single comedic moment he has in the film. His physical timing could not be timing and every pratfall and slapstick moment is carried quite beautifully by Bracken throughout the film.

Eddie Bracken performance is simply a great fit for Preston Sturges's brand of comedy and in both of those films Bracken makes a most unusual but rather enjoyable protagonist to follow through the insanity of the story. Bracken performance goes along with every beat of the story and through his reactions adds greatly to the comedic value of every scene. I just found Bracken performance to be a very funny performance that leads both The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero splendidly. Although even more splendidly when it comes to The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.

Alternate Best Actor 1944

And the Nominees Were Not:

Peter Lorre in The Mask of Dimitrios

Edward G. Robinson in The Woman in the Window

Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity

Ray Milland in Ministry of Fear

Eddie Bracken in Hail The Conquering Hero