Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1971: Results

5. Elliot Gould in The Touch - A downright atrocious performance that fails on every level, and is quite bizarre to witness in a Ingmar Bergman film.

Best Scene: When he's off-screen. 

4. David Gulpilil in Walkabout - Gulpilil does not have a great deal to work with, but gives an honest portrayal of his character.

Best Scene: The failed mating ritual. 

3. Edward Fox in The Go-Between - Fox manages to be more than background largely in a single scene where he brilliantly realizes exactly what his character is going through.

Best Scene: Leo asks Hugh about Ted.

2. Ian McShane in Villain - McShane, despite dealing with a terrible co-star, gives an engaging and complex portrait of a gangster's closest associate. 

Best Scene: Vic goes to Wolfe after his mother dies.

1. Alain Delon in Red Sun  - Delon creates a memorable and appropriately smooth villain who acts as worthy foe for the all-star pairing at the center of the film, which is quite an achievement.

Best Scene: Catching Kuroda and Link off guard.

Updated Overall Rank

Next Year: 1985 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1971: Edward Fox in The Go-Between

Edward Fox did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning a BAFTA, for portraying Hugh Trimingham in The Go-Between.

The Go-Between tells a story about star-crossed lovers separated by social classes whose relationship is facilitated for some time by a young boy visiting the estate the two live on for the summer. The material itself runs thin with the film's length, though director Joseph Losey's execution of it is often intriguing.

Now the standard version of such a story would be shown from the lovers in this case the richman's daughter Marian Maudsley (Julie Christie), and the tenant farmer Ted Burgess (Alan Bates). The emphasis here is based on the go-between, the boy Leo (Dominic Guard) who delivers messages between the two in which they set up their rendezvous. This firmly maintains the perspective of the child, and we only see the events unfold through his view of them. This technically limits every other character in a way since we only see them in the way they interact with the boy, which is obviously not exactly as they are. This includes Edward Fox, despite his scarred physical appearance, which is only explained briefly by someone else as a wound he received in the Boer War. That's all there is left to it, and as with every one else the perspective of Hugh is kept very tight. However Fox still does well within this frame in the majority of scenes as just an unassuming yet charming gentleman who is more than kind and courteous to his betrothed Marian, despite that she continues her efforts to meet Ted as frequently as she can.

Fox has two strikes against from the start then due to the film's perspective, but also being the other man which is traditionally a thankless role. Fox though thrives more effectively than any other member of the cast within this confinement. Most scenes with Fox are just Hugh being a pleasant enough fellow, which he does well. There is one scene though where he gets a chance for more when Leo alludes to the relationship between Marian and Ted directly to Hugh. Fox is downright brilliant in this scene as again what he says to the boy keeps everything properly respectable in his description of Ted as a lady killer. What's outstanding about Fox's work is that he says everything else silently in the scene. In his face as he hears the name mentioned Fox reveals the pain and discomfort of a man realizing he is not truly loved by his soon to be wife, but also portraying a definite acceptance of the situation all the same. It's a fantastic scene for Fox as he wholly establishes Hugh's own view of the affair without a word being said. After that remarkable moment Hugh returns to the background for the rest of the film, but Fox with that moment makes Hugh more than just a part of the background. This is a good performance as Fox makes the most out of a thin part.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1971

And the Nominees Were Not:

Alain Delon in Red Sun

Edward Fox in The Go-Between

Elliott Gould in The Touch

Ian McShane in Villain

David Gulpilil in Walkabout

Alternate Best Actor 1973: Results

5. James Coburn in Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid- Coburn does an excellent job of mixing in the weightier elements of his performance along with just being the bad ass that Pat Garrett should be.

Best Scene: Garrett kills the Kid. 

4. Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal- Fox's performance is a true accomplishment in making such a unique reality driven characterization of the type of character that is often portrayed in the exact opposite fashion.

Best Scene:  The Jackal makes love to and kills a woman.

3. Steve McQueen in Papillon- This tremendous work by McQueen not only puts on display once again McQueen unique screen presence, but here he also is able to show how powerful of an actor he really could be.

Best Scene:  Papillon stands "trial"

2. Martin Sheen in Badlands-This is a great performance by Martin Sheen who goes out on a limb with his portrayal and never stops for a moment in this outstanding performance.

Best Scene: Kit's press conference.

1. Gene Hackman in Scarecrow- This was certainly a difficult year to choose out of the top four, but as well as with the overall. This is just an incredible year for lead performances. Gene Hackman's is my second favorite of the year though through his powerful unique portrayal in his film.

Best Scene: Max tries to snap Lionel out of it. 

Overall Rank:

1. Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger
2. Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man
3. Elliott Gould in The Long Goodbye
4. Gene Hackman in Scarecrow
5. Al Pacino in Scarecrow
6. Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle 
7. Carl Anderson in Jesus Christ Superstar
8. Donald Sutherland in Don't Look Now
9. Jason Miller in The Exorcist
10. Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail 
11. Vincent Price in Theater of Blood
    
12. Steve McQueen in Papillon
13. Robert Shaw in The Hireling 
14. Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal
15. Sean Connery in The Offence
16. Ian Holm in The Homecoming 
    
17. James Coburn in Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid 
18. Robert Blake in Electra Glide in Blue
19. Giancarlo Giannini in Love & Anarchy
    
20. Anthony Hopkins in A Doll's House
21. Helmut Berger in Ludwig
22. Warren Oates in Dillinger
    
23. Malcolm McDowell in O Lucky Man!
    
24. Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets
25. Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar
26. Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick  
    
27. Paul Rogers in The Homecoming
28. Ryan O'Neal in Paper Moon
29. Alec Guinness in Hitler The Last Ten Days
30. Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter
31. James Caan in Cinderella Liberty 
32. Lee Marvin in Emperor of the North Pole 
33. Ben Johnson in Dillinger
    
34. Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force
35. Bruce Dern in The Laughing Policeman
36. Marcello Mastroianni in Massacre in Rome
37. Dustin Hoffman in Papillon
38. Kris Kristofferson in Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid 
39. Al Pacino in Serpico
40. Keith Carradine in Emperor of the North Pole 
41. Robert Redford in The Sting
    
42. Fernando Fernan Gomez in The Spirit of the Beehive
43. Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon 
44. Walter Matthau in The Laughing Policeman
45. Ian Hendry in Theatre of Blood
    
46. Robert Redford in The Way We Were
47. Michael Moriarty in Bang the Drum Slowly
48. Charlton Heston in Soylent Green 
49. Brian Bedford in Robin Hood
50. George Segal in A Touch of Class
51. Roy Scheider in The Seven Ups  
52. Richard Burton in Massacre in Rome 
53. Alejandro Jodorowky in The Holy Mountain
54. Paul Newman in The Mackintosh Man
55. Timothy Bottoms in The Paper Chase 
56. Richard Benjamin in West World
57. Roger Moore in Live and Let Die

Next Year: 1973 supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1973: Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal

Edward Fox did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying The Jackal in The Day of the Jackal. 

The Day of the Jackal is a very effective thriller about an assassin's preparations to kill French president Charles de Gaulle while the authorities try to track him down to stop him.

Edward Fox portrays the titular assassin who is the villainous lead of the film. One of the reasons The Day of the Jackal is so unique and effective of a thriller is the almost day to day way it shows in how the Jackal goes about his task. Edward Fox contributes this in his performance that takes a decidedly non flamboyant approach in portraying the assassin. Assassins commonly in film are portrayed in sort of a larger than life fashion, which can be fine if it works in context with the film, but Fox interestingly plays the Jackal as a very down to earth man. Fox goes for an intensely realistic performance as the Jackal.

We follow closely the plan of the Jackal as he sets up everything he needs to to be able to proceed with his plan, as well as every little hurdle that comes up due to the efforts of the government. Fox is amazing in his creation of the the Jackal who we know almost nothing of. He makes him a man of few words and few emotions as he goes about his task. In the way he is so matter of fact in his method he shows that this really is not anything special for him he is a career assassin and the casual manner he takes if very effective in showing this. Fox is brilliant in the way he makes something like planning of the killing of a world leader something so casual, but Fox is able to do it in a wholly believable fashion.

Edward Fox is excellent in portraying the far too great intelligence within The Jackal as he moves about doing what he has to do to achieve his goal. It is fascinating the way Fox plays the Jackal as basically a soulless man, but this is not a one note performance because he shows almost everything else is a put upon facade. It is incredible the way Fox portrays the ease in which the Jackal is able to through on one facade to the next. It is amazing the way he so believably switches from accents to even manners like when he pretends to be a world weary soldier. He even shows the Jackal having the ability to click on a charm when necessary that is so effectively used by Fox as it makes just basically a switch for him to becoming  a charming.

Fox is just incredible the way he is able to create this man who has such skills, which he does in such a natural fashion despite it being something that is entirely unnatural technically speaking. There is such an efficiency in the way he portrays the Jackal that makes him an imposing force, and is able to create the dire feeling that he will succeed despite the fact that the person he is planning on killing definitely was not killed. Fox makes The Jackal a man who never seems to stop or hesitate even for a moment as he goes about his plan of action, Fox gets across so well the flow of this man's sinister intelligence that always makes him at least few steps past the government agencies who attempt to capture and stop him.

Something that really is difficult in many thrillers of this sort is that either the villain or the heroes make foolish mistakes along the way. This film though is incredibly good though in showing that both forces are working at the very top of their game. Fox contributes to this greatly with his performance as the Jackal who we never doubt for a second in his abilities. He makes the Jackal the master assassin he should be and honestly succeeds in creating the threat that he should be to make the film work. There never seems to be luck in play here or anything else that is just by chance for the Jackal, he earns all his successes and Fox is brilliant in the way he fully realizes this.

The most chilling moments of his performance though are whenever he clears all facades off his face and just goes about his job in the purest fashion which is killing people. Fox is fantastic the way his face changes to that cold brutality. One scene in particular is especially disturbing where he is acting very casual with a man like a normal person, but a message on the television alerts the man that the Jackal is wanted by the police. The way Fox shows his demeanor change on the dime to the calculated murderer makes the scene especially chilling. Every one of these scenes are particularly effective due to the cold almost lifeless manner he takes when committing murder.

This is a great performance by Edward Fox and he succeeds in his portrayal of the Jackal which could have easily gone wrong so many ways. The Jackal could have easily been over the top in his style that would not have fit the character, or he could have been one note considering the soulless nature of the role. Fox though finds just the right tone for the Jackal making him a compelling character to follow through the film, and manages to make a fascinating depiction of this assassin. Fox's performance is a true accomplishment in making such a unique reality driven characterization of the type of character that is often portrayed in the exact opposite fashion.

(This is just an amazing year for lead performances)

Alternate Best Actor 1973

And the Nominees Were Not:

Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal

Steve McQueen in Papillon

Martin Sheen in Badlands

Gene Hackman in Scarecrow

James Coburn in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

I'll apologize in advance for leaving so many out as this year simply was packed.