Alternate Best Actor 1970: Results

5. Jean Louis Trintignant in The Conformist- Trintignant fails to find consistency in his performance, and simply gives an uninteresting portrayal of a character with potential.

Best Scene: Marcello watches the assassination.

4. Alejandro Jodorowsky in El Topo- Jodorowsky gives an effective performance as a cool headed gunfighter then a repentant monk, but he never stands out past his own direction.

Best Scene: El Topo creates a new exit out of the cave.

3. Peter Boyle in Joe- Boyle gives a good performance as working class loud mouth by showing the man behind the bluster, but the film's shortcomings keep him from giving a great performance.

Best Scene: Joe's introduction.

2. Albert Finney in Scrooge- Finney overplays a moment here and there, but his alternate take on Ebenezer Scrooge does manage to work for the most part.

Best Scene: The redemption medley.

1. Gian Maria Volontè in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion- The only alternate that really brought much excitement for me is Volontè's work. Volontè gives an interesting and entertaining performance that cleverly manages to make sense of his character's seemingly random behavior.

Best Scene: The inspector openly confesses to his crime.

Overall Rank:

1. George C. Scott in Patton
2. Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces
3. Nicol Williamson in The Reckoning 
4. Warren Oates in Barquero
5. Jason Robards in The Ballad of Cable Hogue
   
6. Gene Hackman in I Never Sang For My Father 
7. Peter Sellers in Hoffman
   
8. Gian Maria Volontè in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
9. Alec Guinness in Cromwell
10. Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang For My Father
11. Richard Harris in The Molly Maguires
12. James Fox in Performance 
13. Sergei Bondarchuk in Uncle Vanya
14. Jüri Järvet in King Lear
15. Yves Montand in The Confession
    
16. Tom Courtenay in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
    
17. Innokenty Smoktunovsky in Uncle Vanya
18. Lee Marvin in Monte Walsh 
19. Alain Delon in Le Cercle Rouge
20. Jean-Pierre Cassel in La Rupture
    
21. Albert Finney in Scrooge
22. Ron Moody in Twelve Chairs
23. Peter Boyle in Joe  
24. Marcello Mastroianni in Sunflower
    
25. Robert Mitchum in Ryan's Daughter 
26. David Bradley in Kes
    
27. Donald Sutherland in MASH 
28. Richard Harris in A Man Called Horse 
29. Sean Connery in The Molly Maguires
    
30. Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man  
31. Dhritiman Chatterjee in Pratidwandi
    
32. Richard Harris in Cromwell 
    
33. Fernando Rey in Tristana 
34. Michel Piccoli in Les Choses de la Vie
    
35. Jean-Pierre Leaud in Bed and Board
36. Marcello Mastroianni in The Pizza Triangle
    
37. Telly Savalas in Kelly's Heroes
38. Paul Newman in Sometimes A Great Notion
39. James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope
    
40. Alejandro Jodorowsky in El Topo 
41. Jean Yanne in Le Boucher
    
42. Clint Eastwood in Kelly's Heroes
43. Elliot Gould in MASH
44. Frank Langella in Twelve Chairs 
45. Robert Stephens in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
46. Tony Lo Bianco in The Honeymoon Killers
47. François Truffaut in The Wild Child
    
48. John Moulder-Brown in First Love
    
49. Ryan O'Neal in Love Story 
50. Lee Van Cleef in Barquero
    
51. Kenneth Nelson in The Boys in the Band 
52. Jean-Pierre Cargol in The Wild Child
53. Alan Arkin in Catch-22
    
54. Ben Gazzara in Husbands
    
55. Peter Falk in Husbands 
56. John Cassavetes in Husbands 
57. Jean-Claude Brialy in Claire's Knee
    
58. Michael Sarrazin in Sometimes a Great Notion 
59. Dennis Patrick in Joe 
60. Christopher Lee in Count Dracula
    
61. Rock Hudson in Darling Lili
    
62. Jean Louis Trintignant in The Conformist
63. Beau Bridges in Landlord
    
64. Frank Langella in Diary of a Mad Housewife 
65. Rod Steiger in Waterloo
    
66. Christopher Jones in Ryan's Daughter 
67. Richard Benjamin in Diary of a Mad Housewife 
68. Frederick Williams in Count Dracula
    
69. Jason Robards in Julius Caesar
    

Next Year: 1970 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1970: Gian Maria Volontè in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Gian Maria Volontè did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying the police inspector in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is an entertaining film where the title is pretty self explanatory.

For most of the film it is hard to get a beat on the work of Gian Maria Volontè in this film. Volontè plays the titular citizen and when we first meet him he goes and murders a woman. Afterwards he sets up the crime scene in elaborate fashion then it appears he will be the one who is in charge of the investigation of this murder. Volontè's performance seems quite random throughout the film, and really the most consistent thing about him is the way he walks. He always has the walk of an official government agent every step he makes seems to be very particularly yet with a certain casual style to it emphasizing that in his position he does not need to rush doing anything. Now past the walk Volontè seems to take a rather random approach.

One scene Volontè will play the part as you would if the film was a straight less satirical picture as the apparently determined government man. Volontè is very good at the serious looks and showing the extreme importance of job. He is able to seem as though he really is doing his job as he commands everyone around him to do their duties thoroughly. Volontè, as shown in his Sergio Leone directed performances as well, carries a naturally menace with him so well. The way he leans on any particular witness or even one of his underlings is very effectively handled by Volontè. The inspector does not need to really say anything he only needs to indicate his position and give a look because of the ease of Volontè's intensity.

Of course without much notice Volontè can go off an erratic deep end as he seems genuinely insane as the inspector. The inspector unsuspectingly goes from intimidating those to be silent, to seemingly making it so evidence will be found that he is guilty quite randomly. There seems to be no method to his madness and the same can be said for Volontè's performance. He goes off the deep end without warning and this deep end can be a series of different deep ends. Sometimes Volontè plays the cold cunning killer creating witnesses, sometimes he is just off the wall in every way, sometimes he just seems to be doing it for the fun of it and is enjoying every moment of it. Volontè is never consistent with his portrayal, although he is most entertaining throughout.

I was not sure what to make of Volontè's work until it all came together in his final scene of the film where the inspector openly pleads his guilt to his associates who refuses to accept such guilt. Volontè's scene shows a break down to just a pathetic mess who wants to punished for what the has done wrong. The way Volontè plays this scene unlocks the secret of his character which is that he is just a child, a child who has been playing a game and finally wants to get punished for what he does wrong. Volontè brilliantly shows no maturity in the moment as he just pleads basically to be recognized that he is capable of wrong. It is not really regret that Volontè suggests for his crime, but rather he acts as though the inspector is a spoiled kid wanting some recognition of his behavior.

This is a most interesting performance by Volontè as he manages to create the mystery of the film, why the inspector killed the woman at the beginning, through his portrayal of the inspector. Volontè keeps you guessing what exactly is going on in the inspector's mind through his constantly changing method which always remains very watchable and enjoyable. I will admit I was not ready to get behind Volontè's performance until his last scene as he is pretty scatter shot in the way he plays the part, and it is hard to know what he is going for much of the film. Volontè completely nails that ending though, and in doing so he gives logic not only to his entire performance, but as well to the film as a whole.

Alternate Best Actor 1970

And the Nominees Were Not:

Albert Finney in Scrooge

Alejandro Jodorowsky in El Topo

Gian Maria Volontè in Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Jean Louis Trintignant in The Conformist

Peter Boyle in Joe