Best Supporting Actor 1950: Results

5. Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow- Chandler is already miscast around actual Native Americans, and his dull performance never makes up for this problem.

4. Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880- Gwenn is properly sweet and charming in his part, but the part of the most benevolent of criminals is not much of one.

3. Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.- Stroheim is perfectly cast adding another layer to his character simply through his own background. He also is always proper in his role, but his performance never becomes that amazing for me. Max Meyerling is certianly an interesting character but a limited one.

2. Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle- In many years I sort of look forward to rarely talked about nominated performance which are ample in this category. I usually find out why they are rarely spoken of like Gwenn, and Chandler, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find Jaffe's incredibly strong work. Jaffe's performance is subtle even simple work at times, that is amazingly effective and very memorable.

1. George Sanders in All About Eve-Sanders simply could not be better in the role of Addison De Witt. He channels the snarky smug, yet incredibly intelligent and suave ways of the character. Sanders always makes his presence known with every single comment he makes, and to top it off he has one unforgettable scene that is just a magnificent piece of acting.

Best Supporting Actor 1950: Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow

Jeff Chandler received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Cochise in Broken Arrow.

Broken Arrow is not terribly made, and it is interesting to see an early film that shows the Native Americans in a more positive light, but the film just never becomes that good though.

The film does try to tell a story more fully about the Native Americans, but the main characters which are Apache are portrayed by white actors like Jeff Chandler. This does most certainly does lead to a good amount of non authenticity with his performance. I never really believed him as Cochise. This is certainly at least partially not his fault. It was miscasting to have a white actor portray the lead Apache especially since most of the supporting Apache are portrayed by actual Native Americans.

Chandler technically could have been worse and really fell flat as Cochise into embarrassing territory. Chandler instead is just mostly dull in his performance. He stands up straight with a very dignified leader sort of posture, and speaks in commanding enough fashion I suppose. He never makes Cochise all that interesting, nor does he get over his miscasting. His performance just stays a mostly dull, and at best at becomes a functional performance. His performance just is not at all special and I doubt I would remember it at all if he had not been nominated for an Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor 1950

And The Nominees Were:

Erich Von Stroheim in Sunset Blvd.

Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880

George Sanders in All About Eve

Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow

Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle

Before I jump back to Best Actor and gain back my ability to relax as I review here is another Supporting year.