Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1966: Results

5. Richard Crenna in The Sand Pebbles- Crenna gives a solid performance that seems to create a more complex character then the film even wanted.

Best Scene: The captain tries to prevent a mutiny.

4. Orson Welles in A Man For All Seasons- Welles in one scene gives complex portrait of Cardinal Wolsey that is worthy of the complex man.

Best Scene: Wolsey tries to persuade More to support the King's divorce.

3. Richard Attenborough in The Sand Pebbles- Attenborough gives a moving performance that effectively conveys his character story almost entirely in his physical performance.

Best Scene: Frenchy talks to Maily for the last time.

2. John Hurt in A Man For All Seasons- John Hurt is the perfect weasel informant here by showing the motivation of what makes such a man.

Best Scene: Richard Rich testifies against Thomas More.

1. Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly- Good Prediction Mark feel free to name a year and a performance. This year came down to the comedic and almost leading work of Walter Matthau against Lee Van Cleef's classic villainous turn. Like Wallach against Nakadai this was not an easy choice but I have to choose one so I am going Van Cleef's chilling performance as the titular Bad.

Best Scene: Angel Eyes has Tuco tortured.

Overall Rank:

1. Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
2. Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie
3. John Hurt in A Man For All Seasons
4. George Segal in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
5. Robert Shaw in A Man For All Seasons
6. Will Geer in Seconds
7. Richard Attenborough in The Sand Pebbles
8. John Randolph in Seconds
9. Murray Hamilton in Seconds
10. Paul Meurisse in Le Deuxième Souffle
11. Orson Welles in A Man For All Seasons
12. John Mills in The Family Way
13. Toshiro Mifune in The Sword of Doom 
14. Richard Crenna in The Sand Pebbles
15. Frank Gorshin in Batman 
16. Aldo Giuffrè in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly  
17. Sergei Bandarchuk in War and Peace Part II
18. Nikolai Sergeyev in Andrei Rublev 
19. Gunnar Bjornstrand in Here is Your Life
20. Burgess Meredith in Batman  
21. Nikolia Burlyayev in Andrei Rublev
22. James Mason in Georgy Girl 
23. Ralph Richardson in The Wrong Box
24. Donald Pleasence in Fantastic Voyage
25. Leo McKern in A Man For All Seasons
26. Maximilian Schell in The Deadly Affair 
27. Ivan Lapikov in Andrei Rublev
28. Jack Palance in The Professionals  
29. Jeff Corey in Seconds
30. John Saxon in The Appaloosa
31. Michael Hordern in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum  
32. Khigh Dhiegh in Seconds 
33. Marcel Bozzuffi in Le Deuxième Souffle
34. Denholm Elliot in Alfie  
35. Gene Hackman in Hawaii
36. Wolfgang Kieling in Torn Curtain
37. Vasily Lanovoy in War and Peace Part II
38. Ralph Bellamy in The Professionals
39. Eiji Okada in The Face of Another 
40. Peter O'Toole in The Bible 
41. Max von Sydow in Here is Your Life
42. Wesley Addy in Seconds
43. Eli Wallach in How to Steal A Million
44. Nigel Davenport in A Man For All Seasons
45. Cesar Romero in Batman
46. Hugh Griffith in How To Steal A Million
47. Robert Ryan in The Professionals 
48. Orson Welles in Is Paris Burning?
49. Cliff Osmond in The Fortune Cookie  
50. John Huston in The Bible 
51. Rip Torn in You're A Big Boy Now
52. Arthur Hill in Harper
53. Yuzo Kayama in The Sword of Doom 
54. John Mills in The Wrong Box
55. Antonio Molino Rojo in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
56. Ichiro Nakatani in The Sword of Doom
57. Woody Strode in The Professionals
58. Luigi Pistilli in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
59. Corin Redgrave in A Man For All Seasons  
60. Dudley Moore in The Wrong Box
61. Antonio Casas in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
62. Mako in The Sand Pebbles
63. Richard Harris Hawaii
64. Laurence Olivier in Khartoum
65. Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 
66. Mario Brega in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
67. Oscar Homolka in Funeral in Berlin
68. Cyril Cusack in Fahrenheit 451  
69. Jack Gilford in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
70. Ned Glass in The Fortune Cookie
71. Buster Keaton in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 
72. James Caan in El Dorado
73. Ralph Richardson in Khartoum
74. Alfie Bass in Alfie 
75. Alan Bates in Georgy Girl 
76. Arthur Hunnicut in El Dorado
77. Simon Oakland in The Sand Pebbles 
78. Robert Duvall in The Chase
79. John Comer in The Family Way
80. Strother Martin in Harper
81. François Lafarge in Au Hasard Balthazar
82. Michael Crawford in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 
83. Neil Hamilton in Batman
84. James Hong in The Sand Pebbles  
85. Vyacheslave Tikhonov in War and Peace Part II
86. Colin Blakeley in A Man For All Seasons
87. Reginald Denny in Batman
88. Peter Bowles in Blow-Up
89. Charles Boyer in How to Steal A Million 
90. Herbert Lom in Gambit
91. Alan Napier in Batman 
92. Michael Parks in The Bible
93. Richard Harris in The Bible
94. George C. Scott in The Bible
95. Robert Wagner in Harper
96. Hal Holbrook in The Group
97. Arthur Kennedy in Fantastic Voyage
98. Edmond O'Brien in Fantastic Voyage
99. Bill Owen in Georgy Girl
100. Stafford Repp in Batman
101. Murray Head in The Family Way
102. Richard Johnson in Khartoum
103. Cyril Luckham in A Man For All Seasons
104. Graham Stark in Alfie 
105. Ron Rich in The Fortune Cookie 
106. Arthur O'Connell in Fantastic Voyage
107. Geoffrey Keen in Born Free 
108. William Redfield in Fantastic Voyage
109. E.G. Marshall in The Chase
110. Charles Robinson in The Sand Pebbles

Next Year: 1987 lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1966: Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Lee Van Cleef did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Lee Van Cleef plays the titular bad of the film which is the antithesis of his role in the Sergio Leone's previous effort For A Few Dollars More where he played the heroic Colonel Mortimer. Despite the extreme change in character type for Cleef he still is perfectly at home in Leone's film especially in his very first appearance which is a classic moment of brilliance as the dark figure of Angel Eyes slowly comes from a distance to a secluded farm house to talk to a family man about a mysterious man who changes his names and some misplaced money. The built up is tremendous just to the point in which Angel Eyes finally first speaks and Van Cleef deserves a great deal of the credit for the strength of the scene.

Angel Eyes only joins the man apparently in a meal the man starts to slowly break down as Angel Eyes watches him. The break down is made inevitability through Van Cleef's uncompromising stare which oozes in menace. Van Cleef doesn't say a thing for quite awhile but makes it undeniably clear what the purpose of Angel Eyes's visit is. When he finally does speak there is no loss in the intensity of the situation and Van Cleef makes Angel Eyes a truly threatening presence in the way he portrays Angel Eyes's attitude in the questioning. Van Cleef gives Angel Eyes an unwavering assurance of his own skills in his profession and his ability to intimidate. Van Cleef has such a viciousness of his conviction as he shows that Angel Eyes knows what he does to people.

One of the things that makes Angel Eyes the bad and Tuco (Eli Wallach) different is the manner of fun found in their character. Eli Wallach's performance has a welcoming quality despite his rough hide and we can have some of the fun Tuco has right along with him. Lee Van Cleef's performance does not although for this same kind of fun even though Van Cleef makes it clear, particularly in the scene where he dispatches one of the men who hired him, that Angel Eyes has plenty of fun himself. Van Cleef makes it a most unpleasant enjoyment though that Angel Eyes feels and it doesn't help that Angel Eyes expresses the most pleasure when he is terrorizing or killing someone. Van Cleef has the perfect evil smile and makes Angel Eyes a fearsome villain who loves seeing a job through although he won't anyone else share in his enjoyment. 

Lee Van Cleef does something very important in his early couple of scenes up to the point where he is introduced as the bad because his appearances are sparing for quite awhile after this point as the film switches focus over to Tuco and Blondie (Clint Eastwood). Van Cleef needs to make a strong impact quickly to make it so remember him for the rest of the film and know exactly what it means when he appears again. Van Cleef absolutely fulfills this need for the part and makes a tremendous impact early on setting up exactly who his character up as a fierce villain who is the appropriate threat he should be. Also to be much more to the point about things Van Cleef brings that visceral sting to his performance as Angel Eyes that basically all the best cinematic villains have.

When Van Cleef does appear again it is in POW camp for confederate soldiers that Tuco and Blondie have found themselves in and Angel Eyes is acting as a Union captain he likely impersonated. In this series of scenes Van Cleef again is excellent in his portrayal of Angel Eyes although he creates a rather interesting dynamic in his attitude. When still dealing with people he doesn't really know he carries that same self assured killer tone but when he talks to Tuco and Blondie Van Cleef adjusts his performance in an interesting fashion. Van Cleef drops his other act and is far more casual to Tuco and Blondie properly showing that the three of them all do know each other therefore Angel Eyes's usual methods won't really work as Tuco and Blondie can't be made afraid of Angel Eyes in that way.

Van Cleef is great as he changes to Angel Eyes pretty much laying things out in the bluntest way possible. Van Cleef doesn't portray Angel Eyes trying to use fear to get the information from Tuco, as Tuco knows him too well, instead he plays it straight all the way. As Tuco is tortured Angel Eyes stay very calm letting his henchman do most of the work. Angel Eyes mostly watches occasionally moving out of the way, smoking his pipe, and calmly bringing a quiet question or comment in between Tuco's screams and grunts. Van Cleef's calm reserve works wonders for the scene as he shows that Angel Eyes knows he's going to get what he wants and personally can take fairly easy knowing that it will work. My favorite moment in the amazing scene is Van Cleef's delivery of the mocking "How's Your Digestion Now?" as it so perfectly exemplifies how comfortable Angel Eyes is with this brutality.

The final duel of this film is a glorious piece of film making from the editing, to the direction, to the score by Ennio Morricone and as well the acting. The actors do so much in just their silent expression of the scene not only building the tension but also each actor suggests which is especially noticeable when re-watching the film. Wallach basically keeps a strong stare which seems aimed at Angel Eyes no doubt to inflict revenge for his torture, Eastwood keeps Blondie assured the entire time suggesting properly the information he knows about the duel that the other two do not. Finally Van Cleef portrays a very different Angel Eyes from the beginning of the film who finally sees that he might be outmatched losing that confidence and for once as the desperately tries to watch both men at once not knowing which one to try and shoot first.

Lee Van Cleef doesn't have the showiest role in the film (that would be Wallach) or the coolest (that would be Eastwood) nevertheless he never lets Angel Eyes be forgotten or overshadowed despite also having the least screen time and development of the three. :Lee Van Cleef leaves his impression right along the other two finding his own distinct path in the film by making his impact strong and fast making it so the bad always a known factor even when the film would rather follow the good and the ugly. This is a great performance by Lee Van Cleef  which proves right along with his previous film with Leone that he made both a great hero and a great villain. Lee Van Cleef started his career in westerns as a henchman to the main villain being there to be killed, bossed around by the main villain, or to be easily beaten up by the hero. His turn at Angel Eyes suggests that Van Cleef should have been the one in charge all along.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1966

And the Nominees Were Not:

John Hurt in A Man For All Seasons

Orson Welles in A Man For All Seasons

Lee Van Cleef in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Richard Attenborough in The Sand Pebbles 

Richard Crenna in The Sand Pebbles

Alternate Best Actor 1965: Results

5. Michael Caine in The Ipcress File- Caine uses his unique screen presence here to make Harry Palmer a down to earth, and very likable hero.

Best Scene: Palmer is tortured. (The scenes are dated but Caine's performance is not.)

4. Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago-This really is not the usual performance for an epic, but Sharif makes the most of his character and successfully carries the film.

Best Scene: Zhivago meets with Strelnikov.

3. Lee Van Cleef in For A Few Dollars More-  It is a performance of quiet simplicity, and in this simplicity is where the incredible strength of this performance lies.

Best Scene: The final duel.

2. Sean Connery in The Hill- This is an excellent showcase of Connery's talent as he not only utilizes his more commonly found command of the screen, but as well effectively shows us that he is fully capable of creating an emotionally resonate performance.

Best Scene: Roberts confronts Major Wilson.

1. Terence Stamp in The Collector-This is a great performance by Stamp as both a humane portrait of a lonely man, but at the same time a convincing portrayal of a man who seems to prefer the dead over the living. This is again an incredible year, and again Stamp wins for now but Connery, Steiger, and Burton are not far behind.

Best Scene: Miranda tries to seduce Freddie.

Overall Rank:

1. Terence Stamp in The Collector
2. Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
3. Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker
4. Orson Welles in Chimes at Midnight
5. Sean Connery in The Hill
6. Jozef Kroner in The Shop on Main Street
7. Lee Van Cleef in For A Few Dollars More
8. Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago
9. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools 
10. Toshiro Mifune in Samurai Assassin
11. Sidney Poitier in A Patch of Blue
12. James Stewart in Shenandoah
13. Clint Eastwood in For A Few Dollars More  
14. Michael Caine in The Ipcress File
15. Frank Sinatra in Von Ryan's Express
16. James Fox in King Rat 
17. John Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder
18. Keith Baxter in Chimes at Midnight
19. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou  
20. Walmar Chagas in São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima
21. John Wayne in In Harm's Way
22. James Stewart in The Flight of the Phoenix
23. George Segal in King Rat 
24. Richard Widmark in The Bedford Incident
25. Jean Sorel in Sandra
26. Rentarō Mikuni in A Fugitive From the Past
27. Charlton Heston in Major Dundee 
28. Laurence Olivier in Bunny Lake is Missing 
29. Zbigniew Cybulski in The Saragossa Manuscript
30. Laurence Olivier in Othello  
31. Max von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
32. Sidney Poitier in The Bedford Incident
33. Jack Lemmon in The Great Race 
34. Claudio Brook in Simon of the Desert
35. Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music
36. Yuzo Kayama in Red Beard 
37. Peter O'Toole in What's New Pussycat?
38. Sean Connery in Thunderball 
39. Frank Finlay in Othello
40. Marcello Mastroianni in The 10th Victim
41. Charlton Heston in The War Lord
42. Marcello Mastroianni in Casanova 70
43. Michael Crawford in The Knack ...and How to Get It
44. Eddie Constantine in Alphaville
45. Charlton Heston in The Agony and The Ecstasy
46. Rex Harrison in The Agony and The Ecstasy
47. Tony Curtis in The Great Race  
48. Jean-Claude Drouot in Le Bonheur
49. Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid 
50. George Peppard in Operation Crossbow 
51. Kirk Douglas in The Heroes of Telemark
52. Stuart Whitman in Those Magnificent Men And Their Flying Machines 
53. Jason Robards in A Thousand Clowns
54. Lou Castel in Fists in the Pocket
55. Peter O'Toole in Lord Jim
56. Jean-Paul Belmondo in Pierrot Le Fou
57. Keir Dullea in Bunny Lake is Missing 
58. Richard Burton in The Sandpiper
59. Ringo Starr in Help!
60. Paul McCartney in Help!
61. John Lennon in Help! 
62. George Harrison in Help!

Next Year: 2011

Alternate Best Actor 1965: Lee Van Cleef in For A Few Dollars More

Lee Van Cleef did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Colonel Douglas Mortimer in For A Few Dollars More.

For A Few Dollars More is the second part to the excellent dollars trilogy by Sergio Leone. This one depicts Clint Eastwood this time called Manco who is a bounty hunter who teams up with another bounty hunter to take down the crazed bandit Indio (Gian Maria Volonté) and his gang after they have robbed a bank.

Lee Van Cleef portrays Colonel Mortimer the other bounty hunter who I consider lead with Eastwood as the film at first follows both their exploits separately but equally, and after they team up they both stay important to the story. Van Cleef's Mortimer perhaps is even more important due to the fact the film tells anything about the past of his character something that is left as a complete mystery in regards to Eastwood's Manco. Lee Van Cleef before appearing in this film was in a few westerns, notable ones even like High Noon and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but in both of those films despite having a given name his characters were no more than thug number two. Here though Cleef honestly has a role, and is given the chance to shine as an actor.

Lee Van Cleef is actually the first of the two actors to appear, and for me makes an even greater impression than Eastwood does. Both are shown on a job as a bounty hunter basically just to show us how much of a badass each of the characters are. Lee Van Cleef is even better than Eastwood at being one here, and Eastwood might as well as the badass king. Van Cleef is cool and collected in the film, showing the ease of his character's ability to kill. In the first scene of him going after a man Van Cleef shows that Mortimer moves through to his job with an ease, and unquestionable confidence. It is an absolutely earned confidence by Van Cleef, there is not a moment where Mortimer seems pompous, Van Cleef makes it clear that Mortimer is just simply that good.

It simply is just enjoyable to watch Lee Van Cleef as Mortimer maneuver his way through eventually dealing with the group of bank robbers. Cleef makes a particular sort of hero here with his firm precise method of walking, his always squinting eyes that seems to see through anything, and ease he seems to show in any situation. Really when he is not talking to Manco Mortimer says very little, but Cleef again speaks only with precision and just the right degree of gentlemanly demeanor that suggests his past as a proper soldier. There is a bit humor, and always a quiet power in Van Cleef's portrayal that makes everything that the colonel does believable. Even when he does something that no sane man would do such as lighting a match on Klaus Kinski, I doubt even Werner Herzog would do that, is made convincing through Van Cleef's steadfast performance.

Now although Lee Van Cleef is very consistent with his performance as the strong willed Mortimer there are little indications throughout the film that show that Mortimer may be in the fight for more reasons that just the money. These are relatively small moments for most of the film, but Van Cleef portrays each of them marvelously. Lee Van Cleef of course does not really show that there is any sort of weakness in Mortimer, the strength and cunning of the character really are his primary trait. He does not show that there is more to the man that just being a professional killer. It is quite well hidden pain, but Van Cleef lets in just enough that there is something that haunts him over something that he has lost in his past.

The very best moment of his performance comes in the very best part of any Sergio Leone western which is the final duel which is in this film is between Mortimer and Indio. Before this moment Van Cleef subtly suggested through glances in Mortimer's earlier scenes with Indio that there was something more, but here it really comes out as a deadly want of vengeance. Van Cleef is amazing here because it is not just anger in his eyes as he looks at Indio as they prepare to kill one another, but there is a sadness in his eyes as well. This is not a sadness over the fact that he possibly could be killed, but rather Van Cleef effectively shows it to be the feelings over his past devastation over the death of his sister which Indio caused. He does not make it as a debilitating factor though, but instead makes it as the driving factor in his will to win the duel. Although this is not the type of performance usually associated with great acting, but it simply is nevertheless. It is a performance of quiet simplicity, and in this simplicity is where the incredible strength of this performance lies.

Alternate Best Actor 1965

And the Nominees Were Not:

Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago

Lee Van Cleef in For A Few Dollars More

Terence Stamp in The Collector

Sean Connery in The Hill

Michael Caine in The Ipcress File