Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1946: Results

5. Finlay Currie in Great Expectations- Currie brings the right roughness and heart to the role but still never makes that much an impression.

Best Scene: Magwitch comes back.

4. William Bendix in The Blue Dahlia- Bendix, despite the writing messing up his ending, gives an affecting portrayal of a man driven to moments of insanity due to his war experiences.

Best Scene: Buzz is bothered by the music. 

3. Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death- Livesey steals the film right out from David Niven and manages to give weight to the central romance of the film than the two performers portraying it do.

Best Scene: The doctor fights for Peter's life in the Heavenly court.

2. Henry Travers in It's A Wonderful Life- Travers gives a funny and quite wonderful realization of the pure goodness of his character.

Best Scene: George after visiting his mother.

1. Lionel Barrymore in It's a Wonderful Life- Good Predictions Kevin, Maciej, moviefilm, koook160, and  Jackiboyz. The year itself came down to one of my favorite depictions of a villain of all time against Claude Rains who manages to make the villain the most sympathetic character in his film. Both I think are equally good in their roles and I don't see how either could be better. In a way to cheat out of really choosing I'll just base it on their second films of the year. Rains was also great in Angel on my Shoulder whereas Barrymore was quite forgettable in Duel in the Sun.

Best Scene: George goes to Potter for help.

Overall Rank:

1. Claude Rains in Notorious
2. Lionel Barrymore in It's A Wonderful Life
3. Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives
4. Henry Travers in It's A Wonderful Life
5. Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death
6. Thomas Mitchell in It's A Wonderful Life 
7. Michael Redgrave in The Captive Heart 
8. Claude Rains in Deception  
9. Claude Rains in Angel on My Shoulder
10. William Bendix in The Blue Dahlia
11. Alastair Sim in Green For Danger 
12. Charles Coburn in The Green Years 
13. Robert Mitchum in The Locket 
14. Raymond Massey in A Matter of Life and Death 
15. François Périer in A Lover's Return
16. Jean Vilar in Gates of the Night 
17. Samuel S. Hinds in It's A Wonderful Life  
18. William Conrad in The Killers   
19. Hume Cronyn in The Postman Always Rings Twice
20. Trevor Howard in Green For Danger 
21. H.B. Warner in It's A Wonderful Life  
22. Marius Goring in A Matter of Life and Death
23. Raymond Bussières in Gates of the Night
24. Basil Radford in The Captive Heart 
25. Kirk Douglas in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 
26. George Coulouris in The Verdict 
27. Burgess Meredith in The Diary of a Chambermaid 
28. Jimmy Hanley in The Captive Heart 
29. Finlay Currie in Great Expectations
30. Mervyn Johns in The Captive Heart 
31. Jack Warner in The Captive Heart  
32. Alexander Knox in Sister Kenny 
33. Serge Reggiani in Gates of the Night
34. Arno Paulsen in The Murderers Are Among Us 
35. Ian Wolfe in Bedlam 
36. Leo Genn in Green For Danger 
37. Oscar Levant in Humoresque 
38. Richard Haydn in Cluny Brown 
39. Victor Mature in My Darling Clementine
40. Alec Guinness in Great Expectations 
41. Reginald Gardiner in Cluny Brown
42. Francis Lederer in The Diary of a Chambermaid
43. Andy Devine in Canyon Passage
44. Pierre Brasseur in Gates of the Night 
45. Billy House in Bedlam 
46. Peter Lorre in Black Angel 
47. Francis L. Sullivan in Great Expectations
48. Peter Lawford in Cluny Brown 
49. Sheldon Leonard in It's A Wonderful Life
50. Richard Attenborough in A Matter of Life and Death  
51. Lee J. Cobb in Anna and the King of Siam 
52. Robert Shayne in Three Strangers  
53. Jason Robards Sr. in Bedlam 
54. Walter Brennan in my Darling Clementine  
55. Frank Faylen in It's A Wonderful Life 
56. Ward Bond in Canyon Passage 
57. Glen Vernon in Bedlam 
58. Roman Bohnen in The Best Years of Our Lives 
59. Alan Napier in Three Strangers 
60. Thomas Mitchell in The Dark Mirror
61. Robert Mitchum in Till the End of Time 
62. Monty Woolley in Night and Day 
63. Bobby Anderson in It's A Wonderful Life  
64. Glenn Ford in A Stolen Life 
65. Walter Huston in Dragonwyck 
66. Bernard Miles in Great Expectations 
67. Cecil Kellaway in Kitty 
68. Ward Bond in It's A Wonderful Life 
69. Walter Baldwin in The Best Years of Our Lives
70. Howard da Silva in The Blue Dahlia 
71. Hoagy Carmicheal in The Best Years of Our Lives
72. Robert Coote in A Matter of Life and Death 
73. Elisha Cook Jr. in The Big Sleep
74. Nigel Bruce in Terror By Night  
75. Albert Dekker in The Killers  
76. Harry Morgan in Dragonwyck 
77. William Edmunds in It's A Wonderful Life
78. Anthony Wager in Great Expectations
79. Henry Travers in The Yearling
80. Walter Brennan in A Centennial Summer 
81. Charles MacGraw in The Killers 
82. Ray Bolger in The Harvey Girls
83. Reginald Owen in Kitty  
84. Lucien Coëdel in L'Idiot
85. Hoagy Carmichael in Canyon Passage 
86. Marcel Andre in Beauty and the Beast
87. Walter Huston in Duel in the Sun
88. Reinhold Schunzel in Notorious
89. Hardie Albright in Angel on My Shoulder
90. Todd Karns in It's A Wonderful Life 
91. George Brent in The Spiral Staircase
92. Kent Smith in The Spiral Staircase 
93. Clifton Webb in The Razor's Edge
94. Gene Raymond in The Locket
95. Lionel Barrymore in Duel in the Sun 
96. John Hodiak in The Harvey Girls 
97. Will Wright in The Blue Dahlia 
98. Brian Aherne in The Locket
99. Richard Haydn in The Green Years 
100. George Brent in Tomorrow is Forever 
101. Herbert Marshall in The Razor's Edge
102. Michel Auclair in Beauty and the Beast
103. William Demarest in The Jolson Story
104. Ward Bond in My Darling Clementine
105. Brian Donlevy in Canyon Passage 
106. Louis Calhern in Notorious
107. Charles Waldron in The Big Sleep
108. Cecil Kellaway in The Postman Always Rings Twice
109. Jess Barker in The Time of Our Lives
110. Joseph Calleia in Gilda
111. John Payne in The Razor's Edge
112. Leon Ames in The Postman Always Rings Twice
113. Hume Cronyn in The Green Years
114. Philip Mervale in The Stranger
115. Hugh Beaumont in The Blue Dahlia 
116. Chill Wills in The Yearling 
117. Guy Madison in Till The End of Time 
118. Richard Long in The Stranger
119. Philip Terry in To Each His Own
120. Dane Clark in A Stolen Life 
121. George Macready in Gilda
122. Bill Goodwin in To Each His Own 
123. Richard Fraser in Bedlam 
124. Hurd Hatfield in The Diary of a Chambermaid 
125. Edwin Maxwell in The Jolson Story
126. Bill Goodwin in The Jolson Story 
127. John Lund in To Each His Own

Next Year: 1932 Lead might as well suggest any Supporting ideas as well.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1946: Lionel Barrymore in It's A Wonderful Life

Lionel Barrymore did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Henry F. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life.

The previous collaboration before It's Wonderful Life between director Frank Capra and Lionel Barrymore was in You Can't Take It With You where Barrymore played the role of the jovial patriarch of a free spirited family. Well in this their next collaboration Barrymore's character could not be more different. Barrymore plays the antagonist of the film Mr. Potter who is a banker who owns half the town of Bedford Falls to begin with as the film opens. Although Barrymore was certainly quite believable as a lovable old man he's even better here as Mr. Potter who is introduced as being the meanest man in the county. We first introduced to Potter as he is chewing out George Bailey's father for not foreclosing on homes. Even though Barrymore is confined to a wheel-chair he has a considerable presence as Potter, and is actually quite imposing figure despite needing to be wheeled around by a lurch like figure at all times. His brief introduction though is really a warm up though for the rest of Barrymore's performance.

The greatness of Barrymore's performance actually comes most into play as a most worthy opponent for James Stewart as George. There first face off, and Barrymore's second scene, is after George's father has died and the share holders of his father's company the Bailey Building and Loan are there to determine its fate. Potter wants it to be dissolved as it poses a threat to his control of the town, although he has a backhanded praise of George's father. Barrymore is brilliant in how he does this as he stats that Bailey was a man of so called ideals. The way he looks to the side in discontent and pauses with the so called is time so perfectly by Barrymore that gives such an a callousness to his statement. Barrymore continues to excel and is a great counterpoint to Stewart's performance as George makes his passionate rebuttal against Potter's view of the people of the town. Barrymore's reaction is perfect in showing just how little Potter thinks of George's words. What's particularly great is the way he does the yawn, where he kinda tries to hide but in a way to bring more attention to it.

I don't know if I can name a performance where someone makes their face as expressive as Barrymore more does here as Potter. It never feels strange or awkward or any way and in fact Barrymore uses that as well as his hands as an effective way to make up for the fact that he obviously has some physical constraints. Barrymore is great just to watch here with all that he does in his various facial movements and hand gestures. They never feel like too much but only aid in making his Potter all the more memorable as a character. These certainly come into play in one of Barrymore's best scenes when Potter calls in George to his office in an attempt to get George to accept a high paying  job in order to rid himself of his rival. Barrymore is amazing in this scene because he does shed the true nature of the character ever so much as Potter makes his offer. For a moment Barrymore is terrific as he brings a false kindness to Potter as such a sweet offer to George, and makes it so very tempting. My favorite moment is that final smile where he thinks he has George, since there is such deviousness within it.

Well his offer to George is Potter at his most "kind" later on we get Potter at his worst and Barrymore is once again outstanding. George comes to Potter for help due to a misplacement of funds, which actually accidentally fell into Potter's hands, hoping that Potter will help him. Barrymore does not hold back at just how despicable Potter is in this scene as Barrymore begins with Potter almost confused and concerned by George's predicament. As Potter asks about embezzlement or possibly an affair George is thought to be, incorrectly, having Barrymore has almost a fatherly tone as if Potter is trying to mentor the young man on proper business practices, even though he knows the truth. When Potter sees that George has nothing financially to offer him Barrymore brings out the full sinister nature of Potter, and he gives basically a sickly inverted of George's earlier speech against him. Barrymore's is incredible as he matches Stewart's passion from that earlier scene but is quite chilling by making the passion serve such a horrible notion and purpose.

Lionel Barrymore and Henry Travers don't share any scenes together and whereas Barrymore has a some scenes throughout Travers's are all one after another, but they fulfill two polar opposites. Where Travers was such a wonderful personification of good, Barrymore is such a personification of evil. Lionel Barrymore succeeds in making Mr. Potter one of the all time great villains of cinema, and Potter does not even need to physically harm a soul. Barrymore's performance makes Potter such a vile sort by realizing the man's cruel ideology. It is interesting to note that Barrymore was originally going to play Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, but was unable to do to his legs. It is easy to see him, due to his role here as Potter, to play the unreformed Scrooge, but actually Barrymore does not make Potter just the unreformed Scrooge. Barrymore makes Potter a darker sort, a man incapable of seeing the error of his ways. I love this performance, which is even very entertaining due to Barrymore's energetic style, yet that never takes away even an ounce of the viciousness of his characterization.  

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1946

And the Nominees Were Not:

Henry Travers in It's A Wonderful Life

Lionel Barrymore in It's A Wonderful Life

Roger Livesey in A Matter of Life and Death

Finlay Currie in Great Expectations

William Bendix in The Blue Dahlia

Alternate Best Supporting 1948: Results

5. Lionel Barrymore in Key Largo- Barrymore gives a good performance who brings appropriate weight to the situations of his film.

Best Scene: Temple literally stands up to Rocco. 

4. Robert Ryan in Act of Violence- A limited but effective turn of man filled with hate but also haunted by horrors.

Best Scene: Joe tells about his connection with Frank. 

3. James Stewart in Rope- Although he was miscast Stewart though still gives it his all and manages to still deliver an effective turn.

Best Scene: Cadell sees what his theories has created. 

2. Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo- The role fits like a glove and Robinson properly delivers as the villainous gangster.

Best Scene: Rocco tries to ignore the hurricane. 

1. Alec Guinness in Oliver Twist- Guinness is almost invisible in his role as Fagin through his natural depiction of the character's age and particular manner. He only adds to through his ability to be warm and charming while being an evil schemer.

Best Scene: Fagin catches Oliver looking at his treasure chest. 

Overall Rank:

1. Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
2. Robert Donat in The Winslow Boy
3. Alec Guinness in Oliver Twist
4. Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo
5. James Stewart in Rope
6. Ralph Richardson in Anna Karenina 
7. Lionel Barrymore in Key Largo
8. Ward Bond in Fort Apache 
9. William Hartnell in Brighton Rock
10. Thomas Gomez in Force of Evil
11. Cedric Hardwicke in The Winslow Boy
12. Pat O'Brien in The Boy with the Green Hair
13. Marcel Andre in Les Parents Terribles
14. Richard Widmark in The Street With No Name
15. Alastair Sim in London Belongs to Me
16. Enzo Staiola in Bicycle Thieves
17. Richard Conte in Call Northside 777
18. Walter Brennan in Blood on the Moon
19. Pedro Armendariz in 3 Godfathers
20. Charles Laughton in The Big Clock
21. Lon Chaney Jr. in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 
22. George Macready in The Big Clock
23. Richard Widmark in Yellow Sky
24. Ernst Pittschau in Germany, Year Zero
25. Bela Lugosi in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 
26. Cecil Kellaway in The Luck of the Irish
27. Richard Haydn in Sitting Pretty 
28. James Barton in Yellow Sky
29. Dan O'Herlihy in Macbeth
30. Denis O'Dea in The Fallen Idol
31. Robert Preston in Blood on the Moon
32. Jack Hawkins in The Fallen Idol
33. Melvyn Douglas in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
34. Basil Sydney in Hamlet 
35. Leo Genn in The Snake Pit  
36. Reisaburo Yamamoto in Drunken Angel
37. Charles Bickford in Johnny Belinda
38. Erich Gühne in Germany, Year Zero
39. Walter Brennan in Red River
40. Henry Stephenson in Oliver Twist
41. Stanley Holloway in Hamlet 
42. Marcel Journet in Letter From an Unknown Woman
43. Thomas Gomez in Key Largo  
44. Bruce Bennett in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
45. Marius Goring in The Red Shoes
46. Victor McLaglen in Fort Apache
47. Lee J. Cobb in Call Northside 777
48. Cedric Hardwicke in Rope  
49. Louis Jourdan in Letter From an Unknown Woman
50. Victor Mature in Cry of the City
51. Ward Bond in 3 Godfathers
52. Mark Stevens in The Snake Pit
53. Edgar Kennedy in Unfaithfully Yours
54. David Wayne in Portrait of Jennie
55. Terence Morgan in Hamlet
56. Anthony Newley in Oliver Twist 
57. Millard Mitchell in A Foreign Affair
58. Burt Lancaster in Sorry Wrong Number
59. Robert Newton in Oliver Twist
60. Felix Aylmer in Hamlet
61. Walter Burke in The Naked City
62. Francis L. Sullivan in Oliver Twist
63. Roddy McDowall in Macbeth 
64. Lionel Strander in Unfaithfully Yours 
65. Robert Ryan in The Boy with the Green Hair
66. Norman Wooland in Hamlet
67. Bernard Miles in The Guinea Pig
68. Stephen McNally in Johnny Belinda 
69. Harry Lewis in Key Largo
70. Alfonso Bodoya in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
71. Alan Napier in Johnny Belinda
72. John Rodney in Key Largo
73. Ed Begley in Sorry Wrong Number
74. Barton MacLane in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 
75. Harry Carey Jr. in 3 Godfathers
76. Paul Fix in Force of Evil 
77. Lloyd Nolan in The Street With No Name
78. John Ireland in Red River
79. Monte Blue in Key Largo
80. Oskar Homolka in I Remember Mama
81. Jose Ferrer in Joan of Arc
82. John Agar in Fort Apache
83. Glenn Strange in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
84. Douglas Dick in Rope
85. Frank Ferguson in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
86. Kieron Moore in Anna Karenina

Next Year: 1963 lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1948: Lionel Barrymore in Key Largo

Lionel Barrymore did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying James Temple in Key Largo.

Key Largo is an effective thriller about a group of people being held captive by a small group of gangsters inside a hotel while a hurricane rages outside.

Lionel Barrymore is probably best known for his portrayal of the town miser Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life, but throughout his career he played both warm and cold characters. In Key Largo as the handicapped hotel owner he stands as the moral good of the film. He is the man who only wishes to do right and wants to see the evil men punished. At first we me just meet him as he greets his late son's old army superior Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart). In these relatively brief scenes Barrymore establishes James as a man with a warm heart as he expresses the appropriate sadness over his son's death but as well a honest sense of the love he had for his son as he hears the stories from Frank.

The good times do not last and all the people are left to be terrorized by the gangster and his crew of thugs. Barrymore serves two roles and serves them very well in these scenes. Even though he mostly has only quick reactionary moments he makes an impact with each. On one side he brings the weight of the situation to life through showing that James takes every evil that the gangsters commit to heart, and it is only made worse when he is blamed for some of the gangsters actions. His somber expression for these scenes and he shows that the accusations and the evil caused hurts James on a personal level.

Barrymore is given that of the moral high ground as James Temple and he uses it quite well. As seen in It's A Wonderful Life as well Barrymore is very adept at confrontational moments. He terrific here giving the snide but earnest remarks throughout their situation that basically tells the gangsters just how low they are. Barrymore gives each line a strong punch and he makes that despite being confined to his wheel chair he is able to a more harm to the gangsters than some of the able bodied men they face against. Also an actor being brave is a word too often used but one does have to give some respect to Barrymore for the one scene he stands which made especially powerful knowing Barrymore was actually confined to his wheel chair.

Barrymore's performance is not the most complex of the male supporting performances in this film, I will be getting to that performance very soon, but he still makes his mark on the film. Honestly James Temple could have been a very big throwaway part of just the old man who is a doormat for the gangsters and nothing else. I could easily have seen some of the character actors from the period giving such a performance.  Barrymore though makes the most of what he is given and succeeds in being the moral outrage of the film. He is both the face of the real agony caused by the gangsters as well as the voice of reason against the gangster's selfishness and cruelty.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1948

And the Nominees Were Not:

Robert Ryan in Act of Violence

Alec Guinness in Oliver Twist

James Stewart in Rope

Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo

Lionel Barrymore in Key Largo

Best Actor 1931: Results

5. Richard Dix in Cimarron- Well this was an easy choice. Dix really is just terrible, he is either incredibly dull, or very odd when he breifly over acts with a hoot and holler he does on occasion.

4. Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page- Menjou's performance overall is rather brief, but he gives a properly commanding and manipulative performance that works well enough.

3. Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway- March's performance is just about crazy as they get, and I really enjoyed his insane work here, I wish the film knew what it had though, since it certainly just does not give March enough to work with.

2. Jackie Cooper in Skippy- Jackie Cooper gives a very nice performance, that is filled with the right amount of charm, he is also emotionally effective, when tragedy strikes in the film.

1. Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul- Lionel Barrymore's performance is a strong piece of work, even if dated in a few ways. Barrymore gives a strong portrait of an alcoholic lawyer, showing more to it that just drunkenness but rather a deep pain. Barrymore's performance only gets stronger as the film continues, and climaxes with a very powerful final speech.

Deserving Performances:
Peter Lorre in M
Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar

Best Actor 1931: Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul

Lionel Barrymore won an Oscar from his only acting nomination for portraying lawyer Stephen Ashe in A Free Soul.

A Free Soul tells of a father Stephen Ashe and daughter Jan Ashe (Norma Shearer) who are harmed down by their own vices his alcoholism, and her relationship with a brutal gangster (Clark Gable), whom the father got off a murder charge.

Lionel Barrymore's performance here is sometimes treated negatively as an overly hammy performance, and I very much disagree with that view. Barrymore style of acting does indeed always have a degree of theatricality to his performance, but that is not automatically a bad thing, if he uses it in the right manner. Also I would disagree with it because this is one of his more restrained performances.

Barrymore's portrayal of Ashe is functionally good in the early scenes. He required to do a few scenes of being a smooth lawyer which he does well enough, but also a man who requires to get drunk to get along with life. Barrymore actually does these early drunk scenes in a just fine manner, not overly realistic but still in a manner that works, since he does not go over the top.

His relationship with Norma Shearer is key to the film though. They are both actually pretty good in showing the relationship between the father and daughter. They both have the right naturalism together, and create their painful relationship together well. It is interesting how Barrymore portrays him as a loving father, but one who is unable to really help in her problematic relationship.

An interesting part of his performance though is his portrayal of Stephen Ashe's alcoholism. It is true he has the usual drunk scenes, which are fine, but most interesting about his portrayal are his scenes in the country where both Ashe and his daughter try to shed his daughter. Lionel Barrymore is truly effective in that he shows a deep pain from his alcoholism, and effectively portrays the brutal effect withdrawal has on him.

Barrymore's final scene though perhaps is his best where Ashe in court tries to defend Jan's old boyfriend (Leslie Howard) who killed the gangster. It is a very dramatic speech that Ashe makes to the jury, and Barrymore handles quite well. He puts the right passion and power into his speech, that I do not deny that it probably did give him the Oscar. Overall his performance is certianly from 1931 since it is dated in its own way, but it is also certainly an effective heartfelt performance.

Best Actor 1931

And the Nominees Were:

Richard Dix in Cimarron

Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page

Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul

Jackie Cooper in Skippy

Fredric March in The Royal Family of Broadway 

With the recent passing of Jackie Cooper, I thought I ought to take a look at at this year where he received his only Oscar nomination.