Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1974: Results

5. Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein- Feldman gives an entertaining and enjoyable performance.

Best Scene: Igor says what his father would say in rough times. 

4. Martin Balsam in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three- Balsam does a great job of humanizing his hijacker, and makes it easy to follow through his own small story within the film.

Best Scene: Mr. Brown reacts to the first murder. 

3. John Huston in Chinatown- Huston gives a great villainous performance creating a fantastic mystery within his character who acts warmly, but evil seems lurking beneath his grin.

Best Scene: Gittes first meets with Noah Cross. 

2. Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three- Shaw gives an excellent performance as a steely cold and calculated villain.

Best Scene: Mr. Blue kills the first hostage. 

1. John Cazale in The Godfather Part II- Good Prediction RatedRStar. Although I do love Shaw's and Huston's performances Cazale does fairly easily win this year for me. He too could be argued as playing a villain, but Cazale turns his character's pathetic plight into a truly heartbreaking portrait of a brother who just was never good enough.

Best Scene: " I'm your older brother Michael"

Overall Rank:

1. John Cazale in The Godfather Part II
2. John Huston in Chinatown
3. Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three
4. Richard Harris in Juggernaut
5. Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II
6. Ken Takakura in The Yakuza
7. Lee Strasberg in The Godfather Part II
8. Michael V. Gazzo in The Godfather Part II
9. David Warner in Little Malcolm
10. Roberts Blossom in The Great Gatsby
11. Harrison Ford in The Conversation
12. Bruce Dern in The Great Gatsby
13. Martin Balsam in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three
14. Robert Duvall in The Godfather Part II
15. Sylvester Stallone in The Lords of Flatbush
16. Eddie Albert in The Longest Yard
17. Scott Wilson in The Great Gatsby 
18. Ben Johnson in The Sugarland Express
19. David Warner in From Beyond the Grave
20. Richard Jordan in The Yakuza
21. Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein 
22. Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles  
23. Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles  
24. Holger Lowenadler in Lacombe Lucien
25. Kris Kristofferson in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
26. Christopher Lee in The Man With the Golden Gun
27. Ian Holm in Juggernaut 
28. Gene Hackman in Young Frankenstein
29. Hector Elizondo in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three
30. John Cazale in the Conversation 
31. Paul Williams in Phantom of the Paradise
32. Robert Duvall in The Conversation
33. Vincent Gardenia in Death Wish  
34. Harvey Keitel in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
35. Tony Roberts in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three  
36. Anthony Hopkins in Juggernaut 
37. James Shigeta in The Yakuza
38. Cyril Cusack in Juggernaut 
39. Peter Cushing in From Beyond the Grave
40. Gig Young in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
41. Robert Webber in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
42. Freddie Jones in Juggernaut
43. Paul Sorvino in The Gambler
44. Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein
45. Lee Wallace in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three  
46. James Hampton in The Longest Yard
47. Clifton James in Juggernaut
48. Geoffrey Lewis in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
49. James Caan in The Godfather Part II  
50. Roy Kinnear in Juggernaut
51. Donald Pleasence in From Beyond the Grave
52. Denholm Elliot in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
53. Omar Sharif in Juggernaut
54. Michael Gorrin in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three
55. Allen Garfield in The Conversation
56. Fred Astaire in The Towering Inferno
57. Warren Oates in Badlands 
    
58. John Gielgud in Murder on the Orient Express
59. Jerry Stiller in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three 
60. Charles Tyner in The Longest Yard
61. Perry Lopez in Chinatown 
62. Michael Byrne in Butley
    
63. George Kennedy in Earthquake
64. William Daniels in The Parallax View 
65. Gerrit Graham in Phantom of the Paradise
66. George Kennedy in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 
67. Richard O'Callaghan in Butley
    
68. Dick O'Neill in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three 
69. G.D. Spradlin in The Godfather Part II
70. Earl Hindman in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three 
71. Roshan Seth in Juggernaut
72. Herb Edelman in The Yakuza
73. John Schuck in Thieves Like Us
74. Joseph Wiseman in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz 
75. John Steadman in The Longest Yard
76. John McEnery in Little Malcolm
77. Raymond Platt in Little Malcolm
78. Ian Carmichael in From Beyond the Grave
79. George Memmoli in Phantom of the Paradise
80. Anthony Perkins in Murder on the Orient Express 
81. Larry Hagman in Harry and Tonto  
82. Randy Quaid in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
83. Morris Carnovsky in The Gambler
84. Hume Cronyn in The Parallax View
85. Henry Winkler in The Lords of Flatbush
86. David Wayne in The Front Page 
87. Jim Siedow in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
88. Kris Kristofferson in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
89. Richard Kiel in The Longest Yard
90. Richard Pryor in Uptown Saturday Night
91. Gaston Machin in The Godfather Part II   
92. Sean Connery in Murder on the Orient Express
93. Frederic Forrest  in The Conversation
94. Gunnar Hansen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
95. Jack Warden in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
96. Brian Keith in The Yakuza
97. Richard Widmark in Murder on the Orient Express 
98. Michael Lerner in Busting
99. Vincent Gardenia in The Front Page
100. Bert Remsen in Thieves Like Us 
101. Harold Gould in The Front Page
102. Lorne Green in Earthquake
103. Charles Durning in The Front Page
104. Ian Ogilvy in From Beyond the Grave
105. Alfred Lutter in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 
106. Calvin Lockhart in Uptown Saturday Night
107. David Hemmings in Juggernaut 
108. Perry King in The Lords of Flatbush 
109. Ian Bannen in From Beyond the Grave
110. Michael Conrad in The Longest Yard
111. Joe Mantell in Chinatown
112. Harry Belafonte in Uptown Saturday Night
113. Allen Garfield in Busting
114. Alex Rocco in Freebie and the Bean 
115. Ed Launter in The Longest Yard
116. Wlater Ladengast in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
117. Bruno Kirby in The Godfather Part II
118. Martin Balsam in Murder on the Orient Express  
119. Robert Vaughn in The Towering Inferno
120. Denis Quilley in Murder on the Orient Express 
121. William Holden in The Towering Inferno
122. Michael York in Murder on the Orient Express  
123. Christopher Morley in Freebie and the Bean
124. Edwin Neal in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
125. Hervé Villechaize in The Man With the Golden Gun
126. Walter Matthau in Earthquake
127. Paul A Partain in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
128. Richard Chamberlain in The Towering Inferno
129. Allen Danziger in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
130. William Vail in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
131. Clifton James in The Man With the Golden Gun

Next Year: 2011 Supporting

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1974: Martin Balsam in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three

Martin Balsam did not receive an Oscar nomination, although he did receive a BAFTA nomination for portraying Harold Longman "Mr. Green" in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.

Martin Balsam portrays Mr. Green one of the hijackers of a subway train who hold several passengers hostage for a million dollars. Mr. Green is the hijacker with the greatest knowledge of the subway, and is the only one who is able to drive. He also is the one who has the clearly the greatest conscience of the group, as the hijackers' threat is to kill one hostage per minute after the hour time they have given for the million dollars to reach them.

Balsam performance certainly is not the focus of the film, and really the role of Green could have been forgotten in the light of the main villain Mr. Blue. Balsam though very important does make the most in humanizing one of the hijackers very well. Balsam does not try to make Mr. Green overly sympathetic in any way in regards to any sort of pleading with the audience, Mr. Green still is doing it for the money, but the humanity of Green created by Balsam especially when compared to the others is subtly but powerfully handled by Balsam.

Balsam's performance is made up of quite a few reactionary moments that are extremely well played by him. They are mostly in when Green sees the full extent of Mr. Blue's plan, and that his threats are entirely true. Balsam makes everyone of them impact well as he shows that Green really is in it far deeper than he ever wanted to be, and he portrays an honest realistic disbelief in who is essentially just an average joe who happened to come in on a job that really is not in his line in any way. Balsam is quite moving in just these small important moments best out of anyone portraying the severity of the situation.

My favorite human moments though come in his short little conversations with Mr. Blue as they wait for money. He and Shaw are great together in the way they play off the extreme contrasts in terms of the personality, but in at the same time there is a certain camaraderie and respect between the two as two men working on a project. The two have some nice humorous moments particularly when Balsam talks about Green's reason for firing which was a crime he did not commit. The two back and forth in the moment is terrific showing a human side to both character but not at all compromising the intensity of the later scenes in the film.

Balsam gives a very good performance by making Green likable, and he even effectively twists the audiences sympathy just to the right making it so you do not want the hijackers simply all to be killed. He turns Mr. Green into any actual normal man who embarks on a rather foolish endeavor. Balsam allows us to follow Mr. Green through this decision all the way through both the lows, and the seeming highs. He believably shows entirely genuine reactions to what Mr. Green goes through the entire film. Balsam with a character who could have been a throwaway he makes Green three dimensional, and doing so adds greatly to his film.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1974

And the Nominees Were Not:

Martin Balsam in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

John Huston in Chinatown

John Cazale in The Godfather Part II

Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein 

Best Supporting Actor 1965: Results

5. Ian Bannen in Flight of the Phoenix- Bannen is barely noticeable, but when you do see him he just mugs to the camera.

4. Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools- Michael Dunn performance never amount to more than the plot device he is in the film.

3. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns- Balsam is in an awful film, and many time through the film submits to the same awfulness in his performance, but on occasion he rises slightly above it.

2. Frank Finlay in Othello- Finlay is basically just fine in the role Iago. He does seem to fulfill the requirement of the role, but only at minimum. He stays in his place throughout the film, never even for a moment displacing Olivier as the more interesting or entertaining lead.

1. Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago- Good Prediction RatedRStar. Courtenay is in a different league than the rest of the performances is this category. Courtenay gives just about a perfect supporting performance in Pasha. Giving an amazingly powerful performance as he shows a once warm and earnest man become a chilling hallow shell of his former self.

Deserving Performances:
Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago
Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
Ian Bannen in The Hill
Harry Andrews in The Hill
Ian Hendry in The Hill

Best Supporting Actor 1965: Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns

Martin Balsam won his Oscar from his only nomination for portraying Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns.

I hate A Thousand Clowns which is about an obnoxious man named Murray, and his even more annoying nephew Nick who might be separated because Murray wont get a job.

A Thousand Clowns is a terrible film because it is one of those films that thinks it has a profound message but comes off as just pretentious, as well as because it is one of those comedies that after it tells its "jokes" you don't laugh at them, but oh boy do those characters laugh at them. Martin Balsam plays the brother of the obnoxious Murray, who also acts as his agent as well.

Martin Balsam is a character actor that I sort of like, not one of my favorite but he usually adds to a film rather than take away from a film. Here though Balsam cannot really overcome the material which is at hand. Although Arnold is considerably less annoying that Murray or Nick that does not stop him from begin pretty annoying himself. Although he is not all the time, Arnold has his annoying moments where Balsam overacts a great deal.

These overacting moments come really from the material where he finds Murray's antics funny or is required to bring attention to a joke that he has made as well. Balsam over does his facial reactions in all of these moments that come off as just obnoxious opposed to anything entertaining endearing. Balsam's performance is not entirely overacting though.

Balsam does have a few minorly better moments when he questions Murray's philosophy. There is certain degree of sensibility as well as satisfaction suggested fairly subtly within himself that refreshing in the face of Jason Robards' theatricality as Murray. Balsam though is only refreshing at best though, his performance still amounts to very little in the end, and in many moments fails to overcome the awfulness of the film.

Best Supporting Actor 1965

And the Nominees Were:

Ian Bannen in The Flight of the Phoenix

Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago 

Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns

Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools

Frank Finlay in Othello