Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1964: Results

5. Frank Overton in Fail-Safe- Overton gives a moving performance as a General who must deal with a Nuclear crises as well as a hostile room of men.

Best Scene: General Bogan speaks with his Russian counterpart.

4. Nigel Green in Zulu- Green gives a strong performance as a career soldier who has the utmost conviction in his code.

Best Scene: Sergeant Bourne calls out the roster.

3. Fredric March in Seven Days in May- March gives possibly the best performance of his career in his assured and remarkable depiction of the President of the United States who must prevent a coup.

Best Scene: President Lyman confronts General Scott.

2. George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove- Scott's performance is pure comedic gold as an off the wall General who he appropriately plays in an off the wall fashion. Scott's whole performance is one great risk that completely pays off.

Best Scene: Turgidson gives his own thoughts on what they should do.

1. Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove - Sterling Hayden gives a hilarious performance where he does not exactly play it straight nor does he play it funny, but whatever he does do it's perfect. My win is Hayden as I enjoyed his performance the most on this watch although if I watched it again I might switch over to Scott.

Best Scene: Ripper asks Mandrake about being tortured. 

Overall Rank:

1. Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove
2. George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove
3. Fredric March in Seven Days in May
4. Christopher Plummer in The Fall of the Roman Empire
5. David Tomlinson in Mary Poppins 
6. Alan Bates in The Caretaker
   
7. Shailen Mukherjee in Charulata
8. Nigel Green in Zulu
9. Frank Overton in Fail-Safe
   
10. Keenan Wynn in Dr. Strangelove
11. Karl Malden in Dead Ringer
12. Gian Maria Volonté in A Fistful of Dollars
13. Jack Hawkins in Zulu 
14. Burt Lancaster in Seven Days in May  
15. Dan O'Herlihy in Fail-Safe
16. Patrick Magee in Zulu
17. Wilfrid Brambell in A Hard Day's Night
18. John Gielgud in Becket
19. Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady
20. Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove 
21. James Booth in Zulu 
22. Walter Matthau in Fail-Safe
23. Lee Tracy in The Best Man
    
24. Edmond O'Brien in Seven Days in May 
25. Peter Finch in The Girl with Green Eyes
    
26. Umberto Spadaro in Seduced and Abandoned
27. James Mason in The Fall of the Roman Empire
    
28. Kei Satō in Onibaba
29. James Stewart in Cheyenne Autumn
    
30. John Mills in The Chalk Garden
31. Tatsuya Nakadai in Kwaidan 
32. Anthony Franciosa in Rio Conchos
    
33. Gert Fröbe in Goldfinger 
    
34. Robert Morley in Topkapi 
35. Robert Earl Jones in One Potato, Two Potato
    
36. Larry Hagman in Fail-Safe
37. Peter Bull in Dr. Strangelove
38. Martin Balsam in Seven Days in May 
39. Trevor Howard in Father Goose
    
40. Paul Scofield in The Train   
41. Aldo Puglisi in Seduced and Abandoned
    
42. Ed Wynn in Mary Poppins
43. Leo McKern in King & Country
44. Gert van den Bergh in Zulu  
45. Dick Van Dyke in What a Way to Go
46. James Coburn in The Americanization of Emily
47. Alec Guinness in The Fall of the Roman Empire
    
48. Lando Buzzanca in Seduced and Abandoned
    
49. Percy Herbert in Guns at Batasi
50. Cecil Kellaway in Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
51. Herbert Lom in A Shot in the Dark
52. John Junkin in A Hard Day's Night
53. José Calvo in A Fistful of Dollars
    
54. Jack Hawkins in Guns at Batasi
55. Errol John in Guns at Batasi
56. John Houseman in Seven Days in May 
57. Melvyn Douglas in The Americanization of Emily
    
58. Arthur O'Connell in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
    
59. Robert Mitchum in What a Way to Go 
60. Yaphet Kotto Nothing But a Man
    
61. John Leyton in Guns at Batasi
62. Norman Rossington in A Hard Day's Night 
63. Victor Buono in Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
64. Ivor Emmanuel in Zulu 
65. Rentarō Mikuni in Kwaidan
66. Gene Kelly in What a Way to Go 
67. Stanley Green in Nothing but a Man
    
68. Donald Wolfit in Becket  
69. Andrew Duggan in Seven Days in May
70. Akim Tamiroff in Topkapi
71. Glynn Edwards in Zulu 
72. Dean Martin in What a Way to Go
    
73. Peter Lawford in Dead Ringer
74. Desmond Llewelyn in Goldfinger
75. Patrick Magee in Seance on a Wet Afternoon 
76. Yuri Tolubeyev in Hamlet
77. Dom Deluise in Fail-Safe 
78. Takashi Shimura in Kwaidan
    
79. James Mason in The Pumpkin Eater 
80. Felix Aylmer in The Chalk Garden
    
81. Eli Wallach in Kisses for My President 
    
82. James Earl Jones in Dr. Strangelove 
83. Mikhail Nazvanov in Hamlet
84. Joseph Cotten in Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte 
85. Edmond O'Brien in Rio Conchos
    
86. George Sanders in A Shot in the Dark
87. George Macready in Dead Ringers
88. Sotiris Moustakas in Zorba the Greek
89. Kevin McCarthy in The Best Man
90. David Kernan in Zulu 
91. Richard Attenborough in The Third Secret
    
92. Katsuo Nakamura in Kwaidan
    
93. James Ward in The Night of the Iguana
94. Jack Weston in The Incredible Mr. Limpet 
95. Shelley Berman in The Best Man
96. Bernard Lee in Goldfinger
97. Martin Gabel in Marnie
98. David Weston in Becket
99. Bruce Dern in Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte 
100. Richard Mulligan in One Potato, Two Potato
     
101. Mark Eden in Seance on a Wet Afternoon 
102. Jean Servais in That Man From Rio
     
103. Bruce Dern in Marnie 
104. Arthur Kennedy in Cheyenne Autumn
     
105. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart in The Last Man on Earth
106. John Henry Falk in The Best Man
107. Harold Sakata in Goldfinger  
108. Stuart Whitman in Rio Conchos
     
109. Wilfrid Hyde-White in My Fair Lady 
110. Paul Newman in What a Way to Go
     
111. Leon Ames in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones 
112. Joseph Egger in A Fistful of Dollars
113. Hugh Marlowe in Seven Days in May
114. Anthony Eisley in The Naked Kiss
     
115. Norm Grabowski in The Misadventure of Merlin Jones 
116. Matthew Garber in Mary Poppins  
117. Fritz Weaver in Fail-Safe 
118. Paolo Stoppa in Becket
119. Jeremy Brett in My Fair Lady
120. Vincent Beck in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians
121. Bill McCutcheon in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians
122. Carl Don in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians

Next Year: 1955 lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1964: Nigel Green in Zulu

Nigel Green did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne in Zulu.

Zulu has a pretty strong ensemble that does nicely to distinguish most of the smaller characters from one another. There are plenty of good performances to be found from some of the random soldiers with brief yet pivotal moments, then there are the larger parts some with personal characters arcs like Jack Hawkins's drunkard pastor, James Booth's cowardly soldier who finds courage due to the battle, Patrick Magee's overworked surgeon. Although most of these performances are worth mentioning my favorite of them all is very easily Nigel Green's performance as the one man who does not seem the slightest bit afraid of the upcoming battle that seems will result in their deaths.

Nigel Green's performance is being the ideal British soldier who stands by his beliefs with an unending courage. This courage though is something quite unassuming in Green performance yet always something quite strong and noticeable. Green is terrific in portraying the convictions of career soldier in a believable fashion that shows a true spirit of determination. One of Green's best moments is when he faces down Hawkin's pacifist pastor. The Sergeant defends the actions of all the men through a psalm he knows quite well. Green brings a certain delight as the Sergeant defends his chosen profession, but also importantly reinforces the idea that Bourne absolutely has a fervent belief in his duty as a soldier.

One of the great aspects of Zulu is it does allow the audience to take the tale in a variety of ways. This comes to play greatly in the character of Sergeant Bourne. Bourne is by the books down the line even getting a man to button his jacket properly before the battle is about the begin. The film, and Green's performance derives some nicely placed humor with the extreme nature of the character at times to alleviate the tension in just the right way. The best moment in this regard is Green's delivery when Bourne is calling off the names of the soldiers to find out who's alive. One of the men does not respond but Bourne insists that he is alive, Green is so serious in his delivery that the makes the moment hilarious.

Green never goes too far nor does he ever make Sergeant Bourne a laughingstock. Green is easily just as good at showing the fierce conviction of the soldier. Green is sort of comforting here as well by being believable man who can stare death right in the face and not blink an eye. Bourne is not an emotionless husk even if he is a man of his code though. Right in the same roster scene that has a very funny moment it is also a somber scene as Bourne's calls names that lack a response. When there is no response Green is rather poignant in the subtle way that you can see that Bourne is affected by the loss, but he simply it would be against his code of conduct to break his purposefully strict demeanor.

Nigel Green apparently specialized in these sorts of roles and that is not much of a surprise considering the way he looked anyway, but also he is very good at it. Green is excellent here for a variety of reasons. One being that among the large ensemble he knows how to stand out whenever he has a chance, without feeling out of place within the picture itself. The greatest strength of his performance is that he makes Sergeant Bourne into a real man here opposed to a caricature which was a serious danger for this character considering that he does indulged in a little bit of comedy. Green does not falter once giving an effective portrayal of a career soldier and succeeds in giving the best performance of the film.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1964

And the Nominees Were Not:

Nigel Green in Zulu

Fredric March in Seven Days in May

Frank Overton in Fail-Safe

George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove

Sterling Hayden in Dr. Strangelove