Alternate Best Actor 1942: Results

5. Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons -  Holt's character is an unlikable boring brat, and Holt in no way makes him compelling in any of that.

Best Scene: Fanny's revelation... I guess.

4. Noel Coward in In Which We Serve - Coward obviously had a very specific purpose for his film and his performance which is to give a passionate message for World War II. Well he accomplishes that well leaving other elements of his performance a bit simple.

Best Scene: The Captain delivers a speech to his troops.

3. Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire - Ladd his the right notes in his portrayal of a brutal assassin, but just never quite seems to go the extra distance with his performance.

Best Scene:  Raven talks about his past.

2. Joel McCrea in The Palm Beach Story - McCrea gets kinda the short end of the stick in terms of screen time but he still gives an enjoyable portrayal of a husband exasperated by his wife's odd behavior.

Best Scene: Tom hears about his "sister's" idea.

1. Pierre Fresnay in The Murderer Lives At Number 21- Easily my favorite out of these five. Fresnay as is a great charmer here giving a highly entertaining portrayal that makes his film one enjoyable mystery to watch.

Best Scene: Inspector Wens stalls the killer.

Overall Rank:

1. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
2. Pierre Fresnay in The Murderer Lives At Number 21
3. Chishū Ryū in There Was A Father
   
4. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy
5. Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper
6. Ronald Colman in Random Harvest
7. Joel McCrea in The Palm Beach Story
8. Erroll Flynn in Gentleman Jim
   
9. Monty Woolley in The Man Who Came to Dinner 
   
10. James Mason in The Night Has Eyes
11. Leslie Howard in The First of Few
12. Ronald Colman in The Talk of the Town
    
13. Spencer Tracy in Woman of the Year
    
14. George Sanders in The Moon and Sixpence
    
15. Ronald Reagan in Kings Row 
    
16. Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire
17. Robert Cummings in Saboteur  
18. Edward G. Robinson in Larceny, Inc. 
    
19. Michael Redgrave in Thunder Rock
20. Edward Arnold in Eyes in the Night
    
21. Jack Benny in To Be or Not To Be 
22. Fredric March in I Married A Witch
    
23. Cary Grant in The Talk of the Town
    
24. Ray Milland in The Major and the Minor 
25. Herbert Marshall in The Moon and Sixpence
    
26. Jean Gabin in Moontide
27. Bob Hope in Road to Morocco  
28. Tyrone Power in This Above All   
29. Robert Cummings in Kings Row
30. Noel Coward in In Which We Serve 
31. John Mills in In Which We Serve  
32. Alan Ladd in The Glass Key
    
33. Fred Astaire in Holiday Inn 
34. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver
35. Tyrone Power in The Black Swan
36. Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees
37. Bing Crosby in Holiday Inn
38. Bing Crosby in Road to Morocco
39. Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons
40. Spencer Tracy in Tortilla Flat
41. John Garfield in Tortilla Flat

Next Year: 1942 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1942: Noel Coward in In Which We Serve

Noel Coward did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Captain E.V. Kinross in In Which We Serve.

In Which We Serve is an decent enough film that tells the stories of the men who were on a sunken ship in the Royal Navy during World War II.

Noel Coward does not just star in the film he also wrote, produced it, and directed it along with David Lean. Coward was actually nominated for producing and writing the film. Coward also plays the role of the Captain of the ship who we see grasping for life on a makeshift life boat, on the ship performing his duties and at home with his loving wife (Celia Johnson). This was undoubtedly a passion project for Coward and obviously his way to show his support for his countrymen in the war that was waging when this film as made. Due to this this film takes a very precise depiction of the men to show them all to be good souls who just want a good life which they sacrifice for the greater good. 

Coward's performance is much like his direction and writing here. It's purposefully fairly light in terms of the depth given. Coward portrays the Captain in his home life fairly simply as just a relaxed man who loves his wife and enjoys his life simple as that. Coward brings enough charm, wit and warmth in these scenes always seeming invested enough. Coward seems to frankly give these scenes to Celia Johnson on purpose though, as Coward consistently underplays his role really giving all the emotional moments to Johnson. Obviously the set up was Coward's intention and really it works perfectly fine for the film, even if Coward's performance never becomes all that compelling though.

On the sea Coward is the ship's captain even though Coward physically does not exactly look like a military type. Coward actually offers enough command for the part, and is believable in the role. He also is not overshadowed in the same ways in this scene bringing the needed presence that a Captain should have in such a circumstance. In the scenes of the men trying to survive on the sea without a ship Coward actually is rather could in showing the physical discomfort in the situation and rather effectively loses the usually veneer found in Noel Coward's usual style. Again Coward does not drive especially hard in the role still, he never seems disinterested but always content to be just good enough in the role nothing more.

The one scene where Coward seems to change in this attitude is his last scene where he delivers a passionate speech to his men to fight on and remember the men who died. Coward gives this speech a great deal of passion and you can easily see that the man truly believed these words with all his heart. In that you really see the point of both Coward's performance and the film as a whole. Coward really did not want the acting, or the characters to be the noted thing about the film. No obviously he wanted the message to stand out the most, which makes sense for the time although it makes the film particularly a film of its time only. Coward does not make the other aspects bad though, just very limited and to the point. This includes his performance which is good but ,other than his speech, just good enough. 

Alternate Best Actor 1942

And the Nominees Were Not:

Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire

Joel McCrea in The Palm Beach Story

Noel Coward in In Which We Serve

Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons

Pierre Fresnay in The Murderer Lives At Number 21