Alternate Best Actor 1951: Results

5. Raj Kapoor in Awaara - Despite the somewhat disjointed nature of what is required of him, Kapoor actually matches well any tone or style is requested of him by himself as director.
  
Best Scene: Raj catches the "thief".

4. Richard Basehart in Fourteen Hours - Basehart keeps most of his more theatrical tendencies under control to an effective portrayal of the intense state of mind on the edge both literally and metaphorically.

Best Scene: Robert speaks with Dunnigan about the good things in life.

3. Oskar Werner in Decision Before Dawn - Werner effectively elevates his film through his moving and nuanced portrayal of a righteous traitor.

Best Scene: Happy argues for the deserter.

2. Trevor Howard in Outcast of the Islands - Howard gives a downright brilliant portrayal of man who only becomes worse after being given a chance for redemption.

Best Scene: Madness in the rain.  

1. Michael Redgrave in The Browning Version - Good prediction Tahmeed. I have to admit the choice for the final overall was relatively easy despite my love for the performances of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Alec Guinness, Robert Walker, Trevor Howard and Alistair Sim from 1951. I thought Redgrave was a good actor before watching this film, but his extraordinary work here put him in even greater light for me. It is such precise yet naturalistic, uncompromising yet heartfelt, complex and poignant depiction of a man who has slowly given up on life.

Best Scene: The speech.

Updated Overall Lead
Updated Overall Supporting

Next Year: 1993 Lead

Alternate Best Actor 1951: Oskar Werner in Decision Before Dawn

Oskar Werner did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Corporal Karl Maurer aka Happy in Decision Before Dawn.

Decision Before Dawn about a German being made a spy for the allies takes a little too long on its setup but is a decent thriller once it focuses on that character.

Oskar Werner plays the eventual lead of the film as Happy, who we first see as a German medic and POW but later becomes a spy for the Allies. The film takes a bit of time as it illustrates the plot by spending time with the Americans, planning the mission and setting up another German spy, who has the most predictable character arc one could imagine. The film eventually finds its way to focusing on Happy, who happens to also be played by the best actor in the film. Werner even kind of steals the film before he even gains the stronger focus as he proves his ability onscreen, just through his eyes as he is able to express the quiet outrage in Happy as he decides to work against his home country, in part due to seeing his fellow soldiers despicable behavior even while detained. Thankfully the film restricts its focus upon Happy sooner than later, and we are given one of Werner's first English language performances. Now he might not be as assured as his work in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, but that's a tall order to fulfill.

Werner once again has this real low key charm about him, and he immediately endearing in his portrayal of Happy. He importantly doesn't even need to try, there is just an innate honesty Werner brings to his performance, which is interesting given that he technically playing a traitor. Werner though brings basically home the message of the good traitor in his performance by bringing this effortless goodness that he exudes as Happy. This is also essential in that it makes it particularly easy to invest in Werner as Happy is sent back into his home country in order to discover an important bit of information. Werner actually has a particularly difficult challenge in that he really doesn't have anyone to work against in terms of portraying the man's on the mission, since Happy does not meet up with his liasons until near the film's ending. The rest of the time it is solely upon Werner to realize the struggle in Happy as he goes about his mission. Werner succeeds in this as he creates the sense of the underlying fear in Happy throughout the scenes, but does even more than that.

Werner gives further understanding of Happy through very nuanced indirect reactions within other interactions. For example there is great moment where Happy learns that his father is nearby, and Werner is able to express the concern in Happy for him while still keeping the shell of a soldier just going about his duty. There is so much dependent on Werner to capture so much of the emotional weight of the story. Werner never is lacking in this though and adds so much substance to the side relationships Happy strikes up while on his mission. This includes two "lowly" sorts one a woman few others care about and an affable fellow soldier. In both Werner presents such a palatable empathy in Happy and in turn makes those character more meaningful than they would have been otherwise. Werner is especially moving in a scene where he tries to passionate save someone from death. This all while Werner never loses the struggle of the mission in his very being. He keeps that pivotal central tension but finds the right amount of substance that benefits the film greatly. Eventually the film ends on a straight escape scene where technically some of that substance found earlier seems lost. Werner though proves his worth one last time though in the escape when Happy sacrifices himself for the sake of the mission. Werner has made Happy such a likable character that when this happens it is rather heartbreaking, even if the film itself still doesn't seem like it quite is appreciating what Werner is doing for it. It's performance which elevates the film, and though it might not be as assured as his later work, it is a strong early indication of Werner's talent.

Alternate Best Actor 1951

And the Nominees Were Not:

Raj Kapoor in Awaara

Oskar Werner in Decision Before Dawn

Trevor Howard in Outcast of the Islands

Michael Redgrave in The Browning Version

Richard Basehart in Fourteen Hours

Alternate Best Actor 1962: Results

10. Oskar Werner in Jules and Jim - Werner's role is limited yet his unassuming charm manages to keep himself from being overshadowed despite the film's apparent desire otherwise.

Best Scene: Jules talks about Catherine's True Nature.

9. Montgomery Clift in Freud - Clift manages to create a compelling portrait of Freud not through mannerisms, but rather finding the emotional core within the man's motivations.

Best Scene: Freud finding the truth behind Cecily's mental trauma.

8. Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate - Harvey portrays well the cold calculated man turned into a cold killer, but also manages to be extremely moving in portraying the vulnerabilities of the man.

Best Scene: The Assassination

7. Patrick McGoohan in in All Night Long - McGoohan gives a fascinating portrayal of an Iago like drummer, whose greatest joy comes from the torment of others.

Best Scene: Johnnie "accidentally" spills secrets to Rex. 

6. Toshiro Mifune in Sanjuro - Mifune gives a great reprise of his role in Yojimbo, by slanting towards comedy and succeeding quite thoroughly in this regard.

Best Scene: The samurai observes the rescued women. 

5. Tom Courtenay in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - I'll say right now that I had a great difficulty ranking these five, and found it even more impossible when having to include Peck, Wayne and Lemmon. These are all exceptional performances starting with Courtenay's intense yet heart wrenching depiction of young man lashing out due to his hatred of authority but also from his own fear.

Best Scene: The Beach.

4. James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Stewart gives one of his best performances as both a young man passionately fighting for what is right, as well as an older man forcing to live with the lie that made his life.

Best Scene: The Senator finishes the story.

3. Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear - Mitchum creates one of the all time great cinematic villains, not through the depiction of a mastermind, but rather a violent creep who's completely content with his actions.

Best Scene: Cady's mentions his wife.

2. Tatsuya Nakadai in Harakiri - Nakadai gives an outstanding performance as he realizes not only an otherworldly spirit of righteous vengeance, but also the man who became it.  

Best Scene: Hanshiro Tsugumo finishes his story. 

1. James Mason in Lolita - Good Predictions JackiBoyz, RatedRStar. Mason gives an outstanding performance as he manages to balance everything in the film. He's the perfect straight man for Sellers's comedy, he manages to make Humbert far more sympathetic than should be possible, while giving an absolutely mesmerizing depiction of man being destroyed mentally and physically by his unhealthy obsession.    

Best Scene: Humbert confronts Quilty.

Overall Rank:

1. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia
2. James Mason in Lolita
3. Tatsuya Nakadai in Harakiri
4. Jack Lemmon in The Days of Wine and Roses
5. Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear
6. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
7. James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
8. Tom Courtenay in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
9. John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
10. Terence Stamp in Billy Budd
11. Toshiro Mifune in Sanjuro
12. Patrick McGoohan in All Night Long
13. Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate
14. Frank Sinatra in The Manchurian Candidate 
15. Trevor Howard in Mutiny on the Bounty
16. Richard Attenborough in Trial and Error 
17. Phillip Alford in To Kill a Mockingbird
18. Montgomery Clift in Freud
19. Sean Connery in Dr. No 
20. Paul Newman in Sweet Bird of Youth 
21. Peter Ustinov in Billy Budd
22. Gregory Peck in Cape Fear
23. Oskar Werner in Jules and Jim  
24. Peter Sellers in Trial and Error
25. Robert Preston in The Music Man
26. Paul Harris in All Night Long
27. Burt Lancaster in Birdman of Alcatraz
28. Henri Serre in Jules and Jim
29. Marlon Brando in Mutiny on the Bounty

Next: The Waiting Game. 

Alternate Best Actor 1962: Oskar Werner in Jules and Jim

Oskar Werner did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jules in Jules and Jim.

Jules and Jim tells the story of the long lasting love triangle involving two friends and a very impetuous woman Catherine (Jeanne Moreau).

Jules and Jim is directed with a certain dreamy quality by Francois Truffaut. The music is always has this certain ease, as does the cinematography, and even the narration has this certain calm to it. There is a lightness kept to the story that stays even when one break in the story is a war. The earliest scenes of the film are shown all as some romantic vacation of sorts as Jules, and his friend Jim (Henri Serre) seems to live a life of such ease. This section in particular more of depicts images of the friendship between Jules and Jim, as well as Jules romance with Catherine, rather than detailed interactions between the two. Werner's performance is very much limited, though he is effective in depicting a certain spontaneous joy as we see him randomly live his life with Jim, and Catherine. Werner's work, like the film itself at this point, is purposefully breezy. as Werner quite plainly portrays a man enjoying life. This eventually ends on Jules marrying Catherine, and with that the film makes its first shift with both Jules and Jim entering into World War I.

World War I is only shown to be a brief distraction in terms of the story. The tone changes slightly, it still retains the same style, but Jules, Jim and Catherine all seem to slow down a bit. Jules's letter to Catherine is the moment of change for Werner's performance as he becomes far more restrained and frankly less enthusiastic in his performance. Werner is indeed quite effective in realizes the wear of the war, and the changed caused by just through his performance as there is clearly less joy in Jules, as he writes the letter to his wife. This continues as the story does as even after the war it becomes clear that Catherine's nature will cause her to ignore him, and in this case in favor of his friend Jim, even though the two have already had children. Julies, even though Catherine is leaving him, does not react as a jilted lover, and instead Werner depicts Jules as very much resigned in this fate. Werner, making use of that earlier scene during the war, actually makes this a fairly natural transition, and allows Jules's nonchalance towards Catherine's pursuit of Him, believable. 

Werner carries the right sort of melancholy quality to Jules in any scene in which he discusses Catherine with Jim, as Werner echoes a certain despair, but as much depicts a sad understanding of exactly the woman she is. This leaves Jules in a strange spot, as well as Werner in a rather difficult place within the film as well. Jules actually becomes quite static for basically the second half of the film, as Jules must merely observe Jim and Catherine's behavior, while only really staying around because he's the father of Catherine's children. To Werner's credit though he actually isn't overshadowed, despite the story forcing him into such a position. Werner manages to get by through extremely low key charm, and just as well keeping a consistent honesty in his portrayal of Jules as he just keeps to himself while Jim and Catherine live out their problematic affair. Though Jules is often ignored as that affair becomes more intense, the final moments of the film end up from Jules's perspective. Even in this it is somewhat limited, though Werner's silent final moments are fairly moving as he reflects Jules's loss, as Jules once again remains the odd one out. Werner gives a good performance as his withdrawn yet engaging screen presence keeps Jules from being forgotten even when the film seems to have forgotten about him.

Alternate Best Actor 1962

And the Nominees Were Not:

James Mason in Lolita

Toshiro Mifune in Sanjuro

Montgomery Clift in Freud

Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear

Tom Courtenay in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Rank Those Five or These Five:

James Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Tatsuya Nakadai in Harakiri

Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate

Oskar Werner in Jules and Jim

Patrick McGoohan in All Night Long 

Or both. 

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1965: Results

7. Jack Lemmon in The Great Race - I decided not to review Lemmon here for a few reasons. The first being after watching the film I felt he was definitely lead along side Tony Curtis and in no way supporting him. Then I did not really feel it was quite a good enough performance worthy for his own separate lead review. Also no reason to ruin the perfect streak of the previous six performances reviewed. It is amusing to note that the previous collaboration between Lemmon and director Blake Edwards was The Days of Wine Roses so Lemmon went from a harrowing depiction of alcoholism to playing a live action Saturday morning cartoon villain right down to his name of Professor Fate. The film itself I felt was too bloated as you can probably only have so many slapstick gags before they wear a bit thin which is unfortunately the case for this film. Lemmon is quite the energetic presence and his over the top performance is actually fitting for the film. He does his best to sell every gag and his whole portrayal is amusing enough though it can't quite sustain the running time of the film. It's hardly a great performance from Lemmon, but he is indeed the best part of the film. 

6. Ian Bannen in The Hill - Well this was in no way a pleasure to even place the seventh spot in my ranking since I love all of these performances. Bannen merely gives another great performance of one man's own clever ways of survival as military prison guard while never losing his frustrations underneath.

Best Scene: The final confrontation.

5. Ian Hendry in The Hill - Hendry is also great in his uncompromising depiction of his character's sadism. What makes him standout though are the very human weaknesses he also brings to the character particularly in his portrayal of his character's attempt to be the proper military man. 

Best Scene: The final confrontation as well.

4. Oskar Werner in A Spy Who Came In From The Cold - Werner actually does not have too much material but has to make a whole lot of it. Well he does so giving so much life and genuine passion to his character Fiedler that he makes it heartbreaking when it turns out that Fielder has been used all along.

Best Scene: Fiedler realizes he's been had.

3. Toshiro Mifune in Red Beard - The last great performance to be found from the collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. Mifune takes a rather unorthodox somewhat colder approach with the character of the wise mentor but succeeds wholly in earning the palatable emotions of every scene he is in, and effortlessly becoming a personification of compassion.

Best Scene: Red Beard goes to retrieve the patient from the Brothel.

2. Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago - Steiger has a great character and brilliantly realizes his complexity. He's a perfect smiling devil yet Steiger importantly shows that there still a bit of humanity to be found.

Best Scene: Komoravosky tells Zhivago what happened to Pasha.

  1. Harry Andrews in The Hill - Andrews gives an outstanding performance as he carefully differs himself from the other two men playing guards by showing a man utterly devoted to the mindset of the military. Andrews never allows himself to be one note though using every moment to fully realize his character as man who tries to conduct things as a machine. It's hard enough ranking these six but becomes even harder having to consider Tom Courtenay's work in Doctor Zhivago as well, which only improved all the more on re-watch. I really hate to have to leave the Ians out of the top five. Now I do feel I could give any one of these men the win and they would be more than deserving. My choice goes to Courtenay as it's a performance that only gets better the more I think about it, plus if I want to cheat in my reasoning he was also great in King Rat.

Best Scene: Wilson deals with the potential riot.

Overall Rank:

1. Tom Courtenay in Doctor Zhivago
2. Harry Andrews in The Hill
3. Robert Shaw in Battle of the Bulge
4. Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago
5. Richard Harris in Major Dundee
6. Toshiro Mifune in Red Beard
7. Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
8. Ian Hendry in The Hill
9. Ian Bannen in The Hill
10. Tsutomu Yamazaki in Red Beard
11. Ossie Davis in The Hill
12. Gian Maria Volonté in For A Few Dollars More 
13. Charlton Heston in The Greatest Story Ever Told
14. Claude Rains in The Greatest Story Ever Told
15. Donald Pleasence in The Greatest Story Ever Told
16. Tom Courtenay in King Rat
17. Roy Kinnear in The Hill
18. Cyril Cusack in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
19. Michael Redgrave in The Hill 
20. Junzaburō Ban in A Fugitive From the Past
21. Tom Courtenay in Operation Crossbow
22. John Gielgud in Chimes at Midnight
23. Hans Christian Blech in Battle of the Bulge 
24. James Mason in Lord Jim
25. Edward G. Robinson in The Cincinnati Kid
26. Trevor Howard in Von Ryan's Express
27. Klaus Kinski in Doctor Zhivago
28. Noel Coward in Bunny Lake is Missing 
29. Telly Savalas in Battle of the Bulge
30. Alec Guinness in Doctor Zhivago
31. Leo McKern in Help!
32. Nigel Green in The Ipcress File
33. Richard Attenborough in The Flight of the Phoenix
34. Jack Watson in The Hill
35. Terry Thomas in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines 
36. Roy Kinnear in Help! 
37. Peter van Eyck in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold 
38. Warren Oates in Major Dundee 
39. Burgess Meredith in In Harm's Way
40. Hardy Kruger in The Flight of the Phoenix
41. Alfred Lynch in The Hill 
42. Charles Bronson in Battle of the Bulge
43. Van Heflin in The Greatest Story Ever Told
44. James Coburn in Major Dundee
45. Dean Martin in The Sons of Katie Elder
46. Eijiro Tono in Samurai Assassin
47. Alberto Sordi in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines 
48. Wallace Ford in A Patch of Blue 
49. Richard Harris in The Heroes of Telemark 
50. Christopher Lee in in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
51. Jose Ferrer in The Greatest Story Ever Told
52. Michael Hordern in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold 
53. Anthony Quayle in Operation Crossbow
54. Ralph Richardson in Doctor Zhivago 
55. Peter Sellers in What's New Pussycat?
56. Eli Wallach in Lord Jim
57. Dirk Bogarde in Darling
58. Keenan Wynn in The Great Race
59. Ronald Fraser in The Flight of the Phoenix
60. Victor Spinetti in Help!
61. Peter Falk in The Great Race
62. Sergio Fantoni in Von Ryan's Express
63. Geoffrey Keen in Doctor Zhivago
64. Vladimir Mensik in Loves a Blonde
65. Woody Allen in What's New Pussycat?
66. Michael Craig in Sandra
67. Karl Malden in The Cincinnati Kid
68. Denholm Elliot in King Rat 
69. Michael Redgrave in The Heroes of Telemark
70. Robert Morley in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
71. James Donald in King Rat
72. Ken Takakura in A Fugitive From the Past
73. David McCallum in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
74. Peter Finch in The Flight of the Phoenix 
75. Patrick Cargill in Help!
76. John Mills in King Rat  
77. Jean-Claude Brialy in I Knew Her Well
78. Marino Mase in Fists in the Pocket
79. Sal Mineo in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
80. Patrick Wymark in Repulsion
81. Jack Weston in The Cincinnati Kid 
82. Joseph Schildkraut in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
83. Paul Lukas in Lord Jim
84. Arthur O'Connell in The Great Race
85. Telly Savalas in The Greatest Story Ever Told
86. Norman Bird in The Hill 
87. Ben Johnson in Major Dundee 
88. Donald Sutherland in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
89. Ed Wynn in The Greatest Story Ever Told
90. Jaime Sanchez in The Pawnbroker 
91. Klaus Kinski in For A Few Dollars More
92. Bernard Lee in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
93. Derek Jacobi in Othello
94. Ernest Borgnine in The Flight of the Phoenix
95. Richard Haydn in The Sound of Music  
96. Mario Adorf in I Knew Her Well
97. Williams Daniels in A Thousand Clowns
98. Mario Brega in For A Few Dollars More
99. Brandon De Wilde in In Harm's Way
100. Henry Fonda in Battle of the Bulge
101. Dennis Hopper in The Sons of Katie Elder
102. Michael Gough in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
103. Desmond Llewelyn in Thunderball 
104. Jeremy Kemp in Operation Crossbow
105. Finlay Currie in Bunny Lake is Missing 
106. Peter Cushing in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors
107. Laurence Harvey in Darling
108. Trevor Howard in Operation Crossbow
109. Robert Ryan in Battle of the Bulge
110. Guy Doleman in The Ipcress File 
111. Dana Andrews in Battle of the Bulge 
112. Jim Hutton in Major Dundee
113. Kirk Douglas in In Harm's Way
114. Harry Andrews in The Agony and the Ecstasy
115. Christopher Plummer in Inside Daisy Clover
116. Adolfi Celi in Thunderball 
117. Gene Saks in A Thousand Clowns
118. James Gregory in The Sons of Katie Elder
119. Tom Tryon in In Harm's Way 
120. James Fox in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
121. Bernard Lee in Thunderball
122. Rip Torn in The Cincinnati Kid  
123. Hardy Kruger in Lord Jim
124. Maurice Dallimore in The Collector  
125. Martin Landau in The Greatest Story Ever Told 
126. Charles Bronson in The Sandpiper 
127. Michael Anderson Jr. in Major Dundee
128. Martin Balsam in A Thousand Clowns
129. Michael Dunn in Ship of Fools
130. George Segal in Ship of Fools 
131. Robert Redford in Inside Daisy Clover
132. Lee Marvin in Ship of Fools
133. Ian Bannen in Flight of the Phoenix
134. Brock Peters in The Pawnbroker
135. José Ferrer in Ship of Fools
136. Barry Gordon in A Thousand Clowns

Next Year: 1957 Supporting

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1965: Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold

Oskar Werner did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning the Golden Globe and being nominated for BAFTA, for portraying Fiedler in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold.

Oskar Werner started an unfortunate three year trend of actors winning the Golden Globe for best supporting actor but not even being nominated for an Oscar. Naturally the Academy had to ignore Oskar Werner and Richard Attenborough, but made sure they recognized Daniel Massey's breathtaking work in Star!. In all seriousness though there was an odd bit of thinking where Supporting Actor was considered lesser actor evidenced by some controversy at Montgomery Clift and Judy Garland's Oscar nominations for Judgment At Nuremberg where it was considered below a star to be nominated for supporting. That ridiculously foolish thinking is perhaps why Werner and Rod Steiger could not be double nominated, and if you look there is long period of time where no one was double nominated. That is unfortunate since Werner although was deserving for his work in Ship of Fools, there is no reason that should have made him be ignored for his work as Fiedler in this film.

Fiedler is an east German intelligence agent who interrogates the falsely disgruntled British agent Alec Leamas (Richard Burton). It's a technically friendly interrogation as Leamas has been made out to be a fake traitor to give Fiedler misinformation to take down his superior Mundt as a British agent. Werner seems to have a simple enough role as Fiedler begins to derive his information from Leamas. What Werner does so well is give a great deal of life to Fiedler through the margins. Werner conducts himself brilliantly in these scenes doing so much through the smallest moment. For example when Leamas mentions Mundt was a former Nazi to the Jewish Fielder, Werner's reaction is pure perfection. He reacts as a man with this knowledge already but there is a discontent within in this even though he feigns not caring not to lead on to Leamas that he has a problem with Mundt. It's a great piece of acting by Werner but every second of his scenes with Burton are great as he gives so much character to Fiedler in every little reaction he makes.

There is such a likability that Werner brings as he goes through the questions as Werner presents Fiedler to be essentially an honest man in a profession entirely made up of dishonest people. Werner shows a man who is actually genuine as he tries to deal with Leamas in a respectful way even though Werner still conveys the proper intrigue and intelligence as Fielder slowly deciphers the information. It an interesting trick Werner pulls here as Fiedler could have just been there to be a plot point, but Werner does so much more than that in this scene. His performance stands separately from almost every other performance in the film because Werner presents a man who says who he is. There are things he covers up for sure such as his dislike for Mundt, but Werner portrays this as something he has to do rather than something he truly wants to do. Werner does such a fantastic job of establishing Fiedler, and even creating a sympathy for the man that he makes his final scene something truly special.

The last scene is a trial in front of a East German tribunal where Fielder presents the information, false information he got from Leamas, to incriminate Mundt as a traitor. Werner is outstanding as Fiedler gives his case to the court as he brings so much passion in his pleading to the courts to sentence Mundt for having betrayed the cause. It's fascinating what Werner does in that he shows us the only true believer, which happens to be the enemy cause, but it's hard not to feel for him because Werner presents Fielder's as true to that cause, unlike every other man we see in the spy game. The only moment that trumps the power of that scene though is when the court learns of the British plot to set up Mundt revealing that they were only using Fiedler. Werner is heartbreaking as he shows the utter disbelief and shock as the truth comes out. In Werner's face you can see a man who knows he's suddenly just lost his life. This is marvelous work from Werner as he does something really quite interesting that was absolutely up to the performance. Fiedler is the whole target of the spy trick set up by British Intelligence, but when it is executed it is not a pleasant feeling elicited. Werner's performance creates the brutality of the espionage because he so wonderfully humanizes this enemy, and presented a tragic man who doomed himself by only doing what he thought was right.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1965

And the Nominees Were Not:

Toshiro Mifune in Red Beard

Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago

Ian Bannen in The Hill

Harry Andrews in The Hill

Ian Hendry in The Hill

Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Jack Lemmon in The Great Race 

For the Prediction Contest the Honor goes to:

Andrews

Alternate Best Actor 1966: Results

5. Oskar Werner in Fahrenheit 451- Werner gives a fairly effective performance as a man who goes to a cog in the machine to a free thinker but the power of his work is somewhat muted when the director basically takes over for him at the end of the film.

Best Scene: Montag confronts his wife and her friends.

4. David Hemmings in Blow-Up- Hemmings gives a good performance as a photographer in a haze who is forced to drift out of it when he discovers something unusual in a photograph.

Best Scene: Thomas tries to tell his agent about the murder. 

3. James Mason in The Deadly Affair- James Mason gives a great and surprisingly emotionally charged performance as a government agent who lives through too many double crosses in both his professional and private life.

Best Scene: Dobbs figures out who his wife's most current affair is with.

2. Tatsuya Nakadai in The Sword of Doom- See Wallach's summary.

Best Scene: Ryunosuke "confronts" his past.

1. Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly- Good Prediction Psifonian. Well this was not an easy choice to make as this year came down to Eli Wallach's and Tatsuya Nakadai's performances for me. Both are brilliant very physical performances that both excel in leading films even though they technically play reprehensible characters, in Nakadai's case extremely reprehensible. They are both outstanding in very different ways with Wallach giving a hilarious and very entertaining performance, and Nakdai is absolutely magnetic while being uncompromising in his depiction of the evil nature of his character. To try to decide between the two I re-watched my favorite scenes of each of their performances well that did not help either only reassuring the fact that I love both of their performances. I have to choose one though therefore I choose Wallach... I guess for the moment right now at this second.

Best Scene: Tuco meets with his brother.

Overall Rank:

1. Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
2. Tatsuya Nakadai in The Sword of Doom
3. Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons
4. Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
5. Rock Hudson in Seconds
6. Uttam Kumar in Nayak
7. Michael Caine in Alfie
8. Per Oscarsson in Hunger
9. Donald Pleasence in Cul-de-Sac
10. Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
11. Tatsuya Nakadai in The Face of Another 
12. Sergei Bondarchuk in War and Peace Part I
13. Peter O'Toole in How To Steal a Million
14. David Hemmings in Blow-Up 
15. Lee Marvin in The Professionals
16. Robert Mitchum in El Dorado 
17. Max von Sydow in Hawaii 
18. Lino Ventura in Le Deuxieme Souffle
19. David Warner - Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment 
20. Roddy McDowall in Lord Love a Duck
21. Burt Lancaster in The Professionals
22. Jean Martin in The Battle of Algiers
23. Paul Newman in Harper
24. Vyacheslav Tikhonov in War and Peace Part I
25. Anatoly Solonitsyn in Andrei Rublev
26. Eddie Axberg in Here is Your Life
27. Adam West in Batman
28. Jack Lemmon in The Fortune Cookie
29. Jean-Louis Trintignant in A Man and a Woman
30. Oskar Werner in Fahrenheit 451  
31. Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles
32. Lee Van Cleef in The Big Gundown 
33. Michael Caine in Funeral in Berlin
34. Václav Neckář in Closely Watched Trains
35. Lionel Strander in Cul-de-Sac 
36. Michael Caine in Gambit
37. Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming
38. Tomas Millan in The Big Gundown 
39. James Garner in Grand Prix
40. Yves Montand in Grand Prix
41. Brahim Hadjadj in The Battle of Algiers
42. Charlton Heston in Khartoum
43. John Wayne El Dorado
44. Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
45. Robert Redford in The Chase
46. Peter Cook in The Wrong Box 
47. Marlon Brandon in The Appaloosa
48. Michael Caine in The Wrong Box 
49. Marlon Brando in The Chase
50. Franco Nero in Django
51. Carl Reiner in The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming 
52. Paul Newman in Torn Curtain
53. James Garner in A Man Could Get Killed
54. Peter Kastner in You're a Big Boy Now 
55. Stephen Boyd in Fantastic Voyage
56. Bill Travers in Born Free

Next Year: 1966 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1966: Oskar Werner in Fahrenheit 451

Oskar Werner did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451.

Fahrenheit 451 is a bit of an odd adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel about a dystopian future where firemen burn books which have been banned. The film frankly looks too 60's for its futuristic setting, and the changes from the novel don't really work for the most part. Also the choice to have Julie Christie play both Guy Montag's wife and the free spirited Clarisse seems quite unnecessary coming off as distracting more than anything. Having said that it still does hold some interest as at least one attempt to adapt the novel to the screen. 

Another strange choice made in this film is the casting of Oskar Werner as Guy Montag. He definitely is not the first name that comes to my mind when I think of an average man of the 60's. Stuart Whitman, if was in The Mark type form, probably would have been the ideal man for the part of Guy Montag who at the beginning of the story is suppose to be just an average cog in the machine of society. He works as a fireman and does his job just as he should without any problems. Werner though is a very good actor and despite maybe not being the perfect choice in terms of casting he still commits himself particularly early on in the film as Guy pretty much just does what he is told, and doesn't seem to have any qualms about it.

Werner, as he apparently stated himself, plays Montag in almost a robotic manner early on. This actually fits perfectly for Montag's role in the film as he just is fitting in his place and nothing more. Werner plays him repressed in his emotions quite effectively because he is a man who not only seems to care nothing about the things that he is burning and the ideas they represent, but as well at home where he should be happy he still seems aloof just a man going through the motions. Werner importantly doesn't make him sad really just almost in a trance of indifference to all that is going on around him and being exactly the servant that the society wishes him to be.

The transition of Montag is still handled pretty well by Oskar Werner at least in the beginning as he starts to question just burning the books and starts to read them. Werner brings a quiet emotional resonance as he frankly just loosens on the robotics of the man and we see a fire instead building in Montag. Werner actually keeps it rather subtle which works well for Montag's character since after all Montag still must keep his revelation to himself. Werner builds the emotional pressure in Montag as well as the interest in the nature of books as well as his anger involving the treatment of the books, and his initial bursts of emotion at his wife and her friends as their behavior still fits to what society desires.

A problem though arises later in the film as the development of Montag almost seems to stop and unfortunately Francois Truffaut seems to take over for Oskar Werner in the development of Montag. One of the most pivotal scenes in which it is discovered that Montag has been hiding books and reading them and he is instructed by his chief to destroy his own home Werner is barely shown. This is particularly notable when Montag turns his flamethrower to one of his fellow fire men where it is hard to notice what Montag feels in the scene since Werner is not really allowed to even show his reactions. This continues pretty much to the end where Werner is given very little to do and it is a shame as Montag final transition to a man away from his old shell could have been truly powerful if Werner had been allowed to honestly portray this.

I should note that whenever Werner is allowed to show how Montag is feeling toward the end he is good and believable still. Werner portrayal though mostly is just glimpses of the man. These are fairly basic reactions to just what is going on around him. To be completely fair Werner is always believable in these reactions and never once does he fall short in terms of his actual performance. His character arc though is cut short due to Truffaut basically putting his performance to the side for the ending. Werner really could have made Guy Montag's story from drone to a free man something very special if he had been allowed to bring Montag fully to the end of the journey. Oskar Werner certainly showed the promise of this in the first 2/3rds of his performance, but Werner's work is cut short.

Alternate Best Actor 1966

And the Nominees Were Not:

James Mason in The Deadly Affair

Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Tatsuya Nakadai in The Sword of Doom

David Hemmings in Blow-Up

Oskar Werner in Fahrenheit 451

Best Actor 1965: Results

5. Laurence Olivier in Othello- Laurence Olivier is always a master of the language of Shakespeare, but his performance as Othello is not as finely attuned as his other screen performances. It is a theatrical work, that is odd in many ways but I still think it was effective.

 4. Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou- Marvin is properly menacing as the bad brother, and is hilarious as Kid Shelleen the good brother. It is a very enjoyable performance that I  really do not mind that it won at all.

3. Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools- Werner gives a strong performance, and with Simone Signoret create a charming, yet tragic story of two people who find each other for a time. It is terrific, natural work in an otherwise bad film.

2. Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker- Steiger gives an uncompromising powerful performance, as man who has become pessimistic and lost his humanity due to his horrific treatment. He creates an excellent portrait of this man and gives a truly dark, but an incredibly effective one.

1. Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in From The Cold- Richard Burton is excellent in showing the dark sad history of this spy, and also his pessimistic view (Another pessimistic character no wonder Marvin won) of his current condition. He handles both the pretending to be a drunken defective and in being in reality a tired yet still functioning and technically loyal spy fed up with loss of humanity with perfection. Burton and Steiger was a hard choice for me, their performances are both equally great.

Deserving Performances:
Sean Connery in The Hill
Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago
Sidney Poitier in A Patch of Blue
Lee Van Cleef in For A Few Dollars More
Terrence Stamp in The Collector

Best Actor 1965: Oskar Werner in Ship of Fools

Oskar Werner received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Dr. Schumann in Ship of Fools.

Ship of Fools is a very flawed ensemble piece. I think the stories are spliced together very poorly with many being absolutely meaningless, some being unimpressive, and one being quite effective. The performances are the same way. There are performances like Jose Ferrer's which is astonishingly terrible, Lee Marvin who has a pointless character and there is no surprise that he was nominated for Cat Ballou and not this film, but luckily there is also Oskar Werner.

Oskar Werner easily could have been a dual nominee this year and in my opinion he should have been, since he also gave a very strong supporting performance in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, for which he won the Golden Globe, and he should have been nominated for the Oscar. Ship of Fools is an ensemble film, but if there is a lead than it most certainly is Werner. I found him to be the central figure of the film, and actually interacts a little with the other stories and not only his own.

Oskar Werner is the ships doctor, the ship filled with all sorts of characters but as the film says filled with fools. Werner's story on the ship is his relationship with another passenger La Condesa (Simone Signoret) who joins when they stop off at Cuba. This is really the only good part of the film, and this is because of Signoret and Werner. There part of there story is a romantic, but also tragic one, a story of love found between these two travelers but the love cannot really be fulfilled.

Werner and Signoret are perfect together from their first scene where Schumann medically helps Condesa in her cabin. There chemistry is so perfect and natural together that is simply wonderful. Together both of them are just spot on in creating the relationship between these two characters. They create a relationship that is not perfect, but it is incredibly charming one between them, despite also being a tragic one. This sort of relationship is incredibly complicated and difficult to be natural, but Werner and Signoret do this together without fault creating the only truly honest scenes in the film, and basically the only good scenes in the film.

Werner suggests so much about the doctor in the scenes with Signoret, and together they really tell about a lot about their characters even with the shortness of the screen time together. Werner has a few brief moments outside of his ones with Signoret. They mostly are showing the good nature of Schumann as he helps those on the ships, and also his anger at certain people on their ship for their narrow mind views. His major scene for him without Signoret is his final one. His final moments are made incredibly heartbreaking by Werner, and it is a tragic but a proper end to Schumann's, and La Cadesa's relationship. Werner's performance is not long, but it a strong effective piece of acting, that works wonderfully well with Signoret's equally strong work.