Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1987: Results

6. Robert De Niro in Angel Heart- De Niro being the weakest of this bunch doesn't really say much of anything as he gives a very eerie turn as the ultimate evil.

Best Scene: Cyphre prepares an egg for consumption.

5. Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket- D'Onofrio gives a great performance first being rather moving as man not capable enough in the rough boot camp, then downright terrifying once he gets into the swing of things.

Best Scene: Late at night in the latrine.

4. Dennis Hopper in River's Edge- Hopper gives a cohesive portrait of a complex man and despite playing a drug dealer murderer somehow becomes the moral center of the film.

Best Scene: Feck's confession. 

3. R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket- Ermey gives a relentlessly brutal as well as slyly satirical performance as the drill sergeant that would make an average drill sergeant squirm.

Best Scene: Hartman's introduction.

2. Richard Dawson in The Running Man- Richard Dawson turns his work on Family Feud askew brilliantly in making a menacing and entertaining 80's action movie villain who steals his film without question.

Best Scene: "Only in a Rerun"

1. Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride- This year is one of the all time greats for supporting performances that goes even beyond the six I reviewed here and the fairly solid line up offered by the academy. My favorite performance from the year though has to go to Mandy Patinkin's extremely endearing, very funny, and even quite moving portrayal of Ingio Montoya.

Best Scene: "Hello my name is Inigo Montoya you killed my father prepare to die."

Overall Rank:

1. Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride
2. Richard Dawson in The Running Man
3. Morgan Freeman in Street Smart
4. R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket
5. Alec Guinness in Little Dorrit
6. Dennis Hopper in River's Edge
7. Will Patton in No Way Out 
8. Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket
9. Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero
10. Robert De Niro in Angel Heart
11. Peter Falk in Wings of Desire
12. Peter O'Toole in The Last Emperor
13. Daniel Roebuck in River's Edge
14. George Wyner in Spaceballs
15. Kurtwood Smith in Robocop
16. David Strathairn in Matewan
17. Christopher Guest in The Princess Bride 
18. Andre The Giant in The Princess Bride 
19. Ying Ruocheng in The Last Emperor
20. Chris Sarandon in The Princess Bride
21. James Earl Jones in Matewan
22. Wallace Shawn in The Princess Bride 
23. Bill Paxton in Near Dark
24. Richard Griffiths in Withnail and I
25. Ian Bannen in Hope and Glory
26. Vincent Gardenia in Moonstruck
27. Bob Gunton in Matewan
28. Billy Crystal in The Princess Bride 
29. James Spader in Less Than Zero
30. Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom 
31. Lance Henriksen in Near Dark
32. Gene Hackman in No Way Out 
33. Ralph Brown in Withnail and I
34. John Goodman in Raising Arizona  
35. Mel Smith in The Princess Bride
36. Erik King in Street Smart
37. Danny Aiello in Moonstruck 
38. Roy Cheung in Prison on Fire 
39. Miguel Ferrer in Robocop 
40. John Malkovich in Empire of the Sun
41. Robert Prosky in Broadcast News
42. Mel Brooks in Spaceballs
43. Tom Waits in Ironweed
44. John Candy in Spaceballs 
45. Peter Falk in The Princess Bride 
46. Otto Sander in Wings of Desire
47. Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys
48. William Forsythe in Raising Arizona
49. Gary Busey in Lethal Weapon 
50. Ned Beatty in The Big Easy
51. Forest Whitaker in Good Morning, Vietnam
52. Dick Van Patten in Spaceballs 
53. Ronny Cox in RoboCop
54. Jack Nicholson in Broadcast News
55. Hal Holbrook in Wall Street
56. Bill Duke in Predator 
57. Bruno Kirby in Good Morning, Vietnam
58. John Mahoney in Moonstruck 
59. Barnard Hughes in The Lost Boys 
60. Danny Aiello in Radio Days 
61. Vincent Price in Whales of August
62. Frank Langella in Masters of the Universe
63. Richard Jenkins in The Witches of Eastwick 
64. Donald Pleasence in Prince of Darkness
65. John Mahoney in Tin Men
66. William Ho in Prison on Fire 
67. Leslie Nielsen in Nuts
68. Fred Savage in The Princess Bride
69. Robert Englund in Nightmare on Elm Street 3 
70. Esai Morales in La Bamba
71. Victor Wong in Prince of Darkness
72. Ian Charleson in Opera
73. Joshua John Miller in Near Dark 
74. Robert Picardo in Innerspace 
75. Dennis Dun in Prince of Darkness
76. Gene Hackman in Superman IV  
77. Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys
78. Sean Connery in The Untouchables
79. J.C. Quinn in Barfly  
80. Yaphet Kotto in The Running Man 
81. Fred Gwynne in Ironweed
82. Ben Mendelsohn in The Year My Voice Broke
83. John Goodman in The Big Easy
84. Andy Garcia in The Untouchables
85. Nigel Havers in Empire of the Sun
86. J.T. Walsh in Good Morning Vietnam
87. Dean Stockwell in Beverly Hills Cop 2 
88. Kevin McCarthy in Innerspace
89. Laurence Tierney in Tough Guys Don't Dance
90. Joshua John Miller in River's Edge 
91. Ricky Jay in House of Games
92. Robert De Niro in The Untouchables
93. John Rhys-Davies in The Living Daylights  
94. Liam Neeson in A Prayer for the Dying 
95. Karl Malden in Nuts
96. Victor Wong in The Last Emperor
97. Judge Reinhold in Beverly Hills Cop 2
98. Mick Fleetwood in The Running Man
99. Terence Stamp in Wall Street
100. Carl Weathers Predator  
101. James Naughton in The Glass Menagerie
102. John Ashton in Beverly Hills Cop 2
103. Noble Willingham in Good Morning, Vietnam
104. Trey Wilson in Raising Arizona
105. Brownie McGhee in Angel Heart
106. Michael O'Keefe in Ironweed 
107. Arliss Howard in Full Metal Jacket
108. Martin Sheen in Wall Street
109. Dann Florek in Angel Heart
110. Billy Drago in The Untouchables
111. Joe Don Baker in The Living Daylights  
112. Jason Robards in Square Dance
113. John C. McGinley in Wall Street
114. Kurt Fuller in The Running Man
115. Randall Cobb in Raising Arizona
116. Charles Martin Smith in The Untouchables
117. Will Oldham in Matewan
118. Christopher Connelly in Strike Commando
119. Andreas Wisniewski in The Living Daylights
120. Wallace Shawn in Prick Up Your Ears   
121. Michael J. Pollard in Roxanne
122. James Tolkan in Masters of the Universe
123. Jeroen Krabbe in The Living Daylights
124. Jesse Ventura in The Running Man
125. Frank Stallone in Barfly
126. Jay Patterson in Street Smart
127. Marvin J. McIntyre in The Running Man
128. Sam McMurray in Raising Arizona
129. Jim Metzler in River's Edge 
130. Alan Bates in A Prayer for the Dying
131. Andre Gregory in Street Smart
132. David Hayman in Hope and Glory
133. Jesse Ventura in Predator
134. Alex Vitale in Strike Commando 
135. Rick Rossovich in Roxanne
136. Jon Cryer in Superman IV
137. Billy Barty in Masters of the Universe
138. Wings Hauser in Tough Guys Don't Dance
139. Rob Lowe in Square Dance

Next Year: 1978 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1987: Richard Dawson in The Running Man

Richard Dawson did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Damon Killian in The Running Man.

The Running Man for the most part is a somewhat underwhelming action movie about an innocent man in a dystopian future  who is forced to compete in a life or death game show. It is mostly underwhelming because the action scenes just aren't that great, and Schwarzenegger is far from top Schwarzenegger form. There is one element of the film that made me not mind watching the film one bit though, and that is where Richard Dawson comes in.

Richard Dawson plays the lead antagonist of the film a game show host just like Dawson himself was for many years as the host of family feud. The game show Running Man though is not family feud, and Dawson takes on the role with a brilliant satirical turn. In his game show scenes Dawson brings on his performance from Family Feud which he uses to great effect. He has such a perfect seeming warmness with audience the way he flirts with the women holding them all so close when letting them play along with the game. Dawson uses every trick he had on Family Feud and flawlessly brings them to this performance.

Dawson is a great showman and he makes every scene he is worth while in some way. His whole rousing of the audience is always terrific in creating the world of the show built around a true bloodsport. Dawson doesn't just repeat what he did on Family Feud, although his replication of it is remarkable and should not be taken for granted, Dawson puts just the right tinge of menace along with the jovial host who loves everybody. One of his best moments is when he is building the crowd up, but for a moment he pulls out the true villain to respond to Schwarzenegger's catch phrase "I'll be back" which Dawson responds with the perfectly delivered response of "Only in a re-run".

Richard Dawson is masterful as the game show host. He simply could not be better in the way he plays along so well to the crowd and honestly can even make you even believe in the concept of this type of game show. Dawson play every aspect of the show like an expert pianist playing a difficult piece. He extremely efficient in the way he is able to change through the course of the game from his early scenes where he is building the crowd up, to even portions where Dawson makes Killian a pseudo empathetic sort as he tries to calm the audience as the games are not going how they usually do, but most importantly always the strong resilience of a man who will put on a good show no matter what.

We don't only see Killian only when he is performing and Dawson is wonderful in showing the real man behind the showman. Dawson takes an excellent approach by very much easing down on the flamboyance of his performance as Killian takes care of the behind the doors dealings to get the ratings he wants. Dawson is exceptionally blunt in portraying Killian as the unscrupulous man who doesn't mind a few underhanded dealings if it were to mean just one more point for his show in the ratings. Dawson removes any of the jovial qualities before giving a very dark side of the man who is quick and to the point about his demands as well as in making his threats if anyone fails him.

Dawson deserves so much credit for his performance because he gives a disturbingly authentic portrayal of a game show host when it would have been so easy to way over play the role given that it is an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie. Dawson goes all the way with his performance though being completely believable as the man who can change on a dime from the seemingly charming and energetic host to the blunt and very harsh businessman. Dawson is effortless in creating the sleazy host who can play either to the audience to support any single thing he does or manipulate any one of his underlings or contestants to do his bidding. He brings this dynamic together to make Killian an entertaining and menacing villain.

This is far more then just some inspired stunt casting as just any game show host would not have done. For one Richard Dawson was probably one of the very best in that field, but as well because Dawson delivers in every aspect of the role of Killian. Every scene he is in lights up the film and enlivens it in a way the action scenes can't. Dawson does not waste a single second of his screen time making the most of every moment in his portrayal of the evil game show host. Dawson goes the distance with it and really Dawson clearly could have given a very similar performance in an entirely serious film about an egomaniac game show host.

Its a shame that Richard Dawson's creation of Damon Killian was not in a film that was as inspired as his performance because merely saying that Dawson is the best part of the film is not quite fair. His performance goes above and beyond the call of duty for his role as the central villain. Dawson's work doesn't just rise above the film he elevates the film itself from being completely dispensable to having one aspect that is well worth watching. This is just stellar work from Dawson as he gives a deliciously sinister turn that works both as being an entertaining villain but as well a rather oddly believable portrait of a television personality who will do anything to be number one in the ratings.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1987

And the Nominees Were Not:

R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket

Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket

Dennis Hopper in River's Edge

Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride

Richard Dawson in The Running Man

Robert De Niro in Angel Heart

For prediction purposes I'll give the honor to Ermey out of the two Full Metal Jacket men.