Best Actor 1942: Results

5. Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees- Cooper gives a rather dull performance, that only has any sort of emotional power in his final speech.

4. Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver- Pidgeon is fine throughout his performance, but he does very little than support his on screen wife.

3. Ronald Colman in Random Harvest- Colman is perfect in the first half of his performance showing the right haunted quality of the man, as well shows a good transition, when he gets somewhat better from finding love. He is also good in his change when he gains his memory back, but unfortunately the second half of his performance is a lot less interesting, but he certainly makes up for it in his final scene of the film.

2. Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper- Woolley actually fairly easily is my choice this year giving the most consistently entertaining and effective performance this year. Woolley gives a humorous performance, that manages to be powerful as well when it needs to be.

1. James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy- Cagney performance certainly has a unique style that is old fashioned but this style and high kinetic energy certainly work well in this role.

Best Actor 1942: Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver

Walter Pidgeon received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Clem Miniver in Mrs. Miniver.

Mrs. Miniver tells of a family in London who must deal with the realities of World War II.

Walter Pidgeon only ever received two Oscar nominations and both were for portraying the husband of Greer Garson's titular character. The second film it could have possibly been called the Curies, instead of Madame Curie, but there is most certainly a reason why this film is called Mrs. Miniver rather than the Minivers, or Mr. Miniver.

Mr. Miniver here is just not the focus of the film by any means, it is distinctly focused on Mrs. Miniver, there are large stretches that completely avoid Mr. Miniver such as when he goes to help in the Dunkirk evacuation, you see basically nothing of what he does, because it stays home with Mrs. Miniver, and away from Clem. Due to this reason Walter Pidgeon is given very, very little to do in the film, almost all of the big emotional moments of the film, are either away from him, or he is very much in the background of the scene. The film never really gives him much focus unless he is interacting with his wife, therefore the main matter really is how is his chemistry with Garson.

Well their chemistry together is fine I guess, it is far from any sort of movie magic that is for sure, it is even far from a good paring that one would really want to see again and again. They really are just fine together. I believed them as husband, and wife, well enough, and they were good enough, but there is not a single scene together that I would really say constitutes anything special. After his chemistry there is very little to say about Pidgeon performance, besides he plays a nice enough father and husband. He is there, his reactions, the little there is of them, are fine enough I guess, he never is ever bad in the role, but nor is there anytime where I say now that is a great performance, or even now that is a good performance. It is a performance though that is suitable to the role, I suppose he could have made himself stand out more, but that really was not the point of the part or the film.

Best Actor 1942

And the Nominees Were:

Walter Pidgeon in Mrs. Miniver

Ronald Colman in Random Harvest

James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy

Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper

Gary Cooper in The Pride of the Yankees

Best Actor 1943: Results

5. Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie- I think Pidgeon does a fine job with the role, but the role is just a bit too simple for anything amazing to come from it.

4. Gary Cooper in For Whom The Bell Tolls- Cooper gives a okay performance since he relies on his strengths in terms of his silent abilities, rather than his weaknesses.

3. Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy- Rooney is actually surprisingly good, toning down his star persona to give an honest and very effective portrayal of a young man, who must deal with certain aspects of his life including the sad losses of World War II.

2. Paul Lukas in Watch on The Rhine- This was not a run of the mill performance, any actor could have done, Lukas went beyond that creating a fascinating portrait of man struggling with the world.

1. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca- Bogart gives a completely iconic performance, and everything he does as Rick Blaine seems to be perfectly Rick Blaine, that's all I can really say about his performance. Maybe it really is as perfect as some claim, or perhaps it is a weaker performance protected by its own iconic nature, very hard to tell for me. 

 Deserving Performances:
Joseph Cotton in Shadow of A Doubt

Best Actor 1943: Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie

Walter Pidgeon received his second and final Oscar nomination for portraying scientist Pierre Curie in Madame Curie.

Madame Curie I found to be a biography picture which at times was good, but also rather boring, such as the actual scenes of discovering radium seemed like they needed something more visually.

Walter Pidgeon plays the french scientist Pierre Curie, without a french accent which is fine with me, since it just fits with how things were done most of the time back then. Walter Pidgeon performance and character here is somewhat similar to Paul Muni's performance in The Story of Louis Pasteur. He plays a scientist who is right in his thinking and only wants to improve the knowledge of mankind. He just is around a smart and decent guy, and I feel there is nothing wrong with such a portrayal. His portrayal is similar acceptable, suitable, and enjoyable at times, nothing less and it really does not have to be all that more. He has one difference and that is his partner in science is also his wife Marie Curie.

His scenes with Marie (Greer Garson) are not of the big romantic scene style, but rather far more simple scenes of showing affection for one another. There is not all that romantic tension, but I feel both of the actors do a very good job of showing just a more subtle love for one another that is simpler but properly sweet when it needs to be. I particularly thought he was strong in his final scene of the film where he shows his true love for Marie incredibly well. Besides that he was just good never all that great with Garson.

There are a few flaws that hold back his performance. I could see how many could see Pidgeon as dull, or to bland. I never thought he really was, and almost always thought his performance worked well enough in the film it was in even if it was never amazing. There was one scene I felt his performance was a little lacking, and that was in a scene where he was fighting to support the research of the Curies, and then defending his wife as a scientist. I felt he just needed a little more passion in his performance, not that much more, but a little more. I never felt his performacne truly failed and was just suitable fine performance that I enjoyed.

Best Actor 1943

And the Nominees Were:

Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

Walter Pidgeon in Madam Curie

Paul Lukas in Watch on The Rhine

Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls

Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy


So who do you pick, and who do you predict? The iconic bar owner involved with Nazis, the Anti-Nazi, the solider in the Spanish American War, the death messenger, or Pierre Curie?