Best Actor 1946: James Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life

James Stewart received his third Oscar nomination for playing George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life.

It's Wonderful Life is Frank Capra's best film, and just always works for me every single time I watch and I have seen it quite a few times.

One of the biggest reasons that the film is successful is because of Stewart's performance. I find this performance fascinating because Stewart sort of incorporates elements from his best performances into this single performance. There is the aw shucks romantic part of Stewart seen in many films including the Philadelphia Story, there is the good man fighting for what is right seen in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and the darker Stewart seen in films like Rope and Vertigo.

Stewart excels perfectly in this role because he puts all these elements perfectly together to create George Bailey as a fully realized person. In the early scenes of the film Stewart plays the George who is still ambitions and wishes to leave Bedford fall.  Stewart shows the ambitious of George very well, his desire for "greater" things and his wish not to have to stay in the small town for the rest of his life. Also in these early scenes Stewart does his romantic aw shucks routine which work well, and creates a nice scene with Donna Reed. All the romantic scenes with Reed are very well handled by Stewart. He makes the scenes warm and nice just as they should be.

There are also the scenes of trouble in the town and Stewart's attempt to always save the town from the hands of the greedy Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Stewart puts the perfect amount of passion and power into every scene. He really shows a true feeling that gives strength to all of these scenes from the scene in the great depression or the scene where he tells Potter that he is a warp frustrated old man. Stewart is helped by the fact that Barrymore is so good as the villainous Potter. Every speech Bailey makes Stewart infuses with the right amount of energy to give it true feeling and make these scenes as effective as possible. Bailey is so important to Bedford falls because Stewart makes Bailey that way. He never seems pious but just a good man who must do what is right.

Finally the greatest part of Stewart's performance is the darker side of it. Bailey is not a perfect guy at all, and certainly has his problems and regrets as every man has. Bailey could have been played as a one dimensional nice guy but Stewart does not do this, and adds a perfect shading to his character. Throughout the film there are always glimpses of the darker side who regrets having to spend his whole life just saving one small town. Stewart handles these small indications perfectly subtly, and completely effectively.  An example being when he is told he has to stay at the Bailey Building and Loan or else it will be dissolved. Stewart's reaction to being told this is just right, showing he knows what he has to do, but also that he really does not want to do it. All the way through Stewart shows the regrets just right, until the scenes just before the fantasy part of the film where Bailey breaks down. Stewart is just brilliant in these scenes showing all the pains and the frustrations of the man full view. His scene where he yells at his family is so well handled. Stewart is emotionally raw in this scene and it really shows the way a man can be when all is against him.

Equally effective scenes though appear when he sees the world if he had never been born. Stewart reactions to the way the town has changed to the way the people have changed, are perfectly emotionally tuned. For example his dark face after his mother does not recognize him to his crazed reaction when his wife does not recognize him. His slow realization to how important he was hits all the right emotional notes thanks to Stewart. Then the final joyous scene where he lives again is just greatness. Stewart joyed passion in the final scenes is again perfect. His emotional joy really transfers to the audience and Stewart was instrumental in making the ending as memorable as it is, and making the film as memorable as it is.  A truly great performance.

Best Actor 1946: Gregory Peck in The Yearling

Gregory Peck received his second Oscar nomination for playing Ezra "Penny" Baxter a pioneer farmer in Florida in The Yearling.

The Yearling is an okay family film, about a pioneer farming family. It is particularly about a boy and his bond with his family and his pet a Deer. This movie is interesting because the ending is a bit different from many movies about a boy and his pet.

Peck actually has a lot less screen time than the boy Jody played by Claude Jarman Jr, and he really is more supporting as the supportive father. Peck though plays the supporting father as you would probably expect him to play it. He is warm and supportive, and tells the boy an important lesson when he needs to. His character does not have that much depth nor does his character really go under any changes.

The performance is nothing great by any measure for sure, but I did enjoy his performance to a degree. He does give the right amount of warmth, and little humor that is nice. He helps the film along well enough but he does not do anything more than expected from this sort of performance. He does in fact do a little less do to the script. In the script it has Peck's character speak in this old fashioned slang dialect that Peck clearly is not that comfortable with. It never seems at all natural that Peck is speaking that way, and Peck seems slightly out of place because of that. It does not ruin his performance though and Peck still is a nice enough presence in the film. Overall Peck gives just a nice performance but never really a memorable performance.

Best Actor 1946

And the Nominee Were:

James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life

Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives

Larry Parks in The Jolson Story

Laurence Olivier in Henry V

Gregory Peck in The Yearling

Who do you Pick? Who Do you Predict? Will Olivier fare better than Kenneth Branagh as Henry V?

Best Actor 1967: The Results

5. Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner- Tracy is very effective a lot of the time in his last performance. He overacts a little bit at times but his last speech is brilliant.

4. Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde- Warren Beatty relies to little on his acting skills at times, but he certainly shows he does have them at other times, making a good although uneven performance. I upped his score because I felt he deserved more credit for what he did right.

3. Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate- Hoffman is very good in the Graduate using just the right amount of uneasiness to create Braddock in a memorable character. His scenes with Bancroft are brilliant and he carries the film very well.

2. Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke- No one could have played Luke like Newman. Newman finds the right way to create Luke using his presence, making a memorable character. 

1. Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night- I will admit maybe some do not see what I see in this performance, but I see it nonetheless. I believe Steiger brilliant creates the depth of Gillespie so perfectly, and he and Poitier create incredibly memorable scenes together because of their perfectly attuned performances.

Deserving Performances:
Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night

Best Actor 1967: Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night

Rod Steiger received his third and final Oscar nomination for play Police Chief Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night.

In the Heat of Night is a mystery set in the south about a Northern black detective (Sidney Poitier) who must work with the white police force to solve a murder. I find the mystery is very well done and the examination of race is perfectly and very carefully done.

 Rod Steiger I find is incredibly effective in this role that could have been too stereotypical or  overblown but that is not the way Rod Steiger plays it. First of all Steiger does his southern dialect very well. He sounds completely natural the whole time and he never sounds phony for a moment, which many do when doing a southern accent.

Steiger I find gives a great performance throughout the film, and fully realizes his character. He gives Gillespie more depth than one might expect from the character. Steiger shows Gillespie as a tough chief of police who seems to be racist in his own way and hard on everybody. Steiger though I find subtly shows that the the Chief really is not exactly this way. Instead Steiger shows that the chief put on a bit of a front and is not exactly the person he pretends to be. Not that the chief is not tough, he is but he is not really as pig headed or racist as he may come off as.

Stieger shows that Gillespie has to act this way to live in that portion of the South. The scenes where Steiger shows this are brilliant because Gillespie never says it but instead Steiger shows it so perfectly without saying anything. Such as the scene where the mayor says he can't be chief anymore because he let Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) slap the wealthy and racist Andicott. Steiger so perfectly shows that he really knows he is not that way, without only his face and reaction to what the town's mayor says. The biggest scene where he shows the true natural Gillespie is where he speaks with Tibbs at his home. Steiger finally shows the more withdrawn and senstive man perfectly.

Steiger is great throughout and he has the right presence the whole time, but his performance also works so well because of the way he works with Sidney Poitier. They both work together perfectly to create brilliant scenes together. Neither wishes to control the scene but each have their way of moving the scene along perfectly. Sometime one is quiet and the other is loud and vice versa. Both create the conflict between Tibbs and Gillespie work effectively. They both also slowly and perfectly show their greater respect for each other and eventually their mutual respect in that last scene, where Steiger's smile is just perfect.

Best Actor 1967: Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Spencer Tracy received his final Oscar nomination, a posthumous nomination, for playing Matt Drayton a older man who has to deal with his daughter marrying a black man in Guess who's Coming to Dinner.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a pretty poor film, that looks very stagy and just is not very well done. It dealt with a controversial issue at the time, but it did not deal with it with really that much intelligent insight.

Spencer Tracy plays Matt Drayton a liberal man, who is suppose to not have a problem with his daughter marrying a black man, but he is finding out he is. Spencer Tracy died very shortly after filming but he never really allowed that to show through into his performance, sure he looks tired but it does not really get in the way of his performance. One side thing that has nothing to do with Tracy that I question is why did they have him wearing those glasses without the lenses. They are just distracting, and its strange that they had him wearing them.

Tracy overacts just a little at time in this performance. Some of his reactions are a little over the top.  He exaggerates his reactions to some things a little too much, such as when he hears Sidney Poitier's Character's parents are coming over, or when he tastes the ice cream and it is not the right flavor. These reactions are throughout his performance and some of them are too over the top. These to not mix well at all to make the performance correct overall since he goes for an understated performance at other times.

When Tracy is being understated though he is very good.  Such as his initial reaction to finding out about his daughter's intent to marry is very well done. His frustrations shown because he does not want to face prejudice is very well shown by Tracy. And the last speech is just plain brilliantly done by Tracy. He never misses the slightest mark with his speech, he makes it as effective as possible. It is just a brilliant performance in this one scene, Tracy ends his performance and his career on a great high note. His performance though on a whole is mixed but do to his last scene it is a good and memorable performance.

Best Actor 1967: Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke

Paul Newman received his fourth Oscar nomination for playing Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke. 

Cool Hand Luke is a rather interesting film that shows life in a chain gang and how Cool Hand Luke refuses to conform to the system of the prison.

Paul Newman is very interesting as Cool Hand Luke, and his performance is essential to the success of the film. It is an interesting performance because it is not so much the intense acting of Newman here but it has a lot to do with just his presence. Here is a role that is seems only Newman could have really played. He fits the role perfectly. Only he could have really been described as Luke is by Dragline (George Kennedy).

Newman Carries himself perfectly in the role. He has the perfect amount of "cool" required for the role. The way he moves and his smile is just right to make him completely Cool Hand Luke. Lukes method of almost not caring what happens to him is handled by Newman perfectly. He makes Luke into a real guy but a very unusual one who has the incredibly unique way of carrying himself which conflicts with the conformity required from the prison and the society. Newman is just great in his casual way he handles the situations and he shows the character to be almost just slightly insane perfectly. Such as when he stands out in the rain yelling out, or when he refuses to stop getting up when Dragline was beating him.

Newman does not remain the same throughout the film though and Luke does suffer from his inability to conform. His scene where he tells the prisoners to stop feeding off him is great, because Newman shows the character does not have an infinite amount of patience or cool. Then later when he is briefly broken by the Warden is just perfect. His cries and inability are truly effect and Newman really shows that the man just cannot take anymore. Luke gains back his cool for a last scene where he talks to God which really perfectly personifies the character. A very good and memorable performance that it seems only Newman could play.