Tuesday 18 January 2011

Best Actor 1954: Results

5. Dan O'Herlihy in Robinson Crusoe- O'Herlihy- is very good at his often one man show performance. He remains interesting even through the minimal tasks of survival, and shows the growth of the character very well.
4. Bing Crosby in The Country Girl- Crosby is incredibly strong in his performance as the beaten down has been actor. He shows a very powerful emotional strength, and creates an interesting portrait of a man broken down by his guilt, and his feeble attempts to not face up to the facts.
3. James Mason in A Star in Born- James Mason gives a very charming performance as Norman Maine, and he works perfectly along with Judy Garland. He makes Normain Maine a likable and memorable character, which makes his fall all the more heartbreaking.
2. Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny-Bogart gives a strong performance that creates the insecurities of the character but finds a certain sympathy within those flaws all the same.
1. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront- Although I thought Mason was truly terrific, I never had a question who the best of this year was. Brando simply stands alone with his tremendous performance which is simply an extraordinary performance. A perfect performance that is completely honest, charming, and simply one of the most effective screen performances I have ever seen. (Good prediction Dinasztie)
Deserving Performances:
James Stewart in Rear Window
Ray Milland in Dial M for Murder
Toshiro Mifune in Seven Samurai

5 comments:

dshultz said...

Exactly how I envisioned it. A stupendous year. How about 1963 next?

joe burns said...

I knew Brando would win!


Glad Mason came in 2nd, and thanks for agreeing to do a writeup of Judy soon.


By the way, have you seen ant Best Actor contenders? Like The King's Speech or 127 Hours?

Louis Morgan said...

dshultz: I could do 63 relatively soon, but I like to do the decades evenly so the next year will be either from the 70's or the 00's.

Joe: I have seen all the the likely Best Actor contenders except for the fifth spot contenders of Get Low, Biutiful, and Blue Valentine. I am waiting to see who gets in before I watch these.

Anonymous said...

Certainly no one can beat Brando.

Can't wait to see your thoughts on this year Louis...

Unknown said...

A great year, but Bogie will always be number 2 for me, actually coming close to Brando. The court scene near the end is, for me, one of the best acted scenes in all of cinema.