Alternate Best Actor 1978: Results

5. Christopher Reeve in Superman- Reeve has some weaknesses in his performance but it is hard to think of an actor more fitting for the role of Superman.

Best Scene: Superman sees that he has failed.

4. Dustin Hoffman in Straight Time- Hoffman gives a solid performance that overcomes the fact that he doesn't exactly fit the part, although it seems he could have gone further with the role.

Best Scene: Max confronts his worthless driver.

3. Anthony Hopkins in Magic- Hopkins is quite effective in portraying all acts of a man and his puppet who he is a little too friendly with.

Best Scene: Corky tries not to use Fats for five minutes.

2. Donald Pleasence in Halloween- Pleasence gives a great performance that adds so effectively to the atmosphere of dread found in his film.

Best Scene: Dr. Loomis describes Micheal Myers.

1. Peter Ustinov in Death on the Nile- Good Prediction Psifonian, feel free to name a year and a performance. Peter Ustinov is an absolute delight as Poirot acting as a witty entertaining guide for the audience to follow through the murder mystery.

Best Scene: Poirot reveals the murderer.

Overall Rank: 

1. Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter
2. Jon Voight in Coming Home
3. Peter Ustinov in Death on the Nile
4. Donald Pleasence in Halloween
5. Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story
6. Anthony Hopkins in Magic
7. Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers
8. Dustin Hoffman in Straight Time
9. Robert Shaw in Force 10 From Navarone
10. Christopher Reeve in Superman
11. Laurence Olivier in The Boys From Brazil
12. Gregory Peck in The Boys From Brazil 
13. John Travolta in Grease
14. Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait
15. Richard Gere in Days of Heaven
16. Roy Scheider in Jaws 2 
17. James Caan in Comes a Horseman
18. Harrison Ford in Force 10 From Navarone
19. Ugo Tognazzi in La Cage aux Folles
20. Michel Serrault in La Cage aux Folles
21. George Segal in Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe 
22. Mark Hamill in Corvette Summer
23. Michael Caine in The Swarm
24. Brad Davis in Midnight Express
25. Christopher Guard in The Lord of the Rings
26. John Travolta in Moment by Moment

Next Year: 1978 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1978: Anthony Hopkins in Magic

Anthony Hopkins did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Bafta and a Golden Globe, for portraying Charles "Corky" Withers and his dummy Fats in Magic.

Magic is an effective enough version of that vaudeville old tale of the disturbing relationship between the ventriloquist and his dummy.

Anthony Hopkins is best known for portraying rather grand roles such as presidents, princes, kings, and of course a cannibalistic psychopath. The first act of this performance though is a very different type of character for Hopkins as Corky seems to be a fairly average Joe just trying to make it as an entertainer. It is rather strange to see Hopkins such a down to earth role like he is at the beginning, but Hopkins probably gives one of his natural performances in these early scenes. Hopkins is just really good in conveying just the basic desire for success and the frustrations in Corky with his failure he suffers just as the films opens.

There still does not seem to be too much trouble even when observing the stage performance of Corky. Hopkins plays Corky as a bit of a charmless sad sack on the stage as he tries his card tricks. This is the right approach though as Hopkins correctly makes the dummy Fats the star of the show with the loud boisterous mouth he gives the dummy. In the act Hopkins makes Corky the one who is dominated by the dummy which certainly plays off into where Corky ends up going as the film continues on. Hopkins though makes the act between Corky and Fats a convincing comedian routine of sorts with Fats being the loud mouth cracking jokes while Corky is the straight man who performs all the tricks. 

Everything still seems to be decent enough for Corky even though he is a little too adamant about his refusal to take a medical exam before performing a pilot. Corky though instead seeks out, in the Catskills, his old high school crush Peggy (Ann-Margret). Hopkins does something very different in his scenes with Ann-Margret and that is he is actually incredibly charming as he tries to woo her. In fact Hopkins is so warm and affection in this scene that it actually made me wish the film did not take the very dark turn it takes soon afterwards. Hopkins drifts in what seems more akin to Hannibal Lecter type of material though as Corky seems to talk to Fats all the time, even when he is not doing his act.

Hopkins's performance though is not at all like his later psychopathic work as Corky is someone who doesn't want to be a psychopath but can't help it. Hopkins's best scene in the film comes when his agent (Burgess Meredith) tests him by asking Corky not to do Fats voice for just five minutes. Hopkins is terrific in this scene as he internalizes the madness of Corky into a terrible pressure that he can't help but feel. The idea that a man simply can't help but plays with his dummy might seem farfetched. Hopkins in this scene absolutely delivers on the idea in this scene showing that Fats is an irresistible urge that he just has to do whether he likes or not. Although whether Fats is supernatural is up to debate, Hopkins effectively humanizes the problem.

After that scene though Corky's insanity gets out of control. Hopkins, although he is portraying a murderer with a split personality, does not turn this into a villainous performance. Rather the last act of Hopkins's work is a big mess, although a big mess in the right way. The last act is basically Corky fighting with himself or with Fats, if Fats really is alive, to attempt to retain control while everything gets out of hand. Hopkins is good in these scenes, but I would be lying if I did not think these are actually the least interesting scenes of his performance. More then anything these are scenes after scenes of explosive emotions of either Corky getting worse or trying to come back to sanity all the while Fats continues as the controller.

The final scenes of the film are a solid showcase for Hopkins as portrays the unbridled craziness in Corky as he keeps going back fourth toward the deep end until the point where he ends it all suddenly. Hopkins does end on a high note as Corky shares some final words with Fats. Hopkins plays the last scene in an oddly tender fashion where Corky and Fats depart in the only way they possibly could. This is a very good performance by Anthony Hopkins that is very different from his later performances. It is another performance from this year though that I feel comes close to greatness but does not quite reach it as I still could not help but think how the original choice, Gene Wilder, would have been in the role.

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Alternate Best Actor 1978

And the Nominees Were Not:

Anthony Hopkins in Magic

Donald Pleasence in Halloween

Dustin Hoffman in Straight Time

Christopher Reeve in Superman

Peter Ustinov in Death on the Nile

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Alternate Best Actor 1980: Results

5. Anthony Hopkins in The Elephant Man- Hopkins gives a good performance making the most out of his relatively simple character and bringing to life the complexities of the character where they exist.

Best Scene: Treves first sees the Elephant Man.

4. Jack Thompson in Breaker Morant- Thompson has a simple but showy role bringing the emotional punch to his courtroom scenes.

Best Scene:  Major J.F. Thomas's summation.

3. Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People- Sutherland gives an understated and moving turn showing the attempt of a man to hold his life as well as his family together after a terrible tragedy.

Best Scene: Calvin confronts Beth.

2. Edward Woodward in Breaker Morant- Woodward gives an excellent performance showing a courageous gentlemanly soldier, whose capable of horrible deeds.

Best Scene: Morant tells the court of rule 303.

1.Tatsuya Nakadai in Kagemusha- Nakadai gives an amazing performance playing two characters brilliantly one a cunning war lord, and the other an impersonator who has a difficult journey of pretending to be the other man. I am going to face all the wraith of meddling with the grand scheme of things and go my own way this year altogether. I have a confession to make which is watching Ordinary People again really made me lose a lot of my enthusiasm for Timothy Hutton's performance. I still think he is great, but actually watching it this time Donald Sutherland left the bigger impression on me. As for Robert De Niro I do believe his performance is tremendous but its never been a performance that I love. Therefore my very personal win goes to Tatsuya Nakadai.

Best Scene: The Lord and Kagemusha meet for the first time. 

Overall Rank:

1. Tatsuya Nakadai in Kagemusha
2. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull
3. Edward Woodward in Breaker Morant
4. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People
5. Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People
6. John Hurt in The Elephant Man
7. Jack Thompson in Breaker Morant
8. Lee Marvin in The Big Red One
9. Anthony Hopkins in The Elephant Man
10. George C. Scott in Changeling
11. Burt Lancaster in Atlantic City
12. Tommy Lee Jones in Coal Miner's Daughter
13. William Hurt in Altered States
14. Paul Le Mat in Melvin and Howard 
15. Mark Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back
16. Christopher Reeve in Superman II 
17. John Belushi in The Blues Brothers
18. Jack Nicholson in The Shining   
19. Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers
20. Steve Railsback in The Stunt Man
21. Robert Hays in Airplane
22. Robin Williams in Popeye
23. Sam J. Jones in Flash Gordon
24. Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit II
25. Jack Lemmon in Tribute 
26. Michael O'Keefe in Caddyshack

Next Year: 1980 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1980: Anthony Hopkins in The Elephant Man

Anthony Hopkins did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man.

Anthony Hopkins plays a relatively simple role here as Frederick Treves the good doctor who tries to help "The Elephant Man" John Merrick (John Hurt) by giving him a play to stay where he will not be abused. Hopkins who is best known for the very much evil doctor in The Silence of the Lambs in this film though plays a doctor whose intentions are only that of a good man. The role of the good man trying to be good should not be something scoffed off as it can be a challenge to not let the character be dull in just being good as well as finding the complexity in a man whose morality is not filled with compromises.

Treves technically speaking does have to become the purely good doctor which is his arc in the film. It is not there is anything wrong with him, but rather he has a fairly fast realization that Merrick should be treated just like any other man without exception. Hopkins though is very good though in this rather short journey that starts out as Treves first happens upon Merrick who he technically uses for his own purposes as an academic. Hopkins is good though by positing how the sympathy works in Treves. Hopkins very much sells the emotional power of seeing a man like Merrick and how it affects Treves.

Hopkins early on though portrays the sympathy that Treves has as very much real but perhaps not fully thought out in terms of what sort of sympathy he has. It is not the sympathy of one many plight but almost for the plight of an animal instead. Hopkins importantly does not make this as something Treves is doing for any malice, but simply he portrays it as having not had the point of realization that Merrick is a man and should be treated as such. Treves quickly finds that Merrick should not be treated in such a way and Hopkins's performance does very much show a truly good man in Treves.

Hopkins is excellent in being a truly good man in Treves and there is a great deal of power in his reactions to Merrick throughout the film. When Merrick finally speaks John Hurt is very emotional as Merrick even in a modest fashion, Hopkins is left to react to what Merrick is experiencing as well as find how Treves feels about his whole relationship with Merrick. Hopkins is very good though in being the face of a man who genuinely cares about Merrick. It is a powerful empathy that Hopkins conveys and he only succeeds in adding emotional weight to the scenes as well as helps amplifies the power of Hurt's performance.

Hopkins does not just support Hurt though as he is lead as as well because the full extent of his Merrick on his life is reflected in his own personal scenes. Treves expresses sorrow for having used Merrick himself in his own way comparing himself to the freak show host. The idea that the already good Treves would accuse himself as being a terrible man himself is made entirely believable and more important understandable through Hopkins's performance. He shows the shame Treves feels in honest fashion and shows his personal struggle to deal with Merrick the right way in an unassuming yet poignant fashion.

Anthony Hopkins performance as doctor Treves is an excellent example of an actor making the most of what could easily be a fairly simplistic character. Hopkins does this by firstly finding what is great in the simplicity and always showing the goodness of his character in an earnest way that succeeds in bringing a warmth and tenderness to the film. He as well though takes the complexities that are in the role uses them to make an in depth view of this man. Treves could have easily been a completely bland or forgettable character but Hopkins makes him an essential facet to this film.

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Alternate Best Actor 1980

And the Nominees Were Not:

Anthony Hopkins in The Elephant Man

Edward Woodward in Breaker Morant

Donald Sutherland in Ordinary People

Tatsuya Nakadai in Kagemusha

Jack Thompson in Breaker Morant

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1968

5. Oliver Reed in Oliver!- Reed despite not singing actually gives the best performance in his film never failing to bring the menace with his performance.

Best Scene: Bill returns to Fagin after the murder. 

4. Michael York in Romeo and Juliet- York plays Tybalt as well as he really could be through his portrayal of the role with his pompous flamboyant delivery, and his success in bringing more weight to the role than one would expect.

Best Scene: Tybalt and Mercutio sword fight. 

3. Timothy Dalton in The Lion in Winter- Dalton despite having possibly the least screen time of the important characters in the film has one of the strongest impacts giving a powerful portrayal of the vengeful French King.

Best Scene: Henry is shown his children's secrets by Philip. 

2. Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter- The hardest part of this ranking was determining between the two Lion in Winter supporting men who should have been nominated over Jack Wild and especially Daniel Massey. Hopkins is terrific in his role as Richard bringing across the power of the King in the man, but also being very powerful in his depiction of his vulnerabilities as well.

Best Scene: Philip manipulates Richard.

1. Jason Robards in Once Upon A Time in The West- Good Prediction Koook160. Robards gives a great performance in his very important supporting role in this film. He manages to be a humorous presence, an imposing one with some mystery, and even a tender one.

Best Scene: Cheyenne talks about his mother. 

Overall Rank:

1. Jason Robards in Once Upon a Time in The West
2. Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter
3. Timothy Dalton in The Lion in Winter
4. Gene Wilder in The Producers
5. Seymour Cassel in Faces
6. Gabriele Ferzetti in Once Upon a Time in The West
7. Dick Shawn in The Producers 
8. John McEnery in Romeo and Juliet 
9. Oliver Reed in Oliver!
10. Michael York in Romeo and Juliet
11. Milo O'Shea in Romeo and Juliet
12. Dirk Bogarde in The Fixer
13. Kenneth Mars in The Producers
14. Patrick Wymark in Where Eagles Dare
15. Percy Rodriguez in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter 
16. Ian Holm in The Fixer
17. Douglas Rain in 2001: A Space Odyssey
18. John Castle in The Lion in Winter
19. Derren Nesbitt in Where Eagles Dare
20. Woody Strode in Once Upon a Time in The West
21. Maurice Evans in Planet of the Apes
22. Jack Elam in Once Upon a Time in The West
23. Robert Vaughn in Bullitt
24. Stacy Keach in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
25. Michael Hordern in Where Eagles Dare
26. Harry Secombe in Oliver! 
27. Roddy McDowall in Planet of the Apes
28. Anton Diffring in Where Eagles Dare
29. Jack Wild in Oliver!
30. Gary Lockwood in 2001: A Space Odyssey 
31. Keenan Wynn in Once Upon a Time in The West
32. Herb Edelman in The Odd Couple
33. Karl Hardman in Night of The Living Dead
34. Robert Beatty in Where Eagles Dare
35. John Fiedler in The Odd Couple
36. Donald Houston in Where Eagles Dare 
37. Hugh Griffith in Oliver!
38. Christopher Hewett in The Producers
39. Frank Wolff in Once Upon a Time in The West
40. Paolo Stoppa in Once Upon A Time in The West
41. Daniel Massey in Star
42. Lionel Stander in Once Upon a Time in The West
43. Joseph O'Conor in Oliver!
44. Peter Bogdanovich in Targets
45. Nigel Terry in The Lion in Winter

Next Year: 1951 Leading

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1968: Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter

Anthony Hopkins did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Bafta, for portraying Richard The Lionhearted in The Lion in Winter.

Anthony Hopkins in his film debut takes on the role of the future king of England Richard The Lionhearted. The Lion in Winter is very much a film about its acting with the towering lead performances by Peter O'Toole (who certainly maintains his win for me) as King Henry II and Katharine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor. Than there are the supporting group of younger people including the three surviving sons of the King and Queen, Henry's mistress, and The young King of France Philip. They are the supporting characters, but each of them get their chances to at least attempt to shine on their own.

The performances as the younger two sons are a bit on the one note side. John Castle is descent if a bit uninspired as Geoffrey the son who no one considers for King, but constantly tries to scheme to be able to take the power for himself anyway. Nigel Terry as John is honestly quite terrible. Yes John should be spineless disgusting weasel, but Terry just goes too far to try to portray John. There is no depth to his portrayal and he is entirely one note. Many of Terry's expressions in the role are ridiculously over the top and he is pretty much eaten whole by the rest of the cast in every scene he is in despite his overacting.

Out of the three actors portraying the sons Hopkins is so easily the best. Early on in the film Hopkins makes his presence known as Richard. Where John is the favorite son of Henry, Geoffrey is the best schemer, Richard honestly seems to be the best candidate for King. Where the other two actors are very forceful to get these traits out of their characters it is amazing to see how Hopkins so effortlessly brings Richard's qualities out. Hopkins makes Richard the naturally born King out of the three. He has a certain strength and command in his demeanor, and his voice that creates the type of authority one would expect from a future King.

Hopkins makes Richard seem like the only one of the sons to take the important traits from his father. He does not have the same power that Peter O'Toole as Henry, which makes since as Henry is a man of far greater experience. Hopkins though is able to show that Richard is the man most capable of becoming like Henry, and there are elements of that power within Richard. He has that greater force in his presence and the way he even goes about attempting to win the crown to suggest that this is the Richard who will go on to be the notable King who succeeded Henry.

Hopkins is strong in making the King, but also showing the more personal elements to Richard in relation to his family. Hopkins is quite good in his scenes with Katherine Hepburn as in his eyes he shows that Richard very much does love and care for his mother, but there is still a certain coldness he expresses that is always put first to keep her at distance to fully understand her own scheming. Hopkins is also effective in showing a lack of any of this in his scenes with O'Toole. There he suggests there very cold history together through the way he never seems to let go of his guard down in front of his father.

The one scene where Richard does let his guard down is when he goes to speak with his friend and apparent lover Philip. In this scene Hopkins is excellent as he eases into the way Richard loses his strength, and he powerfully shows the emotions that Richard tries to keep quiet. He is just perfect in a single reaction of heartbreak when Philip tells Henry of the whole affair for only a political prospect. It is a brilliant scene as Hopkins portrays this breakdown in Richard, and he is very moving as Hopkins shows that it even forces Richard to express his own feelings of abandonment toward Henry. It is a great scene because it shows what Richard must hide, but does not compromise his performance either.

Anthony Hopkins gives a great supporting performance here, and honestly one could not ask for a better screen debut. Most of the supporting players in the film are easy to forget in face of the lead but Hopkins (as well as another co-star that I will be getting to soon) absolutely holds his own with his performance. He able to find the complexities of his role in an effortlessly fashion and brings out both the strength of Richard and the weaknesses of him in equal ability. He makes Richard a compelling presence in the film, and realizes him in such a way that I honestly would have liked to follow where Hopkins's Richard would go after this point in his life.

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1968

And the Nominees Were Not:

Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter

Timothy Dalton in The Lion in Winter

Jason Robards in Once Upon a Time in The West

Oliver Reed in Oliver!

Michael York in Romeo and Juliet

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