Alternate Best Actor 1938: Results

5. Nikolai Cherkasov in Alexander Nevsky- Cherkasov gives a solid turn in his film, but is held back by his paper thin character.

Best Scene: Nevsky rides victoriously into the city.

4. Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood- Flynn is extremely charming in his role and makes this one fun adventure.

 Best Scene: The climatic fight.

3. Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes- Michael Redgrave gives a very enjoyable performance treading carefully as he stays humorous well never comprising the suspense of the film.

Best Scene: Gilbert and Iris play Holmes and Watson.

2. Cary Grant in Holiday- Grant gives an enjoyable performance that is funny but also conveys his character's personal desires well.

Best Scene: Johnny gives his fiancee an ultimatum.

1. Jean Gabin in The Human Beast- Gabin makes his character a ticking time bomb as a man who is gentle in his heart, but mad in his blood.

Best Scene: The beast comes out for a second time.

Overall Rank:

1. James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces
2. Jean Gabin in The Human Beast
3. Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby
4. Robert Donat in The Citadel
5. Leslie Howard in Pygmalion
6. Cary Grant in Holiday
7. Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes
8. Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood
9. Lionel Barrymore in You Can't Take it With You
10. Ronald Colman in If I Were King
11. Stan Laurel in Block Heads
12. Oliver Hardy in Block Heads
13. Nikolai Cherkasov in Alexander Nevsky
14. Laurence Olivier in The Divorce of Lady X
15. Charles Boyer in Algiers
16. Mickey Rooney in Love Finds Andy Hardy
17. Spencer Tracy in Boys Town
18. Reginald Owen in A Christmas Carol
19. Mickey Rooney in Boys Town
20. Tyrone Power in In Old Chicago
21. Richard Greene in Kentucky

Next Year: 1938 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1938: Cary Grant in Holiday and Bringing Up Baby

Cary Grant did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Johnny Case in Holiday or Dr. David Huxley in Bringing Up Baby.

Holiday is an enjoyable romantic comedy about a man who goes to meet his rich fiancee family, but some trouble arises when his views about life don't match those found by his fiancee or her father. 

Cary Grant actually found himself in two romantic comedies this year this film and the screwball film Bringing up Baby where he played a paleontologist who is rather nebbish sort. In both films he is paired with Katherine Hepburn. In Bringing Up Baby the film basically is one gag after another, which is just fine. Grant's performance in that film is all about his charm and comedic timing which is pretty much non stop in a similar vein to his performance in the Awful Truth. There is slight alteration though in that nerdish qualities Grant gives his character, which are mainly just to make some of his reactions all the funnier with his sometimes stuttering method of delivery which makes some of the punchlines to the jokes in that film all the better.

Grant is Holiday also is in a comedy, but not a screwball comedy. There is a certain Frank Capra style edge to the material that involves Grant's character Johnny who wants to go on a holiday early in his life then work later on. This does not mean the meat of the film is serious by any means, and there are plenty of comedic moments in this film again. Grant here again is very charming, although in that slightly more serious charming Grant sort of way. There is not that constant flamboyance found in his Baby performance and Grant gives a performance that mixes up some quieter serious moments with more energetic scenes, which actually does quite well although I do believe he is funnier in Baby.

His chemistry with Katherine Hepburn is also very different in both of the films as well. In Baby they pretty much are there to one up one another in terms of their comic energy. In that case they are very enjoyable together as Grant plays his part as someone who only increases in disbelief and their relationship is built on the insanity they get into that results in many mishaps, but by the end they love each other. They really do not have any romantic scenes other than their last one, but what they do works for the film. Holiday it is far more gentle and underplayed as it has to be as Hepburn plays the sister of Grant's fiancee in Holiday. They have great chemistry there to and develop the underlying connection between their characters in an effective fashion that work properly for the conclusion of the film. 

Both performances by Cary Grant are great examples of his on screen abilities whether it is his frantic and very humorous, or calmer and rather humorous. Grant in both cases gives a very charismatic turn that infuses life into each of his pictures with his expert comedic timing. In Holiday's case he handle the character's struggle to support one's own dream well with just a quiet but passionate determination. In terms of what performance I think it is better, well that's a little difficult. On one hand Holiday does require more range from Grant as he has to sell both the funny and the serious scenes which he does. Bringing Up Baby requires him just to be funny, which he is. Well the complexity of the role does not always mean the better performance though, and I do think I slightly prefer his just plain entertaining performance in Bringing Up Baby.

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Alternate Best Actor 1938

And the Nominees Were Not:

Nikolai Cherkasov in Alexander Nevsky

Cary Grant in Holiday

Jean Gabin in The Human Beast

Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood

Michael Redgrave in The Lady Vanishes

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