Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1944: Results

5. Sydney Greenstreet in The Mask of Dimitrios- Greenstreet does his master of exposition quite well here and does explore the little depth in his character well.

Best Scene: Mr. Peters searches Cornelius's room.

4. William Demarest in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek- Demarest gives a hilarious portrayal as the reactive face of exasperation at the absurd events during the film.

Best Scene: The constable tries to get Norval to escape from the jail.

3. Peter Lorre in Arsenic and Old Lace- Lorre gives a very funny comedic turn that steals his film in almost a weasel like fashion.

Best Scene: Dr. Einstein tries to warn Mortimer.

2. William Bendix in Lifeboat-William Bendix gives a heartbreaking portrayal of the degradation of his character in both body and soul.

Best Scene: Gus prepares for his amputation.

1. Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity- Good prediction Psifonian, Mark and koook160. Well this year was no contest for me and I love William Bendix's and Barry Fitzgerald's performances as well really like plenty of other performances this year too. There is just no question for me that Edward G. Robinson gives the best supporting performance of 1944. He is on every second he is on screen giving an extremely entertaining and even rather moving portrayal of a claims adjuster who can see everything except what is directly in front of him.

Best Scene: All of his scenes.

Overall Rank:

1. Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity
2. Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way
3. William Bendix in Lifeboat
4. Peter Lorre in Arsenic and Old Lace
5. Clifton Webb in Laura
6. William Demarest in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
7. Hume Cronyn in The Seventh Cross
8. Sydney Greenstreet in The Mask of Dimitrios
9. Walter Slezak in Lifeboat
10. Vincent Price in Laura
11. William Demarest in Hail the Conquering Hero
12. Henry Hull in Lifeboat 
13. Monty Woolley in Since You Went Away
14. Dan Duryea in Ministry of Fear
15. Walter Brennan in To Have and Have Not
16. Barry Fitzgerald in None but the Lonely Heart 
17. Thomas Mitchell in The Keys to the Kingdom
18. Raymond Massey in Arsenic and Old Lace
19. Donald Crisp in The Uninvited
20. Dan Duryea in The Woman in the Window 
21. Dan Seymour in To Have and Have Not
22. Frank McHugh in Going My Way
23. Joseph Cotten in Gaslight 
24. Thomas Mitchell in Wilson
25. Hume Cronyn in Lifeboat
26. Robert Mitchum in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
27. John Hodiak in Lifeboat  
28. John Alexander in Arsenic and Old Lace 
29. Canada Lee in Lifeboat
30. Edward Everett Horton in Arsenic and Old Lace
31. Charles Coburn in Wilson 
32. Robert Walker in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
33. Alan Napier in The Uninvited
34. Spencer Tracy in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
35. Robert Walker in Since You Went Away 
36. Erskine Sanford in Ministry of Sandford
37. Porter Hall in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek 
38. Ray Collins in The Seventh Cross
39. William Frawley in Going My Way 
40. Joseph Cotten in Since You Went Away
41. Raymond Massey in The Woman in the Window
42. James Gleason in Arsenic and Old Lace
43. Alan Napier in Ministry of Fear
44. Vincent Price in The Keys to the Kingdom
45. Gene Lockhart in Going My Way
46. Felix Alymer in Henry V
47. Vincent Price in Wilson
48. Porter Hall in Double Indemnity
49. Stanley Clements in Going My Way
50. Cedric Hardwicke in The Lodger
51. Porter Hall in Going My Way
52. Jack Carson in Arsenic and Old Lace
53. Hoagy Carmichael in To Have and Have Not
54. Walter Abel in Mr. Skeffington 
55. Tom Powers in Double Indemnity
56. James Brown in Going My Way
57. Bill Edwards in Hail the Conquering Hero
58. Bryon Barr in Double Indemnity
59. Richard Waring in Mr. Skeffington

Next Year: 1971 Supporting

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1944: Sydney Greenstreet in The Mask of Dimitrios

Sydney Greenstreet did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying the man who calls himself Mr. Peters in The Mask of Dimitrios.

Sydney Greenstreet is probably best known for playing the shady Gutman in The Maltese Falcon. Greenstreet in this film once again plays a somewhat similar role with some key differences. As Gutman Greenstreet played a smooth but evil man, here he plays a shady character but one who technically is trying to ruin things for a genuinely evil character. Greenstreet plays the mysterious Mr. Peters who the writer Cornelius (Peter Lorre) comes across while tracking down the truth about a rather fierce criminal by the name of Dimitrios. Another difference is Greenstreet's take with the character of Mr. Peters which he certainly portrays in a rather different fashion from the way he played Gutman.

Where Greenstreet played Gutman as an excessively astute figure who knew absolutely everything or at least acted as if he did. Greenstreet downplays the suaveness a bit in his performance as Mr. Peters who may know quite a bit but is more then anything else trying to figure out what he does not know. Greenstreet still has plenty of magnetism in this role though too and really his downplaying of it is a better for for the role of Mr. Peters who at first is only after some money through blackmail. Mr. Peters is a smart guy and Greenstreet plays him as such but as a smart guy with a rather simplistic plan without any grand schemes involved like old Caspar Gutman had.

The Mask of Dimitrios is a missed opportunity because the film comes in and out of Greenstreet and Lorre's investigation, instead choosing to focus on a series of flashbacks about Dimitrios which unfortunately don't even include Greenstreet when they very easily could have. As I said in my review of Peter Lorre in this film, Lorre and Greenstreet are great together. It is something particularly special just to hear these two guys talk to one another. Greenstreet is quite the master of exposition of any kind. No matter what the information may be, whether it really is interesting or not, Greenstreet is able to make something easy to listen do to his special voice and diction. 

Peter Lorre in this film ended up being held back by the fact that he really had absolutely no character and really it was a good thing that Peter Lorre is such a character all by himself. Greenstreet actually has something to work with when it comes to Mr. Peters who has a bit of a journey as character while he takes a journey in tracking down Dimitrios. The character arc is relatively simple in that Mr. Peters is a first doing it for money then at the end does it for revenge, but Greenstreet is very effective in portraying this and finds why Mr. Peters would have the change of heart in the final scenes of the film where they find Dimitrios and his money.

When first they just find the money Greenstreet is quite amusingly blunt in showing the rather hollow moment of greedy lust as Peters almost seems to sniff the money. He quickly becomes moralistic when they find Dimitrios though. Greenstreet meets the extreme challenge though and alludes that the swing is caused by a strong hatred that comes from seeing the man who double crossed him face to face again. Greenstreet really carries the ending especially well particularly his expression of righteous indignation as he stares down Dimitrios with Dimitrios not having the upper hand for once.

Where Peter Lorre's performance in this film was an actor making something out of absolutely nothing Greenstreet makes even a little more by having just a bit more to work with. Again Mr. Peters is not an especially complex character and much of what makes him an interesting character is that Sydney Greenstreet is simply an interesting actor, but the little depth that there is to the role Greenstreet brings to life quite well. Greenstreet and Lorre both are always trailing the main plot in this film and technically they should be secondary in interest. The two actors' chemistry carries their half and actually steals the film as their simple final goodbye has more emotional power to it then any of the scenes depicting Demitrios's double dealings.

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Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1944

And the Nominees Were Not:

Peter Lorre in Arsenic and Old Lace

Sydney Greenstreet in The Mask of Dimitrios

Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity

William Bendix in Lifeboat

William Demarest in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

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