Alternate Best Actor 1964: Results

5. Michael Caine in Zulu- Caine makes a misstep with his characterization at the beginning of the film, but makes up for it through his more assured performance later in the film.

Best Scene: The volley.

4. Dirk Bogarde in King & Country- Bogarde gives a very solid and rather unique performance as a soldier who slowly grows more invested into his case even if that growing investment means a growing personal shame.

Best Scene: Captain Hargreaves questions his superior after the trial.

3. Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars- Eastwood is terrific in his creation of the Man with No Name who can be enjoyably deadpan but is as well can bring emotional poignancy when necessary.

Best Scene: The final duel.

2. Tom Courtenay in King & Country- Courtenay gives a heartbreaking portrait of the end result of an endless time in the trenches of World War I.

Best Scene: Private Hamp tells why he deserted.

1. Richard Attenborough in Guns at Batasi- Good Prediction RatedRStar. Attenborough gives two great performances this year with his moving portrayal of a weak man in Seance on a Wet Afternoon and his absurdly entertaining performance as Major Lauderdale a man with unshakable resolve.

Best Scene: The Major refuses to give up his arms.

Overall Rank:

1. Richard Attenborough in Guns at Batasi
2. Peter Ustinov in Topkapi
3. Tom Courtenay in King & Country
4. Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek
5. Peter O'Toole in Becket
6. Richard Attenborough in Seance on a Wet Afternoon
7. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove
8. Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars
9. Dirk Bogarde in King & Country
10. Burt Lancaster in The Train
11. Sean Connery in Goldfinger 
12. Peter Sellers in A Shot in the Dark
13. Richard Burton in Becket
14. Stanley Baker in Zulu
15. Richard Burton in Night of the Iguana
16. Sean Connery in Marnie
17. Henry Fonda in Fail-Safe
18. Alan Bates in Zorba the Greek
19. Cliff Robertson in The Best Man
20. Kirk Douglas in Seven Days in May
21. Michael Caine in Zulu
22. Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth
23. Maximilian Schell in Topkapi
24. Henry Fonda in The Best Man
25. Peter Finch in The Pumpkin Eater
26. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady
27. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins
28. Fred MacMurray in Kisses for My President
29. Don Knotts in The Incredible Mr. Limpet
30. Tommy Kirk in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
31. Ringo Starr in A Hard Day's Night
32. Paul McCartney in A Hard Day's Night
33. John Lennon in A Hard Day's Night
34. George Harrison in A Hard Day's Night
35. John Call in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians
36. Victor Stiles in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians
37. Leonard Hicks in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians

Next Year: 1964 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1964: Tom Courtenay in King & Country

Tom Courtenay did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a BAFTA and winning the Volpi Cup, for portraying Pvt. Arthur Hamp in King & Country.

King & Country is effective although terribly bleak film, even for a film of its type, about court marshal of a man accused of desertion.

Tom Courtenay was quite the daring actor in his run in the 60's going from his great performance as a foolish immature aimless young man in Billy Liar to his performance here as World War I soldier whose life is on the line after he has been caught trying to escape the war. Unlike Dirk Bogarde who has a character arc, Courtenay's performance is technically all in his creation of the state of Private Hamp. Private Hamp is not a man who can go through any more changes at this point because he has already been through too many things during the war by this point in his life time. The lack of an arc does nothing to deter the power of Courtenay's performance.

Courtenay's performance is a rather difficult one to watch because of his uncompromising portrayal of Private Hamp's condition. Private Hamp is a very shell shocked and traumatized man who has not forgotten what he saw on the battlefield and what happened to him on there. Courtenay shows this experience as something right down into the depth of Hamp's bones, in a remarkably nontheatrical fashion. Courtenay's performance is that of a broken man in every sense of the word. Courtenay's physical portrayal is subtle and extremely effective. Courtenay plays Hamp's state as something he has lived with for quite some time, time that has nothing to cure of him this. He does not shake madly, but rather there is a constant discomfort of man who seems uncomfortable in his own skin.

Courtenay is astonishing in all of his scenes having a magnetic presence despite the meek nature of his role. Courtenay's voice is always weak and slight giving the sense that Hamp seems partially disconnected from everything around him. There is numbness that Courtenay conveys in his performance and we are able to see how Hamp is entirely telling the truth in his story of desertion. Courtenay is fascinating by having a great emotional intensity in his portrayal of Hamp while keeping the emotional detachment. This never is a contradiction because Courtenay makes it all a part of what Hamp has become through his service to King & Country. In his stare into the void of nothingness Courtenay, it is not simply nothing, but rather the nothing to contain his pain.

Along with the detachment there is another seemingly contradictory dynamic that Courtenay delivers flawlessly which is Hamp's personality. Courtenay makes Hamp a young man, and no not just because Courtenay is rather young here, in the nature he gives to Hamp. Hamp is not world weary in the way you'd expect a veteran to be, but this is instead a youthful experience which Courtenay portrays. There is a dulled enthusiasm in Courtenay rather than the exasperation one might expect. Courtenay shows that the war has not really sucked the life out of Hamp exactly, rather what has been sucked out is his soul. Courtenay gives us a man who once was young not long ago, but the nature of the war has made an unnatural man.

Hamp is interrogated about why he deserted and Courtenay is outstanding in his delivery of the scene. Courtenay makes the tale a painfully vivid one, as he explains basically what left Hamp the way he is. Courtenay is very haunting as he does not waver once as Hamp describes his time in the trenches and almost drowning in the mud. Courtenay never falters into theatrics, or even a slight hint of well acting in his depiction of what traumatized Hamp in this way. The audience is never shown of what Hamp speaks of, but the film does not have to because Courtenay allows us to see it through the horror that is behind his eyes as he explains his experience to the man who will defend him Captain Hargreaves (Bogarde).

Tom Courtenay gives a harrowing turn here and is convincing here as man who has faced too much in his life as he was as Billy Liar who was a man who faced far too little. Even though Hamp is technically a constant Courtenay is compelling every single moment that he is onscreen. This is an incredible example of an actor taking hold of his character, who must be a constant by nature, and overcoming even the slight risk of repetition bringing life to every detail of the man's current state. There is not a single moment where we do not feel the struggle of his character in Courtenay's truly heartbreaking portrait of a soldier who managed to survive his time on the battlefield in body but not in mind.

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Alternate Best Actor 1964

And the Nominees Were Not:

Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars

Michael Caine in Zulu

Richard Attenborough in Guns At Batasi

Dirk Bogarde in King & Country

Tom Courtenay in King & Country

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Alternate Best Actor 1963: Results

5. Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2-  Mastroianni gives a good performance but he is always overshadowed by the man he is suppose to be portraying. 

Best Scene: Guido speaks with his wife.

4. Steve McQueen in The Great Escape- McQueen as the Cooler King is all about the cool which he brings in his trademark fashion.

Best Scene: Hilts goes to retrieve his ball.

3. Tom Courtenay in Billy Liar- Courtenay gives a complex and entertaining performance as a man who lies to hide his insecurities.

Best Scene: Billy tries to speak with his mother after his grandmother's death.

2. Dirk Bogarde in The Servant- Bogarde gives a brilliant performance showing the layers come off of what seems to be just a normal unassuming butler.

Best Scene: The Sevant reveals his true nature to his employer.

1. Toshiro Mifune in High and Low- This year came down between Bogarde and Mifune for me. It comes very close for me as I do love Bogarde performance, but I will go with Mifune's work which I found the most moving of all the performances this year. Mifune gives a poignant performance as a man who chooses to do good no matter how much harm it will cause. His portrayal of the moral decision moral on fuels the entire film and Mifune made it so I remembered even during the second half of the film in which he only occasionally appears. 

Best Scene: King Gondo makes his final decision on the ransom.

Overall Rank:

1. Toshiro Mifune in High and Low
2. Dirk Bogarde in The Servant
3. Paul Newman in Hud
4. Tom Courtenay in Billy Liar
5. Sean Connery in From Russia With Love
6. Steve McQueen in The Great Escape
7. Richard Attenborough in The Great Escape
8. Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field
9. Richard Harris in This Sporting Life
10. Albert Finney in Tom Jones
11. James Fox in The Servant
12. Cary Grant in Charade
13. Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2
14. Rod Taylor in The Birds
15. Gregory Peck in Captain Newman M.D.
16. Dick Van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie
17. Jack Lemmon in Irma La Douce
18. Stathis Giallelis in America America
19. Fred MacMurray in Son of Flubber
20. Todd Armstrong in Jason and the Argonauts
21. Tom Tryon in The Cardinal 
22. Richard Chamberlain in Twilight of Honor 
23. Richard Burton in The V.I.P.s
24. David Niven in The Pink Panther
25. Richard Burton in Cleopatra
26. Rex Harrison in Cleopatra

Next Year: 1963 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 1963: Tom Courtenay in Billy Liar

Tom Courtenay did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying William 'Billy' Terrence Fisher in Billy Liar.

Billy Liar is an interesting film about the bad decisions made by a young English day dreamer.

Tom Courtenay plays the protagonist in this film which is of the Kitchen sink drama genre. This one though sort of questions the genre a bit in that it is very much a comedy drama and not really in the way Alfie was either. When Alfie went serious it stayed rather serious but Billy Liar never stops with his more absurdest moments. Courtenay's performance is a little different as well even though like Alfie as well as Archie Rice irresponsibility is a major facet of his character. His irresponsibility comes out in a rather different fashion though and Courtenay portrays a very different leading character here.

The irresponsibility of Billy is shown through his constant fantasies that play out in his head that usual involve himself in some create place of power or something that makes him seem far more important than he is. Courtenay infuses this whole side of his performance with a certain insanity. In the fantasy scenes Courtenay has an incredible glee that has above all a boyish childish quality. It actually has a bit of a disconcerting aspect to it considering this behavior is coming from a man, and Courtenay actually does this the right way. It is clear that Billy is enjoying himself and perhaps we can enjoy it with it, but Courtenay is not afraid to show that there is definitely something off about it all.

The fantasy scenes are Billy at his most extreme but Courtenay does tone it down considerably when Billy is not longer around. Courtenay still gives Billy various shades in style depending who exactly he is with and when he is with them. When he is with less serious circumstances Courtenay portrays him as a bit of a seemingly harmless joker. He is far less intense in these moments than he is in the fantasy but Courtenay still suggests the irresponsibility although in a less extreme fashion for Billy. He makes him a bit of charmer although perhaps one who puts it on a little thick at times a little too thick for his own good. Courtenay does not go overboard in his portrayal rather he does well to accentuate Billy's defining feature.

The film is not called Billy Liar for no reason and the consistent thing about Billy is his propensity for telling lies big and small over the course of the film. He never really stops lying but he never seems exactly the devious fellow one would think he would considering how much lying he does. Courtenay's performance works especially well because of the way he avoids this in Billy. The reason is that his lying is almost just that of a second nature. Courtenay has no hesitations or stops in his performance and portrays his lying with that same sort of happiness that he expresses with his fantasies. His portrayal never makes Billy lying seem purposeful even when though it is, but rather it as something that Billy just has to do to be able to get by in the way he does.

Throughout the film Billy's lies catch up with them and Courtenay is very effective in the way he mixes subtly with his broader portrayal of Billy as the liar. As a liar Courtenay portrays him as a man not to afraid to do anything and even enjoys it a bit, but when called upon it he suggests something different right under his skin. Courtenay is excellent the way he plays up and down with the part in any of the scenes where he is called on his lies whether it is when his boss is calling on him for his slight embezzlement or when his two fiancees start suspecting something about Billy. Courtenay has Billy try to keep it up with the same confidence in the demeanor, but within this there is a weakness about Billy that pains him truly as he is forced to face reality which he hates to do. 

Tom Courtenay's best moments though come when Billy is faced with the harshest realities in life and he has no lies to fall onto. Courtenay in glimpses suggests a very different man and certainly a far more mature one. His smirk leaves him as do the constant lies and jokes he likes to tell. He instead is left as a fairly sad unimposing soul who has trouble even listening to his parents when they are telling him how things really are. It is striking to see the liar brought to the truth as Courtenay still shows this to be the liar but with all of defenses gone. With no lies left Billy is shown to be just a sad young man without a single proper direction to go and Courtenay is brilliant quite powerful in revealing just how Billy is deep down.

Tom Courtenay's characterization of Billy is excellent in his creation of the onion that is Billy revealing the various layers of him from his surface fantasies to his deep insecurities. Courtenay never allows his performance to be a single way here and it is quite interesting to see how he is able to be an entertaining liar yet still shows that the lies come from a very real personal problems in the man. Courtenay makes Billy a complex character and is convincing in every facet of the role. Billy doesn't have a direct path in the film bouncing back and forth in terms of his maturity, and in the end it is open to interpretations what exact path he has chosen. Courtenay performance allows this end to be both a compelling as well as fitting to his character.

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Alternate Best Actor 1963

And the Nominees Were Not:

Toshiro Mifune in High and Low

Dirk Bogarde in The Servant

Steve McQueen in The Great Escape

Tom Courtenay in Billy Liar

Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2

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