Presenting the 17th Academy Awards' nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Charles Boyer, Gaslight
Bing Crosby, Going My Way
Barry Fitzgerald, Going My Way
Cary Grant, None But the Lonely Heart
Alexander Knox, Wilson
Boyer is a villain, mentally torturing his wife for reasons to be revealed. Crosby is a chill, hands-in-pockets priest come to shake things up at a crumbling parish. Fitzgerald is the old and old-fashioned priest who runs that parish, and has done so for a long time, perhaps too long. Grant is a Cockney who can't help getting into trouble. And Knox is the President of the United States who spearheaded the establishment of the League of Nations.
There were fewer "precursors" at this time, and the ones from that period that still remain were not as we know them. Knox and Fitzgerald won the Golden Globes for Lead and Supporting Actor, respectively, but at that time, there were no nominees, only winners - and no distinction between Drama and Musical/Comedy. Fitzgerald was named Best Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle, but that organization did not even introduce Supporting prizes until 1969. And Crosby's performance was cited by the National Board of Review for Best Acting...alongside eight others, male and female, lead and supporting (among the names: Eddie Bracken in Hail the Conquering Hero and Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not, which was eligible for the next year's Oscars).
Crosby himself claimed he did not expect to win, that Knox would be unbeatable. Indeed, he had to coaxed off the golf course by studio publicity people and his mother just two hours before the ceremony started - which explains the hat in photos from that night, hiding his toupee-less scalp. It's a good thing he went, because it meant Gary Cooper didn't have to present the Oscar to nobody.
Yes, despite his own doubts (or insecurities?), Crosby won, and he'd even be back the very next year for the very same role. Would he get my vote? Read on:
5. Barry Fitzgerald as Father Fitzgibbon
Going My Way
one of two nominations; Golden Globes winner for Best Supporting Actor, NYFCC Awards winner for Best Supporting Actor
Fitzgerald's placement here is funny, the result of Academy rules at the time stating a single performance could be placed in either category. And true, he does serve much the same purpose as leading lady Ingrid Bergman does in the sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's, albeit with shorter screentime. Still, I think the Academy and the Golden Globes were right in awarding him as Supporting, so we'll discuss his performance on Friday.
4. Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O'Malley
Going My Way
first of three nominations; National Board of Review's Best Acting of 1944; NYFCC Awards runner-up for Best Actor
Crosby is this movie, you won't like Going My Way if you can't hang with Der Bingle for a couple of hours. And he's a great hang: sports, jokes, music, and a genuine belief in the spiritual work he's doing, with his own knack for reaching out to all ages, races, and genders. It's a role suited for Crosby's folksy screen persona. You even believe that he can be passionate about life and people without endangering his vows.
3. Alexander Knox as Woodrow Wilson
Wilson
only nomination; Golden Globes winner for Best Actor; NYFCC Awards runner-up for Best Actor
Knox is in nearly every scene of Wilson, giving the kind of dignified, beautifully-voiced performance that you want from the leading man of your epic. What he demonstrates best is the force of will it takes to be the leader of a nation, clearly exhausted by constant dealings with political enemies, a World War, trying to set up a League of Nations, and losing one wife and marrying a new one while in office - but you must go on. Without Knox's effective performance, the movie would not be as watchable as it is. (Bonus Point: it's a neat contrast to his other leading role that year, that of the vile child-molesting Nazi in None Shall Escape)
2. Cary Grant as Ernie Mott
None But the Lonely Heart
second and final nomination
Grant impressed me here with his gritty turn as a restless Cockney nomad who finally returns home, constantly feels the pull of the world (or is it merely his own desire to escape?), and who can't help drifting into crime when the "straight" life continues to kick his teeth in. The only weird bit is a moment where he says he's 17, and I'm not sure if that's a joke or some cultural reference, but the character doesn't seem that young and Grant obviously isn't. But why let one line ruin such a felt portrait of frustrated energy, especially when he and Ethel Barrymore (and June Duprez!) are so lovely together? (Bonus Point: Great contrast to his insane work in Arsenic and Old Lace)
1. Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton
Gaslight
third of four nominations
Boyer is best in heel mode, but, oh, this might be the biggest bastard he's ever played (that I've seen; recommend me a bigger Boyer bastard in the comments!). The good looks and lubricating accent are weaponized to charm and entrap, the mask used less and less as he becomes more controlling, more frustrated in his machinations. And then, just as quickly, it's back, for the benefit of guests, acquaintances at a party, or a pretty new housemaid. It's a convincing, chilling performance of a sociopath. (Still, I bet if you make this movie today, he and Joseph Cotten are both relegated to Supporting...)
Tomorrow, the nominees for Best Supporting Actress: Ethel Barrymore (None But the Lonely Heart), Jennifer Jones (Since You Went Away), Angela Lansbury (Gaslight), Aline MacMahon (Dragon Seed), and Agnes Moorehead (Mrs. Parkington).
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