These are your nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Academy Awards:
Michael Chekhov, Spellbound
John Dall, The Corn is Green
James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Robert Mitchum, Story of GI Joe
J. Carrol Naish, A Medal for Benny
Let's go through them one by one.
Michael Chekhov was a Russian actor and director who studied under the legendary acting teacher Stanislavski; he was also the nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov. As an acting teacher, his work influenced Marilyn Monroe, Elia Kazan, Yul Brynner, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, and more. Spellbound was his fourth Hollywood film, having come to America when "tensions" broke out in Europe. He plays Dr. Alexander Brulov, an old mentor of Ingrid Bergman’s heroine, who provides a safe haven and professional advice to help her.
John Dall was a young American stage actor who starred in both the touring and Broadway productions of The Eve of St. Mark, a performance that earned him a screen test with Warner Bros, which led to his film debut, The Corn is Green. He plays Morgan Evans, a young Welsh miner who seems consigned to a life of work and drink until he starts taking classes with the new schoolteacher Miss Moffat, who sees in him a preternatural gift for writing.
James Dunn was a born-and-bred Manhattanite who, as a child, cut classes to go to the movies; as an adult, he joined theatrical troupes and eventually landed the lead in Sweet Adeline on Broadway, which led to his contract with Fox. He made his debut as the leading man in Frank Borzage's Bad Girl, which was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Director and Best Adaptation. Despite this and a trio of hits with Shirley Temple, his star waned as he sank deeper into alcoholism. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was his comeback film, playing the loving patriarch of an impoverished family, a struggling actor who drinks too much. He won the Academy Award.
A boxer, a steelworker, a writer, a lyricist, and an actor, Robert Mitchum had already established himself with 25 films between 1943 and 1944, including Cry 'Havoc' (uncredited), When Strangers Marry (as Bob), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Loaned by RKO to Lester Cowan, he was cast as Captain Bill Walker, a character inspired by Captain Henry T. Waskow, the subject of one of war correspondent Ernie Pyle’s more famous columns. It and many others were adapted to make up the Story of GI Joe.
J. Carrol Naish was the definition of a character actor. Despite his purely Irish heritage, his dark, swarthy looks saw him cast as every ethnicity except Irish - Italians, Mexicans, Native Americans, Chinese, Arabs - which he portrayed in supporting parts and cameos, credited and uncredited, in a prolific career that spanned over 40 years and over 128 films! In A Medal for Benny, he plays a Paisano - "of mixed Indian and Spanish Blood" - whose ne'erdowell son is awarded a posthumous medal of bravery.
My ranking of these nominees, from fifth to first:
5. John Dall as Morgan Evans
The Corn is Green
only nomination
Well, he's the male lead, the story hinges on Dall and Davis, that's why he's last. But it's a very good performance. He seems almost perturbed by his own nascent writing talent, a stubborn boy who, at first, doesn't want to see the possibilities beyond what's in front of him. Physically and facially, he plays all that well, and he's great with Davis and Joan Lorring.
4. James Dunn as Johnny Nolan
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
only nomination
Very natural, very charismatic as the dreamy dad whose fantasies surpass his abilities, but gosh, he tries. Really sells the simultaneous frustration of dealing with him and natural magnetism that makes you forgive his faults. He's also just so damned good, and sincere in his portrayal of it. I didn't doubt for a second his relationship with everyone in that household, be they wife, daughter, son, or visiting sister-in-law.
3. Michael Chekhov as Dr. Alex Brulov
Spellbound
only nomination
An accent can be an easy cheat to suggest authority when it comes to psychoanalysts (even West Side Story makes this joke), but Chekhov really surprises with how loose and warm he is. When he says, "Women make the best psychoanalysts until they fall in love; after that they make the best patients," Chekhov conveys self-satisfaction, amusement, and familiarity: it's a practiced line, and he knows how to deliver it. He's such a reassuring presence, though, especially after the weirdness of, well, everything else; Brulov has to be reassuring in that way, and reassuring in that way Chekhov exudes splendidly.
2. J. Carrol Naish as Charley Martin
A Medal for Benny
second and final nomination; Golden Globe winner for Best Supporting Actor
A tightrope walk of a performance, light but grounded: his ironic observations concerning his new status seem genuine, but the sadness builds and is palpably felt. Should be the lead role, but it's not, and I don't know if I feel that way because of the role or the way Naish plays it, he understands the humility and grief of this man. When he's on screen, you forget the rom-com trappings of the rest of the film and can only focus on the story of a man who's lost everyone but soldiers on, who's almost broke but is unashamed. This same performance assayed by an actual Mexican actor would be a winner!
1. Robert Mitchum as Bill Walker
Story of GI Joe
only (!) nomination; NYFCC Awards runner-up for Best Actor
Hard to decide the big standout in this ensemble, but Mitchum's only-slightly-older-than-the-enlisted officer is a strong contender. He's determined to keep going, he's exhausted by his time overseas, he barely raises an eyebrow at the drunks and breakdowns but feels disappointed that he doesn't. He nails his big scene in the cave where he tells Pyle of his and makes a big enough impression that the final sequence hits as it should.
Tomorrow, the nominees for Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman (The Bells of St. Mary's), Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), Greer Garson (The Valley of Decision), Jennifer Jones (Love Letters), and Gene Tierney (Leave Her to Heaven).
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