Best Supporting Actor 1966

[The Original BJ]

NOTE: Edited 2016 to reject category fraud.

I've finally caught up with The Fortune Cookie thanks to TCM's 31 Days of Oscar, and completed this field. The performances here are solid, though I can't say any leaps out at me as being the overwhelming choice.

I can't say Mako made all that much of an impression on me in The Sand Pebbles. I'll grant that his character's relationship with McQueen is among the more interesting parts of a fairly dull movie, and his raw emotionalism is affecting, but he doesn't have too many great scenes, and is gone from the movie pretty soon after he appears.

George Segal is definitely solid in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, in a decent-size part. As the one relatively sane character in the film, he provides an emotionally grounded counterpoint to the other actors. Of course, the other three get the kind of fireworks that lead to performances that are truly dazzling; Segal, by comparison, is simply good.

Robert Shaw barrels into A Man for All Seasons and clearly walks off with his portion of the movie, a great spitfire showdown with Paul Scofield delivered with great energy and humor. But, as Mister Tee says, that's basically his entire part. He makes enough of an impression to merit a nomination, but it's hard for me to pick him as a winner.

James Mason is typically classy in Georgy Girl, projecting an air of refinement that prevents his character from seeming too creepy. And he's the kind of smart, usually witty actor I'd try to find a place to choose for an Oscar at some point. The trouble is, though I think he's perfectly decent throughout this movie, it's not such a showcase role, so it's hard for me to be outraged he lost.

I wonder how Walter Matthau's performance in The Fortune Cookie must have felt in real-time. Because by the time I got to it, last weekend, I thought, wow, I've been seeing Matthau do this basic part since I first saw him in Dennis the Menace at age seven. He clearly has the most stand-out role on this ballot -- even an actor as wonderful as Jack Lemmon doesn't register much here, because Matthau just takes charge of every scene he's in, rattling off mile-a-minute dialogue and finding all kinds of funny grace notes along the way. But on category fraud terms, I still have to grumble -- although this isn't the WORST case of fraud ever, co-leads are still leads.

Best performance: Matthau, but I'd have to vote Mason as the year's actual best supporting actor.

[ITALIANO]

A reasonably good selection. The best SUPPORTING performance is probably James Mason's - subtle as usual, and for this reason, as usual, underrated (Oscarless in real life, he will end up Oscarless on this board, too).

But it's true that the best performance is Walter Matthau's, so I've voted for him, too.

[Reza]

My picks for 1966:

1. Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie
2. Robert Shaw, A Man for All Seasons
3. James Mason, Georgy Girl
4. Mako, The Sand Pebbles
5. George Segal, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The 6th Spot: Richard Attenborough, The Sand Pebbles

[Mister Tee]

We’re now into my real-time Oscar experience – the first year where I’d seen a significant percentage of the nominees prior to the presentations (though being Under 18, Virginia Woolf and, god knows, Blow Up, were off limits to me).

Nick is to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Edmund is to Long Day’s Journey: the other major cast members compete for awards; you get “and he was perfectly fine, too”. The film did (along with the TV Death of a Salesman the same year) push Segal into a taken-seriously career, one that lasted until he played the banjo a few too many times for Johnny Carson.

With Richard Attenborough having taken the Golden Globe, Mako being singled out for this nomination came as a surprise --- a not undeserved one. You actually have to give voters some credit, for honoring an actor they didn’t know from an ethnic group generally overlooked. Would that today’s voters were as willing to go the extra mile like that.

Robert Shaw spars effectively with Paul Scofield, but…you guys do remember, that’s essentially his entire performance (but for a brief wedding moment)? If you’re going to single out someone from Seasons, John Hurt’s aching-to-lose-his-innocence Richard Rich has considerably more scope.

I could say much the same about James Mason in Georgy Girl as I did about George Segal: I ADORED Lynn Redgrave in the movie, LOVED Alan Bates; thought Charlotte Rampling made a sizzling queen bitch…and thought Mason was perfectly fine. Not that a Mason nomination is ever a bad thing, but… I presume Bates was submitted as lead; otherwise he easily deserved the slot over Mason.

Walter Matthau in The Fortune Cookie was my first encounter with Oscar category fraud. When the film opened, Matthau was loudly mentioned for a potential nomination, but strictly in the lead category. I – along with the day’s pundits – did a double-take when he turned up in support instead. I also (again along with everybody else) concluded he was now an easy winner. (Even Matthau, when asked why he thought they put him in supporting, said “I guess they wanted me to win”) I can’t say this is exactly where Matthau deserved enshrinement – I’d found him funnier in the year-earlier Mirage (where his every line is a gem), and Oscar Madison is certainly his quintessential creation. And I’d assume there are some who, knowing his many more tiresome renditions of this basic character in later decades, would question why Matthau deserves any Oscar at all. But, back in real time, for a while there, Matthau’s lazy grump was something new and fun – a beautiful breath of foul air, as a friend of mine put it – and I’m happy to endorse it here.

[Precious Doll]

Certainly a better line up then the previous two years.

My choices:

1. Jack Gilford for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
2. Michael Horden for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
3. Walter Matthau for The Fortune Cookie
4. George Segal for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
5. JOhn Randolph for Seconds

[Big Magilla]

The strongest line-up in years and deserving nominees all including Mako who received what may have been a surprise nomination over his The Sand Pebblesco-star Richard Attenborough whose performance had a higher profile. If Attenborough stands out a bit more it's only because his performance is longer and his character arc has twists and turns Mako's doesn't, but Mako's death scene is one of the most heartbreaking in screen history and the actor who was generally cast in stereotyical Asian roles got a chance to do something different than the comic characters he was known for in the TV series, Ensign Pulver; McHale's Navy and The Green Hornet. He had two more great non-stereotypical roles as the Broadway star of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures in 1975 and as the widowed garage owner who has a late life romance with reitred schoolteacher Patricia Neal in the 1989 film, An Unremarkable Lifefor which he, Neal and Shelley Winters as her bigoted sister all deserved late career Oscar nominations they failed to get.

James Mason was at his acerbic best in Georgy Girl and deserved what was only the second of three measly Oscar nominations he received for his long and distinguished career.

George Segal was already a star having played the lead in King Rat and other films and did a good job appearing opposite Sand Dennis and the Butons.

The best work, however, was done by Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.

Matthau had become a star on Broadway, winning Tonys for A Shot in the Dark in 1962 and The Odd Couple in 1965. The Fortune Cookie made him a movie star. It was the first of many collaborations with Jack Lemmon and deserving of a nomination even if it is a co-lead performance. Shaw, however, is the revelation.

For decades Henry VIII was portrayed on screen as either the fat, slovenly king immortalized by Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII and later played by other portly actors or the old sick king played by the ikes of Montagu Love in The Prince and the Pauper Shaw's vibrant, charismatic performance breathed new life into the character.

Shaw gets my vote.

[ksrymy]

Pretty amazing lineup here.

Richard Attenborough was much better in The Sand Pebbles than Mako was and should have been nominated in his place.

James Mason does standard James Mason work in his film.

It comes down to Shaw, Segal, and Matthau for me.

Virginia Woolf is one of my all-time favorite films, but even I know that George Segal was the weakest of the nominees. That being said, he had the weakest role and was still able to do great things with it. Nomination worthy?: yes. Winner worthy?: no.

Robert Shaw had the stronger film and is very effective in his role but he is sadly upstaged by Hiller and Scofield (although I'm sure Magilla will love to argue as I've seen how much he loves A Man).

This leaves Walter Matthau in one of the best comedic performances ever. His timing is perfect and he can do no wrong with Jack Lemmon. No lawyer in any film has ever been this much fun and if Matthau deserves an Oscar it is definitely for this film.

1) Walter Matthau - The Fortune Cookie
2) Robert Shaw - A Man for All Seasons
3) George Segal - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
4) Richard Attenborough - The Sand Pebbles
5) James Mason - Georgy Girl

6) Jack Gilford - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum