Burl Ives, cat or country, deserved it.
I don’t share the animosity towards Hugh Griffith. Maybe not Oscar caliber, but he definitely makes an impression with his very brief role. Considering the film’s length, much briefer than Balsam’s or even Chakiris, both very limited performances. Balsam deserved an Oscar, but not for those two scenes, strong as he always was.
Begley and Kennedy were more or less on the same level of expertise. Matthau and the second Ustinov were brilliant, but not quite supporting roles. I love Hud and Douglas’ performance, but my vote goes to Ustinov’s Batiatus in Spartacus, truly a sympathetic, persuasive and subtly hysterical creation. Just his overheated facial expressions at the beginning of the movie give me everything I need from a supporting actor. He was really one of a kind.
1958-1967 Best Supporting Actor Winners
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CalWilliam
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Re: 1958-1967 Best Supporting Actor Winners
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light". - Dylan Thomas
Re: 1958-1967 Best Supporting Actor Winners
Ives deserved the award for The Big Country. It's a much better performance than the one he is remembered for in Cat. Wonder why Maurice Chevalier was not nominated for Gigi? He would have won easily. Maybe they decided an Honorary Oscar that year was enough. Also memorable but not nominated were Orson Welles (Touch of Evil), Charlton Heston (The Big Country) and Lee J. Cobb who was much better in Man of the West than in the film he was nominated for.
Hugh Griffith's win is absurd. Of the actual nominees only Scott deserved to be on the list. The year's best - James Mason (North By Northwest), Stephen Boyd (Ben-Hur), Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot) and Ben Gazzara (Anatomy of a Murder) - were not even nominated.
Peter Ustinov is great fun in Spartacus but the award should have been won by Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers) who was nominated instead in the lead category.
Chakiris' win is also absurd. They could have given it to Clift who was moving if bordering on camp. Gleason and Scott were both very good as well. Isn't Schell's performance a supportimg one in Judgement?
Ed Begley was a fine winner although it is neck to neck with Omar Sharif. Stamp was also good but surely he was lead? Two that missed out - Charles Laughton (Advise and Consent) & Phillip Alford (Mockingbird).
Melvyn Douglas is the best of the nominated actors. Brandon de Wilde should have been nominated too.
Another fun win by Ustinov. Scott (Dr Strangelove) should have been nominated.
This was a decade of far too many absurd wins in the supporting actor category. Why and how did Martin Balsam win? And don't particularly care for the other nominees either. Steiger should have been nominated for Zhivago instead of Courtenay. And Oskar Werner was memorable in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.
Matthau (a lead role?) was the best of the nominees followed by Robert Shaw. And Lionel Stander (Cul de Sac) should have been nominated.
Kennedy was the best of the bunch nominated.
My choice: Melvyn Douglas
Followed by Ives, Ustinov (Topkapi), Matthau & Begley
Hugh Griffith's win is absurd. Of the actual nominees only Scott deserved to be on the list. The year's best - James Mason (North By Northwest), Stephen Boyd (Ben-Hur), Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot) and Ben Gazzara (Anatomy of a Murder) - were not even nominated.
Peter Ustinov is great fun in Spartacus but the award should have been won by Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers) who was nominated instead in the lead category.
Chakiris' win is also absurd. They could have given it to Clift who was moving if bordering on camp. Gleason and Scott were both very good as well. Isn't Schell's performance a supportimg one in Judgement?
Ed Begley was a fine winner although it is neck to neck with Omar Sharif. Stamp was also good but surely he was lead? Two that missed out - Charles Laughton (Advise and Consent) & Phillip Alford (Mockingbird).
Melvyn Douglas is the best of the nominated actors. Brandon de Wilde should have been nominated too.
Another fun win by Ustinov. Scott (Dr Strangelove) should have been nominated.
This was a decade of far too many absurd wins in the supporting actor category. Why and how did Martin Balsam win? And don't particularly care for the other nominees either. Steiger should have been nominated for Zhivago instead of Courtenay. And Oskar Werner was memorable in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.
Matthau (a lead role?) was the best of the nominees followed by Robert Shaw. And Lionel Stander (Cul de Sac) should have been nominated.
Kennedy was the best of the bunch nominated.
My choice: Melvyn Douglas
Followed by Ives, Ustinov (Topkapi), Matthau & Begley
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Big Magilla
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1958-1967 Best Supporting Actor Winners
As with Best Supporting Actress, there was only one winner within the decade I agreed with and that was Melvyn Douglas in Hud.
It might be more accurate, however, to say that I agreed with 1 1/2 winners, the half being Burl Ives who should have won for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof but because he was given equal billing with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in that film, MGM listed him as a lead. Even so, his performance in The Big Country was the best of the nominees and he was a deserved winner.
The only rationale that makes sense for Hugh Griffith's win for Ben-Hur is that he was concurrently appearing in a star-making turn in Broadway's Look Homeward Angel with Anthony Perkins and Jo Van Fleet. If anyone deserved a supporting nod for Ben-Hur, it was Stephen Boyd who suffered the same star billing that Ives did in an MGM film. Also overlooked for the same reason were James Mason in MGM's North by Northwest and Joseph Schildkraut in Fox's The Diary of Anne Frank. The best supporting actor in Anatomy of a Murder was Joseph N. Welch, not either of the two actors who were nominated. Of the actual nominees, Ed Wynn in The Diary of Anne Frank was probably best.
Peter Ustinov was better in 1960's The Sundowners than he was in Spartacus but that's probably another issue of star billing for a supporting role. Trevor Howard, who was nominated in lead for his supporting performance in Sons and Lovers and George Peppard who was ignored for his star-making turn in Home from the Hill gave the year's best performances in this category. Of the nominees, Sal Mineo in Exodus was best.
George Chakiris' win for West Side Story was one of those check the boxes wins for a popular Best Picture winner. My choice would have been Maximilian Schell who won for lead in Judgment at Nuremberg. Of the actual nominees, Jackie Gleason in The Hustler was the best.
Ed Begley's win for Sweet Bird of Youth was the kind of recognition this category sometimes gives to a longtime character actor finally recognized after a long career of being taken for granted. The win, though, may have been due to vote splitting between the year's standout performances by newcomers Terence Stamp in Billy Budd and Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. Stamp would have been my choice.
Ustinov's second win for Topkapi is a total headscratcher. My pick would have been the ignored Fredric March in Seven Days in May, with actual nominees Lee Tracy in The Best Man and Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady close behind.
Martin Balsam's win for his nothing performance in A Thousand Clowns was the biggest "what were they thinking" win in this category since it began. If anything, Balsam should have nominated for his outstanding work in The Bedford Incident that year. Non-nominees Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Wallace Ford in A Patch of Blue gave the year's best performances in the category with Werner's Ship of Fools co-star Michael Dunn the best of the nominees.
Walter Matthau was the co-lead in The Fortune Cookie and probably should have been considered for a nomination in the lead category. Nevertheless it was a strong performance, although I personally preferred Robert Shaw who brought new dimensions to the playing of Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons.
George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke is another example of a longtime character actor finally getting recognition albeit with more than a little help from a massive self-promotion campaign. Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde was my choice for this one.
It might be more accurate, however, to say that I agreed with 1 1/2 winners, the half being Burl Ives who should have won for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof but because he was given equal billing with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in that film, MGM listed him as a lead. Even so, his performance in The Big Country was the best of the nominees and he was a deserved winner.
The only rationale that makes sense for Hugh Griffith's win for Ben-Hur is that he was concurrently appearing in a star-making turn in Broadway's Look Homeward Angel with Anthony Perkins and Jo Van Fleet. If anyone deserved a supporting nod for Ben-Hur, it was Stephen Boyd who suffered the same star billing that Ives did in an MGM film. Also overlooked for the same reason were James Mason in MGM's North by Northwest and Joseph Schildkraut in Fox's The Diary of Anne Frank. The best supporting actor in Anatomy of a Murder was Joseph N. Welch, not either of the two actors who were nominated. Of the actual nominees, Ed Wynn in The Diary of Anne Frank was probably best.
Peter Ustinov was better in 1960's The Sundowners than he was in Spartacus but that's probably another issue of star billing for a supporting role. Trevor Howard, who was nominated in lead for his supporting performance in Sons and Lovers and George Peppard who was ignored for his star-making turn in Home from the Hill gave the year's best performances in this category. Of the nominees, Sal Mineo in Exodus was best.
George Chakiris' win for West Side Story was one of those check the boxes wins for a popular Best Picture winner. My choice would have been Maximilian Schell who won for lead in Judgment at Nuremberg. Of the actual nominees, Jackie Gleason in The Hustler was the best.
Ed Begley's win for Sweet Bird of Youth was the kind of recognition this category sometimes gives to a longtime character actor finally recognized after a long career of being taken for granted. The win, though, may have been due to vote splitting between the year's standout performances by newcomers Terence Stamp in Billy Budd and Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia. Stamp would have been my choice.
Ustinov's second win for Topkapi is a total headscratcher. My pick would have been the ignored Fredric March in Seven Days in May, with actual nominees Lee Tracy in The Best Man and Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady close behind.
Martin Balsam's win for his nothing performance in A Thousand Clowns was the biggest "what were they thinking" win in this category since it began. If anything, Balsam should have nominated for his outstanding work in The Bedford Incident that year. Non-nominees Oskar Werner in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Wallace Ford in A Patch of Blue gave the year's best performances in the category with Werner's Ship of Fools co-star Michael Dunn the best of the nominees.
Walter Matthau was the co-lead in The Fortune Cookie and probably should have been considered for a nomination in the lead category. Nevertheless it was a strong performance, although I personally preferred Robert Shaw who brought new dimensions to the playing of Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons.
George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke is another example of a longtime character actor finally getting recognition albeit with more than a little help from a massive self-promotion campaign. Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde was my choice for this one.