Best Supporting Actor 1964

[Big Magilla]

Fredric March, who should have bene nominated and won for his marvelous turn as the President under siege in Seven Days in May, was submitted as lead so was ineligible under the then existing Academy rules.

I’ve finally seen Seven Days and May and totally agree that March is the standout, but why was he ineligible? Under which academy rule?

The rules in place at the time required studios to submit lists of names for lead and supporting. March was still a major star at the time. He had equal billing to Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas and was, in fact, nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Drama. It's unlikely that Paramount would have submitted him in support.

The Academy was not allowed to change the studio recommended placement the way they are now. It was the effect of Barry Fitzgerald's double nomination in 1944. It remained in effect at least until the 1971 awards. I remember that there was a big stink that Trevor Howard was listed for lead in Ryan's Daughter the year before which prevented him from being nominating in support where had been considered a leading contender.

[mlrg]

Fredirc March, who should have bene nominated and won for his marvelous turn as the Presidnet under siege in Seven Days in May, was submitted as lead so was ineligible under the then exisitng Academy rules.

I’ve finally seen Seven Days and May and totally agree that March is the standout, but why was he ineligible? Under which academy rule?

[ksrymy]

I'm a bit surprised at the lack of George C. Scott mentioned here. He was the best of the year hands down.

Also the '65 poll will be up Monday.

[Reza]

..

[Reza]

People here seem to have seen a different, somewhat better Topkapi than I. I find it OK, but a little insistent that I have a WONDERFUL TIME! (it was a bit like having Zorba in my face for two hours).

You mean you didn't like the ham provided by dear Melina? Lol

[Mister Tee]

People here seem to have seen a different, somewhat better Topkapi than I. I find it OK, but a little insistent that I have a WONDERFUL TIME! (it was a bit like having Zorba in my face for two hours). Peter Ustinov provides the most fun, but doesn't anyone else see him as a lead masquerading as supporting?

Stanley Holloway's a bit broad for my taste. I guess he was one of the favorites in real time, which seems an adjunct to the film's best picture strength.

Gielgud, as others have said, isn't in Becket for long, and is not all that memorable when he's there.

I don't agree with the "Fredric March in Seven Days in May" campaign here, simply because I think he's a lead in the film. And, besides, big stars grasping for supporting Oscars has never been a favorite thing. I do think Edmond O'Brien gives a very solid performance as the alcoholic Senator, better than his '54 win; he would be a worthy choice.

But I'll go with Lee Tracy for his engaging Truman-clone. He's a wonderful blast of reality, poised between Fonda's Stevensonian idealism and Robertson's Nixon-like sleaze. A fine late-in-life credit for an actor I always enjoyed.

[Precious Doll]

My choices:

1. Walter Matthau for Fail Safe
2. Tom Courtenay for King and Country
3. Peter Ustinov for Topaki
4. Ronald Reagan for The Killers
5. Henry Fonda for Fail Safe

[OscarGuy]

Yes. I confuse the two regularly. I love them both, but I have to look up their plots to remember which is which sometimes.

[Greg]

Is anyone else here like me and often confuses The Best Man with Advise And Consent?

[ITALIANO]

John Gielgud may have been the best actor in the world, but unfortunately, apart from Providence, he never really got the "great" role he deserved in films - he mostly played (very well) a succession of butlers, lords, politicians, nice but quite unchallenging roles. And the king of France isn't an exception. It did provide him with his first nomination, though - a tribute to his reputation and to the movie he was in more than to the performance itself.

Unlike others here, I don't think that My Fair Lady is a perfect movie, and this includes Stanley Holloway's definitely less-than-perfect (though certainly showy) turn.

The two nominees from the (so fashionable then) political movies are much more deserving. O'Brien is indeed more subtle as the alcoholic senator in Seven Days in May than he had been in The Barefoot Contessa, but Lee Tracy is even better: he makes his President in The Best Man the moral centre of the movie in a completely effortless, natural way. He should probably win...

... if it weren't for Peter Ustinov, whose performance in Topkapi (brilliant, brilliant movie by the way) is one of the absolute best to ever win in this category, a gem, really. Only a very intelligent actor could have given us such a believable, nuanced portrayal of an essentially stupid man - it's much more than just a comic performance, it's very human, real and touching. Nobody can win here except him.

[Reza]

I just love Topkapi, a perfect blend of comedy and suspense, helped in great part due to the ensemble playing of all the stars - Melina Mercouri, Maximillian Schell, Robert Morley, the wily Peter Ustinov and hammy Akim Tamiroff. And of course lovely Istanbul as a backdrop always helps any film.

I would omit John Gielgud and Edmond O'Brien from this list for the same reasons stated below. The other three deserved their nominations.

My picks for 1964:

1. Peter Ustinov, Topkapi
2. Lee Tracy, The Best Man
3. Fredric March, Seven Days in May
4. Stanley Holloway, My Fair Lady
5. Wilfred Hyde-White, My Fair Lady

The 6th Spot: James Fox, The Servant

[Big Magilla]

That's pretty much it. John Gielgud's role of the French king is so small in Becket he had to have been nominated on name recognition alone. Fredirc March, who should have bene nominated and won for his marvelous turn as the Presidnet under siege in Seven Days in May, was submitted as lead so was ineligible under the then exisitng Academy rules. Edmund O'Brien as his emissary is fine, much more deserving of his nomination here than in The Barefoot Contessa for which he won ten years earlier.

Peter Ustinov was good in Topkapi but giving him a second Oscar when Lee Tray and Stanley Holloway had none doesn't seem fair. Not only are they both marvelous in their Brodway honed roles but they both had fascinating back stories, which often count as much as the actual performance with Academy voters,

In films since 1921 Holloway was asked to repeat his stage role only after James Cagney turned the role down. He is the only major cast member to actually sing his role. Rex Harrison and Wilfrid Hyde-White talk-sang their songs and Audrey Hepburn and Jeremy Brett were dubbed.

Lee Tracy was the quintessntial wise-cracking newspaperman, press agents and other wise guys in countless films of the 1930s. His Truman-like former President in The Best Man represented a major career comeback. Sadly, like his character in the film, he died of cancer just four years later.

It's a tough choice, but wouldn't it have been loverly if Stanley got to join Rex and Julie in the winners' circle? He gets my vote.

[ksrymy]

This is actually one of the more impressive line-ups this category has ever had with the only person I would not nominate being John Gielgud.

Peter Ustinov is always a treat to watch and he deserved his Oscar here much more than he did for Spartacus. Alas, I find him weaker than the next three nominees whom I particularly enjoy.

Lee Tracy is marvelous as the former President in The Best Man. He plays the role with a cheesy confidence that only a President would act like outside the Office. He's fantastic in his strategic scenes with Henry Fonda. The film itself isn't too great but Fonda, Tracy, and especially Cliff Robertson and Ann Sothern make it tolerable to watch. He's a fantastic choice to define what this category is about. A character in maybe five or six scenes who changes the game and deepens and film.


I know that buffoonish roles are not tolerated around here too well but Stanley Holloway is pitch perfect in My Fair Lady as Audrey Hepburn's father especially during his "Get Me to the Church on Time" number. He's buffoonish, and, albeit, very funny and realistic, while still contributing to the storyline. I personally believe he's the strongest of the three nominees from the film.

One of the best supporting male performances of 1964 was in Seven Days in May but it was Fredric March's amazing performance that should have been nominated instead of Edmond O'Brien's. March overshadows everyone else in the film.

I guess I'll vote for Holloway since I don't think I've voted for a "fun" performance yet.

My picks
______________________
1) George C. Scott - Dr. Strangelove
2) Fredric March - Seven Days in May
3) Stanley Holloway - My Fair Lady
4) Lee Tracy - The Best Man
5) Peter Ustinov - Topkapi