Best Supporting Actor 1955

[ITALIANO]

I guess that the Academy made, back then, the right choice - Jack Lemmon is a dynamo in Mister Roberts, and he gives that uninventive version of a stage play much-needed energy. Still, by now we know that Lemmon's best, most subtle performances would soon come, and in the category he really belongs to, so honoring him as Best Supporting Actor for this early though effective turn is a bit unfair.

Mantell doesn't have much to do and Kennedy does even too much - in what is probably the best of those terrible anti-Communist American movies of the period, but still one of THOSE movies. O'Connell has a very good part in a famous movie, and he was, for a short time, THE character actor of his time - but he is, of course, a bit overshadowed by Rosalind Russell at her most brilliant.

Plus, I like Sal Mineo. He had the face of so many boys you see in the streets of Palermo, Sicily, and, when cast in the right role (which he rarely was, by the way), he could be oddly convincing; this didn't have much to do with acting skills, but with a certain, strange aura he brought to these roles - the aura of the outcast. Which he probably was in real life too, and which probably (coupled with his unconventional, exotic looks and teenage appearence) prevented him from having a successful career. A vote for him - for his signature role in a legendary movie - is, I think, a deserved tribute.

[Mister Tee]

I keep falling way behind on these races, and the basic reason is, I find them so damn dull. I never really noticed before how undistinguised this category has been through long stretches. Even looking ahead, I can't find races that interest me till sometime in the 60s.

Funny, people praising Massey, when Kazan said he had to get Dean to do some wild improvisation to get any kind of honest emotion out of the man. Massey sure wasn't Method.

I find Arthur O'Connell a pretty dull actor in general, and his story-line is my least favorite part of Picnic.

Another time when I'd like to be able to support Arthur Kennedy, for the fullness of his career, but Trial is just a ridiculous product of the witch hunt period. Only a fearful Hollywood could have rewritten the Sleepy Lagoon murders into an anti-Communist tract.

Joe Mantell gets the "hang around in support in the best picture favorite" prize for 1955. No sale.

Rebel without a Cause is the film that resonates most today, and, for that, I can see why people gravitate to Sal Mineo. But he was a pretty limited actor, and his effectiveness here is more a matter of casting than acting.

Mister Roberts is a bit creaky today -- the idea of servicemen longing for combat is no longer seen in such a gauzy haze of nobility. But it's a fun film, and Jack Lemmon provides alot of the firepower. He gets my vote in the mediocre field.

[MovieFan]

Sal Mineo just barely over Jack Lemmon

[Big Magilla]

I agree with Reza. Massey should have been nominated over Joe Mantell who does absolutely nothing to merit an Oscar nod in Marty.

Arthur O'Connell is at his best in Picnic, more than holding his own in scenes opposite William Holden and Rosalind Russell whose delicious scenery chewing would have left a lesser actor in the dust.

Arthur Kennedy had two of his strongest roles this year in The Man from Laramie and Trial. While the former is certainly the better, more enduring film, his two-faced lawyer fronting for a Communist organization is a performance that deserves more recognition.

Sal Mineo's "Plato" in Rebel without a Cause is still one of the best performances ever by a teenage actor and would certainly be a good choice, but I have to go with the Oscar winner this time around.

Mister Roberts was Henry Fonda's first film in seven years and he's at his best as the second in command cargo ship officer who longs to get into the "real" war. William Powell, in his last film, is also quite good as the ship's doctor, but the
film is at its best when James Cagney as the tyrannical captain and Jack Lemmon as the enterprising ensign are on screen.

[Reza]

Thank you for posting this poll so soon after the announcement of the Oscar nods. Two days of self flagellation was, I think, enough to ponder over the Academy's choices and the assortment of views most of us had about not seeing Swinton, Fassbender etc on the list. What's done is done.....now onto the awards itself.

I like all the nominated performances on the '55 list with Mineo, Kennedy and O'Connell especially very good. However, in my opinion, the Academy left out the best supporting actor performance of the year - Raymond Massey in East of Eden. Quite amazing, considering the film was a very important project made by an important director starring an electrifying lead. And Massey was a distinguished film and stage actor with one Oscar nomination already under his belt.

Voted here for Sal Mineo.

My picks for 1955:

1. Raymond Massey, East of Eden
2. Sal Mineo, Rebel Without a Cause
3. Arthur Kennedy, Trial
4. Arthur O'Connell, Picnic
5. Jack Lemmon, Mr. Roberts

The 6th Spot: Joe Mantell, Marty

[ksrymy]

Can't vote as I haven't seen Picnic all the way through and I haven't seen Mister Roberts (one of the few winners I haven't seen despite Jack Lemmon being one of my five favorite actors).