Round-up: Actor 1943

5. Gary Cooper, For Whom the Bell Tolls

4. Walter Pidgeon, Madame Curie

3. Mickey Rooney, The Human Comedy

2. Paul Lukas, Watch on the Rhine

1. HUMPHREY BOGART, CASABLANCA

IN CONCLUSION: What a lame bunch category. Omg everyone is affected by war (except Walter Pidgeon)!!! So Bogie grabs the number one spot out of this year's slate of gentlemen! This is ironic, considering that I had never thought much of his performance during prior watches of Casablanca, but this time around I found myself appreciating the pent up depth Bogie offers here. It wasn't much of a question as to who would win between Bogie, Lukas, and Rooney--Bogie takes it because I thought his performance was more well rounded, and Lukas takes second because he wows me a little more than Rooney is ever able to. The last two spots speak for themselves. I would also like to note that this is the first dramatic Best Actor win of the 1940s thus far--up until now I've only chosen light hearted winners which trended towards comedy. In terms of other nominees, one might infer that with the Best Picture and Director nominations, Joel McCrea might have had a fighting chance for a spot for The More the Merrier. I've heard good things about Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident and its Best Picture nomination might have meant he was in the running. Additionally, perhaps the boys of In Which We Serve (Noel Coward, Bernard Miles, John Mills) might have had chances as well? I've also heard good things of Roger Livesay in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, but unfortunately I am too uninspired to sit through its 2.5 hours to find out for myself. Last but not least, the year's most glaring actor snub has to be Joseph Cotten for Shadow of a Doubt, who I found to be absolutely amazing. The film obviously made no impact with the Oscars, and I get the feeling that the Academy probably wouldn't have taken to Cotten's type of character, but it brings to mind Robert Montgomery in Night Must Fall and I'm highly disappointed it didn't give a solid actor like Cotten the recognition he deserved. His presence on the shortlist would have brought some much needed color to an otherwise banal slate of "best" actors. Anyways, on to the next!