5. William Powell, Life with Father
4. Gregory Peck, Gentleman's Agreement
3. Ronald Colman, A Double Life
2. John Garfield, Body and Soul
1. MICHAEL REDGRAVE, MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA
IN CONCLUSION: Overall, a pretty solid group of gentleman, at least more so than most years out of this decade. Powell is boring, Peck is solid though uneventful as per usual, I gave the edge to Garfield over Colman just because I was more receptive to Garfield's realism. Ultimately, my winner is the fantastic Michael Redgrave. He was a slow burn for me, as I had initially given him a four, only to turn around and bump him up to a five very soon after. He's kind of a beautiful mix between Colman and Garfield - starring in completely stagey material, but bringing passionate life to Orin through his more realistic style of acting. Totally non-related, but I would like to note that between Phil Green, Charlie Davis, Anthony John, and Clarence Day, this is one basic, white-sounding group of characters if I've ever heard of one.
It's tough to pinpoint the actor who landed sixth in the voting - could it have been Cary Grant, who was in this year's Best Picture nominee The Bishop's Wife in addition to box-office hit The Bachelor and Bobby Soxer? Nevertheless, one can see why he'd not crack the top five, given that the Academy seemed rather averse to his romantic comedy offerings.
From there, we've got previous winners Gary Cooper in '47's top-grosser (and prestige pic) Unconquered, Bing Crosby in Road to Rio, and Spencer Tracy in Cass Timberlane, There's also Humphrey Bogart in Dark Passage, John Mills in Great Expectations, Rex Harrison in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past. I've also seen praise for Charlie Chaplin in Monsieur Verdoux, but we all know that was never going to be an option given the film's reception.
I'll eventually do this year on my own blog so I can't say too much but I definitely didn't love Redgrave as much as you. Anyway, your blog is awesome and I love reading it!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of Celeste Holm and Anne Revere in Gentleman's Agreememt?
Thank you! Glad to see a new person out there checking this blog out :)
DeleteNot sure why I enjoyed Michael Redgrave as much as I did. When it's right, it's right I suppose. Regarding Celeste Holm - I really liked her in Gentleman's Agreement...thought she did a great job at elevating the part from what it was written as. Anne Revere--didn't like her at all here. Too hokey, and I thought that last monologue of hers near the end was eyeroll inducing--surprising, given that I typically like her and loved her in Song of Bernadette!
I thought virtually all of the characters in GA were movie 'types' rather than real individuals. Holm, however, brought life and zest to every scene and made me want to know her character better. Revere, unfortunately, was so sanctimonious I cringed. Her speeches were excruciating and showed none of the power of her definitive performance in "Song of Bernadette", where she's terrific. I'd chalk it up to bad writing.
DeleteYou really made me feel like I missed something in Redgrave performance. I'll give another chance in the future.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think once you do :D!
Delete"Monsieur Verdoux" is a good but strange film that's worth a look because of Chaplin. I'd flip Garfield and Redgrave and put Peck a definite #5 but that's just personal preference. I think your rankings, overall, make perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteThanks Click5! will be checking out Monsieur Verdoux soon!
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