Round-Up: Actor 1947

John Garfield, Body and Soul

as CHARLIE DAVIS

From his very first moments in Body and Soul, John Garfield immediately caught my eye. It's not so much his looks, or the scars which are featured rather prominently on his face in the film, but rather his immediate intimacy with the camera. He has that way about him - he is considered a predecessor to method actors Brando, Clift, et al after all - and has an allure to him which draws you in inexplicably.

Ronald Colman, A Double Life

as ANTHONY JOHN

Won: Academy Award - Best Actor | Golden Globe Award - Best Actor

Ronald Colman's one of those actors who, no matter what he plays - a convict, an eccentric thrill-seeker, an amnesiac, an actor so method he inherits his role's murderous impulses - always invokes a heavy sense of self, meaning I'm never under the impression that he truly transcends his roles to become who he's playing. And when we're dealt with a role which literally involves a man consumed by the spirit of Othello, I think that that lack of metamorphosis creates a minor void, even if the performance itself ends up being enjoyable.

William Powell, Life with Father

as CLARENCE DAY

Won: New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor

What made William Powell an interesting presence in The Thin Man was that in spite of the fact that he wasn't necessarily doing much in the film, he still bolstered his performance with an inane charm, which in turn made him likably watchable. That is what's severely lacking from Life with Father and the character of Clarence Day, and that's what makes it such a task to finish up the film.

Michael Redgrave, Mourning Becomes Electra

as ORIN MANNON

Michael Redgrave doesn't show up to play within Mourning Becomes Electra's crazed, stagey, melodramatic story until after a third of the film has passed. Still, once he arrives, what was most striking about him was the grip he had on the material and the moderate (but fresh) sense of restrain he brings, the very type that Rosalind Russell and Katina Paxinou do not choose utilize. And in doing so, I felt that Redgrave completely runs away with the picture.

Gregory Peck, Gentleman's Agreement

as PHILIP SCHUYLER GREEN

I haven't been much of a fan of Gregory Peck's. There's an effortless type of simplicity to his style of acting which doesn't resonate with me. To that effect, it has often felt as though he's 'doing' very little, though I can't get myself to blame him as it would seem that the roles he gets nominated for are ones which leave a little more to be desired. But this time, on his third go-around with Oscar, he demonstrates a sense of devotion to the material at hand which I hadn't seen in The Keys of the Kingdom and The Yearling.