Alternate Best Actor 1984: Results

5. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop- Murphy is funny in his funny scene but quite lacking in his dramatic scenes.

4. Steve Martin in All of Me- Martin gives an enjoyable performance as at first a straight man, than later very  entertainingly as a man with another person sharing his body.

3. Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor- Hall shows how one should portray Nixon in his effective performance that makes for an outstanding one man show.

2. Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America- De Niro carries this epic by powerfully portraying both the violent youth, and the haunted age of a career criminal.

1. Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas- Harry Dean Stanton gives a great subtle performance as a man trying to rebuild himself. It is a quiet but deeply moving performance that shows his abilities as an actor goes far beyond the usual small parts he is given.

Overall Rank:

1. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus
2. Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields
3. Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas
4. Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America
5. Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor
6. Tom Hulce in Amadeus
7. Steve Martin in All of Me
8. Bill Murray in Ghostbusters
9. John Hurt in 1984
10. Albert Finney in Under the Volcano 
11. Sam Waterson in The Killing Fields
12. Christopher Guest in This is Spinal Tap 
13. Victor Banerjee in A Passage to India
14. Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom 
15. Anthony Hopkins in The Bounty
16. Michael McKean in This is Spinal Tap 
17. Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid
18. Michael Biehn in The Terminator 
19. Matt Dillon in The Flamingo Kid
20. Mel Gibson in The Bounty
21. Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop
22. Howard E. Rollins in A Soldier's Story 
23. Lance Guest in The Last Starfigher 
24. William Shatner in Star Trek III 
25. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator 
26. Christopher Lambert in Greystoke 
27. Zach Galligan in Gremlins
28. Jeff Bridges in Star Man

Next Year: 1960

Alternate Best Actor 1984: Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America

Robert De Niro did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying David "Noodles" Aaronson Once Upon a Time in America.

Once Upon a Time in America is a great film about a the journey of a group of friends who go from young thugs, to bootlegging kingpins, and eventually meet their ends.

Robert De Niro portrays the lead of the small group of kids and later men who slowly rise the ranks in a bootlegging operation during Prohibition in New York City. De Niro was not nominated here even though he certainly is a very popular actor with the academy having won twice and being nominated many times before and after this performance. This film though was unable to get a single nomination. This is probably due to the fact that it was a box office flop, as well there was a bit of a controversy over the short version which apparently was very poorly edited into a mess of the film.

De Niro is no stranger to gangster roles, and as he did in The Godfather Part II and later in Goodfellas he shows prowess in this role as Noodles. De Niro in the scenes that take place after Noodles is released from prison and he joins his friends to rise not only in the organization but as well in the power structure of the city portrays the part of Noodles very much to the point most of the time. De Niro makes it clear that Noodles is very very ready to be a gangster to the fullest extent and does not have any qualms about pushing right forward with his friends to the top no matter what it takes.

De Niro as usual has a certain suaveness in the role. He does not overplay though as there are certain scenes which would contradict the rest of his characterization. De Niro though effectively shows that Noodles is a competent capable man right for his time and place. In these earlier scenes there is always a certainty within De Niro though expresses well the passion behind Noodles that pushes himself and his friends forward in the underworld without much hesitation. He presents Noodles as a skillful and capable gangster as he pushes through the film.

There is something that De Niro does not avoid in this performance though, which is muck of being the criminal. De Niro is very blunt in his performance in this regard. There is not any hesitation shown in Noodles whether he is killing a man, committing any sort of horrible violent, and to some degree even raping women. De Niro makes it clear that Noodles is very much into his amorality. It frankly would have been easy to try to gain more sympathy, but De Niro does this instead giving what is probably a far realistic portrait of a gangster. This does not mean that he portrays Noodles one dimensionally though.

There is some sort of conscious that De Niro puts in just the right glint that he brings into his performance. This never stops him from committing any of his acts of violence though, instead De Niro is able suggest only that Noodles does think about his actions at times, after the fact not before, particularly in the scene where he rapes his old sweetheart. De Niro is good becuase he does not go and just show Noodles to be guilt stricken, Noodles is still very much into his behavior as a career mobster, but he effectively does portray just the smallest speck of regret in his acts, only the smallest though, although this works well with another part of his performance.

This hint of his morality comes in a far deeper fashion in the scenes that take place after Noodles returns to town after having informer to the police on his friends, seeming like he needs to settle some of score although he is quite unaware of what that is. De Niro is very strong in these scenes showing a very changed man in Noodles. He is a different man, and De Niro effectively shows that that small bit of morality has grown on him turning him into a far more somber man than before. De Niro crates a moving portrait of this aged gangster who violent history is far behind him, and he is only left to reflect on the mistakes that he had once made.

These scenes later in Noodles life De Niro is very very quiet in them and reflect well the haunted feeling he has over his past actions. De Niro very best scene is when he confronts an old friend, and it is a particularly powerful moment. There would have been many ways to portray the scene as it could have been far more anger filled, or anguish filled. Instead De Niro leaves a much stronger impact by showing that any feelings like that are far past Noodles. It is a heartbreaking scene because De Niro only shows Noodles as really understanding what has happened more than anything else. He truly presents a grown and properly sorrowful poignant portrayal of this man.

I suppose I should mention that this film does not portray the three time section of Noodles's life in chronological order. It jumps around between the segments therefore De Niro is shown to be instantly in the two roles of the differently aged Noodles. There is not any sort of disconnect between the two. It is the same man in both places. De Niro though makes this memorable through the fact that he shows that this is the same Noodles, but even though it is not directly portrayed he vividly brings to life just how changed Noodles has been over his experiences. De Niro effectively carries this powerful epic with his great performance.

Alternate Best Actor 1984: Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop

Eddie Murphy did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.

Beverly Hills Cop is a some what amusing but certainly not great comedy about a Detroit Cop who goes to Beverly Hills to investigate the death of his friend.

Eddie Murphy now is considered to bit of a wash up as he rarely has a successful comedy. Back in the 80's when this film came out though he was considered to be on top. This does not mean though Murphy was necessarily the greatest actor at this point though. In Beverly Hills Cop he portrays the Detroit cop who makes his way to Beverly Hills to avenge his friends, and there are really two sides of this character the serious side and the Eddie Murphy side.

Originally the film was going to star Sylvester Stallone, and it is pretty easy to see how the film would have been with Stallone in the lead, it is also easy to see the ways Murphy presence changed the film, but as well to a degree was forced to stay in line with the original idea for the film. There are basically two types of scenes for Murphy in this film which really do not overlap in the way they probably should which are the serious and the humorous ones, and yes there are far more serious scenes than one would expect from a Eddie Murphy comedy.

I might as well mention Bill Murray as a great example of an actor who is able to traverse through the serious and the comedic without a problem as he did in this year in Ghostbusters, as well as later on in fantastically in Groundhog's day. Murphy though pretty much separates them, trying maybe a little to put some comedy in the more dramatic moments, but mostly that just involves him doing his somewhat odd dry heave laugh which he always does in the more serious scenes of the film.

Murphy I can't say is all the convincing in any of the dramatic moments such as when Foley is hanging out with his friend or later reacting to his death. There is not any conviction in his performance, nor is there anything in his performance to make their relationship mean anything. Murphy though very well could have taken the route of always going for laughs, but he does not instead he actually tries to be convincing as the character and he is a bit awkward in these moments.

What made the film popular though I'm sure are all of the comedic scenes which apparently Murphy improvised for the most part. This actually seems quite obvious since Murphy is on a much better level during these moments. He has a high energy, and he really does try to make the most of riff he can come up with. To Murphy's credit as well he does make these seem as Foley's method rather than simply Murphy being Eddie Murphy.

It is hard to say that every one of the scenes that Murphy humorously goes through are downright hilarious, but most of them are quite amusing, and some of them are hilarious. It is probably rather safe to say that without Murphy this would have had very few if any redeeming features, since his full fledged comedy scenes are by far the best scenes in the film. Still I cannot forget that the serious scenes are certainly very lacking, something Murphy as well did better in films before and after this one.This is not a bad performance by Murphy becuase when he is funny he is funny, but that is really the best that can be said about this performance, which may be enough I suppose.

Alternate Best Actor 1984: Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor

Philip Baker Hall did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying President Richard M. Nixon in Secret Honor.

Secret Honor is an effective film that basically is just Nixon in a room rambling about the various troubles of his life while apparently contemplating suicide.

Philip Baker Hall did not get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Nixon even though Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella both eventually received nominations for portraying the former American President. I was not particularly impressed by either of their turns which both relied far too much on mannerisms that were neither accurate to the man nor were they effective in creating a portrait of Nixon. As well their performances were both bizarre in making Nixon seem a little too strange with Hopkins seeming to be some odd constantly sweating creature. Hall takes a far better approach in his portrayal of Nixon.

Hall firstly is not all made up, his hair is like Nixon's and it stops there. On first look it does not seem Hall is trying to obviously portray Nixon as there are not obvious mannerisms like those who followed him. In truth though Hall does have the mannerisms, but he has them in the way the real Nixon had them. Hall is able to portray them so naturally, and really quietly that it never for a moment seems like acting. Hall even finds his way to bringing to life some of Nixon way of moving , and even pointing. it is truly astonishing, because Hall infuses them so well with his performance that they only add to his characterization never distract or over take it.

Philip Baker Hall is in a one man show here there are no other characters but Nixon. He stays in the same room for the entire film that is furnished with portraits of former Presidents as well as Henry Kissinger. There is a camera a microphone as well as monitors watching him throughout. Hall begins talking and does not stop. He slowly sets up the whole rambling on about his life and his troubles that he has faced through his political career while defending himself as well as attacking others. Hall is great as he starts very dignified setting up the whole thing as a statesman would, but quickly showing a lesser side as he snaps curse words in suddenly without warning.

Hall shows a violent personality in his portrayal of Nixon as he quickly but effectively escalates the monologue that he delivers. It is well handled by Hall showing well that everything that Nixon is speaking about he is deeply pained by his life. He can't help but become immediately emotional over thinking of his life. Hall though does not show Nixon to go all out instantly and he effectively is able to further his distress throughout the film. As Nixon brings up more and more of his life the worst and the worst Hall is able to powerfully bring about the degree these thoughts bear down on Nixon.

Nixon never does leave the room but I think Philip Baker Hall tells us more about Nixon's life than the films that show these moments. Hall brings us into the mind of this man brilliantly during every story that he tells. Hall is spectacular in that he never makes the story anything but a natural stream of consciousness. Hall is able to jump from moment to moment in Nixon's mind brilliantly. There is never a single delay in his performance he is absolutely convincing in that he always makes the way the subjects come in his mind, the way they drift from one moment to another they are absolutely natural.

Hall is amazing in this strongly emotional performance. Nixon is always a little upset here telling his life story but Hall is spectacular. Although he is always forceful and frankly loud Hall is never one note during his performance. He has with his moments of hatred, and pain he feels over what he perceives as portrayal. Hall though weaves these well with scenes of bringing about his intelligence of a man when he shows Nixon to be defending himself. Hall is quick and sharp in basically the comebacks Nixon has with his imagined enemies. Hall is able to portray the strengths Nixon would have to had to make his achievements he had, while showing all of the weakness in his character.

Hall delivers with a passion all of his stories he never loses a beat, he is simply incredible throughout. He fleshes out the whole of Nixon in his characterization. He never once takes a simple approach for the man. Even his pain is never one way. Hall shows a great deal of this Nixon simply through the pain. It is pain caused by his hatred of his enemies. Hall though movingly as much shows a pain from a shattered pride that comes from his background. It is a stunning portrayal by Hall here he brings us into through every one of these stories as his degradation to the final moment is truly powerful. He never portrays Nixon in a one note fashion as he so easily could have been. He gives a great performance that gives Nixon the complexity he deserves.

Alternate Best Actor 1984: Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas

Harry Dean Stanton did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Travis Henderson in Paris, Texas.

Paris, Texas is an excellent film about a drifter who comes out of the desert to rediscover the life he left behind.

Harry Dean Stanton, the always reliable character actor, is certainly a recognizable face in films. He moves across smaller characters in a large variety of genres with an incredible ease, it is fascinating though to see Stanton given the chance to take on a lead role such as this. Stanton certainly does not have any hesitations in his performance, and he shows here that his always fine shorter performance given before this film can translate to a further reaching leading role.

At the beginning of the film, in fact for a little of twenty minutes Stanton does not say single word in his performance. In fact he seems to mostly just walking, literally trying to just drift from one place to another. Stanton though certainly is not underwhelming even though he may be silent here. Stanton with his very particular world weary face captivates our attention nevertheless. He of course does not say it, but Stanton effectively conveys the mystery of this man through the haunted expression that seems sewn into him.

There is a sadness Stanton portrays perfectly that this is a lost man here who just keeps walking unable or unwilling to talk to anyone, he just keeps moving over again. Eventually though his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) shows up and tries to bring him home where Walt and his wife have been raising Travis's son. Stanton is very subtle and very effective as he portrays Travis's slow coming back from what ever the place his mind is. It certainly is not fast, but Stanton makes the moment in which Travis finally talks a powerful one even if a very quiet because he slowly earned Travis's return to the world.

Travis is brought to Walt's home, and Stanton is incredible in showing the shyness that is prevailing through him. He never forgets the fact that Travis had been in that walking trance for years, and seemed hard bent on staying that way. Once Travis can speak it is not an instance moment into finding himself. Instead Stanton beautifully portrays his returning senses. It is a tender performance by Stanton overwhelming in emotion as he so quietly has Travis start to finally recognize his past, portraying so well that difficulty that Travis clearly has to forget whatever it was in the past that had caused him to wander the desert.

Stanton is wonderful as he portrays Travis's hesitations in trying to bond with his son. Stanton delivers the pain in Travis over his past that keeps him from a certain distance from his son, and his son a certain distance from him. Stanton always stays effective though because he always stays absolutely realistic in his method of portraying Travis. He portrays an honest struggle for Travis to be able to overcome all of the restraints he feels in regard to connecting with his son. He though at the same time is able to convey the overwhelming feeling of love in Travis that does push him to actually confront his fears and bring himself to coming closer to his son.

What works so well in Stanton portrayal again though is the effort he consistently shows that Travis must do to try to retake his old life back. There is one scene in particular where he purposefully goes about dressing the part of a successful father to try and attempt to bring himself closer to his son. Stanton is absolutely amazing in this scene as he genuinely portrays a strange sense of discovery as Travis either is learning or relearning just very normal things. He really brings to life this slow but successful struggle against the almost comatose of a past that Travis once had, and Stanton's deliberate portrayal of Travis's transformation to becoming a once again lively man is stunning.

When Travis finally does start reconnecting with his son Stanton again makes it far more powerful but not rushing through this portrayal. It is not a sudden change to Travis becoming just a confidant competent father, rather Stanton successfully brings about the idea of Travis trying to become a great father even though he really is not. Stanton though because of the moments where he does show Travis being hesitate in his relationship with his son, he is able to make their journey together as they slowly come closer to one another far more resonate than it would have been otherwise.

Stanton very best scenes though may come when he goes to find his wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski). His scenes where he goes and finds her in a strip club where the customers can see the stripper but the strippers cannot see the customers in individual booths. Stanton is incredible in his subtle but very moving reaction to first seeing her alluding to his long complex history with her in a single outstanding reaction. It is one of love surely, but again there a deep seeded lack of assurance Stanton portrays in Travis over this relationship. The reason for this is told in a single scene that is the best of this great film. Travis tells her over the phone in the booth the story of the two revealing what lead him to the desert to begin with.

This pivotal scene is flawlessly portrayed by Stanton as well as Kinski. The two are absolutely stunning together as Kinski reacts to Stanton slow deliberate telling of the story. Again Stanton keeps it very much downplayed, but his quiet but firm voice is perfect in the scene. He does not show only to be a sort of an apology to his wife, but also he is able to convey that at this moment Travis finally understands himself. In his finally firm delivery of the story he brings about Travis as a man that is not longer the lost soul he was at the beginning. This is a spectacular performance by Harry Dean Stanton. Often a quiet one, but always a powerful. It is a truly stunning characterization that proves Stanton's abilities go far beyond what he is usually allowed.

Alternate Best Actor 1984: Steve Martin in All of Me

Steve Martin did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Roger Cobb in All of Me.

All of Me is an enjoyable comedy about a lawyer Roger Cobb who finds suddenly that he is sharing his body with the soul of a deceased heiress and former client Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin).

I decided to review Steve Martin in his role here not only because Martin is an actor who has been consistently ignored by the Academy but as well because Martin actually won both the NSFC and the NYFCC for Best Actor. This means that he was given the award over F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, which he means he must obviously have given a better performance than Abraham, well obviously not, but it is interesting that both critic awarded Martin for his almost entirely comedic performance with only really rather slight dramatic moments that are still comedic to a degree.

Steve Martin at the beginning of the film is very much a straight man at the beginning of his film. He is the lawyer Roger Cobb who acts a facilitator for Edwina's will to a young woman Terry Hoskins (Victoria Tennant) which she is making believing that after he impending death she will transfer her soul into Terry's body. Martin gives a very enjoyable performance here early on pretty much giving what would be any normal person's reaction to hearing the plans of these people. Technically speaking setting up the parts of the plot could have moved slowly, but it moves quiet quickly though through Martin's hilarious reactions to the absurdity of the situation.

Martin though gets into less of a straight man part when accidentally Edwina's soul goes into Cobb's body rather than the intended and must share his body with her. Cobb controlling one side Edwina controlling the other side. Martin antics with this body problem does make up most of the film, and most of his performance so it is a good thing that Martin makes the most of the idea. An important reason perhaps that Martin's portrayal of this works so well is that he does still play it straight technically speaking. Yes he is being controlled at times by a woman, but Martin still does always portray Cobb's reactions very much those of a down to earth person in this ridiculous situation.

Martin effectively portrays Cobb's bizarre situation both physically and really psychologically. His strange walk of the combination of the feminine side and the masculine side is both believably, as believably as it can be anyway, played as well as extremely amusing as well. All of the mannerisms he does to portray the tendencies half of his body develops from Edwina's control are all very funny becuase of Martin's portrayal. He has a wonderful combination here though of the more flamboyant moments in portraying her control, as well as straighter moments of Roger's frustrations of being in the situation. Always whatever aspect of Roger's predicament Martin turns into comedic gold here.

I suppose though what might of helped Martin secure those to prodigious critic awards though is the fact that Martin does manage to make the more dramatic aspects of his character come to life as well. These are mostly small moments mainly in portraying Roger standing up for his beliefs as well as slowly coming to like Edwina after awhile and wanting to help. Martin manages to portray this aspect naturally with the constant laughs that go along with the rest of his performance. He does actually make genuinely warm relationship develop with Tomlin's character which is pretty amazing considering most of the time he talks to her he is talking to himself. 

This is a very good comedic performance by Martin as he never once fails to bring life to this odd role. Frankly this could have been a performance that could have easily been way too over the top, and frankly just obnoxious. Martin though is consistently strong in the role never going to far with character driven approach with his performance. He not only succeeds in bringing laughs from scene to scene through his portrayal, but as well is able to be as about a realities as one could be in this role while the film still being a comedy.

Alternate Best Actor 1984

And The Nominees Were Not:

Steve Martin in All of Me

Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop

Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas

Robert De Niro in Once Upon a Time in America

Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor