Alternate Best Actor 1974: Results

5. Charles Bronson in Death Wish- Although the role probably could have been far more complex, Bronson still is consistently effective in his portrayal of one man's revenge even if it is in a relatively simple fashion.

4. Peter Falk in A Woman Under the Influence- Falk is good in his role always giving effective reactions throughout the film, that appropriately supports Gene Rowlands's great performance.

3. Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein- Wilder is always very funny in his role, but really makes it work is his conviction in his portrayal of the insanity of his character. 

2. Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three- Matthau is terrific here easily bringing a great deal of humor to his role without ever compromising any of his more dramatic moments.

1. Gene Hackman in The Conversation- Hackman stands easily as my choice in his incredible performance in this film. He is simply outstanding in his complex portrayal of this man's paranoia and guilt. There is not a single moment wasted in Hackman's unique and always fascinating characterization.

Overall Rank:

1. Gene Hackman in The Conversation
2. Art Carney in Harry and Tonto
3. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
4. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II
5. Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three
6. Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein
7. Jeff Bridges in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
8. Clint Eastwood in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
9. Peter Falk in A Woman Under The Influence
10. Dustin Hoffman in Lenny
11. Charles Bronson in Death Wish
12. Warren Beatty in The Parallax View
13. Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein
14. Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno
15. Steve McQueen in The Towering Inferno
16. Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles
17. Albert Finney in Murder on The Orient Express

Next Year: 1992

Alternate Best Actor 1974: Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein

Gene Wilder did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein, although he did get one for writing it.

Young Frankenstein is an enjoyable comedy film about a descendant of Victor Frankenstein trying to make his own monster. Although to be fair like most Mel Brooks comedies it does mix in a few groans with the laughs due to the fact he constantly is going for laughs. I will say one of the best parts of this film though is the recreation of the art direction and cinematography found in the original Frankenstein film. 

Gene Wilder portrays the descendant of Victor Frankenstein who at first wishes to not be associated with his ancestor in any way even insisting that his last name is pronounced differently. Of course after inheriting the old castle, and finding his grandfather's old notes he soon decides to make his own monster by reanimating the dead. Wilder is an actor who particularly suits the role of the Frankenstein, the biggest reason I would say why is the propensity Frankenstein have to yell wildly. If there is one actor who knows how to yell so it does not seem like overacting but in fact comic brilliance it is Gene Wilder. Wilder knows how to yell in just a way that it is a full body experience of an energetic emotion of some sort. Whether it is crying in terror over his creature, or glee over his success, or anger over his failure. Wilder is able to be as equally humorous as he is intense in screams. Wilder never overacts because he always absolutely believes in his loud cries.

Wilder always has a certain conviction in the role that works in an interesting trick he manages to pull with his performance. Wilder in a way does portray his role seriously in that he does not really act like he is in a parody of Frankenstein. This is not to say Wilder plays it straight though, after all he does play the part like a maniac. Wilder though is both a Frankenstein who shows passion in his experiments as well as with ease goes for as many laughs as possible. Now I am not trying to say that Wilder gives a dramatically compelling performance, as that is not the intention of the film, which is an extremely comic style comedy this is Mel Brooks after all not Woody Allen. Wilder though is able to really bring the comedy though through by being as devoted to possibly in bringing the insanity of his character alive in his insane performance.

Wilder simply knows how to effectively give a comedic performance without falling into the excessive overacting of some performances in comedies.Wilder with ease is entertaining in every one of his scenes with his expert timing. Wilder goes on the edge with every moment with his craziness, and always manages to succeed in bringing the laughs with his performance.Wilder punctuates well every moment of his performance to simply gives an extremely enjoyable performance. It might not quite have as great or as wide of an effect as his earlier work in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but nevertheless he succeeds well in creating a very funny performance which was very much the main goal of his work here.

Alternate Best Actor 1974

And the Nominees Were Not:

Peter Falk in A Woman Under The Influence

Charles Bronson in Death Wish

Gene Hackman in The Conversation

Walter Matthau in The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three

Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein

Alternate Best Actor 1971: Results

5. Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs- Hoffman performance is not overly interesting early on but he more than makes up for it in his brutal last act change.

4. Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry- Eastwood gives a incredibly strong performance as both a commanding and humorous leading man, as well as in his portrayal of a driven police officer.

3.  Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory- Wilder gives a entertaining performance that is both darkly funny as well as genuinely heart warming.

2. Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange- McDowell gives a terrific unforgettable performance that creates a truly disturbing portrait of a youthful man who gets his joys through violent depravity.

1. Michael Caine in Get Carter- I must say this is exceedingly close, and that really does include Eastwood and Wilder as well. All four are amazing performance and each are arguably the best performances from each actor. Nevertheless for the moment I give it to Caine for his incredible performance as a cold professional killer, whose want is revenge is unstoppable.

Overall Rank of the year I also included a few performances I do not intend to review in the future.

1. Michael Caine in Get Carter
2. Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange
3. Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
4. Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry
5. Gene Hackman in The French Connection
6. Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Topol in Fiddler on the Roof
8. James Coburn in Duck, You Sucker!
9. Timothy Bottoms in The Last Picture Show 
10. Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs
11. George C. Scott in The Hospital
12. Peter Ostrum in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
13. Rod Steiger in Duck, You Sucker!
14. Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever
15. Donald Sutherland in Klute
16. Walter Matthau in Kotch

Alternate Best Actor 1971: Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Gene Wilder did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a very enjoyable, and darkly funny film about a poor kid Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) who gets a rare chance along with a few other children to visit the never open to the public Chocolate Factory as well as its eccentric owner.

Gene Wilder portrays this eccentric owner who actually does not show up in the film until about forty minutes into a film that is an hour and forty minutes long. I consider him lead though since his character influences almost all of the actions before he appears, and he as well completely takes over the film the very moment he appears on screen until the end of the film. This is one unique performance from Wilder and from the very first moment Wonka appears on screen seemingly decrepit and weak than suddenly while seeming to fall instead doing an energetic somersault shows the unpredictable nature of both the character, and Wilder's performance as well in a single gesture.

Wilder's turn here is interesting because really in this version we know almost nothing about Wonka before we enter the factor other than he is holding a contest and doesn't like to have his ideas stolen, nothing more. When we do finally meet him Wilder still keeps his character quite the enigma, but never in a unsatisfactory fashion. Wilder though most certainly is never underwhelming in his characterization and his Wonka is a full fledged character, but only Wilder seems to know exactly everything about him. He always stays a mystery even at the end of the film. Wilder always manages to tell enough without ever giving away the inner workings of a man who frankly is the sort of character who does not need to tell you all of his secrets.

Wilder is simply entertaining in the part as he shows that Wonka never wishes to give any extra time to people who do not deserve it. He makes sure everything goes his way, and when questioned on it he outsmarts them with some double talk, nonsense or a foreign language. What works so well about Wilder's performance is that he shows that Wonka never leaves any openings for anyone to ever get the better of him he always is in charge of the tour and his factory. Wilder as usual has his manic energy in his performance, in his eyes you never know just how sane Wonka really is, but nevertheless Wilder controls every scene. Even with all of what is going on the background of scenes Wilder always makes himself that most magnetic part of the film.

This is an exceedingly entertaining performance by Wilder and never fails to make every single moment of his performance enjoyable. Every inane gesture or quick comment at the expense of his guests Wilder brings the most out of every one. He mixes it up interestingly from when he more directly and manically scares the people such as in his completely insane moment in the tunnel of horror that is unforgettably portrayed by Wilder. Wilder though some how brings it in the role when he has the much simpler smaller moments in simple dead pan cynical moments. He handles those moments with just as much precision though, as he brilliantly goes off the deep end in the tunnel scene, and it is all part of the same character.

This is just a hilarious performance by Wilder and he constantly earning his jokes without every once trying to force them, it is a completely natural performance oddly enough even though he is portraying Wonka who seems to be quite off his rocker. He still though manages to convey the more magical qualities of his character such as his performance of pure imagination. Wilder effectively shows that even though Wonka takes no prisoners when dealing with individuals he has absolutely no respect there, Wilder does show an underlying passion in his portrayal that does emphasize the more wondrous qualities of Wonka. This more childlike side of Wonka is somehow still blends perfectly with Wonka's more devious side due to Wilder's portrayal of both which always still feel interconnected.

My favorite part of his performance though is the very end of his performance where he tests Charlie to see if he really could inherit his factory. His first moment where he first attacks saying that do not even get what was promised with the tour is effectively and intensely portrayed by Wilder showing bluntly the attack that is the final test against Charlie. This works perfectly though in turn when he comes out in joy to say that Charlie finally won, telling him he plans to give him the factory when he retires. Even with all of the darker cynicism before Wilder still manages to bring a genuinely heart warming quality to the final who that wonderfully shows that even behind all the insanity beforehand there still was a good man behind it all.

This is an absolutely terrific performance by Wilder as he makes the entire last hour of the film as entertaining as it possibly could be. He stands as a memorable guide for us to follow through, well as being appropriately impossible to calculate what's next at any time. This really could be a role that could go wrong in so many ways. The idea of a man luring kids into his chocolate factory is ripe for creepiness. Just look at Johnny Depp's terrible performance as Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In all ways that Depp failed Wilder succeeds with his incredible performance that never once falls into any problems the role easily could have, even though there is not a moment in which Wilder plays the role as safe.

Alternate Best Actor 1971

And the Nominees Were Not:

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry

Michael Caine in Get Carter

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange

Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs
I will be reviewing five performance from a year that are either considered to be among the five best of the year, as well as one's considered iconic or very memorable in regards to an actor's filmography. These will not necessarily all be good or great performances just notable one's for the year in question. I will perhaps even throw in a terrible performance on occasion as long as it is extremely risky, the only type of performance I want  to avoid is a phoned in boring one.

So for the first year I will take a look at performances of five men portraying not exactly the most hinged of characters. Feel free to predict the ranking as well as if any of them will unseat Gene Hackman for the French Connection, if you accurately predict my ranking of just the five you can request the next year i do, just make sure it is in a different decade, as well one performance you would like to review for that year.

REVIEW: Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *

*But Were Too Afraid To Ask

(dir. Woody Allen, 1972)

It's always a treat to see the early work of a famous artist.  Be it Blood Simple by the Coens, Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese, or Following by Christopher Nolan, it manages to show the greatness that lay ahead (or in many cases, the shock that the person who would later make this could have ever made that).  And this is what brings me to Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Too Afraid To Ask, Woody Allen's 1972 vignette comedy about all things sexual.

Based loosely--and by loosely I mean they share a title and the theme of sex--on David Reuben's advise book, this work of Allen's foreshadows decades of self-conscious penis references, nebbish men nabbing hot girls, and askew takes on everyday predicaments.  I'm actually quite fond of Allen pre-Annie Hall work (which is saying something, since said films are few and hard to come by) with Play It Again, Sam being one of my favorite movies of all time.  It panders not only to Allen fans, but Casablanca fans as well.

But back to Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Too Afraid To Ask. It opens with a somewhat overall weak vignette with Allen as a court jester in Medieval England.  Anthony Quale makes a hilarious cameo as a sex-crazed king, which allows Allen himself to shine as the horrible fool of court.  His deadpan delivery is as priceless in 1972 as it is in 1986, for I often wonder if anyone can deliver a bad joke as well as Allen, and only because he also knows it's bad!  Here, Allen makes awful jokes seem like zingers to the viewer, as we giggle at just how awful the joke is.  Not to mention, he compares Lynn Redgrave's chest to a pair of "tomatoes."

Baaaaaaaaaaad Romance

The following acts are hits a misses.  Gene Wilder as a sheep-loving doctor is probably the best performance in the film, if only for Wilder's ridiculous commitment to the part. The faux-Italian cinema spoof with Allen playing a macho man unable to bring his wife to coitus doesn't really ever get going. Another scene with an accidental transvestite is a riot, and only because Allen knows when to cut the joke and end the vignette. Another scene featuring the quote "I don't know if you've read my book, Advanced Sexual Positions: How to Achieve Them Without Laughing" and an "enormous tit" terrorizing the countryside is pure Allen. And the finale, and probably the film's most famous scene, is the inner workings of a man's mind during a date and eventually during sex.  Needless, and not surprisingly, to say, Allen plays a Sperm cell.


Overall, a choppy movie, but a clear direction of where it's going and what it wants to do.  The acting is what it needs to be, without many standouts even with a stellar cast.  Wilder's acting and Allen's script are the highlights, and it's a nice treat for lovers of Allen.  GRADE: B




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