Nils Asther (The Bitter Tea Of General Yen)
Charles Laughton (The Old Dark House, Island Of Lost Souls and The Private Life Of Henry VIII)
Paul Muni (I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang)
Claude Rains (The Invisible Man)
Paul Robeson (The Emperor Jones)
Note: I've had trouble figuring out whether Charles Laughton belongs in drama or comedy—I had initially nominated him in the category of drama for his performance in The Private Life Of Henry VIII, but as Erik Beck of the Boston Becks pointed out, it's really a comedic performance (though it does, I think, have dramatic elements). I tried him out for a while in comedy, but then I took a second look at two more of his performances from 1932-33—The Old Dark House and Island Of Lost Souls—decided they were also nomination worthy, added them to list of credits and found that overall, he had tilted back into the category of drama.
Of course, the other solution would be to nominate him in both categories, in comedy for Henry VIII and in drama for the two horror classics, but I prefer to limit actors to one or the other in any given year. Leaves more slots for other actors and lets me spread the wealth. You're free to approach the question differently.
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5 comments:
his is all well and good
but I was hoping you could shed some light on the marx brothers
what about them?
Yeah, the Marx Brothers got short shrift, didn't they. I mean between the eight part essay, Groucho's birthday post, the Margaret Dumont post and the best screenplay essay, I haven't written more than 18,000 words about them.
Emperor Jones....I got a Emperor Jones...
love that song
One or the other? Will that mean in 1935 when Laughton must be nominated for Mutiny / Les Miserables in Drama that he won't be nominated for Ruggles in Comedy?
Will that mean in 1935 when Laughton must be nominated for Mutiny / Les Miserables in Drama that he won't be nominated for Ruggles in Comedy?
I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do. Probably I'll nominate him for all three films and then say his body of work that year was predominately known for drama and put him there. Or nominate him in more than one category. Or else abandon the drama/comedy split altogether.
One thing's for sure -- Laughton had a fabulous year in 1935. Mutiny on the Bounty and Ruggles of Red Gap are both brilliant performances, yet are so different that Katie didn't realize at first that it was Charles Laughton she was watching. About ten minutes in, she said, "I thought you said Charles Laughton was in this." And I said, "Yeah, that's him right there." "That's Charles Laughton?!" Great movie, great performance.
I would really like to write about both Mutiny on the Bounty and Ruggles of Red Gap and compare and contrast the two performances. Thus, the likelihood of lumping him into one side or the other. For me, it's all about the essay ...
What we really need are alternate Katie awards!
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