Oscar Classics: Best and Worst Actors

Edward Copeland has posted his annual Oscar survey, this time on best and worst Best Actor Oscar wins; I participated. The results are fascinating. Who best stands the test of time? Who gets punished for winning for the wrong, hopelessly dated movie? Lots of folks. Movies that seemed fine at the time don't look so good in the here and now.

Still top of the world? Jimmy Stewart in Phaldelphia Story, Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, and character actors Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Scofield, and F. Murray Abraham.

Comments

[mitkid]

Thanks for reminding me of some of the great roles (and great movies) of all time. My Netflix queue just got longer.

[R.J.]

I'm glad that Russell Crowe for Gladiator didn't appear on the list of Best Actor Oscar wins (and that he was instead listed on some of the Worst lists). Crowe's given much vaster, deeper performances in other films (L.A. Confidential for one); and I'm deeply inclined to feel that Christian Bale gave that year's best performance in American Psycho. Other actors wanted to humanize Patrick Bateman! Did they not get the point!?