Century Film Project

Celebrating the movies our ancestors loved

Tag: Supporting Actor

March 4, 2018

Best Supporting Actor 1917

As with female roles, often the most interesting or memorable characters in a movie are not its stars. Actors in supporting roles can be family, friends, enemies, or indifferent to the main characters, but they often add spice and interest to the stories on the screen. Supporting actors sometimes play a particular “type” so well that it becomes part of their identity – perhaps being “typecast” is artistically tedious, but it can also be a guarantee of steady work, so long as that “type” stays in fashion. Some of them are able to excel even within the confines of a redundant character type, and these are the actors we look for in this category.

Buster Keaton is remembered today for his starring roles, but in 1917 he started out his career as a supporting actor in Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s company. In “The Rough House,” he actually played two characters – one a throwaway bearded gardener, the other a delivery boy who becomes a classic Keystone-style cop. It’s this second performance that won him the nomination this year. Eric Campbell was one of Charlie Chaplin’s favorite foils – a big man with heavy eyebrows who tragically died in a car crash in December, 1917. He’s especially memorable in “Easy Street” as the man who bends a lamp post to show his strength. Conrad Veidt is remembered by silent fans today mostly for his supporting role in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” and he plays a similarly menacing role in “Fear,” an earlier film by Robert Wiene. Here, as the mysterious “Buddha Priest,” his close-up defines the unknown dangers of a curse upon the protagonist. René Poyen was a favorite child actor of director Louis Feuillade, and had starred in many “Bout-de-Zan” short films before being brought in for an important role in the “Judex” serial. The episode called “The Licorice Kid” places his character at the center f the action, and gives him a chance to display his surprising range and talent. Tully Marshall takes on the thankless role of the sidekick to Douglas Fairbanks in “A Modern Musketeer,” but he is able to warn Fairbanks’s character of the impending abduction of the romantic lead. More significantly, a revenge subplot against Doug’s romantic rival centers around Marshall, whose character has been wronged in a cowardly financial scam, and this gives him a chance to display a range of emotions.

The nominees for best actor in a supporting role for 1917 are:

  1. Buster Keaton in the Rough House
  2. Eric Campbell in Easy Street
  3. Conrad Veidt in Fear
  4. René Poyen in The Licorice Kid (Judex)
  5. Tully Marshall in A Modern Musketeer

And the winner is…René Poyen!

As a child actor, Poyen was able to be gruff and lovable, without being annoying. His character is one of the best parts of the “Judex” serial, which I found a bit too wholesome, compared with Feuillade’s earlier crime serials. The Licorice Kid provides a pleasant contrast to the rest of the characters, being street smart and used to poverty, but not a scheming criminal. In this episode, he gets tricked by the villains but is able to rescue his friend, Le Petit Jean, by having him leap off of a balcony into a blanket held by their allies below. Even though he was quite young and the time, René Poyen was a highly poised and professional supporting actor.

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February 26, 2017

Best Supporting Actor 1916

Actors in supporting roles can get lost in the shuffle. As bartenders, passerby, butlers, drivers, or other background extras, we are likely to think of them as simply part of the scenery. Sometimes, however, a “character” actor brings something special to his part, something that makes him stand out as integral to the story, or as a high point of the movie itself. These are the actors considered in this category.

In 1916, I saw a mix of comedic parts and villains who seemed worthy of mention as supporting actors. Al St. John takes his energetic jealousy to the point of bizarre psychopathy as the foil of “Fatty and Mabel Adrift.” Eric Campbell is more of a straight-man or a victim opposite Charlie Chaplin in “The Count.” Marcel Levésque may seem like a sidekick, but his romantic comedy sub-plot is possibly the most interesting part of “The Bloody Wedding,” the final chapter in the serial “Les Vampires.” On the more serious side, Robert McKim was a convincing Western bad guy in the sophisticated William S. Hart vehicle “Return of Draw Egan,” and Ernest Maupin was the first to bring Professor Moriarty to film audiences in “Sherlock Holmes.”

The nominees for best supporting actor for 1916 are:

  1. Al St. John, in “Fatty and Mabel Adrift”
  2. Robert McKim, in “Return of Draw Egan”
  3. Eric Campbell, in “The Count”
  4. Marcel Levésque, in “The Bloody Wedding”
  5. Ernest Maupain, in “Sherlock Holmes”

And the winner is…Marcel Levésque!

A jealous suitor.

A jealous suitor.

Levésque was up last year as well, but lost his award to Sessue Hayakawa. His entry this year was stronger, a case of the “supporting” character being more powerful and exciting than the ostensible lead. He practically saved “Les Vampires” for me, which never got to be as much fun as “Fantômas,” despite the presence of him and Musidora. I’m looking forward this year to seeing how he fairs in the remainder of “Judex!”

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February 28, 2016

Best Supporting Actor 1915

A character is defined as “a person in a narrative work” which when portrayed in theater or cinema “involves the illusion of being a human person.” Actors play characters of all types, but sometimes there is a great opportunity to give an illusion that reaches an audience, even from the secondary position of a supporting character. Male actors have a wide range of possibilities, from sidekicks to villains, fathers to sons, and nearly all possible professions, to create that human illusion and help to bring a story to life.

This year, quite a number of our candidates for Best Supporting Actor had the signature pleasure of portraying a villain. Wilton Lackaye brought his stage characterization of Svengali in “Trilby” to the screen to general acclaim. Roy Daugherty also played a familiar role in “Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaw” – he portrayed the Western outlaw he had been in real life before director-star Marshall Bill Tilghman caught up with him. In the role of Skinny, William Sheer goes from henchman to bitter enemy of the protagonist of “Regeneration” and gives a powerfully frightening performance that will influence crime movies for decades. And Sessue Hayakawa presents a genuinely terrifying vision of greed, lust, and arrogance combined for his memorable role in “The Cheat.” Our one non-villain, Marcel Levésque as Mazamette in the “Les Vampires” serial, still hobnobs with a criminal gang, even if it is only to help out the brave but bland reporter Guérande.

The nominees for best actor in a supporting role are…

  1. Wilton Lackaye for “Trilby”
  2. Marcel Levésque for “The Deadly Ring”
  3. William Sheer for “Regeneration”
  4. Roy Daugherty for “Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaw”
  5. Sessue Hayakawa for “The Cheat”

And the Century Award goes to…Sessue Hayakawa!

Sessue Hayakawa.

Sessue Hayakawa.

There were some really great villains in the movies I watched in 2015, but none made the same impression as Hayakawa in “The Cheat.” When he believes he has Fanny Ward in his power, his assurance and cold desire for her is chilling, while when he finds that she intends to “cheat” him, his rage comes through the screen in waves of intimidation and frustrated power. At every moment of the movie, he is constantly in character and believable, even when his emotions are at a high pitch that would lead many into overacting. This was the only possible choice for best supporting actor in the end, much as I did enjoy all of those nominated.

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February 22, 2015

Best Supporting Actor 1914

Actors are artists, and the best of them hone their talents by trying out a multiplicity of roles. Some are best as leading men, but certain actors will take a seemingly “small” role and find a way to make a mark. Often this involves going beyond what is explicit in the screenplay and giving the character unexpected depth. When an actor finds a way to do this, he can be considered in the category of supporting actor.

In the year 1914, longer films and more complex storylines made for larger casts and gave more actors chances to do good supporting work. Lon Chaney (Sr.) gave one of his first memorable performances as the weaselly villain in “By the Sun’s Rays.” The hulking Bartolomeo Pagano created a powerful yet gentle giant named Maciste in “Cabiria.” Fatty Arbuckle seems to be tutoring Charlie Chaplin to be a funny drunk in “The Rounders,” while Charlie provided Fatty with critical support in “The Knockout.” Finally, Alec B. Francis was outstanding as the grouchy, rejecting father whose heart is won by his son’s fiancée.

The nominees for best supporting actor for 1914 are:

  1. Lon Chaney for By the Sun’s Rays
  2. Bartolomeo Pagano for Cabiria
  3. Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle for The Rounders
  4. Charlie Chaplin for The Knockout
  5. Alec B. Francis for The Wishing Ring

And the winner is…Bartolomeo Pagano for “Cabiria!”

 Bartolomeo_Pagano_Maciste

Once again with “Cabiria,” there was never any serious doubt in my mind that this was the winner. Maciste became a tremendous international star and would be the hero of Italian movies for decades, with a particularly strong revival in the 1960s. Many of these movies were released in the US as “Hercules” movies, so in fact I would argue that all American films about Hercules (including last year’s video-game-like version) have been influenced by Pagano’s performance. Few actors are still influencing performances so directly after 100 years.

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