Your Favourite Performances from 1929 to present are...

[skimpole]

Actor

Paul Scofield,  A Man for All Seasons
Donald Pleasance, Cul-de-Sac
Richard Burton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Jean-Pierre Leaud, Masculin-Feminin
Eli Wallach, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Runner-ups:  David Hemmings (Blowup), Lino Ventura (Le Deuxieme Souffle), Toto (The Hawks and the Sparrows), Jozef Kroner (The Shop on Main Street), Vaclav Neckar (Closely Watched Trains),

Actress

Liv Ullmann, Persona
Bibi Andersson, Persona
Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Jitka Cerhova, Daisies
Ivana Karbanova, Daisies
 

Runner-ups: Anne Bancroft (7 Women), Alexandra Kluge (Yesterday Girl), Anna Karina (Made in the USA), Maya Bulgakova (Wings), Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street), Mbissine Therese Diop (Black Girl), Francoise Dorleac (Cul-de-Sac), Jitka Bendova (Closely Watched Trains),
 

Supporting Actor: 

Leo McKern, A Man for All Seasons
Lionel Stander, Cul-de-Sac
John Hurt, A Man for All Seasons
Eric Emerson, Chelsea Girls
Lee van Cleef, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Runner-ups:  Nigel Davenport (A Man for All Seasons), Jean-Claude Guibert (Au Hasard Balthazar), Walter Matthau (The Fortune Cookie), Jack Nicholson (The Shooting), Janos Gorbe (The Round-up), Robert Shaw (A Man for All Seasons), James Mason (Georgy Girl), Orson Welles (A Man for all Seasons), George Segal (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

Supporting Actress

 

Anne Wiazemsky, Au Hasard Balthazar
Vanessa Redgrave, Blowup
Mary Woronov, Chelsea Girls
Wendy Hiller, A Man for All Seasons
Chantal Goya, Masculin-Feminin

Runner-ups: Margaret Leighton (7 Women), Marlene Jobert (Masculin-Feminin), Marianne Faithful (Made in the USA), Sandy Dennis (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) , Hana Slivkova (The Shop on Main Street)


Not seen:  Alfie, The Russians are Coming, the Russian are Coming, The Sand Pebbles, The Professionals, A Man and a Woman, Morgan!, Hawaii, You're a Big Boy Now

 

------I haven't seen three of the Best Picture nominees, the first time since 1928-1929 that I haven't seen a majority of the nominees.  Not coincidentally, these were the three that weren't nominated for best director as well.

 

------For once, the runner-ups for Best Actress are more impressive than those for Best Actor

 

------Just to clarify things Cerhova is the brunette and Karbanova is the blonde.

[kingrat]

For once, the top three nominees for Best Actor were the top competitors for the Oscar. For me, it's so close among the three that I could flip a coin. All are marvelous, as are the top two candidates for Best Actress. Not much depth in most of the acting categories.

 

Best Actor of 1966:

 

Richard Burton, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?****

Paul Scofield, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Michael Caine, ALFIE

Zero Mostel, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Jean Martin, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

 

Honorable mention: Rock Hudson, SECONDS; John Randolph, SECONDS

 

Best Actress of 1966:

 

Bibi Andersson, PERSONA****

Liv Ullmann, PERSONA

Lynn Redgrave, GEORGY GIRL

Shirley MacLaine, GAMBIT

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1966:

 

George Segal, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?****

Michael Hordern, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Jack Gilford, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Walter Matthau, THE FORTUNE COOKIE

Will Geer, SECONDS

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1966:

 

Irene Handl, MORGAN!****

Vivien Merchant, ALFIE

Frances Reid, SECONDS

Lila Kedrova, TORN CURTAIN

Vanessa Redgrave, BLOW-UP

 

Honorable mention: Joan Hackett, THE GROUP

[CoraSmith]

ACTOR:

1. Louis de Funès - La Grande Vadrouille

2. David Hemmings - Blowup

3. Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

4. Bourvil - La Grande Vadrouille

5. Paul Newman - Harper

6. Christopher Plummer - Triple Cross

7. Michael Caine - Alfie

8. Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons

 

ACTRESS:

1. Bibi Andersson - Persona

2. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
3. Natalie Wood - Penelope

4. Audrey Hepburn - How to Steal a Million

5. Liv Ullmann - Persona

6. Anna Karina - Made in U.S.A.

7. Raquel Welch - Fantastic Voyage

8. Maureen O'Hara - The Rare Breed

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Walter Matthau - The Fortune Cookie

2. Hugh Griffith - How to Steal a Million

3. Peter Falk - Penelope

4. George Segal - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

5. Orson Welles - A Man for All Seasons

6. Yul Brynner - Triple Cross

7. Terry-Thomas - La Grande Vadrouille

8. Brian Keith - The Rare Breed

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1. Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

2. Vanessa Redgrave - Blowup

3. Carolyn Conwell - Torn Curtain

4. Jane Asher - Alfie

5. Janet Leigh - Harper

6. Romy Schneider - Triple Cross

7. Andrea Dromm - The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
8. Jane Birkin - Blowup

BEST JUVENILE PERFORMANCE: Sheldon Collins - The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

BEST ANIMAL PERFORMANCE: Hereford cow - The Rare Breed

BEST EXTRA: Jimmy Page - Blowup

BEST SINGER PLAYING HERSELF: Marianne Faithfull - Made in U.S.A.

BEST IMAGINARY TENNIS BALL: Blowup

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Elizabeth Haffenden - A Man for All Seasons

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Herbie Hancock - Blowup

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Alfie (Cilla Black in Alfie)

BEST NON-ORIGINAL SONG: Frankie and Johnny (Elvis Presley in Frankie and Johnny)

BEST QUOTE: "What's it all about? You know what I mean." (Alfie)

 

[skimpole]

I'm curious why, when posters look at A Man for all Seasons for possible supporting actor nominees, it's Welles and Shaw that they choose.  Both men essentially get one big scene with Scofield, then a brief scene later, while McKern, Davenport and Hurt are present throughout the entire movie.

[skimpole]

I agree on Julie Christie being an actress of limited range at this stage of her career. [i.e around 1965] I still thought she was good, as I nominated her a couple of time, but she did grow in ability, and a few of her late career performances are very good, I think, such as Afterglow (1997) and Away from Her (2007).

Perhaps.  I wonder, though.  Three of her first performances were under John Schlesinger.  I haven't seen Billy Liar, because TCM Canada never shows it.  But I would suggest the problem with Darling is Schlesinger's conception of the character.  I myself am not the biggest fan of Schlesinger, and other directors (Lester, Losey, Altman) could get bigger things out of her.

[TomJH]

 

BEST IMAGINARY TENNIS BALL: Blowup

 

 

I have to agree with Cora about Blowup having the best imaginary tennis ball of the year.

 

Where I suspect we disagree, however, is in my appreciation of the film itself. Man, I was confused by that one! One of those pretentious films that some insist is brilliant while others say "Huh?" Count me among the Huhs.

[Bogie56]

The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1966 were:

 

Best Actor

Paul Scofield, A Man For All Seasons*

Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Alan Arkin, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

 

Best Actresses

Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl*

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

The National Board of Review Awards for 1966 were…

 

Best Actor

Paul Scofield, A Man For All Seasons* 

 

Best Actress

Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

 

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Shaw, A Man For All Seasons*

 

Best Supporting Actress

Vivien Merchant, Alfie*

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 105 films I've seen from 1966 for…

 

Best Actress of 1966

 

1.  ELIZABETH TAYLOR (Martha), Who's Afraid of Virginia  Woolf?

2.  LYNN REDGRAVE (Georgina “Georgy” Parkin), Georgy Girl

3.  BIBI ANDERSSON (Sister Alma/Nurse Alma), Persona

4.  VANESSA REDGRAVE (Leonie Delt), Morgan! - A Suitable Case for Treatment

5.  CANDICE BERGEN (Shirley Eckert), The Sand Pebbles

 

6.  JOANNE WOODWARD (“Mary”/Ruby), A Big Hand For the Little Lady

7.  LIV ULLMANN (Elisabet Vogler), Persona

8.  ELIZABETH HARTMAN (Barbara Darling), You're a Big Boy Now

9.  JULIE ANDREWS (Jerusha Bromley Hale), Hawaii

10. ANOUK AIMEE (Anne Gauthier), A Man and a Woman

 

and ...

 

TUESDAY WELD (Barbara Ann Greene), Lord Love a Duck

NANETTE NEWMAN (Julia Finsbury), The Wrong Box

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 105 films I've seen from 1966 for…

 

Best Actor of 1966

 

1.  ELI WALLACH (Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez/"the Rat"), The Good, the Bad, and the              Ugly

2.  MICHAEL CAINE (Alfred “Alfie’ Elkins), Alfie

3.  RICHARD BURTON (George), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

4.  STEVE MCQUEEN (Machinist’s Mate 1st Class, Jake Holman), The Sand Pebbles

5.  PAUL SCOFIELD (Sir Thomas More), A Man For All Seasons

 

6.  ZERO MOSTEL (Pseudolus), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

7.  ROCK HUDSON (Antiochus “Tony” Wilson/“Arthur Hamilton”), Seconds

8.  YVES MONTAND (Diego/”Carlos”/”Sallanches”), La Guerre Est Finie

9.   MAX VON SYDOW (Reverend Abner Hale), Hawaii

10. JAMES MASON (Charles Dobbs), The Deadly Affair

 

and...

 

LIONEL STANDER (Richard/”Dickie”/"James"), Cul-De-Sac

LEE MARVIN (Henry “Rico” Fardan), The Professionals

CHARLTON HESTON (General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon), Khartoum

BURT LANCASTER (Bill Dolworth), The Professionals

CARL REINER (Walt Whittaker/”Whittaker Walt”), The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming

YVES MONTAND (Jean-Pierre Sarti), Grand Prix

PAUL NEWMAN (Lew Harper), Harper

TATSUYA NAKADAI (Ryunsuke Tsukue), The Sword of Doom

VACLAV NECKAR (Trainee Milos Hrma), Closely Watched Trains

[CoraSmith]

I have to agree with Cora about Blowup having the best imaginary tennis ball of the year.

 

Where I suspect we disagree, however, is in my appreciation of the film itself. Man, I was confused by that one! One of those pretentious films that some insist is brilliant while others say "Huh?" Count me among the Huhs.

It's certainly experimental. The first time it had me confused too. Then I took the time to rewatch it with the comment in the DVD extras, and that helped to appreciate it. I like the idea of a photographer trying to reconstruct reality by enlarging his own photos, how his photos captured things he didn't notice with his eyes. The surreal elements, the atmosphere of Swinging London and that absurd tennis match did the rest. 

[TomJH]

As a kid, I recall standing outside a Toronto second run cinema and staring at the photos on their billboard in the window promoting a revival of Khartoum. For some reason I didn't go into the theatre, though I was sorely tempted. When I finally did see the film some years later I was not disappointed.

 

This "thinking man's" epic about General Charles "Chinese" Gordon's legendary stand in the Sudan against the Muslim forces of religious leader and self proclaimed prophet, the Mahdi, as politicians in Britain debated and delayed on sending troops to his rescue remains one of the most intelligent of the '60s epics, in my opinion. Handsomely produced, the film's few big battle sequences are impressively staged, with (Spoiler Alert for those unfamiliar with this history) Gordon's death (over which historians have debated the exact circumstances)  based on a well known painting of the event by George W. Joy.

 

Charlton Heston always had the ability to dominate larger-than-life tapestries of this nature. As Gordon, he is is effectively restrained and delivers one of his best performances,  bringing dignity to his role. He makes no attempt at a British accent, but you feel the integrity and remarkable courage of the principled (and ultimately) self sacrificing man he is playing.

 

He only shares two scenes with Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi, but they remain highlights in the film. Some have been a bit derisive of Olivier's portrayal but I am not among them. I think he is quite effective. Still, this is Heston's show.

 

And I love the final haunting words intoned over the soundtrack by the film's narrator (actor Leo Genn, unbilled) at the end:

 

"Gordon rests in his beloved Sudan. We cannot tell how long his memory will live. But there is this - a world with no room for the Gordons is a world that will return to the sands."

 

[CoraSmith]

I'm curious why, when posters look at A Man for all Seasons for possible supporting actor nominees, it's Welles and Shaw that they choose.  Both men essentially get one big scene with Scofield, then a brief scene later, while McKern, Davenport and Hurt are present throughout the entire movie.

I picked Orson Welles because I liked the way he portrayed Cardinal Wolsey as fat opportunist, which is in contrast with the Catholic principles of sobriety. John Hurt's voice annoyed me. 

 

Come to think of it, Orson Welles looks as if he's just swallowed an imaginary tennis ball.

[Swithin]

I picked Orson Welles because I liked the way he portrayed Cardinal Wolsey as fat opportunist, which is in contrast with the Catholic principles of sobriety. John Hurt's voice annoyed me. 

 

Come to think of it, Orson Welles looks as if he's just swallowed an imaginary tennis ball.

 

I remember at the time one critic wrote that Orson Welles is making a career out of playing fat old men sitting down.

[Bogie56]

The National Society of Film Critics began in 1966.  Here are their acting choices for that year:

 

Best Actor

Michael Caine, Alfie*

Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Max von Sydow, Hawaii

Laurence Oliver, Othello (65)

Paul Scofield, A Man For All Seasons

 

Best Actress

Sylvie, The Shameless Old Lady*  (65)

Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment

Anouk Aimee, A Man and a Woman

[speedracer5]

Sorry I never got around to my specialty categories for 1965, it seems like a moot point now.

 

1966

 

WINNER IN BOLD

 

BEST PICTURE

 

Arabesque

Batman: The Movie

The Fortune Cookie

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Gambit

The Glass Bottom Boat

Grand Prix

Harper

How to Steal a Million

Made in Paris

Penelope

The Rare Breed

This Property is Condemned

The Trouble With Angels

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree 

 

BEST ACTOR

 

Gregory Peck, Arabesque

Adam West, Batman: The Movie

Jack Lemmon, The Fortune Cookie

Don Knotts, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Michael Caine, Gambit

Rod Taylor, The Glass Bottom Boat

James Garner, Grand Prix

Paul Newman, Harper

Peter O'Toole, How to Steal a Million

James Stewart, The Rare Breed

Robert Redford, This Property is Condemned

Richard Burton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree

 

BEST ACTRESS

 

Sophia Loren, Arabesque

Shirley MacLaine, Gambit

Doris Day, The Glass Bottom Boat

Audrey Hepburn, How to Steal a Million

Ann-Margret, Made in Paris

Natalie Wood, Penelope

Maureen O'Hara, The Rare Breed

Natalie Wood, This Property is Condemned 

Hayley Mills, The Trouble With Angels

Rosalind Russell, The Trouble With Angels

Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 

Cesar Romero, Batman: The Movie

Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie

The Guy That Kept Saying: "Atta boy, Luther!," The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Paul Lynde, The Glass Bottom Boat

Yves Montand, Grand Prix

Brian Keith, The Rare Breed

Vindicator the Cow, The Rare Breed

George Segal, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree 

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 

Eva Marie Saint, Grand Prix

Lauren Bacall, Harper

Shelley Winters, Harper

Mary Badham, This Property is Condemned 

Sandy Dennis, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

 

MOST FRUSTRATINGLY ANNOYING PERFORMER WHO GIVES ANNOYING NON-ANNOYING PERFORMANCES

 

I don't know if that category makes any sense, but the winner is Sandy Dennis.  She herself is so irritating.  She's so whiny and whatever else it is about her that makes her grating.  However, I like her in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Out of Towners.  I really don't know what to make of this.

 

BEST FASHION

 

A lot of great clothes in 1966.  I love Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe in How to Steal a Million and Natalie Wood has some fabulous clothes in Penelope. 

 

FILM THAT MOST NEEDS TO BE AVAILABLE ON DVD

 

Penelope! Why is this film not available for purchase?! As a result, it lives on my DVR. 

 

FUNNIEST LINES

 

"What a dump!" Elizabeth Taylor's impression of Bette Davis' line from Beyond the Forest in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

 

"Atta boy Luther!" that guy from the audience in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

 

MOST AWKWARD BUT CAPTIVATING TRAINWRECK

 

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor ripping each other a new one in front of their party guests in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? If I were the guests, I'd want to simultaneously leave but stay and watch at the same time. 

 

MOST BITTERSWEET ENDINGS

 

The true story about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's son in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  And, Natalie Wood's character's fate that is disclosed at the end of This Property is Condemned.

 

BEST SPORTS MOVIE

 

Grand Prix.  While I hate watching auto racing on TV (Watching people drive around a track 200 times? No thanks!), I like auto racing movies.  They're more exciting.

 

FUNNIEST DISGUISE

 

Natalie Wood's old lady get up in Penelope

 

FAVORITE GENRE OF THE YEAR:

 

The caper film! Between Gambit, How to Steal a Million, Penelope and Harper, there were a lot of great heist films this year.  

 

MOST ANNOYING SIDEKICK

 

Robin in Batman: The Movie.  "Holy shut up Robin!" I think Adam West's Batman should have joined forces with Cesar Romero's Joker.  They'd be a great team! 

 

BEST FILM TO FIND 1960s TV STARS! 

 

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken!  In this film you have Don Knotts (Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show); Dick Sargent (Darren #2, Bewitched); Philip Ober (General Stone, I Dream of Jeannie); Charles Lane (Mr. Barnsdahl, The Lucy Show); Sandra Gould (Mrs. Kravitz #2, Bewitched); Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton, The Waltons, okay fine I know that is 1970s); Burt Mustin (Gus the Fireman, Leave it to Beaver); Hal Smith (Otis Campbell, The Andy Griffith Show); Hope Summers (Clara, The Andy Griffith Show); Dick Wilson (The Charmin guy).  This film has got everyone! 

 

BEST POST-DISNEY PERFORMANCE

 

Hayley Mills in The Trouble With Angels.  She smokes in this film! ::Gasp:: and she's a bit of a bad girl. 

 

SPEEDRACER'S TAKEAWAY FROM "BATMAN: THE MOVIE!" 

 

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BATMAN! BATMAN! BATMAN! Da da da da da da da da da da da da da! BATMAAAAAAAN! 

[LawrenceA]

 

MOST FRUSTRATINGLY ANNOYING PERFORMER WHO GIVES ANNOYING NON-ANNOYING PERFORMANCES

 

I don't know if that category makes any sense, but the winner is Sandy Dennis.  She herself is so irritating.  She's so whiny and whatever else it is about her that makes her grating.  However, I like her in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Out of Towners.  I really don't know what to make of this.

 

Sandy Dennis had a very mannered persona, filled with physical tics and vocal affectations. I find that any performer who regularly employs these kind of mannerisms tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and in Dennis's case she's extra annoying due to the overload of said mannerisms. Some people find them fascinating, while others endlessly irritating.

[Bogie56]

Sandy Dennis had a very mannered persona, filled with physical tics and vocal affectations. I find that any performer who regularly employs these kind of mannerisms tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and in Dennis's case she's extra annoying due to the overload of said mannerisms. Some people find them fascinating, while others endlessly irritating.

 

It fit well with her neurotic character in Virginia Woolf though.

[kingrat]

Sandy Dennis had a very mannered persona, filled with physical tics and vocal affectations. I find that any performer who regularly employs these kind of mannerisms tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way, and in Dennis's case she's extra annoying due to the overload of said mannerisms. Some people find them fascinating, while others endlessly irritating.

To join with speedracer and Lawrence: I almost gave a special "Twittering, Jittering, Fluttering, and Stuttering" Award to Sandy Dennis. I wish Mike Nichols had reined in her performance more. However, what you see on screen probably is the reined-in version.

 

She first attracted attention in a Broadway comedy, Any Wednesday. Most of the theater critics loved her mannerisms. Gene Hackman did not enjoy working with her in this play because he never knew what she was going to do. Two of the best film critics of her time, Pauline Kael and John Simon, utterly loathed every performance of hers.

 

It's funny: I'd swear Melinda Dillon, who originated the role of Honey on Broadway, is a much better actress, but I have a little trouble calling up what she looks like, despite having seen A Christmas Story many times. Sandy Dennis has an unusual face which registers strongly on screen. She's well cast as Honey, but one has to put up with the mannerisms. Or not. I'd love to have seen Melinda Dillon, Eileen Fulton (who did matinees on Broadway), and Beverlee McKinsey (who played the role in London opposite Uta Hagen) to compare. It doesn't hurt Dennis that she had a role in a great play, well directed and photographed, and that the supporting actress competition was really weak.

[LawrenceA]

 

It's funny: I'd swear Melinda Dillon, who originated the role of Honey on Broadway, is a much better actress, but I have a little trouble calling up what she looks like, despite having seen A Christmas Story many times. 

 

I know Melinda Dillon very well from numerous viewings of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as her turn in Absence of Malice. I just learned recently, on here I think, that she was in the original play. I would like to have seen her in the role.

 

That being said, I did enjoy Dennis in the film enough to nominate her among my picks. I can't say that I liked her in anything else.

[Bogie56]

The BAFTA winners for 1966 were ….

 

Best Actor (British)

Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (65)*

Ralph Richardson, Doctor Zhivago (65), Khartoum and The Wrong Box

Michael Caine, Alfie

David Warner, Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment

 

Best Actor (Foreign)

Rod Steiger, The Pawnbroker (64)

Sidney Poitier, A Patch of Blue (65)

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierret le Fou (65)

Oskar Werner, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (65)

 

Best Actress (British)

Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

Julie Christie, Fahrenheit 451 and Darling (65)

Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl

Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment

 

Best Actress (Foreign)

Jeanne Moreau, Viva Maria!* (65)

Joan Hackett, The Group

Brigitte Bardot, Viva Maria! (65)

[Bogie56]

Best Supporting Actor of 1966

 

5.  VICTOR MATURE (Tony Powell), After the Fox

 

"My beautiful Tony ... Where is he?"

"Sorry baby, you can't lie to the close-up lens."

As Tom has mentioned this is one of the great send-ups of one's own screen persona.  "You're not 30 anymore, Tony.  Hell you're not even 40."

Victor Mature in After the Fox who was once credited as saying to management at a golf course that did not accept actors, "I am no actor and I have 64 pictures to prove it."

After the Fox just shows that there are parts that are tailor made for certain actors.

​"If I said gooda morning, that would not be acting"

[TomJH]

"My beautiful Tony ... Where is he?"

 

"Sorry baby, you can't lie to the close-up lens."

As Tom has mentioned this is one of the great send-ups of one's own screen persona.  "You're not 30 anymore, Tony.  Hell you're not even 40."

Victor Mature in After the Fox who was once credited as saying to management at a golf course that did not accept actors, "I am no actor and I have 64 pictures to prove it."

After the Fox just shows that there are parts that are tailor made for certain actors.

​"If I said gooda morning, that would not be acting"

 

I can't say that I'm a big fan of After the Fox, but I certainly enjoyed Victor Mature's good natured self spoof as a vain, egomanical movie star who isn't exactly the sharpest card in the deck.

 

At one point, after Peter Sellers tells him he thought he saw a wrinkle on his face, Mature rushes to the mirror, pulls his facial skin back tight and asks, "What wrinkle?"

 

One of my favourite moments in the film occurs right after Mature has finished touching up his jet black hair in the mirror and an enthusiastic Britt Ekland suddenly shows up at his hotel room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TomJH]

 

Victor Mature in After the Fox who was once credited as saying to management at a golf course that did not accept actors, "I am no actor and I have 64 pictures to prove it."

After the Fox just shows that there are parts that are tailor made for certain actors.

​"If I said gooda morning, that would not be acting"

 

Victor Mature would only appear in five films after After the Fox.

 

Here is how he spent much of his time afterward - on the golf course. As you can see by this pix, he still had that Victor Mature smile going for him.

 

[Bogie56]

Here are Danny Peary’s Alternate Oscar choices for 1966.  Winners in bold.  

 

Best Actor

Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

Michael Caine, Alfie

Sean Connery, A Fine Madness

Zero Mostel, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Donald Pleasence, Cul-de-Sac

Paul Scofield, A Man For All Seasons

Lionel Stander, Cul-de-Sac

 

Best Actress

Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

Anne Bancroft, Seven Women

Lynne Redgrave, Georgy Girl

Tuesday Weld, Lord Love a Duck

 

 

And here are Michael Gerbert’s Golden Armchair choices for 1966:

 

Best Actor

Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

 

Best Actress

Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*

[kingrat]

My favorite performance by a supporting actress for 1966 comes from a film I don't much like, Morgan. This is one of those cases where what the filmmakers want me to feel--that David Warner's title character is one cool dude, wacked out but basically in a good way--doesn't coincide with what I actually feel, that Morgan is dangerous and obnoxious. David Warner makes Morgan all too believable, and it's not surprising that Warner would go on to a career of playing villains.

 

This may be the only film where Vanessa Redgrave, as Morgan's estranged wife, plays a featherbrain, and it is interesting to see an actress as intellectual as Redgrave dumbing down for the part. Admirable, too, is Robert Stephens as her businessman lover. In one big scene Morgan, complete with a gun, goes to threaten his wife's lover at his place of business. Clearly, we are meant to empathize with Morgan; I mean, Stephens is even wearing a suit! How uncool is that? In fact, Stephens takes control of the situation quite calmly and capably, and I wind up admiring him, even if he is sleeping with some other guy's ditzy wife.

 

By far the best part of the film, however, consists of the brief scenes with Irene Handl as Morgan's salt-of-the-earth mother--also Salt of the Earth mother, for she's a dedicated Communist. To hear the cliches of Communist propaganda coming from the lips of this uneducated Cockney is really hilarious. Irene Handl brings a welcome energy to every moment she's on screen, and she walks off with the film.