A companion piece to the earlier essay discussing the greatest female performances of all time, it has to be said was, once again, a pleasure to write. Just to talk about these incredible captured performances is nothing short of joyous. Same rules apply: 3 per decade, 8 cheats (one less than before). No further introduction required.
Let’s begin again, shall we?
1940s
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Nazareth once sang about how love hurts. Love has hurt Rick Blaine and left us with the cold, witty, charming and ultimately decent man that Bogart shows us. The role is a stunningly tough balancing act between hard outer shell/warm interior and warm outer shell/cold interior. Bogart is flawless and by the time we’re at the plane with him at the end of the film, the power of the words and their delivery truly leaves us with no choice but to get on board.
Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
The fury. The humour. The anger. The power. A lot went into this performance. To ignore the context of the film and the role is to follow in the footsteps of the ignorant who blissfully dismissed this film and role in its original day. Today the film stands as a mighty triumph to Chaplin’s talent in performance and his immense intellect. A truly outstanding tour de force.
Orson Welles – Citizen Kane
To pull off the ‘multiple ages and multiple makeup states’ role is one that has been done by many, but for me it is the rarity when the makeup isn’t the highest achievement. You have to see the difference in the man underneath. The makeup cannot do all the work for any actor and here I believe Welles could have done the whole role without a inch of the stuff and we would have believed every minute. Hell, I think Welles could have played the kid in the first scenes and I’m frankly surprised that his hubris didn’t lead him to at least consider it. But what a justified and mighty hubris his was.
1950s
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Never has there been a sexier and more dangerous character put onto a screen. Brando oozes fear and charisma in the role that cemented him as an icon of the medium forever. Performing Williams' prose with deft skill and a power since unrivalled, the whole feat is something that you just can’t take your eyes off of. Every scene, Brando draws us in deeper to this monster’s grasp until we are caught with Blanche and terrified in his arms.
James Stewart – Vertigo
A man falls in love with a dead woman. Scotty Ferguson is more than put through the mill in this Hitchcock classic and Stewart takes us for the whole horrid ride making us feel for him, be disgusted by him, be fascinated by him and ultimately be left feeling confused about whether or not we feel sorry for him or not. Stewart is simply excellent in the film.
James Dean – Rebel Without a Cause
True talent only comes around once in a while and when such talent is lost one can very easily put all performances of the lost great on a pedestal. However, there is no unwarranted ceremony when it comes to Dean. Especially not with Rebel Without a Cause. Here every accolade is worth it and every lamented monologue about what his career could have been comes from a place of deep longing and pain that such a bright flame was extinguished so soon.
1960s
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C.C. Baxter is every man unfortunately and if you haven’t lived his life, then you know somebody of the same ilk and you know how painfully exact Lemmon’s performance in this film is. The beauty, vulnerability and humour of Wilder’s script is brought to life effortlessly by this maestro of both comedy and drama, finding the perfect balance in front of our eyes.
Dustin Hoffman – The Graduate
One of truly the greatest breakthrough performances of all time. An iconoclast in the making, we view Hoffman breath vital life and breed an unnatural stillness into the comedic genius character of Benjamin Braddock. The subtle humour and clear brilliance of the performance I believe can be rooted back seven years earlier to our next choice.
Richard Burton – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Vulgar, pained, vitriolic and bitter to no end. There is nothing but pain behind the glasses of George in Burton’s hands. No matter how many times he attempts to mask such pain with wit and banter, the pain is always there leading the film, as uncomfortable as it is to watch. A masterpiece of acting that I would put up against any of his Shakespeare films, for with the humanity of Albee’s words, Burton finds all new depths and we have the pleasure of seeing them.
1970s
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I believe that Al Pacino, across the first two godfather films, is the greatest film performance of all time. In my mind there is simply no doubt about it. In actual fact, I’d even dare to throw in a few scenes from the much maligned third entry into the series, for Pacino’s performance alone. But the transformation across those first two films is the stuff that dreams are made of. Pacino is so believable in both of the furthest parts of the arc that every time the film starts over, I feel that maybe (just like the iceberg in Titanic), just maybe, this time Michael will not become the heartless monster that we know he does. But I’m always wrong and I’m always surprised by how far we have gone with the man when we return for the flashback of Vito’s birthday party at the end of the second film. A master at work.
Roy Scheider – All That Jazz
A showman losing every facet in his power, laughing and smoking the whole way through it. There’s something about the multiple dimensions of Fosse’s semi-auto-biographical tale of hedonism and death, that Scheider illuminates so wonderfully in this film. Sheer talent too when it comes to the multiple songs and dance scenes. You’d never guess twice that Scheider wasn’t Gideon/Fosse. The whole film cements its brutal tone because of Scheider.
William Holden and Peter Finch – Network
A friendship beautifully brought to light on the screen offers two exceptional performances. Finch won the Oscar and deservedly so, for his iconic "screaming angry man" performance as Howard Beale, but it’s the layers beneath him that make the performance so wickedly brilliant and forever re-watchable. But for me, Holden steals the show as Schumacher. So brilliant and vulnerable for such an old Hollywood actor and so brilliant in his breakup scenes with both Straight and Dunnaway. For me, Holden wins between the two of them, but good God is it a tight race.
Jack Nicholson – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
When McMurphy first walks onto the hospital floor where we will be spending most of our time in this astounding film, we note immediately his sheer presence. That’s all Jack baby. McMurphy comments later in the film jokingly about electric shock therapy and how the next “girl that goes wit him is gonna light up like a pinball machine”. When he says these things, we know exactly what he’s talking about because we are feeling the electricity of this performer in this role with these words and we are simply stunned, but in now surprised, cause we know Jack and we know how electric he can be and that’s why we love him. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is, for me, his undeniable best.
Tim Curry – The Rocky Horror Picture Show
An undeniably ferocious performance that tears up the screen and leaves you gagging for him to come back on the screen when they are gone. 'Sweet Transvestite' lights the screen ablaze and an hour later the fire is put out by the tears of an audience viewing 'I’m Going Home'. A tour-de-force musical performance in every sense of the word, solidifying O’Brien’s creation as one of the greatest characters of all time.
1980s
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I’d like to say that it was a hard choice between La Motta, Bickle or Pupkin, but it really wasn’t. When it comes to Scorsese and De Niro collaborations, I have two firm favourites. The other you will learn later, but as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy, De Niro offers us all the pathos and loneliness of Travis Bickle, his taxi driver, but with the oddest blend of dark comedy infused throughout. De Niro truly at his finest and, I think, at his most underrated.
Dustin Hoffman – Tootsie
A common theme with the choices on this list is the combination of humanity, hilarity and heart and Hoffman has it in spades in Tootsie...as well as giving us the absolute all-time drag character legend, Dorothy Michaels. The film is fast and funny and Hoffman is the central reason, keeping up with the pace of the script and every wonderful actor around him for the entirety of the run.
Michael Douglas – Fatal Attraction
Perhaps it is neglectful of me to put Douglas on this list and not Glen Close on my greatest female performances list, but I do believe that this film has no legs if not for Douglas driving home the intensity of the situation. We know he’s a bastard and even he knows it, which makes all of this all the more intriguing and stellar to watch. Douglas is the ultimate everyman, not Tom Hanks, because everyman isn’t as perfect as Tom Hanks in his films. But every man makes mistakes and every man has to deal with those mistakes. Hence, Douglas is your man and always will be.
Martin Landau – Crimes and Misdemeanors
There is a juxtaposition at the heart of the structure of Woody Allen’s masterpiece Crimes and Misdemeanors, as we constantly cut between the frivolous - and often hilarious - life of Allen in the role of Clifford considering murder and the troubled, God-fearing world of Martin Landau as Judah, who has just ordered a murder and is dealing with the repercussions. Every time we are laughing gleefully, Allen forces us to view Landau in his incredible performance as a man coming to terms with the possibility that he may just be wrong about his atheism and he may very well be facing down hell. When Landau’s voice quivers, it is a thing of unnatural command. When he stops this sensation and delivers lines with cold detachment, we find ourselves questioning God with him. Now, if a performance can do that, it’s pretty, bloody good, if you ask me.
1990s
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Another pair from another film, this time far less monstrous. Williams and Lane make you laugh till you hurt in this classic film, but they never lose sight of the heart. Like any great comedy of it’s ilk, it is the relationships that make us keep watching. But then, they also never forget that they should be making you laugh too and so they make your ribs hurt double next time to make up for it. Williams and Lane are two such astounding performers and The Birdcage gives them both a platform for as much heart and humour as anybody can physically take.
Robert De Niro – Cape Fear (1991 remake)
My second favourite De Niro shows us a true villain at work. De Niro not only steps into the shoes of Mitchum with ease, but he tears them apart and makes the character all his own and even more terrifying. The bloodcurdling tongues he speaks in at the end of the film still send shivers down my spine. He is almost indescribable in his power in this role, but I’ve given it a fair shot.
Anthony Hopkins and Ted Levine – The Silence of the Lambs
I sometimes question who is the better performance in this film. The obvious answer is Hopkins as Lecter. An undeniably classic performance dripping with insidious remarks and pure terror, yet we beg for more and even find ourselves rooting for him to escape. I won’t say that Hopkins makes this monster empathetic, because I don’t believe he does, but he makes Lecter deftly re-watchable and we simply love spending time with him on screen. The less obvious, but no less deserving answer would be to award Levine’s work. Similarly grotesque and horrifying, but with no relief. Levine shoots us up with pure terror and leaves us terrified, but still wanting to see more. Although we know what’s in that basement, we want to go down there all the same.
2000s
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There are things that Broderick does in this film that are funnier than some things I have seen in all-out broad comedies. The brilliance of this film and Broderick’s performance leads me to wonder why we don’t see this vein of Broderick’s all the time. Mr McAllister is a bad guy, there’s no doubt about it, but God is he a pitiful one. He is so undeniably wimpy that we almost can’t help but feel bad for him. He even leads us to consider whether or not what he is doing is right, when it is so clearly, so very clearly wrong. The power of a great performance.
Christian Bale – American Psycho
What makes this performance so good is the fact that this psycho is just so watchable. We are repulsed by him, sickened by him, but we are also constantly enamoured with him. We almost want him to get away, just so we can hear another baffling monologue about the importance of Collins or Houston. There is something deeply charismatic about this madman and I could frankly watch him doing the horrific things he does all day.
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Day-Lewis is a pretty excellent actor, nobody can make any qualms about that. His ability to create and inhabit people has been discussed more than a few times. But what makes Daniel Plainview my top seed for him, is the loss of humanity. Day-Lewis literally takes us on a journey to view a man’s complete isolation taking hold of him and consuming him entirely. By the final frame we are looking at somebody completely different from our first frame. An arc truly unlike any other.
Tom Cruise and Jason Robards – Magnolia
People often say around me that Tom Cruise isn’t good. I asked them if they’ve seen Magnolia and they say "no". The thing is, I already knew the answer, because anybody who has seen Cruise in this film would never dare comment such a thing. I think there are multiple other excellent Cruise performances (A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire and Eyes Wide Shut to name a few), but this is by far his best. It is a very hard thing to match and be the foil to a performer like Jason Robards, as evidenced in multiple films, but most prominently in the "regret" monologue from this film. Robards, naturally imbued with decades of his own hurt, relays the pain of a lifetime in under five minutes. Pure. Undiluted. Talent.
2010s
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There has been no better duo on a film screen in the past ten years. This is Hoffman’s best. This is Joaquin’s best (Joker be damned). We understand the stretches that these two incredible actors are making to make this story plausible and wholly realistic. The immense power and fury in both leads astounds me every time I see the film and the early scene shared between them rightly ranks amongst the greatest of all time, never mind this decade. That’s seven performances now, across both lists, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. What can I do but bow down to the man’s sheer brilliance?
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
When I sat down to see this film on a cold and rainy day in Wakefield, I actually had no idea what it was about. A great pleasure to a man who finds out most everything about a film prior to watching it just through magazines and being a film fan. Little did I know the power of the journey that I was about to be taken upon. I wept for days after and still weep when I think of the film. This is almost wholly down to Affleck’s astounding work. Powerful, secure and more than deeply affecting.
Michael Keaton – Birdman
The biggest Oscar travesty in recent memory for me. In the hands of Keaton, this film soars and with the context we know about his own career, he breathes great life into the film just by starring in it. But he does by no means rest upon his laurels, making you never really sure whether or not you should be laughing with hysterics, cringing or averting your eyes. But to avert your eyes from this film would be truly impossible, it seems.
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And so concludes this little foray into ranking the finest filmic shows of acting we have come to know. If you haven’t seen any of the films, do yourself a favour and watch them. As I said in the previous essay, trust me, you can do far worse than a marathon of these incredible films.
-Thomas Carruthers
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