Supporting Actor 1974

Moving right along, this is always my favorite category and I already know the winner is one of the better wins in this category possibly ever, but definitely over the last few years I've watched now. De Niro is great but I want to see if any of the others can challenge him at all.

1974 Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro - The Godfather Part II

This was a well deserved win for De Niro. Every time the film flashbacked to his young Vito Corleone, I was enthralled. I wish the whole film would have been about De Niro because he was so compelling. Anytime the film returned to the present, I was a little sad because I'd rather watch the early days. De Niro got everything perfectly right in respect to Brando's version of Vito. It's clear that De Niro studied everything that Brando did for his performance, right down to the increasingly raspy voice. It's not just the physical aspects that De Niro got right, but also the calm, powerful demeanor of Vito as well. You can play De Niro's Vito followed by Brando's Vito and easily see that this is the same man without any difficulty. Vito is so intelligent and aware of how to read people and this sensibility is illustrated through De Niro's performance. You can see he's always reading people and the situation and thinking about how to move ahead for the betterment of his family. He puts family first just as Brando did and it's so astounding to see just how alike the two performances are. His ascendance is gradual and not this power hungry grab, but a more noble pursuit that seems true to Vito's ethos. I think this performance is tremendous and lives up to it's lofty partner in Brando.

Fred Astaire - The Towering Inferno

I knew before I even watched his performance what this nomination was all about. You know Fred Astaire for his dancing and his black and white films and for just being a classic, old school Hollywood icon. This was easily a career achievement nomination and nothing more for Astaire. The funny thing is that the Academy had already given him an honorary Oscar back in 1950 for his contribution to motion pictures. So this wasn't necessary at all. And Astaire isn't even in the film very much. His supporting role is minuscule and his character is just a con man that goes to the grand opening of this huge skyscraper to con an old lady (Jennifer Jones as it were) but the fire breaks out and he tells her what he was going to do in the face of possible death and they bond. But she eventually dies and Astaire doesn't know what happened to her and we have a brief serious scene where he runs and yells for her. It's not enough for me. That may be slightly Oscarific but come on, give me more! That's a boring, overused idea/plot and neither Astaire nor the film made it memorable. He's in a few forgettable scenes and gets an Oscar nomination out of it because he can dance pretty good. And he doesn't even dance in this film! You'd think they give him a little nod like that but nah, they just nominate because of his name. Don't watch this for Fred, watch this for the cool fire scenes.

Jeff Bridges - Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

It's kind of apropos that I watched this right after Bridges got his career achievement award at the Golden Globes and he was talking about working with Michael Cimino on his first film, which was this one. And it's a really interesting film that stars Clint Eastwood (and has George Kennedy) and he is a bank robber on the run and meets Bridges and then they get with some old buddies of Eastwood's that was initially hunting them down and decide to do one last heist. The film is interesting because there are these seemingly random scenes that build the relationship between Eastwood and Bridges' characters. Like one scene where the two are hitchhiking and this muscle car stops and this crazy hick dude with a raccoon in the front seat is driving and he's got the exhaust going into the cabin while he drives like a maniac and then they roll over and the dude gets out with a shotgun and has a trunk full of white rabbits and starts throwing them out and shooting at them. It's nuts! Just read that sentence again. But it works for the film weirdly and the reason the film works is due in large part to Bridges. He's extremely charismatic and energetic and just plain magnetic. Seriously, Bridges easily takes over this film and makes it his while Eastwood sticks to his brooding, misunderstood bad guy type of role. The film is worth watching simply for Bridges' performance because you see what would make him one of the best actors of his generation and it's really fun to see how young he is and how he started out. And I haven't even mentioned the tragic way the film ends which Bridges plays to great effect. This is a nice little role that Bridges had that I suspect a lot of people have never seen. I am eagerly looking forward to his first Oscar nomination which is coming up soon.

Michael V. Gazzo - The Godfather Part II

Gazzo portrays Frank Pentangeli, an older mobster who now controls or runs the New York territory for the Corleone family. He's a capregime, so one of the top underlings and with the Corleones out in Nevada, he's the guy back in New York. Gazzo stands out right from the beginning because his character and performance are unlike anything we've seen in the series so far. He's gruff and loud and talks to Michael in a more frank and carefree way, so to speak. We see him first when he's a bit drunk at a christening and immediately get that this man has spent his life in the mafia and moved his way up and paid his dues. There's a bit of respect when Michael lets him act this way without really doing anything. Gazzo turns up the performance, however, and gives us a brash character that the series hadn't really seen up to that point. For the rest of the film, Gazzo is told to do things in New York that are contrary to what he wants to do by Michael so the character ends up confused and frustrated and pissed off. Frank is almost killed for this and then turns State witness and then reneges on that deal to protect the family. He stays a good family man until the end and that's essentially what Gazzo's performance is all about. A loud, gruff mobster who we understand is begrudgingly committed to the family. It's not an amazing performance, though it is good. It just is very noticeable and leaves a mark on the film.

Lee Strasberg - The Godfather Part II

There's really only one reason Strasberg was nominated here and that's because he was a renowned acting coach that helped pioneer method acting. He had many famous understudies, some of whom were in this film and this series. So no wonder he would get voted in by an Academy where he'd probably helped a large number of them learn acting. Not to take away from his role as Hyman Roth, a Jewish mobster and businessman. Strasberg is technically great and it's obvious that he knew a lot about acting as everything he does adds to the character and makes him more complex underneath. Hyman is upset that his buddy Moe Greene was killed in the last film and wants to take down and kill Michael. So in that respect, Hyman is the bad guy of the film and Strasberg plays him to great effect. Hyman is warm and engaging to Michael when they first meet and you get a sense of how the guy operates and that he's a little more sinister underneath all the pretense. That's where Strasberg's acting ability comes in to great effect. Hyman is always playing this sort of dual role where what he says and what he means are markedly different. The character is really interesting because of this and Strasberg does a great job of bringing this complex character to life. He might even be worth a vote if De Niro weren't also in this category.



This is a pretty good group if you try and forget Astaire's ridiculous nomination. Seriously, I hate those kinds of nominations. They are absolutely pointless and just prevent someone else that is more deserving from getting the honor. But the other four all very good! Gazzo and Strasberg are actually very good and bring a lot to their roles and to the film as a whole. They may not be as good as the original guys from the first film but still are worthy. Gazzo gives his take on a certain kind of old school mobster, while Strasberg is more than just an acting teacher while delivering a good performance as his Jewish mobster. I think they stand on their own but certainly came along with the film, too. Bridges really wowed me. I'd say it surprised me but honestly it didn't. He always does great work even with his lesser known nominations/films and this was no exception. A weird little film where he outshines Clint Eastwood easily and is the reason the film is entertaining. A possible winner in other years, but not this one. De Niro is a slam dunk winner. Probably one of the best Supporting Actor wins ever, this is a no brainer. If you don't like this performance, you don't like acting. Pure and simple. So my favorite category turns out another pretty good group of guys and I can't wait to see what is next!

Oscar Winner: Robert De Niro - The Godfather Part II
My Winner:  Robert De Niro - The Godfather Part II
Jeff Bridges
Lee Strasberg
Michael V. Gazzo
Fred Astaire