5. James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope- Jones is hampered down by a rather lackluster film, and a rather lackluster co-star, but he still is effective nonetheless.
4. Ryan O'Neal in Love Story- It is easy perhaps to mock this film, and perhaps this performance, but there really is no reason to because O'Neal certainly is effective in his part, giving a realistic honest performance, that finds the perfect chemistry with his co-star to make the film work.
3. Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father- Douglas despite not always being given that much screen time is still able to create an interesting portrait of a father who despite loving his son, he refuses to give into anything that goes against his personal beliefs.
2. Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces- Nicholson is simply amazing here, and it is shame that both he and Scott were nominated in the same year. It really is hard to compare the performances in anyway other than that they are both brilliant. Nicholson portrait of his character is intense, and incredibly effective. He never seems to seek sympathy from the audience, but it is exceedingly hard to not to become invested in his incredible performance.
1. George C. Scott in Patton- Good prediction Dinasztie. Now this a rather difficult decision, although I felt perhaps with going with Nicholson, but that was before I re-watched Patton. It is not that this is a performance that stands far above Nicholson's performance, both their performances simply stand beyond other performances that it is hard to compare performances this good. They are both incredible in their depictions. I pick Scott's performance not because of any difference in quality, but I just love Scott's amazing characterization of Patton, that is flawless. I really can't say anything why he beats Nicholson, but I simply have to choose just one, I suppose if I was an actual voter I would have voted for Nicholson though, since Nicholson wanted win, Scott supposedly did not care.
