Best Supporting Actor 1979: Results

5. Melvyn Douglas in Being There- Melvyn Douglas is not bad ever in Being There but he never really does anything in the film. He has some nice talks and he plays the part as it should be but his character really requires nothing of him.

4. Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion- Mickey Rooney is a very nice presence in this film. He plays a standard mentor/teacher role much better actually than he needed to. I like how he stayed quiet and just was a good part of the film.

3. Frederic Forrest in The Rose- Forrest is very good here and adds a lot to the film. I like how he underplays his role and shows a realistic portrait of a man who has gotten in a relationship with a women he cannot fully understand.

2. Justin Henry in Kramer Vs. Kramer- Henry is just about perfect in his role but he is always spot on. He is always real and seems really like a kid in this situation not some false movie kid. An important role to the film and Henry is completely up to his task.

1. Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now- Robert Duvall takes a risky approach to an odd ball of a character and his risk completely pays off. Duvall is perfect as Col. Killgore. He some how never seems false in a role of pure insanity. He is excellent because he makes Kilgore the most fascinating part of Apocalypse Now despite the shortness of his part. Robert Duvall therefore joins Laurence Olivier, Rod Stieger and Walter Huston as actors with two wins from me.

Deserving Performances:Frederic Forrest in Apocalypse Now
Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now

Best Supporting Actor 1979: Frederic Forrest in The Rose

Frederic Forrest received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Huston Dyer in The Rose.

The Rose is a film about a fictional rock singer the Rose (Bette Midler) clearly based on Janis Joplin. I found it to be interesting at times and did get better as it continued. Although at the beginning I found it was trying far too hard  to be abrasive.

Frederic Forrest received a nomination for this film and he could have easily received one for his work in Apocalypse Now too. It is interesting to see him in too rather different roles, although both characters were soldiers at least at one time. Huston Dyer is a chauffeur who becomes the lover of The Rose. Forrest seems essential to this film since when he shows up I felt the film greatly improved since he was more relaxed  natural presence than anyone up until that point.  He seemed to improve the tone of the film and he seemed to make Midler act better really. She became far more natural and less over the top when he arrived in the film.

I like Forrest here as a normal guy who tries to help the Rose but sees that he really cannot really understand or relate to her life style. He starts out perfectly as very interested in her and tries to help her, but slowly becomes less interested and more offended by her lifestyle. Forrest is perfect at showing Dyer's slow change from loving the Rose to being frustrated by her again and again. I liked Forrest because he never over did anything in his performance. He kept it understated and internalized very well. He never overacts and keep his performance realistic and natural. His performance is essential to the film because his leaving of the Rose causing Rose's extreme decay, although his leaving was in part do to her inability to stop her slow descent anyways. Forrest is a good presence throughout the film and adds a normal man's view to the film perfectly. He never overacts and creates a very needed realistic performance for this film. He really could have been nothing but he makes his performance and character stand out as well as possible.

Best Supporting Actor 1979: Justin Henry in Kramer vs. Kramer

Justin Henry received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Billy Kramer in Kramer.

Justin Henry is the youngest nominated actor in this category and is child actor performance. Now a child actor can have a few problem, one thing is they can be bad and it seemed like no one had the heart to tell them, or they can just try to be cutesy all the time. Luckily Justin Henry has neither of these problems associated with his performance. He plays the incredibly important role of the child whose life changes when his parents divorce and his father (Dustin Hoffman) now must take care of him.

I like his performances because Henry just seems like a real kid in this situation rather than some movie kid. He mostly is not used for cuteness except one brief scene involving a Woman Hoffman has a one night stand with. But other than Henry really plays it straight and realistically. He shows that this kid is not the perfect child but has his own flaws and anger at his mother for leaving and at his father for some of their fights they have. One especially strong scene that shows this is when the Kramer and his son fight at the dinner table and Henry's character stops listening to his father. I like how naturally he shows his characters brief bratty behavior that really makes Billy Kramer a three dimensional child. Then his crying at his father's angry reaction to him disobedient behavior is equally as important, and then finally their scene where they make up is outstanding. There barely ever is a false note in his performance, and he and Hoffman are perfect together. Their relationship is essential to the power of the film and they succeed completely. Both actors are excellent throughout the film really coming off as a real father and son. Their relationship shows a true history and honesty that makes this film work. Henry never seems inexperienced nor does he ever try to force his performance. He just comes off as completely natural in this performance, and fulfilling part of the film essential to its success.

Best Supporting Actor 1979: Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion

Mickey Rooney received his fourth and final Oscar nomination for portraying Henry Dailey in The Black Stallion.

Black Stallion is a some what interesting film about a boy and his wild horse, not great or anything special, but a nice film.

Mickey Rooney plays Henry Dailey a character who does not show up until the second half of the film. Henry Dailey is a retired horse race jockey who befriends and helps the boy. He helps him by trying to teach him to be a good jockey, and being able to compete in a horse race with his incredible fast horse. He is a mentor character who has his various scenes of training the boy and the horse and giving little motivational speeches. But do not forget he had his past in horse racing and has a possible regrets involving that.

Rooney plays a fairly standard role here but I like how he played it. He never over did the character. He never tried to over do the niceness of him or the way he trains. Rooney never tries to show off or steal scenes in this performance. He just wants to be a nice presence which he is. He never is great but he is always very realistic in his portrayal. He acts as warm and kind but never becomes an overly sentimental character. He shows the past of the character well, but does not over do his character's feeling about his past. Rooney never becomes amazing in his performance nor does he have to. He needs to be just a nice part of this nice story and that is exactly what he is.

Best Supporting Actor 1979: Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now

Robert Duvall received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now.

Apocalypse Now is a fascinating film because it is not some standard anti-war film, but it rather shows a fascinating portrait of war like no other.

Robert Duvall's nomination here is interesting, because he actually not is not in the film for that long of time, and he is only in the film near the beginning. He makes no reappearances, he is just one of the stops on Captain Willard's (Martin Sheen) journey to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). Kilgore's scenes are quite possibly the strongest scenes in the film, showing Kilgore's far more organized and strong attacks. A uniform army opposed to the later scene in the film. Almost all the other stops I felt Willard still held the most attention and this is because of Robert Duvall.

Robert Duvall does not have a lot of time but he makes the most of it with his performance Kilgore. From the moment he is introduced I am fascinated by him. Duvall is perfect with his absolutely perfect posture at first. Always in command physically, never does he not seem to be in full command of the situation since Duvall shows that no one can stand taller about himself than Kilgore. I like the way Duvall speaks in all of these scenes with almost always slight yell into his voice as if Kilgore is always giving out orders. Duvall simply is completely in control of all these scenes because he as Kilgore is such an incredibly strong presence. Duvall creates that aura which Willard mentions about Kilgore. It really appears that nothing can touch Kilgore because of Duvall.

Kilgore represents a more romanticized view of war, and Kilgore looks upon the war in a more romantic sort of way. Duvall makes Kilgore's view of war and battle completely realistic with his straight and consistent approach to Kilgore. Kilgore is in fact insane so much so that he almost casually goes through battles more interested in talking about surfing than being involved in the battle at times. Duvall is fascinating in playing this insane man as a man whose mannerisms and such are perfectly sane, but his actions are constantly crazy. Such as when he shows such concern for a incredibly wounded man by letting him drink out of his canteen, but then instantly forgets about the man after hearing something about surfing.

Duvall is excellent and interesting throughout his performance showing his comradeship with his men well in the camp fire scene and again Duvall is always perfect at showing his views. His best scene is the famous line of the smell of napalm. This line would not be quite as famous if it were not for Duvall's absolute perfect way of stating it. The way he states this line is much like the rest of the performance.Duvall leaves a powerful memory and creates an incredibly memorable character as Kilgore. He never seems false despite the insanity of Kilgore and the risky nature of the performance, which is a true achievement.

Best Supporting Actor 1979: Melvyn Douglas in Being There

Melvyn Douglas won his second Oscar from his third and final Oscar nomination for portraying Benjamin Turnbull Rand a dying wealthy businessman in Being There.

Melvyn Douglas plays an old man that really would only be found in the film Being There. Since he is among the many people taken by Peter Seller's simply Chance the Gardener.  He misinterprets him as an incredibly intelligent man who merely has simple takes on things. Now this seems okay that the old man believes this but than when almost everyone in the world starts to see him this way it becomes a bit far fetched. I do have to give credit to Douglas in that he makes such a false interpretation the most believable  out of all the characters's false interpretations but even his is not entirely realistic.

Douglas is not actually in the film all that much. He shows up time to time in his weakened state to talk nicely to Chance or his wife (Shirley Maclaine). He never does anything all that amazing in his performance, but he is a nice enough presence in the film. The role simply only consists of these nice talks, his character never gets emotional in any way he just stays calm and gentle in a very businessman way. I do not have a single problem with the way Douglas performs the character, he performs just as it should be played, but his performance simply never becomes anything that special. He is fine in every scene and I like him being there (No pun intended) but his role simply is not a challenge.

Best Supporting Actor 1979

 And the Nominees Were:

Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now

Frederic Forrest in The Rose

Melvyn Douglas in Being There

Justin Henry in Kramer Vs. Kramer

Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion

 Who do you Pick? What do you predict my ranking will be?