Did Chaney deserve an Oscar? - Of Mice and Men (1940) Discussion

[–] pocomarc 16 years ago

Lon Chaney Jr. also deserved a supporting actor's Oscar for his roles in HIGH NOON and also in THE DEFIANT ONES.

He was terrific.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] paulgraygras72 15 years ago

I think his Wolfman portrayal (the scenes as Larry) were full of pathos and to me the most heart tugging of the whole Universal Cannon, the guy was a fantastic actor, marred only by his love of drink and perhaps a lack of confidence due to following in his dads footsteps. Cant help loving the guy.

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[–] DarthVoorhees 15 years ago

Chaney most definatly deserved an Oscar nomination if not the win for this film. Of Mice and Men fell victim to a great year for movies. If this was released a year earlier it probably could have won Best Picture

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[–] xij_luke 15 years ago

thats the thing about chaney he may have been in some bad movies, make that a ton of bad movies but he was always good in them he always brought all his cards to the table, save of course "tales of tommorow"

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[–] techniscope 15 years ago

gable didn't win (which was a shock) that year, robert donat won best actor for Goodbye, Mr. Chips and thomas mitchell won best supporting actor for Stagecoach. i understand mitchell won for his body of work in 1939, but i definitely would have given that award to chaney jr. just brilliant!

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[–] TorontoJediMaster 15 years ago

Chaney deserved a nomination, at the very least.

I think it's a shame that he's not more respected as an actor. It was his misfortune that he was always compared to his father. As well, he suffered the bad luck that he went into horror films at the wrong time. When he went into horror films at Universal in 1940/41, horror pictures were being downgraded to "B" productions made for mass entertainment during the war years. Ten years prior, Universal's horror department was a prestige place, that turned out true classics of the genre.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Great_Ape 13 years ago

He deserved a nomination. His portrayal of the character has become part of our culture. He created a unique, "mentally challenged" individual with a distinct personality.

Many actors have played mentally challenged people; but how many created unique personalities? I can only think of three off-hand: Chaney Jr. in this film, Leonardo DiCaprio in Gilbert Grape, and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.

I thought Sean Penn in "I Am Sam," was typical. And John Malkovich in the newest adaptation is terrible IMO, laughable in a bad, cringworthy way.

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[–] cynical_lefty 13 years ago

To me, there were two great crimes committed at the 1939 Academy Awards...Jimmy Stewart didn't win Best Actor for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Lon Chaney, Jr wasn't even nominated for Of Mice and Men...Stewart got Oscar recognition later, but Chaney was just unfortunate... if Of Mice and Men came out any other year, Chaney surely would have been nominated, and probably would have won for Best Supporting Actor.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] TheGoodMan19 12 years ago

He did. But so did Thomas Mitchell (more for GWTW than Stagecoach). Brian Donlevy deserved it for Beau Geste. Brian Aherne deserved for Juarez. Leslie Howard deserved it for Gone With the Wind.

Tough year.

He's not hiding in this stove
Oh, ho he's hiding in the stove, eh

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[–] mandrake62 12 years ago

Very often great character actors are just taken for granted even though they create one of a kind characters like Cheney, Lugosi and Karloff did. I would add George "Gabby" Hayes to that list. The actors that created these iconic characters deserved more respect. It is only later that they are appreciated for what they did

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[–] colleenrose91 12 years ago

I know what you mean. I was more than irked that Entertainment Weekly negelected to mention Lon Chaney Jr as Lennie in their article about "Great Actors that were never even nominated for an Oscar. In words of Groucho Marx (After Judy Garland lost to Grace Kelly for Best Actress 1954)"It was the greatest robbery since Brink's!"

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[–] g_dekok 12 years ago

Gable was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to the late, great Robert Donat for his work in "Goodby, Mr. Chips".

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[–] guy_in_west_houston 11 years ago

The more I watch movies, the more I lose respect for "Oscar winning" performances. I think Lon Chaney Jr. was a fine actor. But Hollywood loves to give Oscars when the actor is required to either use an accent or portray a disability. Then there are sympathy Oscars like those given to an aging Henry Fonda. To me, there's a difference between "acting" and being an actor.

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