MovieChat Forums > The Conversation (1974) Discussion > 1974 Best Actor?

1974 Best Actor?

posted 12 years ago by wallsofjericho
7 replies | jump to latest

The nominees were

Al Pacino- The Godfather Part 2
Jack Nicholson- Chinatown
Dustin Hoffman- Lenny
Albert Finney- Murder on the Orient Express
Art Carney- Harry and Tonto (winner)

If you believe Hackman should have been nominated, who would you have replaced him with? And do you think he deserved to win had he been nominated? I would have probably replaced him with Finney or Carney, both are very good performances but not as good as Gene in this. Overall my line up would have been:

1) Al Pacino- The Godfather Part 2
2) Gene Hackman- The Conversation
3) Jack Nicholson- Chinatown
4) Dustin Hoffman- Lenny
5) Gene Wilder- Young Frankenstein

[–] davidfcochrane 12 years ago

Replace Finney with Hackman and leave the other four, giving the win to Hackman. This was really a strong year for this category - none of them would have been undeserving if they had won.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

It´s between Pacino and Hackman and, perhaps, Pacino winning by the thinnest of hairs. Never really understood the overflowing acclaim Nicholson receives for Chinatown - he´s very good there, but not really at his very best and from amongst his more reserved performances, the ones he gave in Five Easy Pieces & The Last Detail are easily better. Certainly no threat to Pacino/Hackman. Haven´t seen Lenny or Harry & Tonto, but I´d be extremely surprised if Hoffman or Carney (who the hell IS Art Carney, anyway?) came even close to Pacino´s/Hackman´s work.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] chninlp 8 years ago

It's between Nicholson and Hackman, of course, both blatantly superior than the inferior Pacino performance of which the actor has the same expression for most of the film and worse, is merely an imitation of the same performance of the second half of one of the greatest films of all time.

Conversely, Nicholson and Hackman had to appear in every single scene of their films, and as a result, the credibility of every single scene depended on their acting.

[–] valis1984 8 years ago

who the hell IS Art Carney, anyway?

The answer to a very difficult pub quiz question.

"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations" Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

[–] DracTarashV 11 years ago

Not an easy thing to do, but I would place Hoffman's performance in "Lenny" ahead of Hackman's.

All behold the spectacle! - Vlad Drac

[–] Jruizbu 10 years ago

I haven't seen Harry and tonto but since Carney got the win Id have to leave him on the list. Definitely replace Finney with Hackman and Hackman winning. Finney's character was fun and a fine performance but not much depth there. At least Gene got a globe nomination *fart*

[–] edlitz36 8 years ago

I really don't understand why the Academy, Golden Globes and such have to restrict themselves to the rigid 5-slot nomination ballot. If there are indeed 8 or 9 fantastic Oscar-worthy performances by leading men in the same calendar year, then why not just nominate all of them?? In the end, you're only going to award a single winner (unless there's a tie) so what would it hurt?

Art Carney - Harry and Tonto
Al Pacino - The Godfather: Part II
Jack Nicholson - Chinatown
Dustin Hoffman - Lenny
Albert Finney - Murder on the Orient Express
Gene Hackman - The Conversation
Gene Wilder - Young Frankenstein
James Caan - The Gambler

All outstanding (some career best) performances that were Oscar-caliber.

Religion should be made fun of. If I believed that stuff, I'd keep it to myself. -Larry David