Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry - In the book of deserving causes, they ought to have pictures of Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin. For had these actors headed for the wings without winning the biggest prize of all, it would have been a sad, sad affair indeed. But as Marvin's drunk act in Cat Ballou ought only to have earned cheap laughs, so Burton's too-much performance as a con man preacher in Elmer Gantry should have been singled out as an example of trying too hard. Better the ex-acrobat win for his muscular performance in From Here To Eternity, his understated playing in Atlantic City or his twinkling supporting turn in Bill Forsyth's Local Hero. As for the man Marlon Brando nicknamed 'Lee Moron', his stone killer in Point Blank or his doughty sergeant in Sam Fuller's The Big Red One should have done the trick.
Paul Newman, The Color Of Money - Newman's another of those legendary figures who ought to have been handed an Oscar long before he actually won one. And it wasn't as if he didn't give the Academy enough opportunities to grant him the award. The Hustler, Sweet Bird Of Youth, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, The Verdict - the blue-eyed boy from Ohio pulled one great performance after another out of his ass throughout the '60s and '70s. But though he was presented with a honorary gong in 1986, the big brass ring remained out of reach. Or, at least, it did until he reprised the role of The Hustler's 'Fast' Eddie Felson in The Color Of Money the following year. Which is a superb performance, but next to James Woods' and Bob Hoskins' work in Salvador and Mona Lisa respectively, Newman wound up looking like a charity case.
Al Pacino, Scent Of A Woman - As you might have gathered by now, the Academy's very good at giving talented actors Oscars for anything but their best performances. Take Tom Hanks - he won a brace of prizes for his worthy work in Philadelphia and his frankly bizarre performance in Forrest Gump when surely his turns in Apollo 13, Saving Private Dying and Cast Away were more Oscar-worthy? And then there's Alfredo James Pacino who was nominated for The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, ...And Justice For All and Glengarry Glen Ross but won for his overcooked blind shtick in Scent Of A Woman. That Al won the year Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington and Robert Downey Jr were nominated for Unforgiven, Malcolm X and Chaplin made his 'triumph' every bit as embarrassing as his acting.
Denzel Washington, Training Day - He's a modern-day great is Denzel Washington. A Sidney Poitier figure only with more panache and sex appeal, 'Denz' has been the best thing about some pretty average movies (American Gangster, the Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 remake) and the stand-out feature of a couple of classics (Malcolm X, Devil In A Blue Dress, Cry Freedom). Crime drama Training Day, meanwhile, is merely an okay movie. It was this film, though, that saw our man add a Best Actor prize to the supporting gong he'd won for the God-awful Glory in 1989. So next time you see the Philadelphia star appearing in a movie people would catch Cholera to avoid, don't be too hard on Denz - he probably thinks pieces of shit are the only thing the Academy has any interest in.
Adrien Brody, The Pianist - He can't lose. That's what the smart people thought when Michael Caine was nominated for his cracking performance in 2002's The Quiet American. While he'd won a brace of Best Supporting prizes (for Hannah And Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules), Southwark's favourite son had never taken out the big one. If there was anyone who might deny Sir Michael his moment in the sun it was Daniel Day-Lewis who'd brought his self-imposed exile to an end to appear in Gangs Of New York. Michael, Daniel and Co had reckoned without Adrien Brody, however. Perfectly adequate in Roman Polanski's The Pianist, no one seemed more surprised than the 29-year-old when Halle Berry pulled his name out of the envelope. And how has Brody capitalised on his success. By appearing in one below-par movie after another, that's how.