bogie and oscar

Humphrey Bogart won his only Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The African Queen. After re-watching the film the other night I couldn't help thinking it was almost a shame. I've always felt he was a bit 'hammy' in the role of Charlie Allnut. It is a fine performance but doesn't nearly match the subtlety and power of his portrayal of Rick Blaine in Casablanca (for which he was also nominated, but lost to Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine).

What is more stunning is that Bogie was nominated only once more - in 1954 for his masterful performance as Lieutenant Queeg in The Caine Mutiny. He lost to Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. Such were the embarrasment of riches in the Best Actor category that year. Ironically enough, when Bogart won in 1952 for The African Queen, he had bested Brando's definitive portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. One could call Brando's '54 award payback if it were not one of the most inarguable outcomes in Academy Award history. I could even go so far as to speculate that Bogart got the nod in '52 because Academy members were atoning for passing him over for Casablanca. Likelier still, the notoriously conservative Academy was suspicious both of Brando's "Hollywood newcomer" status when he made Streetcar and his technique of of Method Acting, which was still confined almost exclusively to the stage. Though since BAFTA also awarded Bogie a Best Actor for The African Queen, maybe I doth protest too much.

Were I handing out Oscars, I surely would have added Key Largo and The Big Sleep to the films for which Bogart was recognized.