I was wondering if anyone besides me thinks Edward G. Robinson's potrayal of Johnny Ricco was deserving of a Best Supporting Oscar. Yeah, I know it would have been tough to beat Walter Houston's crazy, old gold prospector performance in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre".
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I just watched this film earlier, and I really was blown away by his performance. You didn't even see an actor, just this self-absorbed, needy gangster.
"Make me wanna holler, the way they do my life."
-Marvin Gaye
Half of the roles that man played were worthy of a nomination.
The problem is who he portrayed, a gangster. Many of his best roles were gangster portrayals and hollywood was hesitant to give awards for those.
Remember james cagney wasn't nominated for his great roles as a gangster either but won the oscar for yankee doodle dandy..
Correction.. Cagney was nominated for angels with dirty faces in 1939. His performances in public enemy and white heat were better and the roaring 20s was at least equal to that but didn't garner nominations..
sharei agree, i wasnt that impressed with treasure and walter huston.
i think that eddy g robinson should have most definately won that oscar.
(ironic, isn't it, that most of the best actors of all time won maybe one or two oscars, as lots of not so good actors have won a lot, or at least been nominated for a lot.)
"You're not a star until they can spell your name in Karachi."- Humphrey Bogart
Robinson just WAS Johnny Rocco, see?
shareEdward G was awesome - also gave excellent work in "The Cincinnati Kid" in a more genial role. I love the early scene when Bogie describes all the wicked deeds of Johnny Rocco and Robinson says 'Yeah, Yeah - I was ALL those things -- AND MORE!" No modesty for this grim villain.
:-) canuckteach (--:
Great actor. Where are the great character actors like that today?
I recently watched Alan King in the role of Angelo in 'The Anderson Tapes' (1971) and his delivery is a dead ringer for Eddie G., the similarity was so stark I nearly jumped out of my chair!
shareEdward G. Robinson definitely stole this film! I think he should've at least gotten on Oscar nomination for it. His character was needy and rude and heartless and he played the part with perfection. They just don't have actors of his caliber anymore.
"You dipped the chip, took a bite - and you dipped again." - Timmy
Probably a toss up between the 2 great performances. I have no problem with walter huston it's just that those of us who love eddie G are sore he never won a real oscar and that sucks!
Again i think eddie's portrayal as a gangster was perhaps taken for granted he di it so many times.
Robinson completely steals the show in this one. I prefer to see him as the main actor, and Bogie merely in a supporting role.
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I agree. He should have been nominated.
shareNo knock on either Robinson or Bogart but they were playing their established Warner Brothers personas of gangster and disillusioned cynic who sticks his neck out for nobody. Robinson's practically Little Caesar seventeen years later. But on the other hand, this is the last Warner Brothers film where Bogart played a Rick-like role, and Robinson's first gangster role in five years, and neither man would ever again have such a good showcase for those types they embodied so well. Bogart's remaining great parts are far away from the Rick image, and Robinson's remaining worthwhile films cast him outside the gangster image, though he'd play gangsters again off and on until close to the end of his career and was up for THE GODFATHER at one time.
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