In fact, how did he not any ANY awards for this role? The speech he gives in this film, his testimony, is one of the most powerful and harrowing minutes I have ever seen on screen.
The Nameless
I am not what I am
He was fairly good, but compared to Schell, Tracy, Clift and even Garland he didn't exactly stand out from the crowd. There were a lot of great performances in this movie.
shareI'm a real Lancaster fan, but like many, I thought he was miscast here, just like he was in COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA. Even in middle-age, Lnacaster had an energy and a robustness that is all wrong for the character of Janning. And the bad accent didn't help. The film would've done better to cast Paul Lukas, who played Janning in the TV version. Lukas of course, had an accent and gave off an air of weary, broken authority. Plus, he was much more age-appropriate. But Lukas was not a box-office name, something needed for a downbeat subject like this.
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
I'll also show support for Lancaster.
Moving, mostly naturalistic, and effective performance.
I think both Lancaster and Widmark are the only actors not deserving of Oscar Noms because their characters were, though great, one-dimensional. Lancaster didn't show any emotion and while delivering a fantastic guilt speech he was pretty much used as a sort of pathos-driven red herring until the very end. Schell made this movie. His performance was by FAR the best and he deserved the statue.
All Movie Reviews www.cultfilmfreaks.com