Jul 02, 2009 - 04:30 AM

Thanks for the huge reaction to my great performance article last week; lots of great ideas. Yep, I wish the list could have been 25 because it killed me to leave so many great performances off the list. The same thing happened with the supporting performances, there are just so many of them to celebrate.

A supporting performance is very different from a lead in that the actor has less time to make an impact and they never want to pull the focus from the lead or the story. They are there to support both and achieve that all-elusive level of truth. That said, there have been times a supporting performance has haunted a film long after that character has left the screen, until that performance becomes the reason the film is remembered. Consider Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979); we never forget him and he is on screen all of 15 minutes. He, more so than any character in the film, best represents the madness of Vietnam.

In many ways this list was more difficult than last week's, but here we go.

THE GREAT MALE SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES

1. Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now (1979)... as mentioned he dominates the film with just a few minutes of screen time and his line, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning... it smells like... victory," sums up the madness of Vietnam.

2. Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet (1986)... simply the most terrifying character ever put on film, a psychopath who uses drugs to enhance his insanity. Terrifying.

3. Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz (1939)... his Cowardly Lion was a miracle of comic timing and understanding his character was anything but a coward. Best known as a Beckett stage actor, he is forever that lion.

4. Morgan Freeman in Street Smart (1987)... as a dangerous pimp manipulating a newsman for his own advantage, Freeman is astounding. One look and we understand how dangerous he is.

5. George C. Scott in The Hustler (1961)... as Bert, the cruel manager of a pool hustler, Scott is the devil incarnate, devoid of any emotion or feelings.

6. Robert de Niro in The Godfather Part II (1974)... Portraying the young Vito Corleone rising to power in the early 20th century, De Niro is a miracle, winning an Oscar for a performance spoken in Sicilian.

7. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)... His performance as Joker was mesmerizing, terrifying, breathtaking, and utterly diabolical in creating chaos... a wonder of screen acting.

8. Robert Shaw in Jaws (1975)... Quint the old shark hunter both loves and hates sharks, and sadly, meets his doom in the jaws of one. A remarkable performance.

9. Karl Malden in On the Waterfront... His performance as the hell and brimstone preacher is superb, and against even Brando he makes his mark.

10. Bruce Dern in Coming Home (1978)... He cannot wait to get to Vietnam and once there he cannot wait to get home, betrayed by his country. His final moments are shattering.

THE GREAT FEMALE SUPPORTING PERFORMANCES

1. Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939)... her Wicked Witch of the West dominated a million nightmares as she captured the personification of evil. So good, so brilliant.

2. Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)... wickedly funny as a stage diva manipulating a writer to get the role shaped to her satisfaction. Funny, sexy, and drunk she is a delight.

3. Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (1939)... Mammy, the heart and soul of the film, the only one who understands how right Rhett is for Miss Scarlett... and can say nothing.

4. Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)... in portraying a mother who left her child to become a better mother, Streep is superb and never once the monster we expect her to be.

5. Kim Hunter in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)... as earthy Stella, once a southern belle, Hunter is brilliant at conveying the manner in which she has accepted being common.

6. Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)... as a man (yep a man), Billy Kwon, Hunt is simply astounding, gently setting the plot in motion which will lead to her doom.

7. Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain (2003)... A jarring piece of acting as Zellweger jumps off the screen at you as rough and tumble Ruby Thewes. Her best work.

8. Annette Bening in The Grifters (1991).. .a tour de farce from leggy Bening as a twisted thief and liar who will use anything, including her body, to get what she wants. Devious.

9. Olivia de Haviland in Gone with the Wind (1939)... Poor Melanie. The only decent person in Scarlett's life and she treats her like dirt until her death.

10. Kathy Bates in Primary Colours (1998)... as a tough talking, bitchy lesbian working on getting a man elected President, Bates has never been better.

John Foote, director of the Toronto Film School, is a nationally known film historian/critic and a Port Perry resident. Get more reviews at www.footeonfilm.com. Contact him at jhfoote@xplornet.com.