1939 – Brian Aherne
Juarez
I’ll be honest, Brian Aherne is one of those actors whose name I don’t recognize at all. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the name before, and I don’t remember his face. Whenever that happens, I have to look up a filmography to see if I recognize any of the films they’ve been in. But I didn’t recognize any of them. I think he did a fine job. In Juarez, he played the supporting role of Maximillian I of Mexico, but I almost think he should be recognized as the film’s lead. Yes, he was up against the Hollywood superstar Paul Muni, but his part was just as big, he had just as much, if not more screen time, and he had to shoulder the lion’s share of the film’s deep dramatic content.
He is a Habsburg who is duped into becoming the King of Mexico by Napoleon III of France. However, the common people all favor Benito Juarez as an elected president, rather than him as an appointed monarch. But rather than abdicating the throne and stepping down when he learns of Napoleon’s plot, he tries to do right by his fabricated position, and is eventually captured and executed by Juarez. And in fact, his death was the climax of the movie. If anything, I think he should have gotten a Best Actor nomination instead of Supporting Actor.
So he is supposed to be a European aristocrat, and he pulled it off just fine. He was supposed to be noble, up to the point of death. He did that believably. He was supposed to be a romantic man who is very much in love with his wife, he did that, too. But it was the quieter dramatic scenes where he really earned his Oscar nomination. His wife, who had gone to France to confront Napoleon for his underhanded political scheming at her husband’s expense, has lost her sanity, and fails to return to him. And as much as he wanted to go to her, his complete dedication to his position forced him to remain, and be put to death.
Aherne handled those moments with a deep sense of honor and quiet dignity. Of course, it helped that, as a British actor, he had that innate stiff upper lip and calm composure in the face of terrible danger. It is a trait shared with most British film actors. And he really looked the part with his perfect hair and that crazy beard!