Best Actor

1977 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerSaturday Night FeverJohn TravoltaAnxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.Amazon

1946 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerHenry VLaurence OlivierIn the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.Amazon

1937 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerBaltic DeputyNikolay CherkasovA film based on the life of the Russian scientist, Klement Timiriazev, who taught at Cambridge and Oxford and was awarded the Newton Mantle for his work. Timiriazev, one of the few ...AmazonBehold the ManHarry BaurAmazonBlack LegionHumphrey BogartWhen a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.AmazonConquestCharles BoyerA Polish countess becomes Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she could influence him to make Poland independent.AmazonMayerlingDanielle DarrieuxRudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, is fettered on all sides. He's bored; his father, the emper...

1938 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerAlgiersJoseph CalleiaBeautiful Gaby meets a romantic jewel thief in the mysterious Casbah.AmazonAngels with Dirty FacesJames CagneyA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.AmazonBoys TownSpencer TracyWhen a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child, Father Edward Flanagan decides to do something about. An advocate of child...AmazonChristinePierre BlancharChristine, newly widowed and consumed by the memory of a ball she attended age 16, decides to track down the men she danced with that night and discover their fates.AmazonFour DaughtersJohn GarfieldAdam Lemp, the Dean of the Briarwood Music Foundation, has passed on his love of music to his four ...

1939 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerConfessions of a Nazi SpyFrancis LedererFBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-War espionage activities of the German-American Bund.AmazonConfessions of a Nazi SpyPaul LukasFBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-War espionage activities of the German-American Bund.AmazonPort of ShadowsMichel SimonA military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.AmazonStagecoachThomas MitchellA group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.AmazonThe Roaring TwentiesJames CagneyThree men attempt to make a living in Prohibitionist America after returning home from fighting together in World War I.AmazonWuthering He...

1940 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerEscapeConrad Veidt1938: A young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.AmazonOur TownWilliam HoldenChange comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. People grow up, get married, live, and die. Milk and the newspaper get delivered every morning, and nobody locks...AmazonRebeccaGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.AmazonThe Baker's WifeRaimuA small village rejoices at the arrival of a new baker. But when his young wife runs off with another man, he is unable to keep baking and the vil...

1941 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerBirth of the BluesBing CrosbyJeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. ...AmazonCitizen KaneGeorge CoulourisFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance; 'Rosebud'.AmazonCitizen KaneOrson WellesFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance; 'Rosebud'.AmazonHere Comes Mr. JordanJames GleasonBoxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.AmazonHere Comes Mr. JordanRobert ...

1942 National Board of Review - Best Actor Winner49th ParallelAnton WalbrookA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.AmazonAcross the PacificSydney GreenstreetIn December 1941, ex-army captain Rick Leland boards a Japanese ship heading to Asia via the Panama Canal where his Japanese hosts show interest in the American defense plans for the canal zone.AmazonFor Me and My GalGene KellyTwo vaudeville performers fall in love, but find their relationship tested by the arrival of WWI.AmazonH.M. Pulham, Esq.Charles CoburnA man who lived his life as he was was told he should, not as he would have chosen to, is brought out of his shell by a beautiful young woman.AmazonH.M. Pulham, Esq.R...

1943 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerHappy LandHarry MorganIn a typical American Midwestern city, Hartfield, Iowa, Lew Marsh (Don Ameche) is the owner of a drugstore. Everyone knows Lew and knew his grandfather, old "Gramp" Marsh (Harry Carey), who...AmazonThe Cross of LorraineCedric HardwickeA group of French soldiers during WWII are captured by Nazis troops and sent to a military prison. There they will have to make use of his best resources to keep alive... and sane, while at the same time scheming a way out.AmazonWatch on the RhinePaul LukasA German-born engineer, his American wife and their children travel from Mexico to the United States to visit her family but their plans are complicated by a Romanian count.Amazon

1944 National Board of Review - Best Actor WinnerGaslightIngrid BergmanYears after her aunt was murdered in her home, a young woman moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret that he will do anything to protect, even if it means driving his wife insane.AmazonGoing My WayBing CrosbyFather Charles O'Malley, a young priest at a financially failing Church in a tough neighborhood, gains support and inspires his superior.AmazonHail the Conquering HeroEddie BrackenWoodrow is discharged from the military for hay fever, but fabricates receiving a heroic honorable discharge before returning home.AmazonHail the Conquering HeroFranklin PangbornWoodrow is discharged from the military for hay fever, but fabricates receiving a heroic honorable discharge before returning home...