1935 – Victor McLaglen
The Informer
Victor McLaglen took home the Oscar for his performance in this film, and I think he absolutely deserved it. And he beat out some pretty big Hollywood names like Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. McLaglen was incredible. He played an Irish man who betrays not only his good friend, but the whole Irish Republican Army at the same time, by going to the police as an informer. All that for twenty pounds.
But the character of Gypo Nolan was so cleverly written, and so brilliantly played. He didn’t do it just for the money. He did it because everyone was so poor. His girlfriend was so poor, she was walking the streets as a prostitute to make enough money to live. He did it to give her enough money to get out of Ireland and go to the States. But Gypo wasn’t a smart man. With such a wealth of money in his pocket, he ends up blowing most of it on alcohol and getting so drunk he can barely stand. When his IRA buddies catch up with him and question him about the informer that got his friend killed by the police, Gypo does his best to lie and blame an innocent man. But the longer the night goes on, the more his guilt makes him drink. The more he drinks, the more money he spends. In the end, he only gives his girl five pounds, but thinks he is giving her the whole twenty.
McLaglen played the part perfectly. There were some incredibly powerful scenes where he had to run the full gambit of emotions. From happy drunk to guilt-ridden, from angry to remorseful. The scene where he eventually confesses to being the informer, he is in tears, sobbing over and over again, “I didn’t know what I was doing.” It was heart-wrenching to watch. Such a great performance!
I’ve actually never heard of Victor McLaglen outside of this movie, but apparently he was an actor whose career lasted nearly forty years. And I say good for him. He did a fantastic job in this film. His emotional depth was so raw, so real. He was captivating on the screen. He didn’t have the typical face of a Hollywood leading man, but he had talent to spare. I’d be very interested to see more films with him as part of the cast. It is no wonder he took home the Oscar for his performance in this incredible film.