The Short List is a compilation of supporting performances that either outshine the lead or complement it extremely well. While I won't go out of my way to exclude Oscar-nominated performances, I probably won't include Oscar-winning performances because the general idea here is to highlight supporting roles that were not awarded and this is my way of recognizing their greatness. Often, they come in movies not as famous or not as well received and this accounts for the great performances within being ignored (Charles Grodin's hilarious turn in the ill-received Kong remake being a good example).
The list will be added to here and, for certain inductees onto The Short List, a short write-up about their performance will be provided on Cinema Styles. New additions will be added to the list regularly.
Paul Benjamin in Do the Right Thing
Len Cariou in The Four Seasons
John Cazale in Dog Day Afternoon
Noel Coward in Bunny Lake is Missing
Sammy Davis, Jr in Sweet Charity
Robert DeNiro in Bang the Drum Slowly
Melvyn Douglas in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House
Glenda Farrell in Mystery of the Wax Museum
Barry Fitzgerald in The Catered Affair
Nina Foch in An American in Paris
Frederic Forrest in Apocalypse Now
Betty Grable in The Gay Divorcee
Charles Grodin in King Kong
Gene Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde
Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz
Carol Haney in The Pajama Game
Hal Holbrook in Capricorn One
Stanley Holloway in My Fair Lady
Edward Everett Horton in Lost Horizon
Katie Johnson in The Ladykillers
Jeffrey Jones in Amadeus
Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon
Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz
Elsa Lanchester in The Big Clock
Cloris Leachman in Young Frankenstein
Richard Libertini in The In-Laws
Bela Lugosi in The Body Snatcher
Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein
Elaine May in Small Time Crooks
Frank Middlemass in Barry Lyndon
Jason Miller in The Exorcist
Dudley Moore in Foul Play
Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons
Maria Ouspenskaya in The Wolf Man
Joe Pantoliano in Risky Business
Richard Pryor in Silver Streak
Douglas Rain in 2001: A Space Odyssey
John C. Reilly in Magnolia
Thelma Ritter in Rear Window
Mickey Rourke in Body Heat
Margaret Rutherford in Blithe Spirit
John Savage in The Deer Hunter
Everett Sloane in Citizen Kane
Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein
Russ Tamblyn in West Side Story
Raymond Walburn in Riding High
Orson Welles in The Third Man
Gene Wilder in Bonnie and Clyde
