getter for Best Actor. At the time, the NYCC  was second in prestige only to the Academy Awards (and some actors  and filmmakers considered it a superior honor) and was a major  influence on subsequent Oscar nominations. A vocal faction of the  NYFCC, dismayed by the rather low percentage of votes that would  have given Keach the award, successfully demanded a rule change so  that the winner would have to obtain a majority. In subsequent  balloting, Keach failed to win a majority of the vote, and he lost  ground to his main rival, Marlon Brando (qv) in  _Godfather, The (1972)_ (qv) However, Brando could not gain a  majority either. A compromise candidate, Laurence Olivier (qv) in  _Sleuth (1972)_ (qv) eventually was awarded Best Actor honors.