The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1971
Strong year, 1971. Especially in terms of who won. Check this out. First, Best Actor — Gene Hackman, for The French Connection. Classic character, great performance, not totally win-worthy, but the category isn’t all that strong, so it makes sense. Then, Jane Fonda wins her first Best Actress Oscar for Klute. Definitely the best decision in that category, and she as an actress definitely deserved it. And then this category — Cloris Leachman … I mean, it’s Cloris! Agree or disagree — it’s Cloris. And then Best Supporting Actor was Ben Johnson for The Last Picture Show, which is the one decision this year I really disagree with, mostly because I love Roy Scheider (and because Johnson didn’t do anything in the film).
Then you have The French Connection winning Best Picture and Best Director (which I talked about here), which I find to be amazing decisions because the film really signifies what the 70s were all about as a decade. Sure, people will say A Clockwork Orange should have won, but, me, I’ll take The French Connection any day. Kubrick belongs on his own level. But, that’s 1971. It might be considered weak compared to some other years from the 70s, but its actually very strong on its own.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1971
And the nominees were…
Ellen Burstyn, The Last Picture Show
Barbara Harris, Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
Cloris Leachman, The Last Picture Show
Margaret Leighton, The Go-Between
Ann-Margret, Carnal Knowledge (more…)
B+ Movie Blog 