The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1948
I consider 1948 to be the single worst Best Picture choice in the history of the Academy. Simply because the category was so stacked, and they went with the worst possible choice. Of a category that included The Red Shoes, Johnny Belinda, The Snake Pit and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Hollywood, an industry based in southern California in America, chose Hamlet, a British production, as their Best Picture. Fortunately, they did not make the same mistake with Best Director, which went to John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (talked about here).
Best Actress this year was Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (talked about here), which I consider a top five Best Actress decision for all time. Best Supporting Actor was Walter Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (talked about here), which was about 12 years coming for the man, and is a decision I love very much. And Best Supporting Actress was Claire Trevor for Key Largo, which I don’t like very much at all.
And then there’s this category, which — I do actually like a lot. I mean, Bogie wasn’t nominated, but outside of that, they made the best choice within the category. Olivier is a legend.
BEST ACTOR – 1948
And the nominees were…
Lew Ayres, Johnny Belinda
Montgomery Clift, The Search
Dan Dailey, When My Baby Smiles at Me
Laurence Olivier, Hamlet
Clifton Webb, Sitting Pretty (more…)
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