The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1945
The last of the 1945. We’ll dispense with all the bells and whistles and just recap.
The Lost Weekend wins Best Picture, Best Actor for Ray Milland (talked about here), and this category. Joan Crawford wins Best Actress for Mildred Pierce (talked about here). Best Supporting Actor was James Dunn for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (talked about here), and Best Supporting Actress was Anne Revere for National Velvet (talked about here). All of them were great decisions.
And then this category is self-explanatory. Wilder should have won the year before this, and directed the Best Picture winner this year, so this is cut and dry.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1945
And the nominees were…
Clarence Brown, National Velvet
Alfred Hitchcock, Spellbound
Leo McCarey, The Bells of St. Mary’s
Jean Renoir, The Southerner
Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1972
1972 is so easy to recap. Two films won most of the awards.
The Godfather wins Best Picture and Best Actor for Marlon Brando (talked about here). Cabaret wins Best Director for Bob Fosse (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actor for Joel Grey (talked about here). I’m of the opinion that The Godfather should have just won everything.
The only non-Godfather/Cabaret winner was Best Supporting Actress, which went to Eileen Heckart for Butterflies are Free (talked about here). That was one of the weakest Best Supporting Actress categories of all time.
And then this category. This is one of the weakest categories I’ve ever seen. Just glancing at it, you can pick out an easy winner. I mean — it’s not even close. Like, at all. Not even a little bit.
BEST ACTRESS – 1972
And the nominees were…
Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues
Maggie Smith, Travels with My Aunt
Cicely Tyson, Sounder
Liv Ullmann, The Emigrants (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1989
Everyone knows 1989. We all have opinions. No need to talk about it. We’ll let the individual articles do the talking.
Driving Miss Daisy wins Best Picture and Best Actress for Jessica Tandy (talked about here). Veteran Oscar. Best Actor was Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot (talked about here), and Brenda Fricker also won Best Supporting Actress for the film (talked about here). And Oliver Stone won Best Director for Born on the Fourth of July (talked about here).
And then there’s this category. I don’t really know what to do with it. It’s — I don’t know. Smells like a makeup Oscar to me. (Which isn’t a surprise, considering the Academy’s treatment of Denzel and their blatant racism throughout history.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1989
And the nominees are…
Danny Aiello, Do the Right Thing
Dan Aykroyd, Driving Miss Daisy
Marlon Brando, A Dry White Season
Martin Landau, Crimes and Misdemeanors
Denzel Washington, Glory (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1957
I love 1957. It begins and ends with The Bridge on the River Kwai. It’s a Lean year.
The film wins Best Picture, Best Director for David Lean (talked about here), and this category. Terrific all around. And you have 12 Angry Men also up for Picture and Director to keep it interesting (and honest). I like that.
Best Actress was Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve (talked about here). Probably a top ten decision of all time in that category. Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were Red Buttons (talked about here) and Miyoshi Umeki (talked about here) for Sayonara. I am on the record about despising both decisions.
And then we’re left with this category, which to me is an open and shut case. Go Alec!
BEST ACTOR – 1957
And the nominees were…
Marlon Brando, Sayonara
Anthony Franciosa, A Hatful of Rain
Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai
Charles Laughton, Witness for the Prosecution
Anthony Quinn, Wild is the Wind (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1935
1935 is a weak year for me. I don’t like it very much. Mutiny on the Bounty is a great film and a classic film, but it’s not my favorite film from 1935 (that would be The Informer. And Top Hat, but that wasn’t winning). It’s the only Best Picture winner to not win any other award (and be nominated for them. Not like Grand Hotel, which was only nominated for Best Picture).
Victor McLaglen wins Best Actor for The Informer, which was a terrific decision. He was fantastic. And John Ford also wins Best Director for the film (talked about here). Hmm…maybe that’s a sign that the film was actually better than the film that won, don’t you think?
And this category — what the hell? Bette Davis wins by default. Don’t think she didn’t. There was such an outcry that she wasn’t nominated for Of Human Bondage the year before this (which she should not have won for at all) that, after a write-in campaign that almost got her the win, they pretty much were willing to give her this one for just about anything she put up on screen. And I didn’t think she was that good.
BEST ACTRESS – 1935
And the nominees were…
Elisabeth Bergner, Escape Me Never
Claudette Colbert, Private Worlds
Bette Davis, Dangerous
Katharine Hepburn, Alice Adams
Miriam Hopkins, Becky Sharp
Merle Oberon, The Dark Angel (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1971
I love 1971 because a real 70s film won. There are few films that perfectly encapsulate the 70s more than The French Connection. What a great film. All due respect to A Clockwork Orange and The Last Picture Show (and even Nicholas and Alexandra and Fiddler on the Roof… strong year), but The French Connection should have won.
Gene Hackman won Best Actor for the film (talked about here), which I love, and William Friedkin won Best Director for it (talked about here), which he deserved (between this and The Exorcist, he deserved a statue).
Best Actress this year was Jane Fonda for Klute, which was also a very 70s decision. I like it. And Best Supporting Actress was Cloris Leachman for The Last Picture Show (talked about here), which I’m okay with, even though I’d have gone another way.
And then there’s this category. I don’t like it. Not even a little bit. I just don’t see it at all. I don’t see it in the performance or the actor. Add to that one of my favorite actors in a great film, and I just can’t abide this one.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1971
And the nominees were…
Jeff Bridges, The Last Picture Show
Leonard Frey, Fiddler on the Roof
Richard Jaeckel, Sometimes a Great Notion
Ben Johnson, The Last Picture Show
Roy Scheider, The French Connection (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1962
Love 1962. Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird — what more do you need?
Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean (talked about here). Gregory Peck wins Best Actor for To Kill a Mockingbird (talked about here). Anne Bancroft wins Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (talked about here). All perfect. Then, Best Supporting Actor was Ed Begley for Sweet Bird of Youth (talked about here). I don’t like that one so much. But it’s not that bad, so it’s just unfortunate rather than terrible.
And then this category — holy shit. Scout Finch and Helen Keller. The two performances that were achieved here — by children, no less. Wow. Just wow.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1962
And the nominees were…
Mary Badham, To Kill a Mockingbird
Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker
Angela Lansbury, The Manchurian Candidate
Shirley Knight, Sweet Bird of Youth
Thelma Ritter, Birdman of Alcatraz (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1928-1929
1928-1929. The second year of the Oscars. This is the only year that didn’t have any official nominees. That is, people were just given ballots and voted, and whoever won, won. And I think the nominees that were listed were based off of who got the most votes. There are also a couple of issues to deal with for this year, but let’s recap first before we get into that. There were no Supporting categories, so it’ll be quick.
The Broadway Melody wins Best Picture. The first talkie to win, and the first musical to win. Of the nominated films, it was the one that did the most. That is, it used sound to its full effect, and, the industry being in the state that it was, that’s all it took to win. Obviously it wasn’t a particularly strong winner, but it makes sense. They needed to have a sound film win. Best Actress this year was Mary Pickford for Coquette, which — she’s Mary Pickford. She was the biggest female star in the business. Of course they’d give her an Oscar. So that’s fine. And Best Director was Frank Lloyd for The Divine Lady, which seems like a weak choice.
Okay, so now we’re at this category. The problem that gets posed with this one is — The Patriot is a lost film. All we have are some clips from a trailer and stuff that survived. So we have to go in blind on that. That makes it slightly tougher, since — none of the nominees seemed particularly Best Actor-worthy. So, this is one of those where concessions need to be made.
BEST ACTOR – 1928-1929
And the nominees were…
George Bancroft, Thunderbolt
Warner Baxter, In Old Arizona
Chester Morris, Alibi
Paul Muni, The Valiant
Lewis Stone, The Patriot (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1945
1945 is a solid, if not very memorable Academy year. The Lost Weekend is a strong film and a good Best Picture choice (based on the nominees), but in the whole of the Best Picture history, it’s not one of the more memorable winners. The other categories are strong too, but again, not particularly memorable unless you know them well.
Billy Wilder won Best Director for the film, which was a great decision, since it was the Best Picture winner, and because he probably should have won for Double Indemnity the year before this. Ray Milland also won Best Actor for the film (talked about here), which was a terrific decision all around. Best Supporting Actor this year was James Dunn for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (talked about here), which was just phenomenal, and Best Supporting Actress was Anne Revere for National Velvet (talked about here), which was also terrific.
And then this category — I was torn for the longest time on who to vote for. I’m still not entirely certain of who I’ll vote for. Either way though, Joan Crawford having an Oscar is a good thing, so however I vote, this worked out.
BEST ACTRESS – 1945
And the nominees were…
Ingrid Bergman, The Bells of St. Mary’s
Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
Greer Garson, The Valley of Decision
Jennifer Jones, Love Letters
Gene Tierney, Leave Her to Heaven (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1965
I love 1965. It’s such a strong year. And the decisions were largely great. In fact, almost all great.
The Sound of Music wins Best Picture. That’s pretty clear cut. Best Actor was Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou (talked about here), which, as I say, is a good decision because Lee Marvin is awesome, but a terrible one because Richard Burton and Rod Steiger gave much better performances. Best Actress was Julie Christie for Darling (talked about here), which is a top ten Best Actress decision for all time. Best Supporting Actor was Martin Balsam for A Thousand Clowns (talked about here), which was a good decision in what was one of the weakest Best Supporting Actor categories of all time. And Best Supporting Actress was Shelley Winters for A Patch of Blue (talked about here), which was a terrific decision. She was awesome in the film.
And, that leaves us with this category, which — what did you think was gonna happen?
BEST DIRECTOR – 1965
And the nominees were…
David Lean, Doctor Zhivago
John Schlesinger, Darling
Hiroshi Teshigahara, Woman in the Dunes
Robert Wise, The Sound of Music
William Wyler, The Collector (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1950
Ah, 1950. Everyone has an opinion on 1950. So I won’t editorialize too much. I’ll just recap.
All About Eve wins Best Picture, Best Director for Joseph L. Mankiewicz (talked about here), and this category. It beat Sunset Boulevard for Best Picture and Sunset Boulevard and The Third Man for Best Director.
José Ferrer wins Best Actor for Cyrano de Bergerac (talked about here), beating Jimmy Stewart for Harvey. Judy Holliday wins Best Actress for Born Yesterday (talked about here), beating Anne Baxter and Bette Davis for All About Eve and Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard. And Josephine Hull wins Best Supporting Actress for Harvey (talked about here). That category was pretty strong too.
As you can see — lots of people have opinions on this year.
Then we have this category, which is actually pretty clear cut. So that’s nice.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1950
And the nominees were…
Jeff Chandler, Broken Arrow
Edmund Gwenn, Mister 880
Sam Jaffe, The Asphalt Jungle
George Sanders, All About Eve
Erich von Stroheim, Sunset Boulevard (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1946
1946 is a simple year. The Best Years of Our Lives wins Best Picture, Best Actor for Frederic March (taked about here), Best Supporting Actor for Harold Russell (talked about here) and Best Director for William Wyler (talked about here). All were perfect decisions, and were going to happen no matter what, given the film’s subject matter and its timeliness about a major historical event. I know we all love It’s a Wonderful Life, but it didn’t have a chance.
Best Actress this year was Olivia de Havilland for To Each His Own (talked about here). That was a perfect decision, and she was well overdue by this point.
That actually covers it for the year. The only category left is this one, which was a terrific choice, since the category was really weak, and, based on performance and historical factors involving hindsight, this was actually the best decision in the category.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1946
And the nominees were…
Ethel Barrymore, The Spiral Staircase
Anne Baxter, The Razor’s Edge
Lillian Gish, Duel in the Sun
Flora Robson, Saratoga Trunk
Gale Sondergaard, Anna and the King of Siam (more…)
