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…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1936
I call 1936 the year with the first “Academy” film. That is, a film that seemed designed from the start to win Best Picture won Best Picture. The Great Ziegfeld is one of those films that has everything the Academy looks for in a Best Picture, and it makes perfect sense that it would win.
Luise Rainer also won Best Actress for the film (talked about here), which I don’t really like as a decision, but would have been okay with it, if only she didn’t also win Best Actress the year after this. Best Actor this year was Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur (talked about here), which is a good decision, since Muni deserved an Oscar, but I felt it came a year too early. Best Supporting Actress (the first in the category’s history) was Gale Sondergaard for Anthony Adverse (talked about here), which makes no sense to me. And Best Director was Frank Capra for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (talked about here), which I really can’t even begin to fathom for a lot of reasons. That was a very poor choice, I felt.
And now we have the very first Best Supporting Actor category in the history of the Oscars. The problem with it is — when you look closely at it — it stinks. It’s weak as hell. But fortunately, Walter Brennan is Walter Brennan, so him winning alleviates any concerns of how shitty the category is.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1936
And the nominees were…
Mischa Auer, My Man Godfrey
Walter Brennan, Come and Get It
Stuart Erwin, Pigskin Parade
Basil Rathbone, Romeo and Juliet
Akim Tamiroff, The General Died at Dawn (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1962
Love me some 1962. You get Lawrence of Arabia and you get To Kill a Mockingbird. And the great thing about it is — you know Lawrence was winning no matter what, so there’s really no argument to be had. We can just be happy for all the great movies.
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). Perfect decisions, naturally. Best Supporting Actor was Ed Begley for Sweet Bird of Youth (talked about here), which is the lone poor decision for the year, but since it came in so minor a category it isn’t so bad. And Best Supporting Actress was Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker, which, she played Helen Keller. Obviously it was a good decision.
Bringing us to this category, which only had two choices, and I feel they made the right one.
BEST ACTRESS – 1962
And the nominees were…
Anne Bancroft, The Miracle Worker
Bette Davis, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Katharine Hepburn, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Geraldine Page, Sweet Bird of Youth
Lee Remick, Days of Wine and Roses (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1954
1954 is a real easy year to recap.
On the Waterfront wins Best Picture, Best Director for Elia Kazan (talked about here), Best Supporting Actress for Eva Marie Saint (talked about here), and this category. All perfect decisions, obviously.
The two non-Waterfront winners were, first, Grace Kelly as Best Actress for The Country Girl. This is perhaps the most hotly contested Oscar category of all time, so you can read my thoughts on the matter here. And the other was Best Supporting Actor, which went to Edmond O’Brien for The Barefoot Contessa (talked about here). I’d have preferred a Waterfront nominee, but O’Brien was definitely worth an Oscar, so the decision works.
And then here — it’s Brando, it’s Waterfront. That “contender” speech alone gives him this Oscar.
BEST ACTOR – 1954
And the nominees were…
Humphrey Bogart, The Caine Mutiny
Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
Bing Crosby, The Country Girl
James Mason, A Star is Born
Dan O’Herlihy, Robinson Crusoe (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1943
I love 1943. The synopsis goes by so quickly.
Casablanca wins Best Picture and Best Director for Michael Curtiz (talked about here). I rest my case.
Paul Lukas wins Best Actor for Watch on the Rhine (talked about here). Second worst Best Actor-winning performance (and probable worst Best Actor decision) of all time. Really terrible. Jennifer Jones wins Best Actress for The Song of Bernadette (talked about here). Makes sense, and was a solid choice, since Ingrid Bergman was nominated for the wrong film (not Casablanca). And Best Supporting Actor was Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier (talked about here). Great decision, although it breaks my heart to see Claude Rains lose.
Then there’s this category. Weak as hell, completely irrelevant, historically, and thoroughly forgettable in every way. The decision almost doesn’t matter.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1943
And the nominees were…
Gladys Cooper, The Song of Bernadette
Paulette Goddard, So Proudly We Hail!
Katina Paxinou, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Anne Revere, The Song of Bernadette
Lucile Watson, Watch on the Rhine (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1999
Most people know 1999, so I’ll save the editorial.
American Beauty wins Best Picture, Best Director for Sam Mendes (talked about here), and Best Actor for Kevin Spacey (talked about here). Hilary Swank wins Best Actress for Boys Don’t Cry (talked about here), and Angelina Jolie wins Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted (talked about here). All pretty standard. I’m sure most people have opinions on this year.
And this category — I understand it, but don’t love it. Michael Caine is Michael Caine. I get it. Performance-wise? Terrible choice. Why not Cruise, I have no idea.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1999
And the nominees were…
Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules
Tom Cruise, Magnolia
Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Haley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense (more…)
