Latest
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1950
This one hurts. A lot. On the surface, you could look at this category and be like, “Oh, of course, All About Eve.” But if you look closer, you see it beat Sunset Boulevard and The Third Man. How could All About Eve have been a better directorial effort than those two? Especially the latter, which is considered one of the top ten or twenty (top five for me) best directorial efforts of all time? As you can see, I won’t even hide my contempt for this decision.
The rest of this year was — well, not very good. I don’t really like it all that much. All About Eve wins Best Picture, which I guess is okay. I prefer Sunset Boulevard, but, meh. Not gonna quibble that much. Best Actor was José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac, a rather forgettable decision. Especially when you had William Holden in Sunset Boulevard and Jimmy Stewart in Harvey as the other choices. Best Actress was Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday, which, I liked as a performance, but am not totally sure about as a decision. After all, she beat Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard (not to mention Bette Davis and Anne Baxter — more so Anne Baxter — for All About Eve). Best Supporting Actor was George Sanders for All About Eve, which is a pretty good decision (it was between him and Erich von Stroheim — a much more historical decision). And Best Supporting Actress was Josephine Hull for Harvey, which I think is pretty good.
So, in all, I find this to be a bad year. Even the okay decisions are very questionable, and it’s all topped by this horrendous cherry on top.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1950
And the nominees were…
George Cukor, Born Yesterday
John Huston, The Asphalt Jungle
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve
Carol Reed, The Third Man
Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1981
Oh, 1981. Chariots of Fire. I think we can leave that decision to speak for itself. Best Director this year was Warren Beatty (which I talked about here), which was better than the alternative of Hugh Hudson winning for Chariots of Fire. Best Actor this year was Henry Fonda, finally winning his long overdue Oscar for On Golden Pond (which I talked about here). Best Supporting Actor was John Gielgud, winning for his wonderful turn as Hobson in Arthur. And Best Supporting Actress was Maureen Stapleton, also winning for Reds.
So, in all — a good year for the acting decisions, but a terrible, terrible year for Best Picture. That’s really all there is to say about the year. As for this category — you know, I have to say, even though she had three of them already, this wasn’t a bad decision. There really wasn’t any other choice. Not really, anyway.
BEST ACTRESS – 1981
And the nominees were…
Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
Diane Keaton, Reds
Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant’s Woman Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1944
1944. Don’t love it. Like Going My Way a lot, don’t like it as a Best Picture winner. Double Indemnity was a much better film and choice. Bing Crosby as Best Actor (which I talked about here) I like as a decision. Leo McCarey as Best Director for the film (which I talked about here), I do not like.
Ingrid Bergman winning Best Actress for Gaslight is a choice I think had to happen. I, personally, would have went with Barbara Stanwyck, but, as a decision in and of itself, it makes sense. Ethel Barrymore as Best Supporting Actress for None But the Lonely Heart — it is what it is. Veteran Oscar. Don’t like it, but, what can you do? So, the year is pretty ho-hum for me. It’s just kind of there.
This category in particular — there was really no other option. It was pretty weak, and you had a lead role going supporting, one that was really good at that — there was no other choice.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1944
And the nominees were…
Hume Cronyn, The Seventh Cross
Barry Fitzgerald, Going My Way
Claude Rains, Mr. Skeffington
Clifton Webb, Laura
Monty Woolley, Since You Went Away Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1960
I do not want to talk about this category. I want to skip over it and leave it as is. I can’t win no matter what I do here. On one hand, Billy Wilder wins this category for a film that, along with Some Like It Hot, defines his career. On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock directed Psycho. Wilder had an Oscar (three, in fact) already. He won for directing The Lost Weekend and producing it (it won Best Picture). Then he won Best Screenplay for Sunset Boulevard. He also won Best Screenplay this year as well. So in all he won 6 Oscars. Hitchcock won zero. And yet, The Apartment is probably one of my top ten or twenty favorite films of all time. So I can’t win no matter what I do. I hate that.
As for the rest of 1960, The Apartment wins Best Picture, which, I feel is one of the best decisions of all time (but, I’m biased. Still, I think most people can agree that it’s a very good decision). Best Actor was Burt Lancaster, for his fantastic turn in Elmer Gantry. Shirley Jones also won Best Supporting Actress for the film. Best Actress was Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8, which is one of the more — controversial Best Actress decisions of all time. Most people acknowledge that Liz won because they thought she was dying and that Shirley MacLaine really should have won. Best Supporting Actor this year was Peter Ustinov for Spartacus.
So, overall, I think this is a pretty good year. I personally would have went another way on Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress — and then there’s the matter of this category — but overall, I think this is a very successful year. This feels like a strong 4/5 movie. And I like that.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1960
And the nominees were…
Jack Cardiff, Sons and Lovers
Jules Dassin, Never on Sunday
Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho
Billy Wilder, The Apartment
Fred Zinnemann, The Sundowners Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1953
And the final of the 1953 categories (at least, as of how the articles are being posted now. Much later down the road, this will only serve to confuse people. And that amuses me). There’s almost nothing to say about the year as a whole now, because it’s all been done before. I love it.
From Here to Eternity basically sweeps most of the awards. It wins Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnemann (talked about here), Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra (talked about here) and this award. Four out of six is pretty good. The other two awards were William Holden for Best Actor (talked about here) Audrey Hepburn for Best Actress (talked about here). As you can see by the winners, this is a very strong year.
As for this category, it’s probably the weakest in bunch in terms of nominees. But, Best Supporting Actress has historically been the category with the weakest set of nominees. Look at most Oscar years, and I bet if you had to pick the weakest category, it would, the majority of the time, be Best Supporting Actress. In this one in particular, there were really only two choices, and of the two, one made the most sense because — well, I’ll let you know when we get to My Thoughts on the matter. Still — this makes a lot of sense.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1953
And the nominees were…
Grace Kelly, Mogambo
Geraldine Page, Hondo
Marjorie Rambeau, Torch Song
Donna Reed, From Here to Eternity
Thelma Ritter, Pickup on South Street Read the rest of this page »
B+ Movie Blog 