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The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1930-1931
This is one of the exciting years. You see, I assume that most people aren’t familiar with the Oscars. Why would you? That’s what I’m here for. And even if someone does have some knowledge about the categories, like who won Best Supporting Actress in 1985 (Anjelica Huston), I can be pretty certain that there’s an even smaller percentage of those people who really know about the 1927-1933 years. Again, why would you?
1930-1931 is kind of the second real definitive Oscar year. That is, the first year was Wings, and that was an establishing year. Then the second year was a mess, because they were dealing with shifting over to sound, so The Broadway Melody won, since it was the biggest film that used sound the best. Then 1929-1930 was All Quiet on the Western Front. That was the real first year where they chose an “Academy” decision. That film is just wonderfully made. And this year, Cimarron won Best Picture, which is an epic western, based on a bestselling novel — a prestige picture. Of course it was going to win. It’s a pretty good film. I personally prefer the film that won Best Director this year, Skippy. Norman Taurog directed the hell out of it, and I’ll further discuss my love for the film shortly.
The other award this year that wasn’t this one (remember, no Supporting categories until 1936) was Marie Dressler winning Best Actress for Min and Bill. This decision makes a lot of sense, because Min Dressler, at age 62, was the biggest star in Hollywood at the time. Her winning Best Actress was a way of validating the category. The same thing happened in this category. Lionel Barrymore was, at this time, what Laurence Olivier was in the 50s. Which is why, no matter how I feel about who should have won, this decision ultimately was the right one.
BEST ACTOR – 1930-1931
And the nominees were…
Lionel Barrymore, A Free Soul
Jackie Cooper, Skippy
Richard Dix, Cimarron
Frederic March, The Royal Family of Broadway
Adolphe Menjou, The Front Page Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1994
1994 is a very contentious year among people my age. More so than the Shakespeare in Love/Saving Private Ryan thing. The reason for that is — Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction. All three great films. Everyone has their preference. And even if you don’t, everyone recoils and is like, “Ooh…yeah. That’s tough.” I’m not getting into which was best here (I always take Quentin. Just saying.), but I’ll leave it at, Forrest Gump wins Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor for Tom Hanks, his second in a row, and the one of the two I actually think is a good decision.
Also this year, Jessica Lange finally wins her overdue Best Actress award for Blue Sky, mostly because her category was really weak, and her only competition was from Jodie Foster, who clearly gave the best performance in the category, but won twice already within the past seven years, and, she went full retard. Trust me, both things were factors. That’s why Lange won. And Best Supporting Actor this year was Martin Landau for Ed Wood. A great performance. It also beat Sam Jackson for Pulp Fiction and Gary Sinise for Forrest Gump. Mostly Sam Jackson. That was a tough pill to swallow, even though I love Landau’s performance there.
Anyway, that does it for everything else. Now, here — I hate this category. Hate it. I completely disagree with two of the nominees, and one film got nominated twice. So I count that as three, and I’m looking for alternatives. Guess what? There aren’t any. Unless we want to nominate Sally Field for Forrest Gump. We could stretch it and nominate Robin Wright Penn for it instead of Sally, but, Penn was clearly in the “lead” type role. But hey, they were possibilities. People seem to love Heavenly Creatures. How about nominating one of those two? Hell, give me something interesting. This is such a lifeless category.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1994
And the nominees were…
Rosemary Harris, Tom & Viv
Helen Mirren, The Madness of King George
Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
Jennifer Tilly, Bullets over Broadway
Diane Wiest, Bullets over Broadway Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1974
1974. The Godfather Part II wins Best Picture. Francis Ford Coppola wins Best Director for it after not winning for the first one (which I talked about here). And Robert De Niro wins Best Supporting Actor for the film as well (talked about here). Art Carney wins Best Actor for Harry and Tonto, a decision I consider the single worst Best Actor decision of all time (which I bemoaned here). And Ingrid Bergman wins Best Supporting Actress for Murder on the Orient Express (talked about here). Which means two things. One, aside from one terrible decision and one poor one, this was a rather stellar year. And two, this is actually the last category from this year I’ve yet to discuss. This might be a first for me.
Anyway, this particular category is the most interesting of the bunch (even more so than the abortion that was Best Actor this year), mostly because there were three legit competitors this year. Like, legit contenders. You have Faye Dunaway, who pretty much cemented her overdue status with this performance. In a way, she was building toward her Network performance that eventually won her the award. But still, she was good enough to win here. Then there was Gena Rowlands, who delivered a tour de force performance in A Woman Under the Influence, which, even though she wasn’t due, she did deliver the strongest performance in the category. And then there was Ellen Burstyn, who delivers a very good performance and was overdue. You see, the year before this (talked about here), she probably should have won Best Actress for The Exorcist (it wouldn’t have been a sexy decision, but it was the right one, I feel). Her not winning there basically assured she’d win here. But for me — I have to choose between these three performances. I have my work cut out for me, don’t I?
BEST ACTRESS – 1974
And the nominees were…
Ellen Burstyn, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Diahann Carroll, Claudine
Faye Dunaway, Chinatown
Valerie Perrine, Lenny
Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1938
1938 is such a weak year. It’s like the Academy, having the chance to make bold choices, got nervous and went with the sure thing. How can it be falling into its own stereotype when it’s only 11 years old? You Can’t Take It With You wins Best Picture. It’s a fine film, a really great one, but is definitely not a Best Picture winner. Frank Capra wins his third Best Director trophy in five years. 1934, 1936, and this one. Did he need it? Absolutely not. I talked about it here. It’s really strange the Academy went with the film, especially when The Adventures of Robin Hood, Pygmalion and especially Grand Illusion were also up for Best Picture.
Best Actress this year was Bette Davis for Jezebel, winning her second Best Actress trophy in four years. I’m a big opponent of this decision. I’ll talk about it eventually. Definitely not a fan. Fay Bainter wins Best Supporting Actress for the film, which is a very good decision, for both legitimizing the category and also because she was nominated for Best Actress this year, so that was a good choice. And Best Supporting Actor was — guess who — Walter Brennan for Kentucky. This was his second of three, winning every other year out of five, just like Frank Capra.
So, I consider 1938 a failed year. They had a chance to really do something interesting, then took the safe choice. We really shouldn’t be surprised. The Academy will often take the safe choice. Oh, and did I mention? I consider this specific category to be the SECOND WORST BEST ACTOR DECISION OF ALL TIME. How’s that for a lead in?
BEST ACTOR – 1938
And the nominees were…
Charles Boyer, Algiers
James Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces
Robert Donat, The Citadel
Leslie Howard, Pygmalion
Spencer Tracy, Boys Town Read the rest of this page »
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1969
1969 is the year 1967 really took effect. You see, 1967 is generally marked as the year where the Academy — and Hollywood in general — finally turned that corner and embraced more modern films. Bonnie and Clyde is the landmark film here. The depiction of violence was unheard of and was the start of those wonderful 70s films I (and a lot of people, I’d imagine) fetishize so much. But really, when you look at the Oscars — nothing really changed for two years. In the Heat of the Night wins in 1967, which, sure, it’s a look at racism, but, looking at the other four nominees that year, it was the second weakest choice in the bunch. Then 1968 was just a weak year in general (it was kind of like Hollywood releasing the excess water in the pipes while getting the good stuff ready for 1969), and then 1969, they finally went modern.
Midnight Cowboy wins Best Picture, Which was really the turning point for the next decade. Personally, I’d have picked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but I can see why they went the way they did. Midnight Cowboy was written by a formerly blacklisted writer, and it was a kind of rejection of the old ways. I understand. John Schlesinger wins Best Director for the film, which makes sense. Best Actor was John Wayne for True Grit, perhaps the most acceptable career achievement Oscar ever. Best Actress was Maggie Smith for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which I talked about here. And Best Supporting Actress was Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower.
In all, I’d consider 1969 a very good year. My preferences lean the other way for the major two awards, but, hey, it’s not like they made a bad decision. So, in all — a good year. A forbearer of (mostly) great things to come.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1969
And the nominees were…
Rupert Crosse, The Reivers
Elliott Gould, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider
Anthony Quayle, Anne of the Thousand Days
Gig Young, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Read the rest of this page »
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