The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1947
1947 is a pretty weak year, I feel. Gentleman’s Agreement was the obvious choice for Best Picture, but the nominees felt really weak. The Bishop’s Wife is weak, Crossfire is a B movie, and, in a stronger year, it would be more awesome that it got nominated. Here, it brings the rest of the nominees down. Great Expectations also doesn’t help make the nominees any stronger, even though it’s a great film. And Miracle on 34th Street also doesn’t help make things stronger. So, while they made the right choice, I can’t help but feel the year is a blank in history. The other categories don’t help matters much.
Ronald Colman wins Best Actor for A Double Life, which is a career achievement award. The category was really weak. Gregory Peck gave the best performance, but he won one later, so the Colman win works. Though, again, it doesn’t help this year seem stronger. Best Actress went to Loretta Young for The Farmer’s Daughter, which is considered by many (but not me. You know my preoccupation with 1970) to be the worst Best Actress decision of all time. Rosalind Russell really should have won that for Mourning Becomes Electra. Then Best Supporting Actor was Edmund Gwenn for Miracle on 34th Street (talked about here), which makes perfect sense, since he played Santa Claus. The lone strong decision of this this year (outside of this category). And Best Supporting Actress was Celeste Holm for Gentleman’s Agreement (talked about here), which is a good decision, but the category was really shitty. It doesn’t help the year any.
And the year is capped off by this decision, which — what the hell did you think they were gonna do?
BEST DIRECTOR – 1947
And the nominees are…
George Cukor, A Double Life
Edward Dmytryk, Crossfire
Elia Kazan, Gentleman’s Agreement
Henry Koster, The Bishop’s Wife
David Lean, Great Expectations (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1979
Oh, this is tough. This may be my favorite Best Actor category of all time. They’re all really good in this category. They all either gave awards-worthy performances or were terribly overdue. And also gave awards-worthy performances. Just — wow. Before we get into it, let’s recap.
I’m not a fan of the the overall 1979 at all. Kramer vs. Kramer wins Best Picture over Apocalypse Now, All That Jazz, Norma Rae and Breaking Away. Those last two, I can abide. The first two, I cannot. Same goes for Best Director. Robert Benton (for Kramer) beats Francis Ford Coppola and Bob Fosse (talked about here). That’s the worst offense of all. The direction didn’t carry that film, writing did. That’s what makes me unable to abide the Best Picture decision. The weak, “Here you go,” of giving it Best Director too. Meryl Streep also won Best Supporting Actress for the film, which, as I said here, is a perfect decision. When Meryl wins a category, she really wins a category.
Sally Field as Best Actress for Norma Rae, which, as I said here, is a great decision. And Best Supporting Actor was the biggest offense of them all. The worst decision in the history of the that category. Melvyn Douglas wins for Being There, beating Robert Duvall for Apocalypse Now. Even Dustin Hoffman, upon accepting his award for Best Actor, after saying he refused to believe he beat “Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Peter Sellers,” said, “I refuse to believe Robert Duvall lost.” That’s how bad it was.
Which brings us into this category — it’s a great one.
BEST ACTOR – 1979
And the nominees are…
Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer
Jack Lemmon, The China Syndrome
Al Pacino, …And Justice for All
Roy Scheider, All That Jazz
Peter Sellers, Being There (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1954
1954. On the Waterfront. Case closed. It wins Best Picture, Best Director for Elia Kazan (talked about here), Best Actor for Marlon Brando and Best Supporting Actress for Eva Marie Saint (talked about here). All four perfect decisions for all time.
The other decision that wasn’t this category was Grace Kelly for Best Actress for The Country Girl. This is perhaps the single most contested decision in Academy history, as a lot of people feel Judy Garland should have won for A Star is Born. I, personally feel the category is too close to call, and the fact that Grace Kelly also made Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Green Fire and The Bridges at Tokyo-Ri, decidedly tips the scale solely in her favor. That’s just an incredible list there for a single calendar year.
Which brings us to this category. Also, look how short this synopsis was. That’s called restraint. It doesn’t happen often with me. Anyway, this category — the Waterfront log jam led to Edmond O’Brien winning, which, I’m glad happened. Because Edmond O’Brien is the fucking man.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1954
And the nominees were…
Lee J. Cobb, On the Waterfront
Karl Malden, On the Waterfront
Edmund O’Brien, The Barefoot Contessa
Rod Steiger, On the Waterfront
Tom Tully, The Caine Mutiny (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1941
The great thing about the 1940-1945 years is that you could always count on the same actresses being in almost every category. Put it this way: of the 30 nominees for Best Actress between 1940 and 1945, the nominees in just this category account for 15 of them. And add Katharine Hepburn, Jennifer Jones and Ingrid Bergman to that list, and 22 of the 30 nominees are accounted for. That’s pretty insane.
As for 1941 — we all know how bad it was. How Green Was My Valley beats Citizen Kane for Best Picture and John Ford beats Orson Welles for Best Director (talked about here). ’nuff said there. Donald Crisp won Best Supporting Actor for the film, which does actually make sense, though, as I said here, I’d totally have given it to Sydney Greenstreet for The Maltese Falcon. That man is awesome. Then Gary Cooper wins Best Actor for Sergeant York (talked about here), which I don’t like, but understand (you really think they were gonna give it to Orson?). And Best Supporting Actress was Mary Astor for The Great Lie, which is a fine decision, since she was also in The Maltese Falcon this year. So even though it’s for the more forgotten of the two films, it’s cool that she won.
Now for this category. This is pretty cut and dry. It’s a make up Oscar. Everyone understands this, and it’s totally acceptable. Just know, I wouldn’t (and won’t) vote for it. I thought there was a better performance. But since all the principals (for the most part) won Oscars, this is a fine decision.
BEST ACTRESS – 1941
And the nominees are…
Bette Davis, The Little Foxes
Olivia de Havilland, Hold Back the Dawn
Joan Fontaine, Suspicion
Greer Garson, Blossoms in the Dust
Barbara Stanwyck, Ball of Fire (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1950
I’m very on the record about not liking 1950. Let me explain:
All About Eve wins Best Picture. I’m okay with this as a singular decision. I’d have chosen Sunset Boulevard, but this is an acceptable choice. However — with the amount of bad decisions they made in the rest of the categories, this goes from being okay to, “Well, I don’t really like it.” Joseph Mankiewicz won Best Director for the film, which, as I said here, I consider to be the single worst Best Director decision of all time. I know it’s the Best Picture winner and all, but — have you seen The Third Man? Some efforts need to win no matter what.
Best Actor was José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac, which as I said here, I really don’t like as a decision. I accept it because all the principals involved had, or later won, Oscars, but I don’t like it at all. Best Actress was Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday, which, as I said here, is one of the most hotly contested decisions of all time. I think it’s somewhat acceptable, even though I’d have voted for Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. Oh, and George Sanders won Best Supporting Actor for All About Eve. A great decision for all time, there.
Now, this category. The shit of the shit. Best Supporting Actress is usually the weakest category. Also, I swear this wasn’t on purpose, all these double nominees. That must be like the tenth one this month.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1950
And the nominees were…
Hope Emerson, Caged
Celeste Holm, All About Eve
Josephine Hull, Harvey
Nancy Olson, Sunset Boulevard
Thelma Ritter, All About Eve (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1937
I don’t like 1937 at all. I consider it one of the weakest years in Academy history. The Life of Emile Zola wins Best Picture in a real weak decision. It’s the first year the Academy seemed to have not known what to do, and said, “Well, what’s the safe, “Academy” decision?” and went with that. It’s a weak winner. Strong film, but a weak winner. The fact that it didn’t win Best Director tells you it wasn’t an overwhelmingly popular choice. Joseph Schildkraut also won Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here), which makes sense, even though it’s pretty weak and the category really sucked.
Best Director this year went to Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth (which didn’t win Best Picture because it’s a comedy), which, is a good decision, only they made it for the wrong film. McCarey also directed Make Way for Tomorrow this year, which everyone (including him. He said it when he won the award) feels is the film he should have won for. Best Actress this year was Luise Rainer for The Good Earth, which I don’t like at all. Here, they had the opportunity to give an Oscar to Barabara Stanwyck, Irene Dunne and Greta Garbo, and they give it to Luise Rainer (who won the year before this) for a performance that’s just okay. It makes no sense. And Best Supporting Actress was Alice Brady for In Old Chicago, which, as I said here, I understand from a legitimization perspective, but not a category one. Andrea Leeds definitely should have won that.
So that’s why I don’t like 1937. I don’t like any of the decisions. Not one of them. And then there’s this one. I understand it, but I don’t like it.
BEST ACTOR – 1937
And the nominees were…
Charles Boyer, Conquest
Frederic March, A Star is Born
Robert Montgomery, Night Must Fall
Paul Muni, The Life of Emile Zola
Spencer Tracy, Captains Courageous (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1968
Where to begin here… I guess let’s do the recap first.
Oliver! wins Best Picture for 1968. It was the best choice among the nominees, though it was admittedly a very weak set (one of the weakest of all time). Cliff Robertson wins Best Actor for Charly (talked about here), which I feel is a bad decision, and think Peter O’Toole should have won his well-deserved Oscar instead. Best Actress was a tie between Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (talked about here). The two were the best in the category, so it works. Best Supporting Actor was Jack Albertson for The Subject Was Roses (talked about here), which is cool, though I can’t help but wish that Gene Wilder won for The Producers. And Best Supporting Actress was Ruth Gordon for Rosemary’s Baby (talked about here), which, even though I’d have gone another way, is a good decision.
I’ll get this out of the way now, which will save me time when I talk about all the nominees: this is, indeed, one of the worst decisions of all time. Stanley Kubrick should have won this in a landslide. However, this is a completely acceptable scenario, because — not only did Carol Reed win for directing the Best Picture of the year, but him not winning Best Director for The Third Man in 1950 is the single worst decision of all time in that category. So it’s only fitting that he should win his Oscar in the second worst decision of all time in the category. Sure they fucked up, but at least they remedied one of them. (Plus Kubrick got a Special Effects Oscar, so it’s not like he went totally empty-handed. And, I like the fact that he never won, because it makes me think he was above the Academy, which is something I think we’d all like to believe.)
BEST DIRECTOR – 1968
And the nominees were…
Anthony Harvey, The Lion in Winter
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers
Carol Reed, Oliver!
Franco Zeffirelli, Romeo and Juliet (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1985
I hate 1985. Perhaps the nadir of the 80s, this year signifies all that’s wrong with the Academy. From top to bottom, almost all the decisions they made were wrong. Out of Africa wins Best Picture, beating the far superior in every way The Color Purple, which speaks to the Academy’s preoccupation with two things: big, epic Oscar bait films, and racism. They really don’t like black people in the Academy.
Sydney Pollack wins Best Director for Out of Africa (talked about here), which may actually be an okay decision based on the category (it sucked), but the real shame here is the fact that THEY DIDN’T EVEN NOMINATE STEVEN SPIELBERG! Steven Spielberg won the DGA Award for The Color Purple, and the racist ass Academy didn’t even nominate him! How fucked up is that?
Speaking of racism, we’re not done yet. Best Actress this year went to Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful (talked about here). She beat the far superior Whoopi Goldberg, in, you guessed it, The Color Purple. Three — count it — three racist decisions. Add to that Anjelica Huston winning Best Supporting Actress for Prizzi’s Honor (talked about here), which may have been racism (Oprah was certainly better than Huston was), but I’m not going to declare it as such, just because I personally thought Meg Tilly gave the best performance in the category. Oh, and William Hurt won Best Actor for Kiss of the Spider Woman (talked about here), which is the lone good decision in this shitty year.
Oh, but now there’s this category, which would be okay in most years, but here it serves to remind us of the other terrible trend in Academy voting: veteran Oscars for people who give mediocre performances and are getting statues because of their stature.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1985
And the nominees were…
Don Ameche, Cocoon
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa
William Hickey, Prizzi’s Honor
Robert Loggia, Jagged Edge
Eric Roberts, Runaway Train (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1981
1981 is considered the worst year in Academy history. It’s not. In fact, the only part about it that’s so bad was Best Picture. Chariots of Fire is a terrible film. In fact, it’s the only bad film to ever win Best Picture (it should have even been nominated). Every other film that has won Best Picture were (taking into consideration their era) was of a certain quality. (Though, maybe Cavalcade is the other film that could be considered on the level of Chariots of Fire.) Otherwise, all the other choices were films that were good films overall — they just might have been bad choices for Best Picture. This was a film that shouldn’t have even been nominated. That’s why people consider this year so bad.
The rest of the year is actually pretty solid. Henry Fonda (finally!) wins Best Actor for On Golden Pond (talked about here). It had to happen, and was a great decision. Katharine Hepburn also wins Best Actress for the film (talked about here), which, while I’d have gone another way, is a fine decision. The category wasn’t that strong. John Gielgud wins Best Supporting Actor for Arthur (talked about here), which I absolutely love. Everything about that decision appeals to me (it’s one of my favorite films of all time, Gielgud was such a respected actor, and he was awesome in the role). And Best Director was Warren Beatty for Reds (talked about here), which is a fine decision, since Chariots of Fire could have won that too. I personally would have went with Spielberg (Raiders is awesome), but he won two later and Beatty is great.
Which brings us to this category. Supporting Actress is typically the weakest category in a given year, and this is no exception. There really isn’t a choice here, so the veteran win actually works out.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1981
And the nominees were…
Melinda Dillon, Absence of Malice
Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond
Joan Hackett, Only When I Laugh
Elizabeth McGovern, Ragtime
Maureen Stapleton, Reds (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1943
Love me some 1943. Casablanca is such a perfect choice for Best Picture, I’m amazed it won. I really am. It also won Best Director for Michael Curtiz (talked about here), which he had coming to him for a while before this, so it was nice that it worked out the way it did. Now, Best Actor this year is a decision I hate very much. In fact, I think it’s a decision most people hate very much. Because Paul Lukas, who won for Watch on the Rhine, didn’t give that great of a performance. And he beat Humphrey Bogart for Casablanca. What the fuck happened?
Best Supporting Actor this year was Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier (talked about here). And, as I said in the article, while I love the performance, Claude Rains really should have won there. But I’m okay with it (because Claude Rains should have won in 1946 if he didn’t win here. So either way, it’s the Academy’s fault). And Best Supporting Actress was Katina Paxinou for For Whom the Bell Tolls, which, is pretty much a blank, since the category is really weak. I’d have gone another way, but, it’s not that major a decision where it’s good or bad.
Which brings us to this category. The big problem here is that Ingrid Bergman wasn’t nominated for Casablanca. That’s the performance that probably should have won here. Even so, it’s possible that she still could have won based solely on the strength of her year. I don’t think so, since they gave her three Oscars after this, but it’s possible that if she won here, maybe Barbara Stanwyck could have won her well-deserved Oscar the year after this. The world may never know.
BEST ACTRESS – 1943
And the nominees were…
Jean Arthur, The More the Merrier
Ingrid Bergman, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Joan Fontaine, The Constant Nymph
Greer Garson, Madame Curie
Jennifer Jones, The Song of Bernadette (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1975
1975 is a really strong year. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest wins Best Picture over Jaws, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon and Nashville. All (though I’m not the biggest fan of Nashville) would have been acceptable decisions for most people. Cuckoo’s Nest also wins Best Director for Milos Forman and Best Actress for Louise Fletcher (talked about here). I love the Best Actress decision, and, while I accept the Best Director decision, I don’t particularly like it, since Sidney Lumet, Stanley Kubrick and (an un-nominated) Steven Spielberg gave better efforts than Forman did. Forman’s effort was pretty theatrical. Plus Kubrick and Lumet were already overdue by this point.
Best Supporting Actor this year was George Burns for The Sunshine Boys (talked about here), which I like as a decision. Nice way to reward a veteran who gave a great performance. And Best Supporting Actress was Lee Grant for Shampoo, which I also like, since — the category sucked. She was gonna win one at some point, and this was the logical category for her to do it.
Which brings us to this category. A very strong one, performance-wise. And the decision had to happen, however one may feel about it (but I can’t imagine anyone would actually be against it), since Nicholson was way overdue by this point and gave one of the defining performances of his career.
BEST ACTOR – 1975
And the nominees were…
Walter Matthau, The Sunshine Boys
Jack Nicholson, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
Maximilian Schell, The Man in the Glass Booth
James Whitmore, Give ’em Hell, Harry! (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1987
Thank God we’re almost done with 1987. I hate this year. It’s not that they made bad decisions, it’s just — it’s so boring. The Last Emperor is just a boring Best Picture choice. It’s a great film, but does anybody care that it won? Bernardo Bertolucci winning Best Director for it (talked about here) is a good decision, I’ll give them that. But the film is just so boring as a Best Picture winner.
Michael Douglas won Best Actor for Wall Street (talked about here), which is a wonderful decision, and one people can’t complain about because the category is so weak. Best Actress was Cher for Moonstruck, which, as I said here, I hate as a decision. Really hate. Holly Hunter and Glenn Close were such better choices. And Best Supporting Actor was Sean Connery for The Untouchables (talked about here), which — it’s Sean Connery. Of course it’s great.
Which brings us to this category. Oh yeah, we’re looking for alternatives here. I definitely disagree with two of these nominees. And since most of the other three are so weak, I’ll sacrifice any one of those three as a third nominee. Let’s see if there were any other performances worth nominating instead — nothing. At least at first glance. Wow, this year sucked. Every decade has one, it seems.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1987
And the nominees were…
Norma Aleandro, Gaby: A True Story
Anne Archer, Fatal Attraction
Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck
Anne Ramsey, Throw Momma from the Train
Ann Sothern, The Whales of August (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1939
1939 is the best year in the history of movies. That’s not an embellishment. 9 of the 10 Best Picture nominees are legit classic (and amazing) films (Dark Victory is just okay). Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair (later remade as An Affair to Remember), Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Wuthering Heights. All pretty strong, right? Yeah? Now listen to this half of the Best Picture nominees. Stagecoach. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The Wizard of Oz. Oh, and a little film called Gone With the Wind. Yeah. It’s pretty famous.
Gone With the Wind rightfully wins Best Picture, Best Director for Victor Fleming (talked about here), Best Actress for Vivien Leigh and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel. Automatically these are top three decisions of all time in their respective categories. (Well, maybe not Best Supporting Actress. That’s definitely a top ten, though, since she was the first black actor to win an Oscar.) This is a perfect film and deserved every award it won (and even more). Best Actor this year was Robert Donat for Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which, as I said here, is a pretty bad decision. Jimmy Stewart really should have won for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It was so bad they blatantly gave him a makeup Oscar the year after this for a performance that should never have won an Oscar in a hundred years.
So that’s 1939. A brilliant year all around. And then we have this category, which is amazingly strong.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1939
And the nominees were…
Brian Ahene, Juarez
Harry Carey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Brian Donlevy, Beau Geste
Thomas Mitchell, Stagecoach
Claude Rains, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1985
I really hate 1985. Out of Africa was a terrible Best Picture choice. The Color Purple should have beaten it. Geraldine Page was a terrible Best Actress choice for The Trip to Bountiful (as I said here). Whoopi Goldberg really should have beaten her for The Color Purple.
Anjelica Huston was a weak choice as Best Supporting Actress for Prizzi’s Honor (talked about here). Oprah Winfrey or (my personal choice) Meg Tilly should have beaten her, for The Color Purple or Agnes of God, respectively. Don Ameche is an okay choice as Best Supporting Actor for Cocoon, but it doesn’t really help the year any.
And then there’s this category. Steven Spielberg wasn’t even nominated for The Color Purple. And the category just feels so weak and generic without him. The choice here comes down to two people — the Best Picture-winning director (who is a great director in his own right), or the legend who only got this single Oscar nomination. It should be obvious which of the two I’m taking.
BEST DIRECTOR – 1985
And the nominees were…
Héctor Babenco, Kiss of the Spider Woman
John Huston, Prizzi’s Honor
Akira Kurosawa, Ran
Syndey Pollack, Out of Africa
Peter Weir, Witness (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1950
This is a big category, historically. A lot of people have strong opinions on this one. I’m gonna be honest with you — you’re all right. In strong categories, there almost are no truly correct decisions. So let’s recap the rest of the year and then get into this one.
All About Eve wins Best Picture, Best Director for Joseph Mankiewicz (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actor for George Sanders. I don’t have a problem with Best Picture, even though my personal choice would have been Sunset Boulevard, and I really like Best Supporting Actor. I do, however, have major problems with Best Director. As I said in the article I wrote about it, I consider it to be the single worst Best Director decision of all time. Carol Reed should have won this award twice for his direction of The Third Man. I don’t care if it was the Best Picture, the best effort is the best effort. And Reed gave by far the best effort. Best Actor this year was José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (talked about here), which I don’t like at all. It makes no sense to me. Best Supporting Actress was Josephine Hull for Harvey, which is a great decision, based on the category.
So now, let’s get into this one. Where, to me, there are three legitimate contenders (not four).
BEST ACTRESS – 1950
And the nominees were…
Anne Baxter, All About Eve
Bette Davis, All About Eve
Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday
Eleanor Parker, Caged
Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1979
1979 is well-covered on this blog. I don’t like it. I don’t mind Kramer vs. Kramer winning Best Picture over Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz so much. The films speak for themselves, and it’s pretty clear which ones are better. My problem is that Robert Benton won Best Director for Kramer vs. Kramer over Francis Ford Coppola and Bob Fosse (talked about here). That’s sickening.
Best Actor this year was (rightfully) Dustin Hoffman for Kramer vs. Kramer, and I fully support that decision, because he’d won one of these twice over by this point and had nothing to show for it. As much as I love Peter Sellers and Roy Scheider, Hoffman was the choice. Best Actress was Sally Field for Norma Rae, which, as I said here, I love as a decision. And Best Supporting Actor this year was Melvyn Douglas for Being There, which is no secret that it’s the single worst Best Supporting Actor decision of all time. The worst. Robert Duvall was clearly the choice there for Apocalypse Now.
Which brings us to this category — a slam dunk if there ever was one. When Meryl wins a category, she really wins a category.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1979
And the nominees were…
Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away
Candace Bergen, Starting Over
Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1964
I like 1964. I don’t love it, since I love Dr. Strangelove and would totally have given that Best Picture, but I know the Academy would never have done that. And My Fair Lady is a great film. It’s a classic film. It’s a great choice for Best Picture. And George Cukor winning Best Director is a great decision, because the dude should have had one 30 years earlier. So that worked out really well.
Best Actress this year was Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, which I like, based on the category. I’ll talk about why specifically when I get to that category, but the shorthand is — it’s Mary fucking Poppins. Lighten the fuck up. Best Supporting Actor this year was Peter Ustinov for Topkapi (talked about here), which I’m cool with. The category really sucked hardcore. And Best Supporting Actress was Lila Kedrova for Zorba the Greek, which, honestly, the category was so bad, I understand it. But the complete disrespect for Agnes Moorehead by the Academy is just astounding. The fact that she didn’t win (ever) really shocks me. That’s just as bad as Claude Rains never winning.
And then we end up here. I know how we all feel, so I’ll say it this way, and this is how it’s gonna stay: yes, Peter Sellers gave the best performance. Yes, I’m voting for him. No, the Academy was never going to give him the Oscar here. Yes, Rex Harrison was the best choice in that scenario. So this was actually a good decision.
BEST ACTOR – 1964
And the nominees were…
Richard Burton, Becket
Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady
Peter O’Toole, Becket
Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek
Peter Sellers, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1947
I don’t like 1947. I like the big decisions, but I feel the nominees this year were pretty weak, so, while they made the best decision, it just feels ho hum. Gentleman’s Agreement wins Best Picture and Best Director for Elia Kazan. Its competition was a B-movie version of the same story (Crossfire) two fantasies that are better served as Christmas films (The Bishop’s Wife and Miracle on 34th Street, which, if It’s a Wonderful Life didn’t win the year before this, these had no shot), and a classical literary adaptation (Great Expectations, which, is a great film, but not one that should win Best Picture. They wouldn’t make this mistake until the year after this). So, they made the right choice, but, the choices were pretty weak, so that’s why I don’t really think of this as such an amazing decision.
Best Actor this year was Ronald Colman for A Double Life. This was a “veteran” win, in that, he was a well-respected actor, and, like David Niven, it was only a matter of time before he won one of these. And, honestly, the category sucked so bad, I’m okay with it, even though I didn’t much like the performance (loved the concept behind the performance, but the performance itself felt very theatrical). Gregory Peck gave the best performance, but, he won an Oscar later, so it’s okay that he didn’t win. Then Best Actress this year was Loretta Young in The Farmer’s Daughter, which was probably the second worst Best Actress decision of all time. Rosalind Russell really should have won for Mourning Becomes Electra. This is considered to be the worst Best Actress decision, but, we already know my feelings on that one. And Best Supporting Actor this year was Edmund Gwenn for Miracle on 34th Street (talked about here), which I like a lot and accept, but Richard Widmark was so awesomely insane in Kiss of Death, I had to vote for him there. He pushes an old woman in a wheelchair down the stairs.
Which brings us to this category. It’s really weak. There were only two decisions they could have made that were okay. This was one of them.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1947
And the nominees were…
Ethel Barrymore, The Paradine Case
Gloria Grahame, Crossfire
Celeste Holm, Gentleman’s Agreement
Marjorie Mann, The Egg and I
Anne Revere, Gentleman’s Agreement (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1951
The great thing about 1951, for the acting categories, is that you can just say, A Streetcar Named Desire, and that eliminates any questions. The bad thing about 1951 is that A Streetcar Named Desire didn’t win Best Picture. Which is just strange.
An American in Paris wins Best Picture. I’m not sure anyone has ever figured out why. Even stranger is that the film’s director, Vincente Minnelli, didn’t win Best Director for it. George Stevens won Best Director for A Place in the Sun (a terrible decision, talked about here). This reminds me of the year after this. The Best Picture/Best Director split alongside the best film not winning Best Picture makes me think they deliberately didn’t want to vote for it. I don’t get it. Streetcar is an American classic.
Humphrey Bogart (finally) wins Best Actor this year for The African Queen (talked about here). This was a career win, pure and simple. The clear best performance was Brando in Streetcar, but Streetcar winning the rest of the acting awards — Best Actress for Vivien Leigh, Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hunter, and this category — probably made it feel like overload. Plus Bogart is one of the few names (alongside Henry Fonda and John Wayne) who, if they won an Oscar for any performance, any year, no one would question it because they are who they are. So, I accept the decision (plus Brando won twice after this), but based on what performance won and what didn’t, it was a terrible decision.
So, that’s 1951. Great, outside of Best Picture and Best Director. What the hell happened?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1951
And the nominees were…
Leo Genn, Quo Vadis
Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire
Kevin McCarthy, Death of a Salesman
Peter Ustinov, Quo Vadis
Gig Young, Come Fill the Cup (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actress – 1992
I’m torn on this one. I love the actress who won, and her winning made some future categories a lot easier, but — she didn’t give the best performance. So I don’t know what to do with this one.
As for the rest of 1992, I like it a lot. Unforgiven wins Best Picture, Best Director for Clint Eastwood (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman (talked about here) which I love. I like A Few Good Men and Scent of a Woman a lot, but, Unforgiven was the right choice this year. And as I said in the article, I think Gene Hackman was the best choice in his category (mostly because Nicholson didn’t need to win). Al Pacino finally won his well-deserved Best Actor award for Scent of a Woman (talked about here), which had to happen, despite Robert Downey Jr. and Denzel Washington giving better performances. Sometimes the Academy just needs to atone for fuck ups (which, as we saw here, created more fuck ups). And Best Supporting Actress was Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny (talked about here), which I love as a decision, so much so that I took some shit for it (which I also love). So that’s 1992. I like 5 of the 6. Maybe 6 of 6.
Let’s get into this category, now. Because I’m really torn about this one…
BEST ACTRESS – 1992
And the nominees were…
Catherine Deneuve, Indochine
Mary McDonnell, Passion Fish
Michelle Pfeiffer, Love Field
Susan Sarandon, Lorenzo’s Oil
Emma Thompson, Howards End (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Director – 1941
We can all agree that 1941 is one of the biggest travesties in Academy history. How Green Was My Valley, a good film but not a great film, wins Best Picture over Citizen Kane. It’s bad, yes, we know. No need to repeat the obvious.
Donald Crisp also won Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here), beating my personal choice, Sydney Greenstreet for The Maltese Falcon. Best Actor this year was Gary Cooper for Sergeant York (talked about here), which, as much as I love the film and as iconic as the character is, I don’t like as a decision. I think Orson Welles should have won for Citizen Kane. But I’m not that upset about it, since Welles really should have won for Screenplay and Director. I could have lived with Cooper winning if Welles had won those other ones. But it’s fine. Then Best Actress was Joan Fontaine for Suspicion, which is a total makeup Oscar for the year before this, where she probably should have won for Rebecca. My personal choice in this category would have been Greer Garson for Blossoms in the Dust, but Fontaine was a good choice considering she didn’t win the year before this. And Best Supporting Actress was Mary Astor for The Great Lie, which on the surface, doesn’t sound like an Oscar-worthy performance. She was fine in the film, but, the real clincher is the fact that she was also in The Maltese Falcon this year. Plus she’s an actress who definitely deserves an Oscar. So that was a great decision.
So, really, 1941 is a great year, outside of Best Picture and Best Director. The rest of the decisions are at worst acceptable and understandable. So, really, we blame William Randolph Hearst for this one, since he single-handedly torpedoed Kane‘s chances. Someone should make a film about Rupert Murdoch, see what happens. (I bet he doesn’t have a pet name for his mistress’s vagina.)
BEST DIRECTOR – 1941
And the nominees were…
John Ford, How Green Was My Valley
Alexander Hall, Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Howard Hawks, Sergeant York
Orson Welles, Citizen Kane
William Wyler, The Little Foxes (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Actor – 1984
Amadeus, Amadeus … Amadeus, Amadeus … Amadeus, Amadeus … oh, Amadeus.
Guess what won Best Picture this year, Falco? And Best Director for Milos Forman (talked about here)? This year, to me, was the best year of the 80s, Oscar-wise. As an Oscar decade, I despise the 80s. The only decisions from it I love are this one and Platoon. And I like Rain Man and Terms of Endearment, even though I think both were kind of weak choices for Best Picture (more so the latter, since The Right Stuff so should have beaten it), and respect The Last Emperor. But, for me, there are only three decisions I really like. Out of a decade. And of that decade, there are four decisions I outright loathe. Contrast that to the 90s, where there are only two decisions I outright loathe, and the rest I love, respect or understand. So this year to me is the diamond in the rough that is the shitty 80s.
Best Actress this year was Sally Field for Places in the Heart (talked about here). I don’t love it, but I understand it, because it was seriously the weakest Best Actress category of all time. It was really bad. Best Supporting Actor was Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields (talked about here), which I sort of understand, but don’t like as a decision at all. And Best Supporting Actress was Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India, which, despite the film sucking, is understandable as a decision because the category is one of the weakest of all time and she’s a veteran.
Which brings us to this category, which is just wonderful.
BEST ACTOR – 1984
And the nominees were…
F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus
Jeff Bridges, Starman
Albert Finney, Under the Volcano
Tom Hulce, Amadeus
Sam Waterston, The Killing Fields (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actor – 1943
You can’t help but love 1943. Casablanca is one of the greatest films ever made. Of course it should have won Best Picture, and Best Director for Michael Curtiz (talked about here), who desperately deserved one of these. It also should have won Best Actor, Best Actress and this award, but it didn’t. And all three are, to varying degrees, bad decisions. Only one of the three was atoned for. The other two — the worse decisions — were not.
Paul Lukas wins Best Actor for Watch on the Rhine, which is one of the worst five Best Actor winning performances of all time. It’s truly not good, and it’s shocking that Humphrey Bogart didn’t win. Then Best Actress was Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette. This, I understand. Because — Ingrid Bergman, who should have won, wasn’t nominated for Casablanca. She was nominated for For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is a performance she shouldn’t have won for. So the Jennifer Jones vote makes perfect sense. Though it screwed up the year before this, when Ingrid Bergman did win and screwed Barbara Stanwyck out of an Oscar. Then Best Supporting Actress was Katina Paxinou for For Whom the Bell Tolls, which, I don’t really have an issue with, mostly because the category sucked. It’s a blank in history.
So, 1943 — they got the big decisions right, the medium decisions wrong (though both were atoned for later, in the sense that both Bogart and Bergman won Oscars), and the small decisions either wrong or indifferent. And this one — this hurts. There were two performances that should have won, but — after all is said and done, I consider this a bad decision. But it’s still a great performance. And that hurts more.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 1943
And the nominees were…
Charles Bickford, The Song of Bernadette
Charles Coburn, The More the Merrier
J. Carrol Naish, Sahara
Claude Rains, Casablanca
Akim Tamiroff, For Whom the Bell Tolls (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Supporting Actress – 1966
Love me some 1966. While my personal choice didn’t win Best Picture, a film that was just as good did.
A Man for All Seasons wins Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnemann (talked about here) and Best Actor for Paul Scofield (talked about here). And my personal favorite of the year, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, wins Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor (talked about here) and this category. All of those decisions are great. Had they gone with either film (the ones where both films were nominated) in any category, it would have been a good decision.
The non-Man for All Seasons or Virginia Woolf win was Best Supporting Actor, which went to Walter Matthau for The Fortune Cookie (talked about here). His only Oscar. Which is awesome.
So that’s 1966. Perhaps the quickest synopsis I’ve ever had. And I don’t have all that much to say about this category either, except — great decision.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 1966
And the nominees were…
Sandy Dennis, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Wendy Hiller, A Man for All Seasons
Jocelyne LaGarde, Hawaii
Vivien Merchant, Alfie
Geraldine Page, You’re a Big Boy Now (more…)
B+ Movie Blog 