Stolen Oscars? Pt. 3

 

Part 3 of ‘Stolen Oscars?’ looks at some of the individual Academy Award winners who, for want of a better word, purloined their statuettes. I shall start with the Best Actor category.

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1930/1             Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul

I haven’t actually seen any of the other nominated performances for this year, but if this was supposed to be the best of them, then I don’t want to. Of course, acting in ‘talkies’ was still in its infancy then. I watched A Free Soul on TCM a few weeks ago. I did not expect much and that’s exactly what I got. It was pretty bad. Lionel proved later that he could be a most competent movie actor, but this was not one of his better efforts. There was very little subtlety in his performance, a legacy perhaps of the Silent Era.

My choice?      NOTHING

ALL GOOD THINGS: A New Series: From The Past To Now - Jimmy ...

1940   James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story

Stewart was OK in this, but surely the statuette should go to someone who does a whole lot better than just OK. There was another performance that year that was far superior to Jimmy’s.

The Grapes of Wrath | The Nation

My choice?      Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath

While I was tutoring ‘Hollywood and History’ at university a few years back I had the pleasure of watching this film several times because it was on the unit’s curriculum. The more I saw it the better Fonda’s performance became. I wonder if he realized at the time that he would have to wait almost half a century to pick up his one and only Oscar. He was robbed in 1940.

DeOscarize Paul Lukas Best Actor 1943 | DeOscarize©™

1943      Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine

Paul who? His one claim to fame was this performance and I must say that it was pretty good. However, there was another performance that year that has since become iconic, and rightly so. Once again, what could possibly have possessed the Academy voters to choose Lukas over Bogart that year?

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My choice?      Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

Bogie was Rick Blaine in Casablanca. My favourite movie of all time, I have watched it at least 50 times and Bogart’s portrayal is still flawless. The script by Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch was chock full of gems and he delivered them in style.

Higher Movies: Vocation in Westerns: High Noon and 3:10 to Yuma ...

1952      Gary Cooper in High Noon

I love westerns, but I do not like this one from United Artists. Nor do I think much of Cooper’s laconic, ‘strong silent type’ portrayal of Marshall Will Kane. Possibly, it might have been a little more palatable if the picture hadn’t been shot in real time. I found the movie and Coops slow, boring and grossly over-rated.

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My choice?      Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata!

Every once in a while Brando knocks my socks off. At other times I cannot stand him. At times in this picture he is nothing short of incredible. Love him or hate him, he is rarely dull. I suppose one could say ‘Zapata’ is a slow film compared with many, and it is. But it also has Brando to jolt you out of your lethargy with moments of unique brilliance. Coops on his best day could not hold a candle to this guy.

AFI 100 #72: BEN-HUR | DigBoston

1959                Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur

Did You Know? - Items of interest Pt 1. ⋆ Historian Alan Royle

Stephen Boyd as Messala

I recall someone once saying that not only was cricketer Steve Waugh not the greatest batsman in the world, he was not even the best batsman in his family. Similarly, not only was Chuck Heston’s performance here not the best acting performance of 1959, it was not even the best one in this picture. Stephen Boyd as Messala was quite wonderful, yet he did not even get nominated for Best Actor or even Best Supporting Actor. That aside, there was another acting diamond in 1959 that was nominated but failed to win. It should have.

Jack Lemmon Sings and Plays Music from 'Some Like It Hot' by Jack ...

My choice?      Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot

Lemmon’s portrayal of Jerry/Daphne was one of the all-time funniest pieces of acting ever put on celluloid, and has not dated one iota since. It is timeless. The Academy picked Chuck’s wooden effort over it. Unlucky Jack was swept aside by the Ben-Hur tsunami as it roared through the Academy Awards that year.

Dramatic Monologue for Men - Burt Lancaster as Elmer Gantry in ...

1960       Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry

Burt had four roles in his career in which he excelled. This was not one of them. In 1953 he was great as Sergeant Warden in From Here to Eternity, for which he was nominated without winning. In 1957 he excelled as J. J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success and was not even nominated. His portrayal of General Scott in 1964’s Seven Days in May was also overlooked, and so was his outstanding work in 1972’s Ulzana’s Raid where he superbly played an Indian scout on the trail of renegade Apaches. Sandwiched in the middle of all these fine performance was his over the top, hammy, toothy, noisy Elmer Gantry. I hated the thing.

The Grass is Dancing Pondering on Pondering

My choice?      Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind

Tracy’s acting seemed so effortless that his true excellence was sometimes overlooked or merely expected. He was nominated here but Burt knocked him off. Perhaps, the Academy figured he had enough Oscars already.

Dustin Hoffman

1988       Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man

One thing you can be pretty sure of at Oscar time. And that is that any actor who is nominated for portraying someone with an affliction is almost guaranteed to win. I am currently researching this and have already found (in the Best Actor category alone) no fewer than twenty five winners who portrayed someone with an affliction or handicap of some kind or another. I shall post the list in these pages. Anyway, I suppose it is a matter of opinion, but I believe it has to be easier for an accomplished actor to impress when playing one of these roles, than it is for, say, Cary Grant to play romantic comedy effortlessly and impressively. For that very reason I have always thought Grant was wonderful at what he does; better than anyone else.

Cigarette Burns: Mississippi Burning | …said the blind man…

My choice?      Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning

Perhaps, I should confess that I am a huge fan of Hackman. I only wish he had come to movies much earlier than he did. He began in 1961 when he was 31, but did not hit it big until The French Connection ten years later when he was already in his forties. He is now 85 and retired. His portrayal of FBI Agent Rupert Anderson in Mississippi Burning is typical, powerful Hackman at his very best. What an actor.

In general, I agree with just about all the choices for Best Actress. Only two I feel were not the best choices, although neither was a ‘howler’, as they say.

Ingrid Bergman

1944                Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight

Ingrid is not awful in this, not by a longshot, but I believe there was a better performance that year, admittedly in a movie that I have always rated highly.

Barbara Stanwyck in DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944, | MOVIE SCREEN GRABS ...

My choice?      Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

American Film Institute

I must say that Gaslight is not a movie I can be bothered with, whereas Double Indemnity knocks me out, always has, and Phyllis Dietrichson, played by Stanwyck, is one of my all-time favourite performances by a female. There are so many great scenes in this picture, but the one where Phyllis hides behind the door as Edward G Robinson’s character chats to Fred MacMurray’s is priceless. A marvellous movie in every respect.

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1998                Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love

Again, I am probably being harsh on Gwyneth, because her performance in this film is highly enjoyable (as is the film itself), but there happened to be a better performance that year.

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My choice?      Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth

In my opinion, there are two exceptional actresses in movies today – Meryl Streep and Cate. They can be dramatic, humorous, powerful and gentle. Whatever role they take on they fulfill it with style and professionalism. Of all the depictions of Queen Elizabeth I down the decades Cate’s is the best – by several light years. So, why did she not win this year’s Oscar? I bet she is still asking the same question.

While on the subject of top flight actresses, I think it worth looking at one of the less fortunate female stars, one who never won an Oscar despite being nominated six times. English beauty Deborah Kerr enjoyed an illustrious career, admired by her peers and the public in general, so why didn’t she ever win one of those cherished statuettes? More often than not it was just bad timing, nothing more. Her first nomination was for Edward, My Son in 1949, but she was beaten by Olivia de Havilland’s fine performance in The Heiress. She probably finished a close second and was a trifle unlucky.

DVD Savant Review: Edward, My Son

with Spencer Tracy in Edward, My Son

Olivia de Havilland Photos, Movie Photos - MovieActors.com

Olivia in The Heiress

In 1953’s From Here to Eternity Deborah was positively brilliant. Unfortunately, she came up against the new kid on the block, the enchanting Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Audrey’s debut was the talk of the town. She was always going to win.

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With Burt Lancaster in From Here To Eternity

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Audrey in Roman Holiday

Nomination number three was in 1956 for The King and I. Yul Brynner managed to get the Best Actor nod for this picture, but Deborah came up against Bergman playing a young woman suffering from amnesia in Anastasia. No contest.

Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr - The King and I - Yul Brynner Photo ...

with Brynner in The King And I

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Ingrid Bergman

Number four was for a delightful portrayal of a nun in 1957, opposite Robert Mitchum in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, my second favourite Kerr role after From Here to Eternity. It was just her luck to strike the truly great performance in The 3 Faces of Eve by Joanne Woodward. Nobody was going to beat that.

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Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

Film Actually: OLDIE GOLDIES: The Three Faces Of Eve (1957)

Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

Nomination number five was for another super stint, this time in 1958’s Separate Tables. David Niven picked up his only Oscar for this film – but not Deborah. Once again she went down, this time to Susan Hayward’s tour de force in I Want to Live!

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with David Niven in Separate Tables

Susan Hayward on Pinterest | Actresses, Young Actresses and Oscars

Susan Hayward in I Want To Live!

Deborah Kerr’s sixth and last nomination was for the Australia adventure film The Sundowners, once again opposite Bob Mitchum. This time she was knocked off by a tracheotomy. Elizabeth Taylor’s life-saving operation (in real life) saw a massive outpouring of sympathy (and votes) for her less than impressive shot at playing a hooker in Butterfield 8. For the sixth and final time Miss Kerr missed out on the gold ring. Who ever said life was fair?

DEBORAH KERR: What did the Academy have against this actress ...

Deborah in The Sundowners

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Part 4 of ‘Stolen Oscars?’ will examine Supporting Oscar winners.

26 Comments

  1. “Burt had four roles in his career in which he excelled.”

    Maybe five. Have you seen 1968’s “The Swimmer”? Not a great film, and plagued by weird cinematography and musical score and a cast of B-list actors, but Lancaster’s commitment to the role is exemplary. One of those films you almost hate at first, but it grows on you with repeated viewings. A very strange film indeed but worth a look.

  2. Commenting on a comment made by another contributor Jim Rick regarding Judy Garland in A STAR IS BORN. If nothing else, that movie contains the famous shot of Garland singing The Man That Got Away, where the shot is NEVER edited. It’s one long continuous shot of Garland singing the song without any cutaways so what you see on the screen is basically a live performance from beginning to end. And what performance of a song. It’s got to be in the top 10 of all time movie music moments. (Though I must confess not a huge fan of the movie itself. They say the movie was just edited to all hell after its original premiere. What a shame.

  3. Regarding an alternative choice for BEST ACTOR of 1930 might I suggest James Cagney for THE PUBLIC ENEMY or Edward G. Robinson for LITTLE CAESAR? Both movies were nominated for Screenplay as well.

    As for 1940 I agree James Stewart would not have been my choice and I understand your feelings about Henry Fonda, though I find the movie itself rather turgid so why not cut it down the middle and reward Laurence Olivier for his classic camp portrayal of Max De Winter in REBECCA. Has there ever been a more fun scene than the revelation scene when he discloses all to the current Mrs. De Winter Joan Fontaine?

    1943 Humphrey Bogart was robbed BIG TIME! Talk about a classic performance and I like you have been known to cite that movie as my favorite movie of all time. It’s famous for the amount of quotable lines as I’m sure you know. So many to choose from. Trying to think of some…oh..how about when “RICK” is asked if he’s an American and he answers “I’m a drunkard” and Claude Raines responds “Well that makes you a citizen of the world”. Priceless.

    1952 – I too agree with your assessment of Gary Cooper’s performance in HIGH SCHOOL, a totally boring movie. I’d only pick Brando this year for gold IF I had to restrict myself to just the nominees…if I didn’t, then I’d choose John Wayne in The Quiet Man. An underrated performance in my opinion in a classic movie

    1959 – I can’t stand Ben-Hur. Except for the Chariot Race I can’t find anything in it worth watching. It’s on my list of worst movies ever to win Best Picture. What’s totally strange is that i love watching Charlton Heston IN movies as he’s so cool looking and what a voice, but he never could act. I totally agree with you about Jack Lemmon. Classic performance in a classic movie. How the Academy could have screwed that up is beyond me but…Nobody’s Perfect.

    1960 – I agree with both your choices. You dint’ however mention Lancaster’s performance in Birdman of Alcatraz. Thought he was very good in that too. And he was so campy/slimy in Sweet Smell of Success a movie that really heralded in a more modern sensibility with its cynicism. The only boring parts of that movie were the scenes with Lancster’s “sister”. What a boring actress. I wish she WOULD have jumped out the damn window.

    1988 – You’ve spoken of your love of Gene Hackman so I won’t quibble about his replacing Hoffman to get the gold especially as I’m no big fan of Hoffman.

    1944 – It’s straight down the line for both us with Stanwyck in the middle holding her OSCAR if we had had anything to say about it!

    1988 – PUHLEEEEESE! Cate Blanchett was totally robbed of her Oscar that year. Though you didn’t mention Glenda Jackson’s great portrayal of her in the early 70s Masterpiece Theater series about Queen Elizabeth. Ah well…

    Finally the great Deborah Kerr definitely one of my all time favorite actresses. A movie you didn’t mention of hers was Black Narcissus directed by the great Michael Powell one of my all time favorite directors! Ms. Kerr (ryhmes with STAR!) could perform in any kind of genre whether it was drama, or comedy or suspense or satire. She was the best. I quote her from 1967’s Casino Royale “Doodle me James…doodle me!”

    • Eddie Robinson was NEVER recognized by the Academy as a good actor. Cagney got the nod for ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ because of his innovative and unique dancing. Personally, I thought he was far better opposite Doris Day in ‘Love Me or Leave Me’. Chuck Heston got Stephen Boyd’s Oscar for ‘Ben-Hur’, in my opinion. Bogey wuz robbed! Coops got TWO Oscars and stole both of them! Cate Blanchett is a legend! So was Deborah Kerr (I would love to have known her). ‘Black Narcissus’ was too bloody religious for me, I am sorry to say.

  4. Re: Double Indemnity. I find it very interesting that you comment on the scene with Walter talking to Keyes, who is standing in the hallway, while Phyllis hides behind Walter’s open apartment door. How many times have you seen an actual apartment or house door open OUTWARD, not inward? My answer is zero.

  5. THIS WILL PROBABLY NOT BE PUBLISHED…BUT I AM 80 AND JUST REALIZED THAT ALL THOSE MGM CUTIES FROM THE FIFTIES ARE GONE EXCEPT FOR THAT NEVER APPRECIATED TALENT JANE POWELL…SHE TURNS 90 ON APRIL 1…SO LETS GIVE HER A NOD…LOVE YOU JANIE…

    • That is a coincidence, Jim, because at the very moment I read your comment, I was watching her in ‘7 Brides for 7 Brothers’ on Foxtel. She was gorgeous and a terrific singer, far better (and prettier) than Kathryn Grayson, in my opinion. An absolute sweetheart. You have great taste.

  6. OF COURSE THIS HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BEFORE…BUT NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE SEE GARLAND’S “A STAR IS BORN”, I SEE NEW PERFORMANCES FROM HER…WHAT A FINE JOB…SO WHO WINS…DADDY’S GIRL GRACE KELLY…I ADMIRE HER ONE NOTE PERFORMANCE IN “THE COUNTRY GIRL” BECAUSE SHE DID NOT RELY ON HER BEAUTY..AS SHE DID IN ALL HER OTHER FILMS…BUT JUDY GARLAND GAVE US A FINE JOB AND SHE DESERVED THAT OSCAR…I BELIEVE THIS LOSS AND HER LOSS OF HER 1963 TV SHOW DID HER IN….UNFAIR…I WATCH THOSE SHOW AND NEVER SEE A BAD ONE….SHE NEEDED A BETTER TIME SLOT AND ANYONE BUT JERRY VAN DYKE AS AN UNFUNNY SIDEKICK…LOVED MEL TORME BUT HE WROTE AN UNKIND BOOK AFTER HER DEATH…STILL SHE SHINES THRU ALL THIS WHEN SHE IS ON…DIED TOO YOUNG…MISS HER…

    • I agree with you, Jim. Judy had the best voice of them all and knew how to sell a song. As for Grace, I still say the most alluring moment in cinema history is when she turns at her apartment door in ‘To Catch a Thief’ and kisses Cary Grant! The stuff of dreams. Now THAT is what being a movie star is all about. The only one that came close to that kind of screen presence (for me anyway) was Ava. What a fabulous woman.

  7. As I’m sure most of you know, Jason Robards played Dashiel Hammet, the great crime novelist and lover of Lillian Hellman in the superb film, JULIA. The title role went to Vanessa Redgrave (a supporter of the PLO), who won that year’s Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and delivered an acceptance speech denouncing some Jews outside the auditorium as “Zionist hoodlums.” In the film, Julia is a wealthy member of the underground and draws her best friend, playwright Lillian Hellman into the struggle. Hellman is played by Jane Fonda. There’s much more to this tale and perhaps Alan will flesh it out for us.

    • Vanessa’s complete comment in her acceptance speech to the predominantly Jewish audience at the Oscars was: ‘In the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threat of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic struggle against fascism and oppression.’ Unfortunately, the instant the audience heard the words ‘Zionist hoodlums’, booing and cat-calls issued forth and the words after that were mostly missed. She was referring to a handful of extremist Jewish Defense League (JDL) individuals outside the building. However, she did not help her cause when, years later, she announced her support for the PLO and called for the boycott and dismantlement of the state of Israel.

      • I am not entirely sure he struck out with Raquel, Michael. She speaks very highly of him and seems to recall him with genuine affection. Her comments about the level of that affection are vague and ambiguous. As for Reagan, he lost me the moment he callously (and falsely) referred to Dukakis as an ‘invalid’ prior to the election against Bush. ‘Im not about to pick on an invalid’, he said, or words to that effect. Scumbag.

  8. MacMurray was a close friend of former Alzheimer’s patient Ronald Reagan, utterly right wing and nuttily prudish. He complained publicly about young people using the beach below his home as a nude beach and his prune-faced, purse-lipped commentary made national news. What a guy!

  9. Robards joined AA, after nearly killing himself, driving his car
    into a mountain side, drunk. His affiliation w/ AA was no secret;
    his face is/was featured prominently on an AA poster. I learned of his involvement through dear friend, AA as well. Bacall talks about Robards’ drinking, and girl friend too, in “By Myself.”

  10. Re. Your last comment. I suspect you meant MacMurray rather than
    Robards; no evidence that I found of MacMurray being a drunk. I
    answered my question about other more serious movies i.e. “Caine
    Mutiny”, etc.

    • It appears Fred was a pretty laid back guy, happy to collect his pay packet each week. In rhe sixties he fell into a number of disney teenage comedies and was quite happy to just do that and take the money. Robards was a heavy drinker and an occassionally nasty one, which probably led to his divorce from Bacall.

    • ‘The Caine Mutiny’ is one of my favorite movies. MacMurray was so good he should have been a shoo-in for a Supporting Nomination, yet Tom Tully who played the first captain of the Caine was nominated instead.

  11. Thanks for these posts. I looked at picture of MacMurray and
    Stanwyck here, and the look on his face suggests such evil.
    Without knowing anything of him, prior to D.I., I imagined him as a
    smiling “nice guy.”

    • That is quite true. Fred did NOT want to make ‘Double Indemnity’. He was quite happy playing light comedy. ‘I can’t act!’, he told the studio. Then he turned in a terrific performance,

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