Claire Trevor in “Key Largo” (1948)

I am loving this movie poster.

Nicknamed the “Queen of Film Noir,” Claire Trevor picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Key Largo.  Trevor had already established herself as a “leading lady” after appearing in such films as Stagecoach, (1939, Thomas Mitchell: Best Supporting Actor) opposite John Wayne and Dead End, (1937) opposite Humphrey Bogart.  She teamed up with Bogart again to film Key Largo, a film noir that tells the story of a man (Bogart) who visits a hotel to find a ganster running the joint, as a hurricane approaches the two are forced to confront one another.  Trevor plays the ex-companion to said gangster (AKA a moll – yay new vocabulary) who is residing in the hotel.  In her “fading” years she has turned to drink to deal with her situation.  Now, we know I’m a sucker for an actor playing a drunk, and while I will say I enjoyed Trevor’s performance it no where near compared to other “alcoholic” Oscar winners (i.e. Barrymore, Mitchell, McLaglen and my favorite Milland).  At first I was going to say maybe it was the film noir tint skewing my perception of her performance but then I realized The Lost Weekend was a film noir.  So, I guess as far as Academy Award drunken performances go, this was the worst…but still, good job Trevor.

Claire Trevor

Trevor sang the song “Moanin’ Low” acapella in the scene below.  Director John Huston did not inform Trevor she was singing the song until the day of filming in order to make her more nervous.  Trevor was not a professional singer and thus delivered a very hesitant rendition of the song, which is what Huston wanted.

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Supporting Actress

Sources:

http://community.flixster.com/

http://cartelesmix.es/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040506/

WALTER HUSTON in “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948)

When two down on their luck drifters (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) join with a weathered prospector (Howard) in search of gold, they find it’s not the obvious perils of the Mexican dessert that are their biggest threat.  What an interesting character Walter Huston created.  Without question he stole the show from headliner Humphrey Bogart who was just coming from his staring role in Casablanca.  Walter Huston, who was the father of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre director John Huston, received 4 Oscar nominations in his lifetime, winning one.  With John Huston also winning for Best Director this was the the first father/son win in Academy Award history.

The famous line:

“Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!”

is from this movie and was voted as the #36 movie quote by the American Film Institute.

Walter Huston (left) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
“I know what gold does to men’s souls.”

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Supporting Actor
• (won) Best Director (John Huston)
• (won) Best Screenplay (John Huston)
• (nominated) Best Picture (Warner Bros.)

Sources:

http://thesingingcritic.blogspot.com

http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com

1927-1947 Top 10 Favorite Performances and Shameless Plug

Yay!  I’ve finally reached the 20 years mark in this Academy Award watching adventure!  It’s taken me a lot longer than I thought it would but I guess that means I’ve been busy…or lazy, take your pick.  So to celebrate I decided to go through and pick my top 10 performances from the past 20 years.  Granted I am missing a few because Netflix is not 100% pro classic movies but whatever.  You can see which ones I’m missing at the bottom of the page.

10.  VICTOR McLAGEN in “The Informer”  (1935)

I cannot say enough good things about this best actor performance.  It is really hard to find where McLagen ends and drunken gutter urchin Gypo begins.  Under the brutal direction of John Ford, McLagen shines in the dim underbelly of 1920′s Ireland.

9.  FREDERIC MARCH in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1931)

There are so many versions of this classic written by Robert Louis Stevenson originally titled Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but this is the one to watch.  March’s transition from the refined Dr. Jekyll to the ape-like Mr. Hyde is unnerving to say the least.  At times March’s portrayal of Hyde is comical which only serves to intensify the true horror of Hyde’s later actions.

8.  LIONEL BARRYMORE in “A Free Soul” (1931)

Lionel Barrymore won best actor for his portrayal as Stephen Ashe an alcoholic lawyer and father.  His natural relationship with Norma Shearer’s character and his portrayal of a broken man are what solidify his spot in this list.  What sends this performance over the top is the ending court room scene.  It is what every court room drama, be it movie or tv show wants to be.

7.  JAMES CAGNEY in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942)

I’ll be honest, I’m an emotional marshmallow and the reason Cagney is on this list is the last scene of this movie.  When he taps down those steps and joins the crowd singing his song I fucking cry every time.

6.  JANET GAYNOR in “Seventh Heaven” (1927)

You wouldn’t think a silent performance could be so powerful.  Until you watch Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven.  She is just so beautiful and sweet and speaks so powerfully without saying anything–and that’s a true gift.

5.  JOAN CRAWFORD in “Mildred Pierce” (1945)

You cannot take yours eyes off Crawford throughout the entire length of this movie.  It’s beautiful to see such strength and vulnerabilty married so well in one character.

4.  BETTE DAVIS in “Jezebel” (1938)

I grew up on Designing Women so I’m partial to strong Southern women and Bette Davis in Jezebel was right up my alley.  She is so convincing in this role I have a hard time seeing her as anything else.

3.  JAMES STEWART in “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)

If James Stewart had written a book it would be titled “How to be the Most Charming SOB in the Room” or something to that effect.  The man is just so damn charming it’s almost disgusting.

2.  SPENCER TRACY in “Captain Courageous”  (1937)

I cried pretty much the entire length of this movie and loved it so much I watched it twice in a row the first time I saw it.  Spencer Tracy just gets to me and he has my heart.  I would have put him as number one but I do realize I’m probably pretty biased in matters regarding this wonderful man.

1.  RAY MILLAND in “The Lost Weekend”  (1945)

This performance just hurt to watch.  It was painful the amount of honesty that seemed to be in Ray Milland’s performance and I don’t think many actor can match that.

The Lost Weekend

OKAY!  Now that that’s done–shameless plug time!

The reason this project has been taking me so long is that I decided to devote my downtime to creating a webseries.  So this blog has been put on the way way back burner, not that you were really reading it anyway (I know you’re just here for the pictures-it’s okay).

If you’d like to have a look at what I’ve been doing with my down time take a look at my youtube page THE THREE JAMIGOS.

JANE WYMAN in “Johnny Belinda” (1948)

Can an actor win an Academy Award without speaking a word?  The answer is yes or else I wouldn’t have asked it.  I just did not understand this win by Jane Wyman at all.  Jane Wyman plays the part of Belinda, a deaf-mute farm girl who is befriended by a doctor.  She is later raped by a local resident and the resulting pregnancy erupts in a town scandal.  Since Wyman’s performance was completely silent I compared it to silent film performances I have seen throughout the years, especially Janet Gaynor’s Seventh Heaven.  Janet Gaynor won the Academy Award in 1927, the first Academy Award presentations.  I think if Wyman had approached this role as a silent film it would read more powerful to me.  It really felt like she was standing in the corner in every scene awkwardly staring at everybody.  If that’s not a great way to spend a 1 1/2 hours  I don’t know what is.

Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda

I read a little bit about Jane Wyman in regards to her performance, here is the following quote from the Washington Post:

She spent days with a young deaf-mute woman, but learning the woman’s gestures was not enough, Ms. Wyman said at the time.  ”Even after weeks of [screen] tests . . . something was missing,” she said. “Suddenly I realized what was wrong. I could hear. I could act deaf, but it lacked a realistic feeling, and that showed in my face.”

Director Jean Negulesco had the solution: to seal Ms. Wyman’s ears with wax. She also isolated herself from other cast members, saying it was a “terrifying time. The silence was new, frightening.

After reading this is does make me appreciate Wyman’s dedication as an actor, but it doesn’t really change my opinion on her performance.

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Actress
• (nominated) Best Actor (Lew Ayres)
• (nominated) Best Supporting Actor (Charles Bickford)
• (nominated) Best Supporting Actress (Agnes Moorehead)
• (nominated) Best Art Direction
• (nominated) Best Cinematography
• (nominated) Best Director (Jean Negulesco)
• (nominated) Best Editing
• (nominated) Best Music
• (nominated) Best Picture
• (nominated) Best Sound
• (nominated) Best Writing

Sources:

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/

http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/

LAURENCE OLIVIER in “Hamlet” (1948)

I have to add a disclaimer before I say anything about this performance.  I think it’s unfair of me to judge any Hamlet performance due to the fact that Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 Hamlet is pretty much why I wanted to become an actor as a child.  Well that and Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie.  Yeah I know, I never claimed to be normal.  So with that all I will say about Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet is I did not like it…at all.  I’m 100% sure I am in the minority but you cannot burn through a video tape of someone else’s version of Hamlet and not be biased.  Kenneth Branagh had the balls to tackle the ENTIRE PLAY, come on!

What? That’s not Laurence Olivier! No it’s Kenneth Branagh, the awesomer Hamlet!

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Actor
• (won) Best Art Direction
• (won) Best Costume Design
• (won) Best Picture
• (nominated) Best Supporting Actress (Jean Simmons)
• (nominated) Best Director (Laurence Olivier)
• (nominated) Best Music

Sources:

http://theerraticmuse.blogspot.com

http://www.imdb.com

RONALD COLMAN in “A Double Life” (1947)

A Double Life tells the story of Anthony John (played by Ronald Colman), an actor who cannot separate his personal life from the lives of the characters he plays on stage.  I so much wanted to love this performance by Colman because I loved the whole concept of the film paired with its noir feel.  I was actually trying to convince myself that I liked it better than I did but in the end I had to admit that I just did not enjoy this performance.  I think what did it for me in the end was Colman’s portrayal of Othello.  It was so forced it was almost unbearable to watch.  Maybe this was a function of putting a staged version of a Shakespeare play on camera with film editing or maybe Colman just couldn’t handle Shakespeare.  Colman’s portrayal of the actor, Anthony John was very well done though.

Colman as Anthony John

Colman as John as Othello

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Actor
• (won) Best Music
• (nominated) Best Director (George Cukor)
• (nominated) Best Writing

Sources:

http://fortworthtexas.gov/

http://www.imdb.com/

http://ocdviewer.com/

EDMUND GWENN in “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street, set in New York City tells the story of the days following the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  A mysterious do-gooder saves the parade from being ruined by the usual drunk Santa fiasco and all of New York falls in love with him–leaving them to wonder is he in fact the real Santa Clause?

I grew up watching this movie every year for Christmas and always enjoyed.  It’s the kind of Christmas movie that doesn’t slam you in the face with good cheer in every scene.  It was interesting to watch this movie from a different angle–I had always appreciated Edmund Gwenn’s performance as Kris Kringle but never really thought much about it.    It really seems there is no other actor that could have or can play Santa Clause as successfully as Gwenn.  He makes you want to be a kid again, putting hope in the fact it just might all be real–and there’s something very beautiful in that.  The best scenes are Gwenn with the dutch girl and the intelligence test with the character Granville Sawyer played by Porter Hall who also did a fine job.

Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle with Natalie Wood

Academy Stats:

• (won) Best Supporting Actor
• (won) Best Writing, Original Story
• (won) Best Writing, Screenplay
• (nominated) Best Picture

Sources:

http://www.britannica.com

http://movieclips.com

CELESTE HOLM in “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947)

 

 

I do think Celeste Holm deserved her Oscar for her portrayal as witty New York fashion editor Anne Dettrey.  Celeste Holm is one of those effortless actors that you could just enjoy watching her talk about the weather–her performance is simple but powerful enough to steal the show.  I’m glad that movies have changed since these days–supporting roles during this time are very much that, supporting.  Celeste was only in this film for a couple of scenes, which made it such a pain to watch.  She lightened up an otherwise dull performance by Mr. Peck–don’t even get me started on how much crap that was.

 

Holm in Gentleman's Agreement

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Supporting Actress
• (won) Best Director (Elia Kazan)
• (won) Best Picture
• (nominated) Best Actor (Gregory Peck)
• (nominated) Best Actress (Dorothy McGuire)
• (nominated) Best Supporting Actress (Anne Revere)
• (nominated) Best Editing
• (nominated) Best Writing

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeste_Holm

http://www.doctormacro.com/

ANNE BAXTER in “The Razor’s Edge” (1946)

I loved the crap out of this movie.  Mostly because W. Somerset Maugham has my heart in its entirety for writing Of Human Bondage my all time favorite book.    So obviously The Razor’s Edge is based on the W. Somerset book–I really wish I had read it before watching this but oh well.  I probably would have hated the movie then, I still refuse to watch the Of Human Bondage movie staring Leslie Howard because I can’t imagine the book any other way than how I’ve first imagined it.  Anyway The Razor’s Edge is great–I loved Gene Tierney as Isabel and really thought she deserved an Academy nod for her work in this movie.  As for Anne Baxter she did a fine job as the tragically damaged Sophie.  But there were times I was so focused on Tierney that I didn’t much notice Baxter, I really thought Tierney stole the show.  She made it possible to empathize with an unlikable character.  Baxter’s best scene for me was her drunk scene in the French bar.  At first I thought she was trying way too hard to appear drunk, but then I realized I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed for her character–so kudos.

Anne Baxter in The Razor’s Edge

Academy Stats:

• (won) Best Supporting Actress
• (nominated) Best Supporting Actor (Clifton Web)
• (nominated) Best Interior Art Direction
• (nominated) Best Picture

Sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32540467@N03/3221798552/

http://shop.tcm.com

FREDERIC MARCH and HAROLD RUSSELL in “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)

The Best Years of Our Lives follows the lives of three WWII veterans returning from the war and the discoveries of how their lives have been forever changed.  Each of the veterans faces different crises based on their social standings and struggle to find where they fit in.  This was the most successful film since Gone With the Wind, which was released 7 years prior.  I was confused why Frederic March received the Best Actor while Harold Russell received the Best Supporting since it seemed Russell’s part was more substantial.  Regardless, March was great to watch.  I had watched his Academy winning performance Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and loved him in that.  While I think his performance in Jekyll was far superior than The Best Years (I think that role lent more to him)…  it was still a joy to see him again.

Frederic March in The Best Years of Our Lives

Russell was discovered by director William Wyler after Wyler watched an army training video about rehabilitating wounded servicemen.  Russell’s role was originally written as a veteran suffering from PTSD, but the character was re-written after Wyler saw Russell.  For this performance Russell received two Academy Awards, one for Best Supporting Actor and another Honorary Award for bringing hope to fellow veterans.  Russell is the only person to have received two Academies for the same role and had no training before the film.  I don’t feel it’s correct to judge his performance since he wasn’t an actor before the film and didn’t become one after.  While he wasn’t bad, his performance came off more as a naturally talented actor appearing in their first student film.

Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives

Academy Stats

• (won) Best Actor
• (won) Best Supporting Actor
• (won) Best Director (William Wyler)
• (won) Best Editing
• (won) Best Picture
• (won) Best Music
• (won) Best Writing
• Honorary Award (Harold Russell)
• (nominated) Best Sound

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org

http://facetsfeatures.blogspot.com

http://canetoadwarrior.blogspot.com/