I still have a few films I need to see from this year, but this is a fairly complete ballot. Again, winners are marked (*).
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| The Third Man |
BEST PICTURE:
The Bicycle Thief
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Set-Up
Stray Dog
The Third Man*
BEST DIRECTOR:
Vittorio De Sica, The Bicycle Thief
Georges Franju, Blood of the Beasts
Akira Kurosawa, Stray Dog
Carol Reed, The Third Man*
Robert Wise, The Set-Up
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| Stray Dog |
BEST ACTOR:
James Cagney, White Heat
Kirk Douglas, Champion
Lamberto Maggiorani, The Bicycle Thief
Toshiro Mifune, Stray Dog*
Robert Ryan, The Set-Up
BEST ACTRESS:
Ingrid Bergman, Under Capricorn
Linda Darnell, A Letter to Three Wives
Olivia de Havilland, The Heiress*
Katharine Hepburn, Adam's Rib
Patricia Neal, The Fountainhead
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| The Heiress |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Lee J. Cobb, Thieves' Highway
Alec Guinness, Kind Hearts and Coronets
Raymond Massey, The Fountainhead
Takashi Shimura, Stray Dog
Orson Welles, The Third Man*
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Joan Greenwood, Kind Hearts and Coronets
Valerie Hobson, Kind Hearts and Coronets
Judy Holliday, Adam's Rib*
Mercedes McCambridge, All the King's Men
Margaret Wycherly, White Heat
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| Adam's Rib |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Bicycle Thief*
The Fountainhead
Kind Hearts and Coronets
A Letter to Three Wives
The Set-Up
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Battleground
Champion
Stray Dog
The Third Man*
White Heat
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| The Bicycle Thief |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Bicycle Thief
The Set-Up
Stray Dog
Thieves' Highway
The Third Man*
BEST FILM EDITING:
Battleground
Blood of the Beasts
The Set-Up*
Stray Dog
The Third Man
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| The Set-Up |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Fountainhead
The Heiress
The Third Man*
Twelve O'Clock High
White Heat
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
No nominees yet
Additional Categories
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| The Fountainhead |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
The Fountainhead*
The Heiress
In the Good Old Summertime
The Third Man
Under Capricorn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
The Heiress
In the Good Old Summertime
Kind Hearts and Coronets
A Letter to Three Wives*
Under Capricorn
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| Kind Hearts and Coronets |
BEST MAKEUP:
The Heiress
Kind Hearts and Coronets*
Under Capricorn
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Battleground*
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Third Man
Twelve O'Clock High
White Heat
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Battleground
Twelve O'Clock High*
White Heat
LOVE
ReplyDeleteTHESE
UGH, I love the Holliday win and especially Welles (one of my favorite supporting turns ever). Great wins!
Thanks! :) I agree on Welles, who'd be in my top 5 supporting actor picks.
DeleteThe Third Man reigns supreme. Love it. Seriously though, solid picks all around.
ReplyDeleteThanks man. So glad I saw Stray Dog and Kind Hearts and Coronets before I did this post.
DeleteLoving your love for The Third Man and Welles' magnificent performance. Need to check out The Set Up.
ReplyDeleteThanks. That's a great movie (and performance), as is The Set-Up.
DeleteActually I watched The Third Man last week. I liked the way was filmed and use of shadows. The final chase was memorable, and end scene. The Third Man theme stayed with me too, as did the cuckoo clock speech, and Orson Welles' performance.
ReplyDeleteI love The Third Man, but The Set-Up and Stray Dog were very close to winning. TTM won by a small margin.
DeleteOne of my favorite movie years, not just a batch of great films but also so many really good, entertaining films. Pictures that might not have contended for awards but are enduringly enjoyable. It was tough narrowing down every field to five since there were so many good performances and movies to choose from.
ReplyDeletePicture:
The Heiress
A Letter to Three Wives-Winner
The Reckless Moment
Thieves Highway
The Third Man
Maybe because of the preponderance of three great noirs it came down to the dramas for me. The Heiress is a claustrophobic examination of emotional brutality and its cost but the interweaving stories of 3 Wives looks at that too and a much more which makes it my winner.
Director:
Joseph Mankiewicz-A Letter to Three Wives-Winner
Max Ophuls-The Reckless Moment
Carol Reed-The Third Man
Raoul Walsh-White Heat
William Wyler-The Heiress
I know Mankiewicz was just warming up for next year's All About Eve with Wives but what a warmup.
Actor:
James Cagney-White Heat
Kirk Douglas-Champion
Paul Douglas-A Letter to Three Wives
James Mason-The Reckless Moment
Robert Ryan-The Set-Up-Winner
Robert Ryan, an actor whose great skill isn't always immediately apparent, is incredible and as good as the others were there's something about his weariness that's so real it can't be topped.
Actress:
Joan Bennett-The Reckless Moment
Linda Darnell-A Letter to Three Wives
Yvonne de Carlo-Criss Cross
Olivia de Havilland-The Heiress-Winner
Ann Sheridan-I Was a Male War Bride
This was and wasn't a tough decision since de Havilland's performance is one of the best ever given in contention but the four other actresses gave peak performances as well. For both Sheridan and especially Bennett this was the end of their A list leading lady days. Ann continued in leads for years in B's but for Joan this was her last high profile star part before segueing into support. It's great that it was such a strong one and that she was at her very best and Ann's is comedy gold. Yvonne could be a much better actress than the junky B pictures she was continously shoved into allowed, Criss Cross is her best part and she's excellent in it. It killed me not to hand this to Linda Darnell, my favorite actress, she is completely brilliant as the scheming but good hearted Lora Mae. Even more galling is her lack of an actual nomination from the academy when lesser work by Jeanne Crain and Loretta Young was recognized.
Supporting Actor:
Bobby Driscoll-The Window
Juano Hernandez-Intruder in the Dust
Ralph Richardson-The Heiress-Winner
Richard Todd-The Hasty Heart
Orson Welles-The Third Man
A powerful quintet of performances and I know everyone feels that Welles should have been the winner in this category, it is appalling that he wasn't nominated, but he would be my second choice. Ralph Richardson manages to humanize the Heiress's martinet Dr. Sloper somehow making his cold disappointment in Catherine seem more unthinking obtuseness than the cruel unfeeling indifference it really is.
Supporting Actress:
Lucille Ball-Easy Living
Connie Gilchrist-A Letter to Three Wives
Judy Holliday-Adam's Rib
Elizabeth Patterson-Intruder in the Dust
Margaret Wycherly-White Heat-Winner
I would have nominated Celeste Holm's voiceover work in Three Wives but that seems like a cheat to all the other worthy actresses whose physical performances added so much to their films. However the silky venom mixed with sticky sweetness Holm injects into her line readings explains so much of why the three wives regard Addie Ross as the do, without that the foundation of the film wouldn't work.
That said Lucy is quietly powerful in the otherwise standard Easy Living as is Elizabeth Patterson in Intruder. Both Judy Holliday and the thoroughly delightful Connie Gilchrist steal any scene they're in against formidable competition in their films but Margaret Wycherly's disturbing, downright creepy Ma Jarrett is the engine that makes Cagney's crazed Cody and the whole of White Heat run.
Though it didn't make my top 5, I do like A Letter to Three Wives very much. Ryan's work in The Set-Up is aces, but I couldn't ignore Mifune's commanding performance. I still need to see some of the films you nominate, especially The Reckless Moment and The Hasty Heart.
DeleteAside from Bennett and Mason The Reckless Moment contains a terrific small performance by Frances E. Williams as Joan's loyal maid. She's at the edges for most of the film but comes into a sharper focus near the end. The film was remade years later with Tilda Swinton with a slightly different angle and renamed The Deep End.
DeleteOh, The Deep End is another one I need to see. I'll watch The Reckless Moment first then.
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