1955 is a weak year. There were some great films but only a few of them. So what does the Academy do? They nominate Picnic, The Rose Tattoo and Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing. Marty and Mister Roberts are both great films, this year also had Bad Day At Black Rock, Rebel Without A Cause, The Seven Year Itch, To Catch A Thief, The Night Of The Hunter and The Man With The Golden Arm, but the Oscars went with Jennifer Jones as a Chinese nurse.
You can see my GABBY Winners and nominees HERE
BEST PICTURE
Perfect casting, right?
4. The Rose Tattoo - Ugh, Tennessee Williams. I don't dislike his writing, I just don't like it. It's very actor friendly, characters always have beautiful poetic monologues but it doesn't seem real. Everyone talks like Blance DuBois. This movie isn't bad it just doesn't belong here. Anna Magnani, who was supposed to originate the role on Broadway but turned it down, plays an Italian widow who finds out that her husband cheated on her. She becomes a recluse but eventually finds love with Burt Lancaster who gets the same rose tattoo on his chest that her husband had. The performances are all good but it just seems like a story better suited for the stage than film.
3. Picnic - I was really expecting to dislike this movie. I had just watched the other 1955 William Holden film, which I hated and the plot to this movie just seemed like Oklahoma! without the songs. It's about a bunch of people getting ready for a town picnic. I was very pleasantly surprised. It's not a movie that needs to be in the Best Picture category at all but it is a very pleasant film with dark undertones. I like these old movies that show you how times haven't really changed. Our view of the 1950s has been saturated by stuff like Leave It To Beaver and we think of it as this pure time period where people respected their elders and had no repressed urges. This movie is very sexually charged, everybody is thinking about sex and wants sex. They can't talk about it explicitly because of the production codes but it's hidden in between the lines. The movie has a kind of Twin Peaks feel to it, there's no murder but nobody is really what they appear to be on the exterior.
BEST ACTOR
4. Spencer Tracy - Bad Day At Black Rock - First things first, Tracy won twice already so he's not getting my vote. That aside, this is a really cool movie. Tracy plays a one armed man who comes into a town looking for a Japanese man. Once there he meets a bunch of locals who are immediately hostile to the newcomer. Turns out they murdered the man because they're all racist. Tracy is really cool in this movie. He kicks Ernest Borgnine's ass only using one hand. It's a really fun performance and had he not already had two Oscars to his name he would be in the number 3 spot this year.
3. James Dean - East Of Eden - Ok, James Dean. Icon? Absolutely. Great actor? Debatable. He's good but, and this is a terrible thing to say, he became iconic because he died young. I really can't see a 40 year old James Dean still cranking out Academy Award worthy performances. It is impressive that the guy only starred in 3 films and became one of the most recognizable actors ever. This is his first film, Rebel Without A Cause came out later this year and Giant the year after. I didn't care for this movie, it's basically Cain and Abel in the 1920s. Dean seems to be doing a Marlon Brando impression which works in Rebel but sticks out a bit here. The cast seems to exist in the time period and Dean seems to exist in 1955.
2. Frank Sinatra - The Man With The Golden Arm - This movie is dark as all hell. Remember how I was talking about the dark undertones of Picnic? This movie pushes the boundaries of what was allowed in a film. It feels sometimes like a PSA to get people not to do heroin but at times it makes heroin look like a great thing, yeah it will ruin your life but, man, it will get you really high. Sinatra plays a guy just released from prison. He was addicted to heroin but went cold turkey while he was behind bars. Now he's trying to live clean but he goes back to his old life where he is surrounded by people who want him to fail. Sinatra is terrific here, especially in his scenes where he is going through withdrawal. Had he not just won an Oscar he would be the only guy to consider here.
1. Ernest Borgnine - Marty - Marty is a fat, lonely butcher who lives with his mother. He tries to go out dancing but he's disillusioned because none of the girls he likes want anything to do with him. Once he's given up he meets a girl that no guy wants anything to do with. The two are, of course, perfect for each other but there's still hurdles he has to jump. This is one of the most realistic performances ever to win the Oscar. There's no extra frills with the character, he has no mental or physical disabilities, he's just a guy. He's a guy who wants to love and be loved in return and it's sad and happy at the same time.
BEST ACTRESS
4. Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody - This is a 1950s melodramatic biopic, if that's the type of movie you like then this is a good one for you. I generally dislike biopics and usually dislike melodrama so I didn't much care for the film. Parker plays Marjorie Lawrence, an Australian opera singer who got polio, a more Academy friendly role doesn't exist. She didn't do her own singing but she does have a really good scene where she sings in a hospital from her wheelchair. It's a pure Oscar-bait role, when you think of Oscar roles this is what you think of. She's fine but there's no way I can vote for it.
3. Katharine Hepburn - Summertime - This is simply a romantic comedy in Rome starring Katharine Hepburn. She's an older lady, a school teacher, who is single. She goes to Rome, meets some locals and starts a relationship with Rossano Brazzi. It's just a cute little movie. I was surprised that it was directed by David Lean. It's fun and colorful and sweet. Hepburn is terrific as always, any other actress in this role probably wouldn't have gotten nominated. I would never vote for her but I'm glad she's here and this was actually a really weak year for leading female performances.
2. Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow - Hayward got 5 Oscar nominations for pretty much the same role. She was usually a singer or an actress who drank too much and overcame her alcoholism. I just watched this film and I'm already confusing it with Smash Up, her Oscar nominated role from 1947, where she played an alcoholic and Eddie Albert co-starred. In this movie she plays an alcoholic and Eddie Albert is her co-star. She's good in the role and if she wasn't going to win in 1958 I'd probably vote for her here. It's just weird that she kept playing the same part until she finally got an Oscar and then they never nominated her again. It would be like if Dustin Hoffman kept playing Rain Man.
1. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo - Like I said in my Best Picture recap, Tennessee Williams is very actor friendly. He creates very sympathetic and damaged characters that actors can truly inhabit. Magnani plays an Italian widow who finds that her husband was unfaithful and finds love in Burt Lancaster. She's really good in the role and if this weren't such a weak year for lead actresses she would be a strong #2. This year she's a #1.
Oscar history is weird sometimes. You look at actors who have never won an Oscar and you go, how did this person never win? Then you look at actors like Anna Magnani and you go, why does she have an Oscar and Steve Buscemi has never been nominated? This category is weak, historically. Jennifer Jones is in yellowface so you can't vote for her. Hepburn won 4 Oscars in her career, Hayward won once, Parker was a good actress but I can't muster up enthusiasm to vote for her this year. That leaves Magnani, an actress who was famous internationally but this was her only real Oscar worthy American role. So she wins Best Actress while other actresses went unnoticed or un-nominated. It is what it is.
Oscar Winner: Anna Magnani
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
4. Sal Mineo - Rebel Without A Cause - James Dean comes to town and is instantly idealized by Sal Mineo. Dean does all these cool things and Mineo is right behind him, like "Hey, me too!". He's fine in the role but it's not a role I saw anything special that needed to be nominated. He has the most tragic end of any of the characters so I suppose that's why he got a nomination. But wouldn't it be weird if Sal Mineo won an Oscar for Rebel Without A Cause and James Dean didn't?
3. Arthur O'Connell - Picnic - This movie is about a bunch of people going to a picnic. Rosalind Russell plays an old maid school teacher who gets taken to the picnic by Arthur O'Connell. He sneaks in a bottle of whiskey and urges Russell to have some too. They both get drunk during the picnic and he proposes marriage. It's a fun role and O'Connell is good at playing a fun loving drunk, see his nomination for Anatomy Of A Murder. It seems odd that he got the only acting nomination for the film, Rosalind Russell refused to campaign for supporting actress as she felt that she was and always will be a lead, but Susan Strasberg could have snuck in instead. There's no way I'm voting for this anyway, O'Connell's fun but the part is a little too slight to warrant a win.
2. Arthur Kennedy - Trial - This is a movie about a trial, from the time the body is found until the judge delivers the sentencing. It's not that great a film but the reason to watch it is for Kennedy's performance. At first you think he's like a Johnny Cochran type lawyer, he's trying to turn the trial into a circus. Then you learn that his real agenda is to raise support for his communist agenda. He doesn't even care about the kid on trial, he actually wants a guilty verdict so he can turn the kid into a martyr. Kennedy is really great and steals every scene he's in. He won a Golden Globe for the role which is good because he was a good actor who deserved some recognition. I'd vote for him except for the fact the Jack Lemmon is in this category.
1. Jack Lemmon - Mister Roberts - This is my favorite movie of the year and the only problem I have with this nomination is that it is the only acting nomination for the film. Henry Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell all could have been nominated but Jack Lemmon is the lone representative. That alone earns him my vote. I love the whole cast and he's the only guy to vote for. Also, it's one of my favorite performances of the year. Lemmon plays Ensign Pulver, he shares a barrack with Mister Roberts and he's woman hungry and always has a scheme cooking. He's also good at hiding out, the captain has no idea who he is or what he looks like. He's the comic relief of the film and it's such a great Jack Lemmon performance.
Jack Lemmon is deserving based on career and performance but this is also a really weak category. I can't really make a case for voting for anyone else. Had Lemmon not been in the running I would probably vote Kennedy or O'Connell but that would have been purely a vote for a good actor who never won an Oscar, nothing more. Good thing Lemmon's here because this is one of the easiest rankings I've ever done.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
You can see my GABBY Winners and nominees HERE
BEST PICTURE
5. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing - Well, this isn't a good movie at all. According to the Wikipedia article of the film, "The film was completed on time, within the planned three months schedule". That is the most amount of praise I can award this film. They sure as hell completed it. William Holden is a reporter in China during their Civil War and he falls in love with Jennifer Jones who plays a half Asian doctor. Their relationship spurns some racial hatred and then he dies off screen and she is sad. If anyone remembers my Oscar Watch for 1946 you will note that Jennifer Jones is white and for some reason gets to play random races. The movie was based on a true story so...
Here's the real Han Suyin and Jennifer Jones side by side and then Jennifer Jones as Han Suyin
4. The Rose Tattoo - Ugh, Tennessee Williams. I don't dislike his writing, I just don't like it. It's very actor friendly, characters always have beautiful poetic monologues but it doesn't seem real. Everyone talks like Blance DuBois. This movie isn't bad it just doesn't belong here. Anna Magnani, who was supposed to originate the role on Broadway but turned it down, plays an Italian widow who finds out that her husband cheated on her. She becomes a recluse but eventually finds love with Burt Lancaster who gets the same rose tattoo on his chest that her husband had. The performances are all good but it just seems like a story better suited for the stage than film.
3. Picnic - I was really expecting to dislike this movie. I had just watched the other 1955 William Holden film, which I hated and the plot to this movie just seemed like Oklahoma! without the songs. It's about a bunch of people getting ready for a town picnic. I was very pleasantly surprised. It's not a movie that needs to be in the Best Picture category at all but it is a very pleasant film with dark undertones. I like these old movies that show you how times haven't really changed. Our view of the 1950s has been saturated by stuff like Leave It To Beaver and we think of it as this pure time period where people respected their elders and had no repressed urges. This movie is very sexually charged, everybody is thinking about sex and wants sex. They can't talk about it explicitly because of the production codes but it's hidden in between the lines. The movie has a kind of Twin Peaks feel to it, there's no murder but nobody is really what they appear to be on the exterior.
2. Marty - I love Marty. So often I watch these movies that are nominated or won Best Picture and I just see a big bloated mess. Even if the movie is good, there's just so much fat surrounding it. Marty is a simple story told in 90 minutes. Ernest Borgnine plays an overweight butcher who lives with his mother, he goes out every week looking for love but he's really unhappy and doesn't think any woman would ever want him. One night he meets a meek school teacher who isn't much to look at but she's nice and perfect for him. He decides to go after her no matter what anyone says and it's an incredible underdog story. It's one of those movies that makes you want to stand up and cheer. I love that it won Best Picture, I just liked one movie on this list a little more.
1. Mister Roberts - This is one of my all time favorite movies. It stars Henry Fonda as an officer aboard the cargo ship Reluctant, a "rust bucket" in the middle of the ocean during World War II. Fonda yearns to be part of the action but all his requests for transfer go unsigned by his captain because he likes Fonda right where he is. A lot of navy hijinks ensue and it's got comedy, drama and a whole lot of heart.
I love Marty, I'm glad it won but I like Mister Roberts better. I'm not upset at the outcome I'm just voting differently. Both are great films and you should just watch them both right now if you haven't seen them.
Oscar Winner: Marty
My Vote: Mister Roberts
GABBY Winner: Mister Roberts
BEST ACTOR
5. James Cagney - Love Me Or Leave Me - I didn't particularly care for this musical biopic but Cagney was great in Mister Roberts so I'm fine with him getting nominated for this instead. Although him getting nominated in this category meant there was no room for Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts, so it's a mixed bag. Cagney plays gangster Martin "Moe The Gimp" Snyder who meets a beautiful singer in a club, marries her and becomes her manager. He's kind of fun playing a tough guy using tough guy tactics in the entertainment field. This character is like if George M. Cohan and Rocky Sullivan had a baby. Cagney had an Oscar so I'm glad I don't have to vote for him this year. This is a nice veteran nod, not something that wins.
4. Spencer Tracy - Bad Day At Black Rock - First things first, Tracy won twice already so he's not getting my vote. That aside, this is a really cool movie. Tracy plays a one armed man who comes into a town looking for a Japanese man. Once there he meets a bunch of locals who are immediately hostile to the newcomer. Turns out they murdered the man because they're all racist. Tracy is really cool in this movie. He kicks Ernest Borgnine's ass only using one hand. It's a really fun performance and had he not already had two Oscars to his name he would be in the number 3 spot this year.
3. James Dean - East Of Eden - Ok, James Dean. Icon? Absolutely. Great actor? Debatable. He's good but, and this is a terrible thing to say, he became iconic because he died young. I really can't see a 40 year old James Dean still cranking out Academy Award worthy performances. It is impressive that the guy only starred in 3 films and became one of the most recognizable actors ever. This is his first film, Rebel Without A Cause came out later this year and Giant the year after. I didn't care for this movie, it's basically Cain and Abel in the 1920s. Dean seems to be doing a Marlon Brando impression which works in Rebel but sticks out a bit here. The cast seems to exist in the time period and Dean seems to exist in 1955.
2. Frank Sinatra - The Man With The Golden Arm - This movie is dark as all hell. Remember how I was talking about the dark undertones of Picnic? This movie pushes the boundaries of what was allowed in a film. It feels sometimes like a PSA to get people not to do heroin but at times it makes heroin look like a great thing, yeah it will ruin your life but, man, it will get you really high. Sinatra plays a guy just released from prison. He was addicted to heroin but went cold turkey while he was behind bars. Now he's trying to live clean but he goes back to his old life where he is surrounded by people who want him to fail. Sinatra is terrific here, especially in his scenes where he is going through withdrawal. Had he not just won an Oscar he would be the only guy to consider here.
1. Ernest Borgnine - Marty - Marty is a fat, lonely butcher who lives with his mother. He tries to go out dancing but he's disillusioned because none of the girls he likes want anything to do with him. Once he's given up he meets a girl that no guy wants anything to do with. The two are, of course, perfect for each other but there's still hurdles he has to jump. This is one of the most realistic performances ever to win the Oscar. There's no extra frills with the character, he has no mental or physical disabilities, he's just a guy. He's a guy who wants to love and be loved in return and it's sad and happy at the same time.
If all things were equal Sinatra would be the winner. He just won though so I gotta go with Borgnine. Borgnine was a limited actor but he was great at playing Ernest Borgnine parts and this is the perfect marriage between actor and character. Compare this to his performances in From Here To Eternity or Bad Day At Black Rock where he's playing tough guys with little to no character development, here he has an incredible heart and when he's sad, you're sad and when he's happy, you're happy. There's a sad, lonely, fat guy in all of us and Borgnine makes us feel like we can all be the best we can be.
Oscar Winner: Ernest Borgnine
My Vote: Ernest Borgnine
GABBY Winner: Robert Mitchum for The Night Of The Hunter
5. Jennifer Jones - Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing - Nope.
4. Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody - This is a 1950s melodramatic biopic, if that's the type of movie you like then this is a good one for you. I generally dislike biopics and usually dislike melodrama so I didn't much care for the film. Parker plays Marjorie Lawrence, an Australian opera singer who got polio, a more Academy friendly role doesn't exist. She didn't do her own singing but she does have a really good scene where she sings in a hospital from her wheelchair. It's a pure Oscar-bait role, when you think of Oscar roles this is what you think of. She's fine but there's no way I can vote for it.
3. Katharine Hepburn - Summertime - This is simply a romantic comedy in Rome starring Katharine Hepburn. She's an older lady, a school teacher, who is single. She goes to Rome, meets some locals and starts a relationship with Rossano Brazzi. It's just a cute little movie. I was surprised that it was directed by David Lean. It's fun and colorful and sweet. Hepburn is terrific as always, any other actress in this role probably wouldn't have gotten nominated. I would never vote for her but I'm glad she's here and this was actually a really weak year for leading female performances.
2. Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow - Hayward got 5 Oscar nominations for pretty much the same role. She was usually a singer or an actress who drank too much and overcame her alcoholism. I just watched this film and I'm already confusing it with Smash Up, her Oscar nominated role from 1947, where she played an alcoholic and Eddie Albert co-starred. In this movie she plays an alcoholic and Eddie Albert is her co-star. She's good in the role and if she wasn't going to win in 1958 I'd probably vote for her here. It's just weird that she kept playing the same part until she finally got an Oscar and then they never nominated her again. It would be like if Dustin Hoffman kept playing Rain Man.
1. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo - Like I said in my Best Picture recap, Tennessee Williams is very actor friendly. He creates very sympathetic and damaged characters that actors can truly inhabit. Magnani plays an Italian widow who finds that her husband was unfaithful and finds love in Burt Lancaster. She's really good in the role and if this weren't such a weak year for lead actresses she would be a strong #2. This year she's a #1.
Oscar history is weird sometimes. You look at actors who have never won an Oscar and you go, how did this person never win? Then you look at actors like Anna Magnani and you go, why does she have an Oscar and Steve Buscemi has never been nominated? This category is weak, historically. Jennifer Jones is in yellowface so you can't vote for her. Hepburn won 4 Oscars in her career, Hayward won once, Parker was a good actress but I can't muster up enthusiasm to vote for her this year. That leaves Magnani, an actress who was famous internationally but this was her only real Oscar worthy American role. So she wins Best Actress while other actresses went unnoticed or un-nominated. It is what it is.
Oscar Winner: Anna Magnani
My Vote: Anna Magnani
GABBY Winner: Anna Magnani
5. Joe Mantell - Marty - Sometimes when a movie gets a lot of Oscar nominations they throw one to whoever happened to be sitting around the main character. Mantell plays Angie, Marty's best friend. He sits at the bar with him and they don't seem to notice that their lives are aimless. He goes out with Marty, meets a girl and ditches Marty with the ugly friend. Then he goes back looking for Marty but can't find him. It's one of those where after you watch the movie you think, "He was good" but then you think about it and go, "Hey, that guy didn't do anything and any actor in the world could have played that part".
4. Sal Mineo - Rebel Without A Cause - James Dean comes to town and is instantly idealized by Sal Mineo. Dean does all these cool things and Mineo is right behind him, like "Hey, me too!". He's fine in the role but it's not a role I saw anything special that needed to be nominated. He has the most tragic end of any of the characters so I suppose that's why he got a nomination. But wouldn't it be weird if Sal Mineo won an Oscar for Rebel Without A Cause and James Dean didn't?
3. Arthur O'Connell - Picnic - This movie is about a bunch of people going to a picnic. Rosalind Russell plays an old maid school teacher who gets taken to the picnic by Arthur O'Connell. He sneaks in a bottle of whiskey and urges Russell to have some too. They both get drunk during the picnic and he proposes marriage. It's a fun role and O'Connell is good at playing a fun loving drunk, see his nomination for Anatomy Of A Murder. It seems odd that he got the only acting nomination for the film, Rosalind Russell refused to campaign for supporting actress as she felt that she was and always will be a lead, but Susan Strasberg could have snuck in instead. There's no way I'm voting for this anyway, O'Connell's fun but the part is a little too slight to warrant a win.
2. Arthur Kennedy - Trial - This is a movie about a trial, from the time the body is found until the judge delivers the sentencing. It's not that great a film but the reason to watch it is for Kennedy's performance. At first you think he's like a Johnny Cochran type lawyer, he's trying to turn the trial into a circus. Then you learn that his real agenda is to raise support for his communist agenda. He doesn't even care about the kid on trial, he actually wants a guilty verdict so he can turn the kid into a martyr. Kennedy is really great and steals every scene he's in. He won a Golden Globe for the role which is good because he was a good actor who deserved some recognition. I'd vote for him except for the fact the Jack Lemmon is in this category.
1. Jack Lemmon - Mister Roberts - This is my favorite movie of the year and the only problem I have with this nomination is that it is the only acting nomination for the film. Henry Fonda, James Cagney and William Powell all could have been nominated but Jack Lemmon is the lone representative. That alone earns him my vote. I love the whole cast and he's the only guy to vote for. Also, it's one of my favorite performances of the year. Lemmon plays Ensign Pulver, he shares a barrack with Mister Roberts and he's woman hungry and always has a scheme cooking. He's also good at hiding out, the captain has no idea who he is or what he looks like. He's the comic relief of the film and it's such a great Jack Lemmon performance.
Jack Lemmon is deserving based on career and performance but this is also a really weak category. I can't really make a case for voting for anyone else. Had Lemmon not been in the running I would probably vote Kennedy or O'Connell but that would have been purely a vote for a good actor who never won an Oscar, nothing more. Good thing Lemmon's here because this is one of the easiest rankings I've ever done.
Oscar Winner: Jack Lemmon
My Vote: Jack Lemmon
GABBY Winner: Jack Lemmon
5. Marisa Pavan - The Rose Tattoo - The 40s and 50s are littered with nominees like this. A young lady who was in a Best Picture nominee and was never heard of again. I looked her up after writing that last sentence and she did have a solid career, just not in anything I've seen. She plays Anna Magnani's daughter, like I said with Magnani, Tennessee Williams scripts always have meaty monologues for actors and Pavan handles them well but there's no way I'm voting for her over Natalie Wood, Peggy Lee or Betsy Blair.
4. Jo Van Fleet - East Of Eden - My first thought here was, oh, this is a veteran nomination and win. A respected actress shows up for a couple of scenes and scores an Oscar. I was wrong, this was her film debut. She really only has one scene, she's decent but I didn't see anything that screamed Oscar winning performance. She plays James Dean's mother, he comes to her for money and she refuses at first but then gives it to him. She had some stage credits to her name but this was her first year in film, she also appeared in The Rose Tattoo and I'll Cry Tomorrow this same year, so this was probably a win for an actress that they saw with a bright future. She's fine for a nomination, just doesn't hold up as a winner based on screen time and importance to the plot.
3. Peggy Lee - Pete Kelly's Blues - This is a jazz film noir directed by and starring Jack Webb, most famous for TV's Dragnet. It's an interesting film but mostly because it feels like an episode of Dragnet, and that's mainly because Webb narrates it. Every time somebody got shot I kept expecting the mugshot to show up and hear how much time the killer got behind bars. Peggy Lee plays a drunk lounge singer that Webb is told he has to hire for his band. She's not that bad in the film, I would never have nominated her but she's decent. This was only one of two feature films she appeared in, she was much more famous as a singer than an actress. There's no way I could ever vote for her but some reason she ends up in the 3 spot this year.
2. Natalie Wood - Rebel Without A Cause - When we first meet James Dean he is at the police station after being picked up for drunk and disorderly conduct. Also at the station is Natalie Wood who was mistaken for a prostitute. She's also in that lonely and isolated teenage phase, her father refuses to kiss her anymore because she's too old for that kind of stuff, and she finds companionship in Dean and Mineo. There's a fragility and strength with Wood that I really love. She's dating one of the street toughs but you can tell she's only doing it because she thinks that's what she is supposed to do. Her chemistry with Dean is incredible and she is one of the most beautiful actresses ever on film.
1. Betsy Blair - Marty - She's a dog and he's a fat ugly man. Blair is the plain Jane school teacher who wins Marty's heart. He meets her at a nightclub after she's been left alone by her friends. They both see a kinship in each other and fall in love. Blair is so good here, she's very pretty but not in that classical actress way so you really feel for her when everyone is saying she's ugly and you fall in love with her just as Borgnine is.
So, thinking of this historically, Blair didn't have a career worthy of an Oscar, but neither did Jo Van Fleet. The only actress here who deserves an Oscar based on career is Natalie Wood but I know I'm going to vote for her in 1961. So I gotta vote for my favorite performance and that's Betsy Blair
Oscar Winner: Jo Van Fleet
My Vote: Betsy Blair
GABBY Winner: Betsy Blair
Delbert Mann wins for Marty which is not the greatest Best Director win in history. Marty is a terrific film but it's mostly due to the writing and performances and heart. I guess Mann orchestrated all that but I don't see any directorial style in the film. I'm okay with the win though because his competition was weak. Elia Kazan for East Of Eden, David Lean for Summertime, Joshua Logan for Picnic and John Sturges for Bad Day At Black Rock. Sturges would have been the best decision but seeing as how his film wasn't nominated for Best Picture, Marty just makes sense.
Best Screenplay/Story And Screenplay/Motion Picture Story
Ah the Oscars and their bizarre writing categories. Marty wins Best Screenplay which I know is an adaptation as is everything it was up against. Interrupted Melody wins Best Story And Screenplay which is also an adaptation, possibly, it's a biopic but may have been completely original. Then Love Me Or Leave Me wins Best Motion Picture Story. I really have no idea what the difference in the categories is. Anyway, Marty is a good winner, Interrupted Melody is not and Love Me Or Leave Me I literally could love or leave.
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score/Musical Score/Song
The soundtrack to Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing was a big hit at the time so it makes sense that it won score but it beating Elmer Bernstein's cool jazzy score for The Man With The Golden Arm is a bit absurd. It also won Best Song over a crop of tunes that have stood the test of time, Something's Gotta Give, The Tender Trap and Unchained Melody. Oklahoma! wins Best Scoring Of A Musical Picture which seems like a cheat since they just used the score to the stage musical.
Best Sound Recording
Oklahoma! wins which once again proves my theory that musicals always win this category.
Best Art Direction - Black And White/Color
Splitting up the art direction category by color and black and white seems silly but I get it. The Rose Tattoo wins black and white, no costume dramas or period pieces this year so it's a fairly weak category. Picnic wins for color which is a fair decision in another weak category.
Best Cinematography - Black And White/Color
Cinematography is the one category that I support splitting up by black and white or color. They really are two different mediums. We got some weak nominees this year though, The Rose Tattoo wins for black and white against other just standard shot films like Blackboard Jungle, I'll Cry Tomorrow, Marty and Queen Bee. None of these movies are really fantastically shot. Nice to see Robert Burks finally get some love for his work with Hitchcock. To Catch A Thief isn't the best looking of his films but that's only because he shot some incredible looking films.
Best Costume Design - Black And White/Color
The separation of black and white and color in this category seems silly to me. I don't even separate my laundry by color. Both categories are pretty weak. I'll Cry Tomorrow wins for black and white, which I guess had a lot of gowns when she's doing her nightclub act. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing wins for color, which I guess putting Jennifer Jones in a kimono earns an Oscar.
Best Film Editing
Picnic wins another weak category. Not having an epic this year really gave us some mediocre winners in the technical categories.
Best Special Effects
The Bridges At Toko-Ri wins over The Dam Busters and The Rains Of Ranchipur. I've never seen any of these movies so I watched the trailers and can say that they probably picked the best one.
Up Next
1995
Ah the Oscars and their bizarre writing categories. Marty wins Best Screenplay which I know is an adaptation as is everything it was up against. Interrupted Melody wins Best Story And Screenplay which is also an adaptation, possibly, it's a biopic but may have been completely original. Then Love Me Or Leave Me wins Best Motion Picture Story. I really have no idea what the difference in the categories is. Anyway, Marty is a good winner, Interrupted Melody is not and Love Me Or Leave Me I literally could love or leave.
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score/Musical Score/Song
The soundtrack to Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing was a big hit at the time so it makes sense that it won score but it beating Elmer Bernstein's cool jazzy score for The Man With The Golden Arm is a bit absurd. It also won Best Song over a crop of tunes that have stood the test of time, Something's Gotta Give, The Tender Trap and Unchained Melody. Oklahoma! wins Best Scoring Of A Musical Picture which seems like a cheat since they just used the score to the stage musical.
Best Sound Recording
Oklahoma! wins which once again proves my theory that musicals always win this category.
Best Art Direction - Black And White/Color
Splitting up the art direction category by color and black and white seems silly but I get it. The Rose Tattoo wins black and white, no costume dramas or period pieces this year so it's a fairly weak category. Picnic wins for color which is a fair decision in another weak category.
Best Cinematography - Black And White/Color
Cinematography is the one category that I support splitting up by black and white or color. They really are two different mediums. We got some weak nominees this year though, The Rose Tattoo wins for black and white against other just standard shot films like Blackboard Jungle, I'll Cry Tomorrow, Marty and Queen Bee. None of these movies are really fantastically shot. Nice to see Robert Burks finally get some love for his work with Hitchcock. To Catch A Thief isn't the best looking of his films but that's only because he shot some incredible looking films.
Best Costume Design - Black And White/Color
The separation of black and white and color in this category seems silly to me. I don't even separate my laundry by color. Both categories are pretty weak. I'll Cry Tomorrow wins for black and white, which I guess had a lot of gowns when she's doing her nightclub act. Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing wins for color, which I guess putting Jennifer Jones in a kimono earns an Oscar.
Best Film Editing
Picnic wins another weak category. Not having an epic this year really gave us some mediocre winners in the technical categories.
Best Special Effects
The Bridges At Toko-Ri wins over The Dam Busters and The Rains Of Ranchipur. I've never seen any of these movies so I watched the trailers and can say that they probably picked the best one.
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1995
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