1962 Oscar Watch

In the 1906s, movies started getting long.  Probably due to the competition with television, movies tried to be events.  Something that would get you out of the house and was worth your ticket price.  The average length of the Best Picture nominees this year is 2 hours and 52 minutes.  All together they add up to 14 hours.  This was a long week.

You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE

Best Picture

5. Mutiny On The Bounty is a remake of the 1935 Best Picture winner which was based on the novel which was based on real events.  Captain Bligh, played by Trevor Howard, is a hard ass captain whose ship is taken over by Fletcher Christian, played by Marlon Brando.  This movie is 3 hours long with maybe 90 minutes of actual story.  The rest of the film is filled with pointless subplots, unnecessary filler and shots of scenery.  The film is very colorful but it is boring as all hell.  It is particularly hard to sit through because of a laughably bad performance from Brando.  He seems either bored, confused or screwing around for the whole film.

4. The Longest Day is a star studded WWII film about D-Day.  It's 3 hours long and very episodic as it weaves between multiple stories.  It's like they took all the stories about D-Day that couldn't sustain a movie of their own and crammed them into one big movie.  The first hour of the film is everybody waiting for D-Day and it goes on forever.  I literally thought that the movie was going to end with D-Day after 3 hours of people waiting for it.  Some of the set pieces are stronger than others and what you're left with is a very long, very uneven but not terrible war film.  There are many better WWII films out there to watch.

3. The Music Man is a fun musical based on Meredith Wilson's Broadway show.  It follows Harold Hill, a con man who goes from town to town hustling unsuspecting rubes out of their hard earned money.  His current scheme involves putting together a boys band.  He sells instruments, uniforms and lessons even though he can't read music or play any musical instrument.  He collects the money and skips town before they realize that he's full of crap.  Of course, he develops a heart in his last stop and falls in love.  Robert Preston plays Hill and his performance is one of the main reasons I wanted to be an actor as a kid.  He's so effortlessly suave and looks like he is having the best time.  It's a wonderful and fun movie that provides a nice break from the heavier stuff nominated this year.

2. Lawrence Of Arabia is one of those "epic" movies that you either love or pretend you like.  Nobody ever says Lawrence Of Arabia is over rated but I always wonder how many people are setting aside 4 hours to watch this on a regular basis.  The movie actually keeps a nice pace, which is rare for a David Lean film post Bridge On The River Kwai, but it is very long and one of those films where I don't think I can write a plot synopsis.  I've seen it multiple times but couldn't really tell you what it's about.  I can tell you that it is a gorgeous looking film.  There are shots in this film that just inspire awe.  As far as storytelling goes, I'm not sure I will ever understand why this was 4 hours long.

1. To Kill A Mockingbird is based on Harper Lee's novel about growing up in a small southern town.  Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, a lawyer who is called upon to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman.  It is so apparent that he is innocent but since this is the racist south the town is hungry for his blood.  It's all seen through the innocent eyes of a child.  It is one of the greatest movies ever made.

This vote comes down to what you think makes a great movie.  First off, Mutiny On The Bounty and The Longest Day don't belong on this list.  Neither does The Music Man really.  I love the film but there were better movies this year, The Miracle Worker, The Manchurian Candidate, Days Of Wine And Roses, something of substance could have taken that spot.  The vote is between Lawrence Of Arabia and To Kill A Mockingbird.  Now, Lawrence is huge, it's a grand spectacle, it's a wonder to behold and a feast for the eyes and ears.  To Kill A Mockingbird grabs you by the gut.  If I was picking a movie to see on the big screen I would probably choose Lawrence Of Arabia but if I'm picking a film to watch and enjoy and be moved by, I'm picking Mockingbird.  I think the Oscars prefer the spectacle with films like Lawrence, The English Patient, Out Of Africa, Gandhi.  I like the movies that cut into my feelings.

Oscar Winner: Lawrence Of Arabia

My Vote: To Kill A Mockingbird

GABBY Winner: To Kill A Mockingbird

Best Actor

5. Marcello Mastroianni.  Divorce Italian Style is a dark comedy about a guy trying to divorce his wife and marry someone else.  Since divorce is illegal he has to orchestrate catching his wife cheating on him so he can murder her, which would be forgiven as an act of honor.  It's actually a very funny movie that I liked quite a bit but foreign performances always land in the 5th spot.  Marcello is good but I would rather honor Jack, Peter or Gregory before him.

4. Burt Lancaster plays the titular Birdman Of Alcatraz.  Robert Stroud is a murderer sent to prison, while there he murders a guard, he is sentenced to death but his mother campaigns to get him reduced to life in prison.  He is put in solitary confinement and takes up raising birds.  He eventually gets other prisoners to raise birds and is visited by reporters who want to interview the 'birdman'.  I'm not sure if my problem with the film stems from Lancaster's portrayal, the direction of the film or both.  Lancaster plays Stroud like a saint, which he isn't.  We see him murder a man and for no real reason.  This character could have used some warts but instead we are supposed to think that the warden is the bad guy for trying to take away his birds.  If the point of the film is to make Stroud out to be a sympathetic character then Lancaster does a fine job.  For me, he was too sympathetic.

3. Peter O'Toole plays T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence Of Arabia.  He's the lead, he goes to the middle east, he's an insolent army lieutenant who lives his life without blindly following orders.  O'Toole is terrific in the film and holds it together with his performance through its long running time.  The main reason I can't vote for him is because his performance kind of gets lost in the scale of the film.  It's like voting for Charlton Heston for Ben-Hur, he's charismatic enough to keep our interest but a lot of actors could have played that part and the movie wouldn't have lost anything.  This was also his first major film and kudos to him for 1, being so damn good in his first major film and 2, maintaining a career afterwords.  So often someone who scores big right out of the gate vanishes quickly but O'Toole was able to build a career off of it and not get typecast in this same role.

2. Jack Lemmon plays Joe Clay, a public relations executive who drinks too much, in Days Of Wine And Roses.  He works for a firm where his job is to find ladies to "entertain" his bosses and the high rollers in his company.  So he's basically a pimp and he uses alcohol as a way to numb his feelings.  Then he meets a woman and introduces her to booze.  Some tragedies befall them and he seeks help with his addiction but she refuses to admit she has a problem.  Lemmon's scenes where he is playing drunk are stirring and real.  He himself eventually sought treatment for alcoholism.  This is one of his best roles and I really want to vote for him but he ended up getting 2 Oscars and there is one actor on this list who never won and one who only won here.

1. Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, the wise father and lawyer who defends an innocent black man accused of rape in To Kill A Mockingbird.  I have given Peck flack in a few of these blogs for not being a great actor.  He had a commanding baritone voice that gave impact to his words but there was very little emotion behind it.  This is where it all worked perfectly.  This is just the perfect marriage between actor and character.  There is no better actor suited for Atticus Finch than Gregory Peck and in turn there is no better character for Peck to play.  He is powerful and stern but also warm and kind.  His courtroom scenes are some of the best in any courtroom drama and his scenes with his daughter are some of the most sincere in any family drama.  This is an Oscar that was well deserved.

I want to vote for Jack, but I can't.  Based on performance alone, he was my favorite.  Followed by Peck and O'Toole.  This is Peter's first film so I don't feel compelled to vote for him.  Seeing as how Jack already won and Gregory hadn't, that makes the decision easier.  Plus, Peck is just perfect as Atticus Finch.  I feel that he is an actor of very limited range but I can't argue that he was born to play this part.  I'm glad they didn't give him a win for something like Gentleman's Agreement.  This is a case where they waited until he delivered a performance too good to be ignored.

Oscar Winner: Gregory Peck

My Vote: Gregory Peck

GABBY Winner: Gregory Peck

Best Actress

5. Katharine Hepburn is the only member of the ensemble from Long Day's Journey Into Night to get a nomination.  The film stars Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell all acting their heart out in the Eugene O'Neill adaptation.  Adaptation is a strong word for the film, it is basically the play shot on film.  It's good but not incredibly cinematic.  It feels like a play.  Hepburn is great as is the rest of the cast but this is something that deserves a Tony more than an Oscar.

4. Geraldine Page earned 8 Oscar nominations and won on her last one for The Trip To Bountiful.  I've seen all the other nominated performances and this was the last one on my list.  This is definitely my favorite, and she still only places 4th.  That's not to say she's not good, this category is just too strong.  In Sweet Bird Of Youth she plays a fading actress who was mocked when she tried to make a comeback.  A closeup in her latest film elicited laughs from the audience.  So now she spends most of her day drunk or stoned.  She takes up with Paul Newman, a Hollywood gigolo and spends most of the film in bed nursing a hangover.  It's a really good role and a good performance, but like I said, this category is too strong to consider her.

3. Lee Remick plays a sweet and innocent woman who marries an alcoholic and then becomes one herself in Days Of Wine And Roses.  She doesn't drink but when she goes on a date with Jack Lemmon he offers her a chocolaty alcoholic drink and it gets her hooked.  It isn't long before she's drinking the hard stuff and accidentally setting fire to her apartment.  It's hard to compete with Jack Lemmon's performance in the film but Remick matches him pretty much beat for beat.  Her best moments come near the end where Jack has gone into AA but she is still drinking behind his back.  She isn't strong enough to admit that she has a problem so instead she tries to run away and hide.  Then there's the final scene which provides both hope and despair for both of their characters.  What a terrific film, from the director of The Pink Panther series no less.

2. Bette Davis won 2 Oscars before she was 30 years old, which is a shame because she didn't really get great until later in her career.  What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is a camp classic.  Bette plays a child star whose career fizzled out early on while her sister's succeeded.  Now she's a crazy spinster who spends her days drinking and taking care of her invalid sister, who she crippled when she ran over her with a car.  Bette is insanely fantastically fun in this movie and her performance is amplified knowing the back story of the film.  Her sister is played by Joan Crawford and the two of them absolutely hated each other.  Their rivalry is present in every scene and you can see the glee on Bette's face as she gets to torment her enemy.

1. Anne Bancroft plays Anne Sullivan, a formerly blind teacher who becomes tutor and friend to Helen Keller, a blind, deaf and mute girl in The Miracle Worker.  Helen's family is frustrated and fed up with raising their daughter as they have no idea how to communicate with her so they hire Anne to care for her.  Through stubbornness, love and determination Anne begins to break through to Helen teaching her sign language.  It's an incredible film that is made all the more powerful due to the performances of Bancroft and Patty Duke.  I'm glad that both of them won because their scenes together are why the movie works.

I gave my win to Bette Davis but that's because I had never given her top honors before.  Since she's already won twice, the Academy made the right decision by going with Bancroft.  Plus, it gave us one of the best Oscar stories.  Bette's co-star and rival Joan Crawford called all the nominees and said that she would accept the award on their behalf if they won and weren't present.  The Academy used to let nominees pick who would accept for them if they didn't show up but ever since the whole Sacheen Littlefeather thing, they don't do that anymore.  So, Anne Bancroft wins, Joan Crawford accepts, Bette Davis sits in the audience scowling.

Oscar Winner: Anne Bancroft

My Vote: Anne Bancroft

GABBY Winner: Bette Davis

Best Supporting Actor

5. Telly Savalas plays a fellow prisoner in Birdman Of Alcatraz.  He's introduced as a gruff inmate but then slowly softens as he also starts to care for birds.  That's pretty much all he does.  He's fine in the film but it's not much of a part.  He acts tough, then he's nice, then he acts tough again when his bird gets sick and he forces Burt Lancaster to care for it.  I want to vote for him because he was Kojak and Maggott in The Dirty Dozen but there's just not much to this character.

4. Terrence Stamp plays Billy Budd in a film called Billy Budd.  That's probably your first clue that Stamp is the lead of the film and not a supporting role at all.  Your second clue is that he is in almost every scene.  I have no idea how they saw fit to put him in this category except for the fact that this was hist first film.  Being a newcomer doesn't automatically make you a supporting actor.  As for the performance, he was good but I found his character kind of dull.  There are a lot of great character actors in the movie playing crew members on the ship and Stamp is just left to react to them.  This is his only nomination to date, which is a shame.

3. Victor Buono strikes a peculiar presence in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?.  He's a tall and large man with a soft and almost sing song voice.  Bette Davis is an old, bat-crazy spinster who used to be a child star.  She wants to mount a comeback which would consist of her, now as an old lady, singing the songs she used to sing as a child.  Imagine Cloris Leachman singing Shirley Temple songs unironically, it's creepy, sad and darkly hilarious.  Buono is the man she hires as an accompanist.  He lives with his mother, it's hinted that he's gay and he thinks this could be the ticket to something big.  Until he realizes that Baby Jane is crazy.  Then he has a drunken scene near the end where he discovers a body.  It's a fun little role but he doesn't do a whole lot in the film.  It's a nice nomination but not something that is win worthy.

2. Ed Begley plays Tom Boss Finley, a political kingpin from the south in Sweet Bird Of Youth.  This is the 'Big Daddy' role that is in a lot of Tennessee Williams plays.  He's not as great as Burl Ives in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof or Orson Welles in The Long Hot Summer but he's perfectly capable and does a nice job with it.

1. Omar Sharif plays Sheriff Ali in Lawrence Of Arabia and he is incredibly dynamic in doing so.  The film has a huge ensemble of stars but Sharif stands out above the rest.  He is introduced as an antagonist and then quickly befriends Lawrence.  It's one of the most incredible character introductions.  He emerges from a mirage in the desert and then quickly shoots a man dead for drinking from his well without permission.  Sharif's performance just gets better from there.

It's really quite surprising how Omar Sharif didn't win.  He's the only nominee from a Best Picture nominee, in this case the Best Picture winner.  Based on performance alone, I think Ed Begley is a fine winner and a solid choice but Omar Sharif would have held up better.  Those are the top 2 as Savalas and Buono don't have much of a part and Stamp has too big of a part to be in this category.

Oscar Winner: Ed Begley

My Vote: Omar Sharif

GABBY Winner: Lee Marvin for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Best Supporting Actress

5. Shirley Knight plays the daughter of Ed Begley in Sweet Bird Of Youth.  Until watching this film and her other nominated performance in The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs, I was only familiar with Knight from her later years in As Good As It Gets and, unfortunately, Grandma's Boy.  It was cool seeing her young and sexy.  Her father uses her virginal innocence on the campaign trail but privately roughs her up because of her loose morals.  It's also referenced that she got an abortion after an affair with Paul Newman's character.  It's a fine performance that fits well into the film but a lot of actresses could have played it and it's not as showy as her competition in this category.

4. Thelma Ritter doesn't do a whole lot in Birdman Of Alcatraz but this was her 6th and final nomination in this category without a win, so if she won here I wouldn't think it was the worst decision.  She plays Burt Lancaster's mother and she fights for him on the outside.  When threatened with the death penalty she protests enough to get it reduced to life in prison and she visits him in jail a couple of times.  She ages nicely with the character but you kind of forget about her as the movie rolls along.

3. Mary Badham plays Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird and you could argue that she's a lead role.  The movie is told from her perspective but she takes a back seat to Gregory Peck once the trial starts so she fits in this category well.  Badham has a very natural charm with very little precociousness.  This part had all the makings and potential to be annoying but Badham plays Scout exactly like a normal child.  There's also a pure innocence to her performance, you see Scout figuring things out about life and the looks on Badham's face are so real it's like the actress is learning these lessons as well.

2. Patty Duke's performance as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker is one of the best, if not THE best child actor performance of all time.  For the majority of the time child actors are suppose to rely on their cuteness but Duke is not cute at all.  She is a confused animal that doesn't know how to communicate with the world around her.  There's never a moment in the film where I saw a child acting, I just saw Helen Keller, deaf, blind and mute and lost and frightened.  It's an incredible performance that could have ruined the film if not played correctly.  One more thing to note, the movie uses a lot of long takes.  The scenes where Anne Sullivan is teaching Helen are shot mainly at one angle.  There aren't a lot of cuts between the action which means that Duke's performance was not enhanced by editing.  She's playing this part as she would have to on the stage when all eyes are on her at all times.

1. Angela Lansbury plays the mother of The Manchurian Candidate.  This is a cold war espionage thriller about communism and brainwashing.  Laurence Harvey is a Korean war veteran who was held hostage and brainwashed to be an unwitting assassin.  Now he is back in civilization and when triggered he loses all impulses and memory and murders who he is told to.  Lansbury plays his mother who is power hungry, she is married to a senator who is climbing the political ladder by accusing the rest of the senate of being communists.  For awhile you think that she's a loving but distant and cold mother until you find out that she's in on the whole plot.  Then there's a scene between mother and son that is chilling.

First off the list is Shirley Knight, she's fine in the film but just can't compete with the rest.  Then you have to take off Thelma Ritter, this category is too strong for a stature win.  It would have been cool if she won at least once but it just wasn't in the cards this year.  Now we have Angela Lansbury and two child actors.  It's easier to make the children fight it out so between the two of them, Duke is obviously stronger.  So now we have the Academy's winner Patty Duke and my winner Angela Lansbury.  I have no problem with the Duke win as it's one hell of a performance.  I'm voting for Lansbury just because she had the stronger career at the time.  Duke is a child, Lansbury is an adult.  I'll always vote for an actual actor over a child if both the performances are equal.

Oscar Winner: Patty Duke

My Vote: Angela Lansbury

GABBY Winner: Angela Lansbury

Best Director
David Lean wins his second Oscar for Lawrence Of Arabia, which was unavoidable.  I would have picked Robert Mulligan for To Kill A Mockingbird but you can't argue that Lean created an incredible film-making achievement.

Best Original Screenplay/Adapted Screenplay
Divorce Italian Style wins Original Screenplay.  Usually I'm against foreign films winning but it was clearly the best choice in the category that included Freud and That Touch Of Mink.  To Kill A Mockingbird rightfully wins in the Adapted category over other worthy scripts David And Lisa, Lawrence Of Arabia, Lolita and The Miracle Worker.

Best Original Score/Adaptation or Treatment Score
Maurice Jarre's iconic score for Lawrence Of Arabia rightfully wins.  Elmer Bernstein's work on To Kill A Mockingbird gets nominated.  Both are fantastic scores and it's hard to pick between the two.  The Music Man wins Adaptation or Treatment Score which goes to the Academy's favorite musical.  It beat Gigot, Gypsy, The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm and Billy Rose's Jumbo.

Best Original Song
The theme to Days Of Wine And Roses wins an Oscar for Henry Mancini.  It's not a necessity that an Oscar winning song has to be emblematic of the film but it should be taken into account.  The film starts with this sweet love ballad and then the movie is a dark tale about alcoholism and co-dependency.  Nothing else nominated really deserved to win though so it's a fair victory.

Best Sound Recording
Musicals more often than not win this category but The Music Man loses out to Lawrence Of Arabia this year.  No real complaints.

Best Art Direction (Black and White)/Art Direction (Color)
To Kill A Mockingbird wins for black and white and Lawrence Of Arabia wins for color.  Both are the best choices in the category.

Best Cinematography (Black and White)/Cinematography (Color)
There's no beating Lawrence Of Arabia in the color category but the black and white category went to The Longest Day.  It's a fine choice except for the fact that it was up against To Kill A Mockingbird and What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, both were superior.

Best Costume Design (Black and White)/Costume Design (Color)
Edith Head scores two nominations, one in each category, but loses both.  Her work on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valances loses out to What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? and My Geisha (where Shirley MacLaine dresses up as a Japanese geisha) loses to The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm.  I like the Baby Jane choice, I would have picked The Music Man for the color category.

Best Film Editing
Even at almost 4 hours long, the editing in Lawrence Of Arabia by Anne V. Coates is remarkable.  This category also had The Manchurian Candidate which is also put together incredibly well.  The nominations for The Longest Day, The Music Man and Mutiny On The Bounty make little sense.

Best Visual Effects

The Longest Day beats Mutiny On The Bounty.  Not sure what really qualifies as a visual effect in either film.

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