Sunday, June 28, 2015

Best Supporting Actress Smackdown 1948: My Ballot

Over at The Film Experience there's a monthly feature called The Best Supporting Actress 
Smackdown. It is the brainchild of practicing actressexual Stinkylulu who hosted many a Smackdown over the years at his on site before finding its new home at TFE. (If you haven't read the previous years' debates, cancel your plans for a week and get lost in the actress-loving splendor here.) The concept is simple: a year is chosen and a selected panel of pundits (which changes each month) re-examinze all 5 nominees with a grade of 1 to 5 hearts depending on how effective/good they find the performance. With some distance, it's a way to see who the actual winner should've been that year. The year chosen for June was 1948. But most importantly, reader's write-in ballots are the final voters on the panel, helping determine the ultimate fate of the lucky actress named the victor. Below are my own thoughts on the 5 women nominated for Best Supporting Actress that year. Prior to this month's Smackdown, I had never seen the four movies which garnered nominations for these actresses. So I was going into this with no pre-conceived ideas of who should win nor really knowing what to expect. While I did find myself a little underwhelmed by the category this year, I still enjoyed correcting this oversight in my Oscar knowledge. Of the nominated films, I would recommend Johnny Belinda, which won Jane Wyman the Best Actress Oscar. Tackling a subject matter once considered taboo by the censors, I was surprised by its frankness and Wyman, playing a young deaf-mute, is more than deserving of her win. But without further ado, let's take a look at Barbara Bel Geddes, Ellen Corby, Agnes Moorehead, Jean Simmons, and the Academy's pick for Best Supporting Actress of 1948, Claire Trevor:

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Barbara Bel Geddes I Remember Mama


The Role: In only her second film, Bel Geddes was nominated for playing aspiring-writer and rememberer of Mama, Katrin Hanson, the oldest daughter in a Norwegian immigrant family living in San Fransisco.

My Take: As the narrator of this nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bel Geddes, although appearing in almost every scene of the film, seems so much an observer that you hardly remember she's even on screen. Blonde, bland, and boring, the film appears to have used all its efforts to make Irene Dunn's saintly Mama the only character worth caring about that it forgot to include any personality traits for Bel Geddes' Katrin. And the actress seems content to play her as written. More like a fly on the wall than an actual person, Bel Geddes brings no sense of who this girl is and even her closing act wish to become a writer seems like a convenient device to frame the narrative. In a film thats sole existence is based on fond remembrances, it's a shame that Bel Geddes remains so forgettable. 

Ellen Corby I Remember Mama


The Role: Before earning 2 Emmys for playing Grandma Walton, Corby scored her sole Oscar nomination for portraying Aunt Trina, the put-upon youngest sister of Irene Dunne's Mama that just wants to get married to the love of her life...an undertaker named Thorkelson.

My Take: With a nervous flutter, Corby's Aunt Trina enters the film with a determination to wake it up from its dreamy haze. And while Corby brings some much needed new energy and welcome light-heartedness to the somber proceedings, her ditzy slapstick seems to have wandered in from another film (perhaps entering from that door that she comically walks into) and her urgency in getting married is resolved almost as quickly as it's brought up. But there's no denying that Corby is sweetly charming and her persistent tenacity allows the meek and mousy character moments of gumption that allow you to admire her ability in actually standing up for herself. But the film is as bullying as her two objecting older sisters, pushing her aside to make room for Mama. If only she had been able allowed to share a few more moments with us. 

Agnes Moorehead Johnny Belinda


The Role: Her third of an eventual 4 Best Supporting Actress nominations (without a win), Moorehead plays the spinster aunt, Aggie MacDonald, to the film's heroine Belinda (Jane Wyman) as they try to survive on their farm in rural Nova Scotia. 

My Take: Moorehead, with her no-nonsense style of acting, is always a welcome and dependable presence in any film. But for her first few scenes, her toughened character quickly becomes in danger of becoming one-note. And her hard-nosed aunt role hardly seems like a challenge for an actress that makes even the smallest supporting part worth watching. But in the scene where the doctor confides in her about Belinda's condition, Moorehead lets Aggie's hardness give way to familial compassion. She expresses such heartfelt concern, that you can feel how years of neglecting her niece and taking her for granted have caught up with her emotionally and Moorehead plays the scene as if a weight has been lifted from her heart. Finally allowing her to show a softer side, without completely losing the toughness that has defined her. ♥♥♥

Jean Simmons Hamlet


The Role: Soft you now, the fair Ophelia. Shakespeare's wronged lover that goes a bit mad. She would give you some violets, but they withered all when her father died. Stabbed through by her boyfriend. Tough break.

My Take: From the bizarre Swiss Miss girl braids to the vacant look in her eyes, there's an immediate feeling that something's off about Simmons' Ophelia. And I'm not talking about her eventual descent into madness (which in Olivier's version seems to only exist because it's in the plot, with Simmons doing nothing to justify her character's fate). In a shrill voice that keeps modulating in strange patterns, I'm completely convinced that Simmons had no idea what any of the words are that she's saying. In her early scenes, one minute she seems to strike poses as if she's competing on Shakespeare's Next Top Model, without a thought in her head. Then she'll randomly flail a limb as if she's been directed to do so without any action behind it. And if Olivier was so set against Vivien Leigh playing the role (thinking her fame would upstage the role), then why did he cast an actress that looks so much like her? Taunting us with what could have been. 

Claire Trevor Key Largo


The Role: Oscar winner Trevor plays Gaye Dawn in this Bogie and Bacall Florida-set crime thriller. 

My Take: The cynical yet vulnerable gangster's moll is a well-worn noir trope in a genre that thrives on stock characters. And Trevor's boozy lounge singer with the name of a drag queen (and giving the kind of performance that could find its way into one of their acts) is just the sort of awards-bait role that garners attention, winning the eventual Oscar with a single scene. Forced to sing for her liquor, Trevor's soulful a cappella version of "Moanin' Low" is an emotional showcase. And the actress pours her heart out, conveying the helplessness and desperation of her character through her raw and imperfect vocals. I only wish Trevor had allowed herself the same authenticity within her other scenes. Uneven and at times so outright bad that I couldn't decide if it was Trevor the actress not delivering or a conscious choice since the character is a washed-up performer, it's a flawed but fascinating performance, much like the character herself. ♥♥♥
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The Academy handed the award to Claire Trevor and her drunken antics and of these five nominees, I'm going to have to agree with that decision. Ranking the 5 woman from best to worst: Trevor, Moorehouse, Corby, Simmons, and Bel Geddes. (I'm giving the edge to Simmons over Bel Geddes in a fight for the bottom spot. Even though I didn't care for either performance, at least Simmons is giving me something.) Be sure to read how it all went down over at The Film Experience. And share your own thoughts about these 5 ladies below. Or just express it through a mournful song...

4 comments:

  1. Interesting takes on the performances though I don't agree with them all. The more I reflect back on Bel Geddes though I think I rated her too highly although I was never warm towards her performance nor the movie for that matter. The more I think about it the less I remember.

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    1. haha, which is a shame considering it's in the title of the film and she's the actual main character!
      yeah, it seems that people liked corby a little more than i did and the simmons opinions are all over the place. but that's what makes these fun - when people don't agree!

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  2. The Academy made the right choice, surprisingly. Trevor's performance is incredible. Love reading your thoughts on these smackdowns!

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    1. the past two smackdowns have been fun! glad i've been able to participate by sharing my takes. and in both '79 and '48 the academy gave it to the best performance of the 5 nominees!

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