And the Nominees Were...
- MARLON BRANDO, Viva Zapata!
- GARY COOPER, High Noon
- KIRK DOUGLAS, The Bad and the Beautiful
- JOSÉ FERRER, Moulin Rouge
- ALEC GUINNESS, The Lavender Hill Mob
- SHIRLEY BOOTH, Come Back, Little Sheba
- JOAN CRAWFORD, Sudden Fear
- BETTE DAVIS, The Star
- JULIE HARRIS, The Member of the Wedding
- SUSAN HAYWARD, With a Song in My Heart
- plus RALPH RICHARDSON, The Sound Barrier
Well, I said I wouldn't take 7 months to cover and wrap up 1951, but that didn't end up working out. I won't make promises this time around, but I'll just say that I'll try my damnedest to produce posts at a regular enough cadence.
I'm a bit more interested in the Best Actor category than I am Best Actress this time around. I'm curious to see where Brando and Douglas will go with their films (How will a Method Brando pull off being a Mexican? Will Douglas be his usual abrasive, cranky self?), and Alec Guinness charmed me so much in Kind Hearts and Coronets that I hope The Lavender Hill Mob will be a similar delight as well. The Best Actress field seems "meh," - I'm not particularly excited about seeing three out of the five.
Looking forward to starting up a brand new year - who are your favorites and who do you think I'll like the most?
I think you’ll go with Guinnes for Best Actor, though I think you’ll like Kirk Douglas quite a bit as well. As for Best Actress, I think you’ll go with Booth or Crawford (not as especially interesting set of nominees). Oh, and The Greatest Show on Earth is one of the weakest Best Picture winners.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a rather lackluster year all around, with a few ringers in both categories. If you haven't liked Cooper before, 'High Noon' isn't likely to change your mind, though Douglas may be a pleasant surprise (Brando less so). As for the actresses, this is one of the weakest years ever and I'm not crazy about any of them (two are rather terrible) but you may discover some aspects I missed. 1953 will be a great improvement over 1952, especially in the Actor race.
ReplyDeleteThe actors's field is better here. And although some like the others, Crawford is the only Best Actress nominee I think is good.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen Kirk Douglas, who is good, though not perfect. His movie is a bit weird though, which affected his performance for me.
ReplyDeleteI saw a clip of Shirley Booth’s performance on YouTube and I thought it was terrific, it got me really interested.