Showing posts with label 1950. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950. Show all posts
July 3, 2017
May 31, 2017
Bette Davis, All About Eve
as Margo Channing
At long last, we’ve come to Bette Davis. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this performance and have attempted this write-up 3+ times, only to give up and shelve it away for a later time.
Why? Because this is a performance that has been praised to the high heavens, and yet…it’s played in quite a straightforward manner. It's executed in such a way that is potent but far from what one might deem as “mind blowing” or “revelatory.” Unlike the likes of Gloria Swanson and Judy Holliday, Davis isn’t projecting a character with eyesore and ear sore idiosyncrasies. She is playing Margo Channing forthright. Simply put, Davis does not transform into “Margo Channing” - she instead takes the character and shape-shifts it to fit a “Bette Davis” mold. The beauty of it all is that the character is a perfect fit to the actress - Davis may very well be playing herself, but this is an instance in which both character and actress persona fuse together seamlessly.
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| Won: New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actress • Cannes Film Festival - Best Actress |
Why? Because this is a performance that has been praised to the high heavens, and yet…it’s played in quite a straightforward manner. It's executed in such a way that is potent but far from what one might deem as “mind blowing” or “revelatory.” Unlike the likes of Gloria Swanson and Judy Holliday, Davis isn’t projecting a character with eyesore and ear sore idiosyncrasies. She is playing Margo Channing forthright. Simply put, Davis does not transform into “Margo Channing” - she instead takes the character and shape-shifts it to fit a “Bette Davis” mold. The beauty of it all is that the character is a perfect fit to the actress - Davis may very well be playing herself, but this is an instance in which both character and actress persona fuse together seamlessly.
April 29, 2017
Anne Baxter, All About Eve
as Eve Harrington
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, a question presents itself: in demanding that she be campaigned in the lead actress category for her work in All About Eve, did Anne Baxter inadvertently create a vote-splitting scenario against co-star and co-nominee Bette Davis, thereby contributing to the latter's loss to Judy Holliday?
The myth of the vote-split so heavily looms around the lexicon of the Academy Awards and its ensuing awards campaigns such that we've not seen multiple stars of one film in the lead actress category since 1991 (Julia Roberts in August: Osage County and Rooney Mara in Carol be damned). I'm of the belief that the concept of vote splitting in relation to double-nominees from the same film is an inflated myth. As victories from Shirley MacLaine, F. Murray Abraham, and Peter Finch demonstrate, there are external factors that come into play for one's Oscar glory. You can't argue that Debra Winger, Tom Hulce, and William Holden could have realistically won when their counterparts were either more acclaimed or perceived as more "overdue". Such is the case for Baxter - if you eliminated Davis from the equation, would she really have stood a chance against Holliday and Swanson?
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, a question presents itself: in demanding that she be campaigned in the lead actress category for her work in All About Eve, did Anne Baxter inadvertently create a vote-splitting scenario against co-star and co-nominee Bette Davis, thereby contributing to the latter's loss to Judy Holliday?
The myth of the vote-split so heavily looms around the lexicon of the Academy Awards and its ensuing awards campaigns such that we've not seen multiple stars of one film in the lead actress category since 1991 (Julia Roberts in August: Osage County and Rooney Mara in Carol be damned). I'm of the belief that the concept of vote splitting in relation to double-nominees from the same film is an inflated myth. As victories from Shirley MacLaine, F. Murray Abraham, and Peter Finch demonstrate, there are external factors that come into play for one's Oscar glory. You can't argue that Debra Winger, Tom Hulce, and William Holden could have realistically won when their counterparts were either more acclaimed or perceived as more "overdue". Such is the case for Baxter - if you eliminated Davis from the equation, would she really have stood a chance against Holliday and Swanson?
March 25, 2017
Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday
as Billie Dawn
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, two questions present themselves: how in the hell did newcomer Judy Holliday manage to beat out the career-defining work by legendary veterans Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis? Furthermore, was Holliday's victory an injustice?
When Holliday saunters through the first few minutes of Born Yesterday, she's just your usual gun moll...pretty, glammed-up, and bearing a gaze which reads as mostly unimpressed (or is it vacant? or both?) And then, out of the blue, you're hit with it: "WHAAAAAAAT?" It's a brief yet sharp, potent, Donald Duck quack-like sound with enough power to stimulate at least a smile on your face. My feelings towards that first exchange with Billie essentially summarizes how I feel about Holliday's entire performance.
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| Won: Academy Award - Best Actress • Golden Globe - Best Actress, Comedy or Musical |
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, two questions present themselves: how in the hell did newcomer Judy Holliday manage to beat out the career-defining work by legendary veterans Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis? Furthermore, was Holliday's victory an injustice?
When Holliday saunters through the first few minutes of Born Yesterday, she's just your usual gun moll...pretty, glammed-up, and bearing a gaze which reads as mostly unimpressed (or is it vacant? or both?) And then, out of the blue, you're hit with it: "WHAAAAAAAT?" It's a brief yet sharp, potent, Donald Duck quack-like sound with enough power to stimulate at least a smile on your face. My feelings towards that first exchange with Billie essentially summarizes how I feel about Holliday's entire performance.
March 12, 2017
Eleanor Parker, Caged
as Marie Allen
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, an assertion presents itself: all of those nominated for leading actress had the goods to win the prize, including Eleanor Parker's work in Caged, whose excellence has been largely overshadowed by the drama surrounding the Gloria Swanson-Bette Davis-Judy Holliday triumvirate.
One of the earliest images you see in Caged is that of Parker, bearing a palpable sense of horror across her face just before she's led into prison. It's a brief, searing visual which sets the tone for much of Parker's performance - one that's deeply earnest and absorbent.
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| Won: Volpi Cup for Best Actress |
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, an assertion presents itself: all of those nominated for leading actress had the goods to win the prize, including Eleanor Parker's work in Caged, whose excellence has been largely overshadowed by the drama surrounding the Gloria Swanson-Bette Davis-Judy Holliday triumvirate.
One of the earliest images you see in Caged is that of Parker, bearing a palpable sense of horror across her face just before she's led into prison. It's a brief, searing visual which sets the tone for much of Parker's performance - one that's deeply earnest and absorbent.
February 25, 2017
Gloria Swanson, Sunset Blvd.
as Norma Desmond
Within the time-honored tale of 1950's Best Actress race, a question presents itself: how could Gloria Swanson lose the prize for her work in Sunset Boulevard? She did, after all, produce a performance that is nothing short of legendary. She should have won! What a travesty!
One cannot dispute that Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is an image which has engrained itself into the annals of cinematic legend and iconography, for as long as one may merely think of Sunset Boulevard, one may instantly recall Swanson, her eyes bulging from out of their sockets, her voice bouncing through exaggerated, eerie timbres, her head cocked back with stretched eyebrows in an upward arch, elongating that remarkable face of hers. The worship for her work is unbounded - and my insouciance towards it confounds me.
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| Won: Golden Globe - Best Actress in a Drama • National Board of Review - Best Actress |
One cannot dispute that Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is an image which has engrained itself into the annals of cinematic legend and iconography, for as long as one may merely think of Sunset Boulevard, one may instantly recall Swanson, her eyes bulging from out of their sockets, her voice bouncing through exaggerated, eerie timbres, her head cocked back with stretched eyebrows in an upward arch, elongating that remarkable face of hers. The worship for her work is unbounded - and my insouciance towards it confounds me.
December 3, 2016
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