Alternate Oscars!

Posted by highhurdler on February 3, 2008

The idea (and my challenge to you, if you feel inclined to enter the fray) is to choose an underappreciated candidate for each of the five major categories – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing – from ANY year that you feel should have taken home the gold. Award winners can come from that year’s list of nominees, which is certainly the easiest way to find some choices but it’s more difficult and often more interesting to select performances that weren’t recognized by the Academy at all. You can even throw in a neglected Best Supporting Actor and Actress (if you’d like) for a total of seven Alternate Oscars. There are eighty years of Academy Award film history to review/use!

Here are my selections (and why):

Best Picture

A Place in the Sun (1951) - and not just because it’s one of Robert Osborne’s favorites either! I believe that too many votes for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) may have caused this stellar George Stevens-Montgomery Clift-Elizabeth Taylor-Shelley Winters romance drama to lose to the Arthur Freed-Vincente Minnelli-Alan Jay Lerner-Gene Kelly musical An American in Paris (1951) which, though "'S wonderful! 'S marvelous!", isn’t really Best Picture material (and you know how I love musicals!). Although not recognized as the definitive data point for a movie’s critical acclaim, the Library of Congress did add my selection to its National Film Registry two years before it added the Oscar winner, though the musical’s AFI ranking is higher on both their (original) 100 Greatest Movie and 100 Greatest Love Story lists. But hey, this is my party, and director Stevens did win over Minnelli (and Streetcar’s Elia Kazan).

Best Actor

Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd (1957) – what??? The film debut of a would-be TV actor for an Oscar? Have I lost my mind? Firstly, if you haven’t seen this timeless political drama from producer-director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront (1954)) to witness Griffith’s performance as an all too powerful (Arthur Godfrey-like) personality in the process, you owe it to yourself to watch it the next time it’s on TCM (April 30th), if not before. If you’re familiar with the homespun persona that Griffith cultivated for his self titled television show (set in the fictional rural town of Mayberry R.F.D.) which ran for eight seasons, then you’re in for quite a surprising treat. In a cast that includes a handful of other soon-to-be stars – Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick (also appearing in her screen debut) – Griffith’s dominating portrait of ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes recalls Broderick Crawford’s Academy Award winning tour-de-force performance as Willie Stark in Robert Rossen’s Oscar winning All the King’s Men (1949). A nod to Griffith could have eclipsed his co-star Franciosa’s (A Hatful of Rain (1957)) only nomination in a year that The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) took home seven out of eight including for Alex Guinness in this category.

Best Actress

Gloria Swanson for Sunset Blvd. (1950) - taking nothing away from Judy Holliday’s win as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950), with hindsight being 20/20 it would be hard to argue that Swanson’s iconic Norma Desmond isn’t the more enduring character because of the depth that this former silent star was able to impart given her own simultaneous return to the big screen. Then again, one could just as easily give the alternate Oscar to Bette Davis (if not Anne Baxter) for her role in that year’s Best Picture All About Eve (1950). Holliday was fabulous in each of her too few film roles and would have also been a strong contender in the supporting category that year if she’d been nominated for Adam’s Rib (1949), though she’d have competed against Eve’s Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter and Sunset’s Nancy Olson, all of whom lost to Josephine Hull (Harvey (1950)). Tough choices, to be sure.

One of many iconic scenes from Hitchcock's movies

Best Director

Alfred Hitchcock for North By Northwest (1959) – why not? Are you telling me that the most copied director didn’t deserve to win an Oscar at least once during his career? Well, I’ve decided to fix this obvious gaffe by giving him the gold for a year in which he wasn’t even nominated! Admittedly, the years when one film sweeps most of the awards are easy pickings since Academy voters have been guilty of irrational exuberance. So I picked the year that Ben-Hur (1959) and William Wyler won. After all, Wyler had already won twice including for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) in a year that the competition was so stiff that Hitchcock wasn’t even nominated for Notorious (1946)! Otherwise, he always seemed to be up against (and/or lose to) Billy Wilder. At the awards ceremony on April 4, 1960, Hitch should have taken home Oscar by beating both W’s (Wilder for Some Like It Hot (1959)), I say. NxNw contains all of the things we love about a Hitchcock film: it’s a thriller with a great script about a chase involving a wrongly accused man that’s trying to prove his innocence, Cary Grant, a beautiful blonde, terrific villains, Robert Burks cinematography, great set pieces including a train, Leo G. Carroll, and a Bernard Hermann score. The director combined these elements to create a fantastically entertaining movie experience. See it later this month (2/23) on the channel.

Best Screenplay

Anita Loos and Jane Murfin for The Women (1939) - by far my boldest choice, I know. I mean, how could I pick this one over winner Sidney Howard who condensed Margaret Mitchell’s dictionary sized tome into a four hour movie, to say nothing of all the other great choices from that most golden year? I must be nuts! Well, perhaps I am. However, there was a considerable amount of work to be done to Clare Boothe's hit Broadway play, especially after censors objected to the racy dialogue. After Murfin produced a faithful screen adaptation, Loos cleaned up the snappy dialogue by writing acceptable yet still biting variations of the innuendo-laden repartee. Catch the original (the remake has an October, 2008 release date) version on March 24th.

Edward G. Robinson - the best actor never to have received an Oscar nom

Best Supporting Actor

Edward G. Robinson for The Cincinnati Kid (1965) - anyone who’s read this blog for any length of time already knows how I feel about the Academy’s snub of this classic actor that could play supporting roles as deftly as he managed leading ones. The reasons that I chose Robinson’s Lancey Howard in this Norman Jewison-directed poker drama versus the insurance investigator – Barton Keyes – that he plays in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is that 1944 featured a number of other strong supporting performances and, in this latter film, the actor’s vivid portrait of a wise career gambler, aging legend card champion is opposite an equally capable Steve McQueen (in the title role) as the up-and-coming challenger and an outstanding veteran cast that includes many rich and credible characterizations (and Robinson’s star power shines the brightest among them).

Louise Beavers & Claudette Colbert in Imitation of Life (1934)

Best Supporting Actress

Louise Beavers for Imitation of Life (1934) – O.K., so I cheated here. It was Gale Sondergaard that won the first award given in this category for her film debut in Anthony Adverse (1936), but I think that Beavers – and not Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind (1939)) – should have been the first African American nominee and winner for her portrayal of Delilah Johnson in this original screen version of Fannie Hurst’s novel. In fact, it was probably performances like hers that caused the Academy to add this Oscar category two years later. Even though McDaniel was 10 years older, it was Beavers that first and more frequently appeared onscreen in stereotypical maid roles. By the time that she played Delilah, Beavers was a veteran of more than 80 movies with 50 screen credits in films like Coquette (1929), What Price Hollywood? (1932), She Done Him Wrong (1933), and Bombshell (1933); she’d also appeared uncredited in 42nd Street (1933). Beavers gave the character Delilah such warmth and believability that during the film’s most sentimental moments – when her light-skinned daughter (Fredi Washington) rejects her, and on her deathbed – one needs to have a tissue box handy.

Those are mine, what are yours and (briefly) why?

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20 Responses Alternate Oscars!

Posted By Gerry : February 3, 2008 12:24 pm

Let me throw in 2 off the top of my head. For best picture — E.T. was robbed!!!!And although not your categories, for Lifetime Achievement — Boris Karloff.

Posted By Harvey F. Chartrand : February 3, 2008 3:10 pm

The greatest actor that America ever produced was never nominated for an Academy Award and spent his final years doing a lot of episodic television and narration. Richard Basehart should have been nominated for Best Actor for his outstanding performances in He Walked by Night, Fourteen Hours (a career best), Decision Before Dawn, Fixed Bayonets!, The House on Telegraph Hill and The Brothers Karamazov. Why wasn't Basehart nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his versatile portrayals of complex characters in Titanic, Moby Dick, La Strada and Il Bidone (The Swindlers)? Heck, even his late-career secondary role as a drunken, gravelly-voiced old posse member in Chato's Land deserved an Oscar nod.Some maintain that Basehart's decision to work mainly in Europe through the fifties harmed his career, but he occasionally returned to Hollywood to star in films like Time Limit and Canyon Crossroads, so he couldn't have been that forgotten Stateside. What could account for the industry giving this brilliant actor steady work right up until his death in 1984 but no acting honours?Too bad Basehart didn't get John Gavin's part in Psycho. Instead, Basehart had to settle for two guest starring roles on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – THE BLACK CURTAIN and STARRING THE DEFENSE. Both episodes give Basehart opportunities for excellent characterizations, though.

Posted By Candace : February 3, 2008 6:37 pm

Doris Day and Cary Grant should have been nominated and won for a number of their films. They were both overlooked and under-appreciated by the Academy if you ask me.

Posted By Patricia : February 4, 2008 12:04 am

These are a few supporting performances unaccountably overlooked by the Academy:Esther Howard as the loyal Mrs. Kraft in "Born to Kill" (1947)Elizabeth Patterson as brave, no-nonsense Miss Habersham in "Intruder in the Dust" (1949)Ward Bond as the grieving father in "On Dangerous Ground" (1952)Joseph Calleia as the philosophical anarcist in "Five Came Back" (1939)David Clarke as the punchy Gunboat Johnson in "The Set-Up" (1949)

Posted By Derek : February 4, 2008 12:43 am

1940:Best Picture: The Philadelphia StoryBest actor: Charlie Chaplin-The Great DictatorBest Actress: Joan Fontaine, RebeccaBest Director: Charlie ChaplinBest S. Actor: Cary Grant: The Philadelphia Story Best S Actress: Ruth Hussey, The Philadelphia StoryBest Writer: Charlie ChaplinMovie that should have been nominated for Best Picture: Northwest Passage.Also different year but "The Searchers" not getting nominated for Film, Actor(Wayne), Director, and writing, brilliant film.Star Wars not winning over Annie HallPrivate Ryan not winning over Shakespeare in Love. Lastly…any year Hitchcock was snubbed….

Posted By MDR : February 4, 2008 8:41 am

I'm with you Patricia! I think that some of our best supporting actors and actresses were either snubbed or (like Beavers) gave performances that weren't recognized because "their" Oscar wasn't awarded until 1937.Your mention of Elizabeth Patterson's great performance in Intruder in the Dust (1949) reminded me of Lillian Gish's unrecognized role in The Night of the Hunter (1955), another terrific drama that (like Intruder) was also completely snubbed by the Academy.

Posted By don : February 4, 2008 2:23 pm

I think that Alan Ladd deserved an Oscar for Shane in 1953–and to think that he wasn't even nominated! It was a tough year–what with Holden, Lancaster, Brando, Burton and Clift all nominated ( Holden won).

Posted By Brent : February 5, 2008 10:39 pm

How about Derek Jacobi in "Little Dorrit" Part 1?. He's a quiet, humble man surrounded by subplots and eccentric characters. Every single one involves him, but he dosn't act… he reacts to what everyone else does. When his heart gets broken, he's so quiet that all he does is go to the edge of a bridge with the rose intended for his beloved – and throw it into the water. If you don't feel something looking at his motionless face watching the rose drift away, you ain't got a heart, baby. Alec Guiness got a nod for supporting actor in the movie, but Jacobi is the soul.

Posted By Keith Nelson : February 7, 2008 11:50 am

2 that weren't nominated Rebel Without a Cause for Best Picture of 1955 Hoop Dreams for Best Doc of 1995

Posted By alex peleshok : February 7, 2008 11:24 pm

Your choices are great, and especially agree with Edward G. Robinson, he carried over how his character really was a poker player. My choice for hollywoods biggest gaffe is simple….Henry Fonda. Only one Oscar in his entire carrer, what happened the voters were out of town when his movies were being shown. Paul Newman, I can think of at the very least, six he should have won for, but the topper for me has to be, Strother Martin, he made a countless number of films, The greatest character actor, Ever, and seemingly, nothing to show for it. And oh yes, lastly, In my opinion Clara Bow came and left way too soon. This girl didn't need sound, her facial expressions, and body movements said it all, and when sound came, they didn't know what they had. So we lost, and soon as I perfect my time machine, guess where I'm going.

Posted By MDR : February 9, 2008 8:01 pm

Ah yes, Strother Martin, one mustn't forget him, a character actor to be sure. All those great Westerns, a Disney movie, and that classic oft-repeated line from Cool Hand Luke (1967). Excellent choice Alex!

Posted By Jake : February 10, 2008 4:37 pm

Some others: Doris Day in "Love Me or Leave Me," James Cagney in "White Heat," and Claude Rains in anything!

Posted By YancySkancy : February 11, 2008 7:09 pm

Sticking only with English-language films, none of the following were nominated:Picture: City Lights, Trouble in Paradise, Make Way for Tomorrow, The Shop Around the Corner, Shadow of a Doubt, The Third Man, VertigoDirector: The directors of the above-mentioned films, except for Carol Reed, who did manage to get nominated for The Third ManScreenplay: Robert Hamer and John Dighton for Kind Hearts and Coronets, adapting a novel by Roy HornimanActor: John Barrymore (Twentieth Century), Joseph Cotten (Shadow of a Doubt), James Cagney (White Heat), Humphrey Bogart (In a Lonely Place), Robert Mitchum (Night of the Hunter), Tony Curtis (Sweet Smell of Success, The Boston Strangler), Ivan Dixon (Nothing But a Man)Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Miracle Woman), Beulah Bondi (Make Way for Tomorrow), Carole Lombard (To Be or Not To Be), Jane Wyman (All That Heaven Allows)Supporting Actor: Ernest Thesiger (The Old Dark House), Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train), Fredric March (Executive Suite), Walter Brennan (To Have and Have Not, Rio Bravo), Warren Oates (Two Lane Blacktop)Supporting Actress: Fredi Washington (Imitation of Life – sorry HighHurdler, I'd pick her over Louise Beavers), Joan Greenwood (Kind Hearts and Coronets), Ruby Dee (A Raisin in the Sun)Best nominated performance that didn't win: Lynn Carling for Best Supporting Actress in Faces (1968). Nothing against Ruth Gordon, but this is one of the greatest film performances I've ever seen (and it probably should have been placed in the lead category, for that matter).

Posted By YancySkancy : February 11, 2008 7:10 pm

Oops – typo. That should be Lynn Carlin.

Posted By MDR : February 13, 2008 8:18 am

YancySkancy, those are some good (well thought out) choices. Thanks for your sharing your Alternate Oscars with us.

Posted By enyavoo : February 22, 2008 1:00 pm

I think Ronald Colman should have received a Best Actor nomination for his touching and sensitive portrayal of Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). His performance stands head and shoulders above Victor McLaglen's performance in The Informer which won that year.

Posted By movie fan : March 12, 2008 6:37 pm

I am in agreement with all of you!!! The best films did not get nominated, the best actors were overlooked. Well, I have a few suggestions to add to the list:HERBERT MARSHALL: The Little Foxes. His performance Bette Davis' terminally ill husband was heartrending and provocative in the traditional Marshall way: nonchalantCLAUDE RAINS: Deception. The jealous other man he portrayed in this film outshines everybody else on screen.OSKAR WERNER: Decision before Dawn & Interlude. If there is one word to describe the Austrian actor, it would be honest. He was always truthful to the audience and to himself. He portrays that magnificently in both of these films. and for the best filmsTHE LETTER, THE LITTLE FOXES, DECISION BEFORE DAWN, A STORY OF THREE LOVES, & FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, STRANGE CARGO & SHIP OF FOOLS

Posted By YancySkancy : March 12, 2008 9:08 pm

Actually, Movie Fan, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Decision Before Dawn, Foreign Correspondent and Ship of Fools were all nominated for Best Picture, though none won.I think my favorite Herbert Marshall performance is in William Wyler's The Good Fairy, co-starring the equally great Margaret Sullavan in a script by Preston Sturges. A real gem (and of course snubbed by Oscar).

Posted By Vincent : March 21, 2008 12:35 pm

Carole Lombard ("My Man Godfrey") for best actress in 1936, instead of Luise Rainer ("The Great Ziegfeld").

Posted By TCM’s Classic Movie Blog : February 13, 2009 8:40 am

[...] I’ve already awarded this one to Louise Beavers for Imitation of Life (1934), I’ll give Una Merkel an honorable mention for her role as the [...]

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