With actress Marion Cotillard having recently received the Oscar for Best Actress, I thought it would be interesting to look at a couple of Best Actress races from years past.

Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.

1950 was a great year for fabulous female performances on the silver screen—especially those nominated for Best Actress:

Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, the scheming young actress, in All About Eve

Bette Davis as Margo Channing, the aging Broadway actress, in All About Eve

Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn, the not-so-dumb mistress, in Born Yesterday

Eleanor Parker as Marie Allen, the young, pregnant prison inmate, in Caged

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, the faded silent film star, in Sunset Boulevard

And who won the Oscar? Judy Holliday did, taking home the trophy for her first starring role after having played the comedic character of Billie on Broadway. She’s very good—but no Bette Davis, whose performance as Margo in the witty backstage drama is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the studio unwisely placed Anne Baxter (who is also wonderful) in the Best Actress category instead of Best Supporting Actress. She probably would have won that award, and then she and Ms. Davis would not have cancelled each other out for Best Actress, making it likely that Bette would have won the award. Just my opinion—though I also think Ms. Swanson’s performance in director Billy Wilder’s classic drama was certainly deserving as well. A tough category, but don’t feel too sorry for Bette—her career got a big boost from Eve (after she replaced an injured Claudette Colbert in the role) and she also met her fourth husband, Gary Merrill, while making the film.

All About Eve, which won six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (George Sanders for his juicy role as drama critic Addison DeWitt), is receiving the royal treatment on the brand new DVD being released on April 8 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Bette Davis’ birth. This 2-disc special edition will feature two audio commentaries—one with Celeste Holm (the Best Supporting Actress nominee will turn 91 on April 29, and she’s happily married to her fifth husband—a 40-something opera singer!). The other one will be by author/film historian Sam Staggs, who wrote a terrific book on the film called “All About ‘All About Eve’”. The DVD will also include documentaries on director Joseph L. Mankiewicz and “The Real Eve”, footage of the gala premiere of the film, and the American Movie Classics Backstory on the movie.

Sunset Boulevard, which won three Oscars, is available on a Special Collector’s Edition DVD, featuring a documentary on the making of the film, a featurette on legendary costume designer Edith Head (who seems to have worked on every single movie made from the 1930s through the 1970s), an informative audio commentary by Ed Sikov, the author of “On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder”, and a map spotlighting the Hollywood locations in the film.

Born Yesterday, which only won an Oscar for Ms. Holliday’s performance, is available on DVD—but with no special features.

Caged, which went home empty-handed on Oscar night, has been released on DVD as a “Cult Camp Classic” because of its over-the-top performances. However, some folks believe the film has been unfairly labeled as “camp” and is actually a powerful prison drama. I’ve never seen it, but with Agnes Moorehead as one of the stars, it just might be worth checking out. The DVD includes no special features.

And in the overlooked category, Katharine Hepburn’s performance that year as a married lawyer in Adam’s Rib was ignored for a Best Actress nomination. But it’s hard to feel too sorry for the lady since she was nominated TWELVE times and won four Oscars during her illustrious career.

Continued Tomorrow …

Comments RSS