Barbara Stanwyck: Double Indemnity
Ingrid Bergman: Gaslight (winner)
Bette Davis: Mr. Skeffington
Greer Garson: Mrs. Parkington
Claudette Colbert: Since You Went Away
What’s Missing
I disagree with the bulk of the nominations for Best Actress for 1944. I don’t hate most of them, but I think there are better options. Let’s start with Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not. I don’t love the film, but I like her in it. The same could be said of Gene Tierney in Laura, which I think I need to watch again; I suspect it’s better than I remember. I could see someone wanting to nominate Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis. I hate the film, but fans of it could certainly make a strong case. I might put up Betty Hutton in the entertaining The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek. Finally, Lifeboat is kind of an ensemble cast, but Tallulah Bankhead might merit a nomination, or at least some consideration.
Weeding through the Nominees
5. It kills me a little to put Bette Davis last in anything like this, but I wouldn’t even nominate her for Mr. Skeffington. Bette was generally worth watching, and she may be the best thing in the film, but the film isn’t that good, and neither is the role. Line up all of her performances in her career from start to finish, and this one doesn’t place in the top half and probably winds up in the bottom 25%. This is no knock against her, but against the role and the film. She’s fine, but this didn’t deserve any acclaim.
4. I could say kind of the same thing about Since You Went Away. I’ve never been much of an apologist for Claudette Colbert in general, finding her generally serviceable but mainly forgettable post It Happened One Night. In Since You Went Away, she doesn’t do anything that terrible or egregious, but she also doesn’t do anything that makes her particularly memorable. Couple this with a plot that telegraphs every point and a film that itself could probably lose a third of its length and several characters with no real change, and I’m scratching my head as to why she was even nominated.
3. The opposite is true of Mrs. Parkington, where Greer Garson is just about the only thing in the film worth watching and the only reason to spend any time with the film. Garson is the first nomination here that I actually like at least a little, despite her good work being in the service of a film that is otherwise forgettable and not worth any time. She elevates what would otherwise be something that didn’t deserve anyone’s time or attention. I like that she’s here and considered putting her in second, but ultimately, I’m leaving her in third.
2. Ingrid Bergman, who did win this Oscar, moves into second place specifically for her work at the end of the film. I found Gaslight strangely compelling, and I’m not entirely sure why. Some of this certainly comes from Joseph Cotten, whom I love in pretty much anything, but some of this does come from Bergman herself, who manages to be vulnerable without being pitiable and compelling without slipping completely into melodrama. I get why she won, kind of, and again, I like that she was nominated. While I understand her win, she’s not my choice.
My Choice
1. Regular readers of this blog will not be at all surprised that I am giving this to Barbara Stanwyck. My undying love of her has been well documented over the past several years. In Double Indemnity, she demonstrates that she could do a lot of what has been hinted at in her previous roles. She plays sexy well, and also plays devious and heartless to perfection. It’s my favorite of her roles, and the one that she handles so well that she is almost an archetype of the femme fatale in noir films in general. This was her year more than any other, and she should have crossed the stage with an Oscar by the end of the evening.
Final Analysis
I’m with you on who should have been cut. I’m a fan of Garson, Colbert and especially Davis but don’t see the need of acknowledgement for these roles. I found both Mrs. Parkington (though I loved what Agnes Moorehead did with her part) and Mr. Skeffington very disappointing and while I loved Since You Went Away and Colbert in it I didn’t think “This is a Best Actress performance.” when I was watching her. Which leaves Ingrid Bergman & Missy Stanwyck. While Ingrid's intricate performance is fascinating to watch Stanwyck's noir devil is the gold standard for the genre and a great illustration of her versatility especially when you consider she went directly from this to the frothy bonhomie of Christmas in Connecticut. There really should have been no other winner this year.
ReplyDeleteAs to who was left out, I love both Betty Bacall and Gene Tierney but I don’t see either as quite nomination level in their films. Gene Tierney is compelling in a difficult part but she’s so idealized by the time she actually shows up it would be hard for anybody to measure up. She comes as close as anyone could but much of her role doesn’t require anything beyond being an ethereal object that the two male protagonists project their desires on. Bacall is terrific but still rather raw. Betty Hutton is a great suggestion even though she would just miss my top 5.
Some others who should merit consideration would be Joan Bennett in another of her superior collaborations with Fritz Lang in Woman in the Window, Ella Raines as the determined Kansas in Phantom Lady and Margaret Lockwood as the free spirited somewhat daffy Nina, leader of a group of “White Elephants” in postwar Britain in Give Us the Moon-all more deserving than several of the actresses who made it in.
But my list would run this way:
Tallulah Bankhead-Lifeboat
Ingrid Bergman-Gaslight
Linda Darnell-Summer Storm
Judy Garland-Meet Me in St. Louis
Barbara Stanwyck-Double Indemnity-Winner
Judy is irresistible, she’s beautiful and in magnificent voice but what really sells it is her judging the emotions of the blooming Esther. On the cusp of womanhood she’s mostly the level headed voice of reason but still capable of being a moony schoolgirl at times. Linda Darnell in the first role that tested her mettle is fascinating as the temptress Olga who brings grief to all who surround her including herself in Douglas Sirk’s take on Chekov’s The Shooting Party. But despite Bergman’s excellence my runner up would be Tallulah Bankhead in the one role that used her unique aura properly. In another year she’s be my winner but even with a new mix Stanwyck would still come out on top.
Summer Storm is one I need to see. While I disagree on Garland, it's a nomination I understand, and had she been nominated, she may not have come last for me (depending on the other nominations) because I can recognize that it is a good performance even if it's in service of a film and character I genuinely dislike. Bankhead would have been a very interesting nomination in a lot of ways, and of everyone in Lifeboat, she's the one who is the most memorable and probably the one who deserves the nomination the most.
DeleteI have to say I'm a little smug about the fact that I've seen four out of your five nominations. Usually, my percentage is a great deal lower than that.
That said, it really is about Stanwyck. There are several places where I think her nomination is warranted and a few places where I can argue her for a win, but no clearer place where she was so clearly deserving and so clearly robbed.
When I saw this list, I was really hoping that you would pick Stanwyck as the right choice. Of course, I'll admit that her performance is the only one that I've seen. I'm pretty confident still that it deserves the top spot. It's more impressive each time that I watch Double Indemnity.
ReplyDeleteGaslight is worth seeing. Good cast, cool story, well made all the way around. Of the other three, Since You Went Away does have some good moments, but it's predictable and (my opinion ) about an hour too long. Mrs. Parkington is worth it if you are a huge Greer Garson fan and for no other reason. Mr. Skeffington can be safely ignored.
DeleteOf course Oscar got it wrong! And also epically wrong for denying Babs her Oscar altogether ...
ReplyDeleteToo true. I think she deserved several, but if she was going to get one, it should have been here.
DeleteI think I saw that one coming...
ReplyDeleteI do not think Bette Davis was that bad in Mr. Skeffington, but she always balanced on overdoing it. This one is somewhat overdone.
Laura was an okay movie and Bergman was fine, but I guess there is no arguing where that award should have gone.
I admit to bias, but I think in this case, I can make a strong argument for Barbara. Bergman, at least, wasn't the worst choice.
DeleteI'm a little conflicted on this one.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Double Indemnity two or three times and, yeah, it's great, even if my favorite Barbara Stanwyck movie is Night Nurse.
But Gaslight ... I love Gaslight so much. I've only seen it start to finish once, but I've watched pieces of it a bunch of times and it was only a few months ago that I watched the last 45 minutes or so. Bergman plays so well off Boyer (who's also great), so ... I'm not sure. If you put a gun to my head and made me pick I'd say Bergman. But then you'd shoot me because I would start equivocating.
I guess I should add that I like Laura a lot. And that despite how much I love Bette Davis (I've even seen Bunny O'Hare), Mr. Skeffington is not one of my favorites.
DeleteOh! Good call on Bacall! To Have and Have Not is not one of the Bogart movies I've seen over and over again, but I saw it a year or so ago (I hadn't seen it for 30 years) and Id forgotten how good she is! (The Big Sleep and Key Largo are the two Bacall movies I've seen a bunch of times. I watch The Big Sleep at least once a year.)
DeleteWell, I've never been shy about my love of Barbara Stanwyck, so I admit a little bit of bias here.
DeleteConsidering Double Indemnity is one of my favorite classic films (and seeing it on the big screen was a fun experience, too!), this isn't going to be a fight from me!
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't expect a massive fight from anyone.
DeleteYep, it's Stanwyck for me as well. No question.
ReplyDeleteThere are some that are no-brainers. Working out 2-5 took some time for this, but my #1 slot was picked the moment I decided to do this race.
Delete