Another decade gone and the golden age of Hollywood is drawing to a close. This has, as always, been a fantastic ten years of movies. We certainly have had the downs as well, but again, as always, the good outweighed the bad. This moment is always bittersweet because although I do feel accomplished I am going to miss this era. This era has the best actors, lines, and the grittiest noirs. Truly amazing and it makes me sad that this decade is often ignored by my generation. Oh well, on with the awards!
Best Picture:
Rope
Nominees:
Spellbound
Rebecca
Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Ox Bow Incident
The Magnificent Ambersons
Red Shoes
Letters from an Unknown Woman
Now, Voyager
Best Director:
Alfred Hitchcock (shut up; he will always win!)
Nominees:
Carol Reed
Joseph Mankiewitz
Emeric Pressberger
Michael Powell
Best Actress:
Olivia de Havilland
Nominees:
Joan Fontaine
Joan Bennett
Katharine Hepburn
Moira Shearer
Best Actor:
Henry Fonda
Nominees:
James Cagney
Joseph Cotten
James Stewart
Spencer Tracy
Humphrey Bogart
Worst Picture:
Ivan The Terrible
Nominees:
Fires Were Started
Monsieur Verdoux
Louisiana Story
Paleface
Best Line:
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Nominees:
"The stuff dreams were made of!"
"Made it, Ma. Top of the world!"
"Oh Jerry, let's don't ask for the moon. We have the stars."
I agree with everything except best actor. I would have said James Stewart. I have a crush on Joseph Cotten but sadly that is not enough! This decade really made me appreciate Olivia de Havilland.
ReplyDeleteI would have added some best picture nominees. Adam's Rib, The Big Sleep, Mildred Pierce, and Cat People. Oh! And The Lady Eve. So many great ones
You know, I've never noticed this post before.. so once again, thanks Rachel for bringing it to my attention.
ReplyDeleteThere is never going to be anything to argue about in a list praising 40's films, and youve done a great job of picking several of the best. Sure, we can all quibble about minor placings, and even for me, those will vary from day to day and the mood I'm in.
Can be discuss a very, very little...
I have a great admiration for Humph and his films, so I may have let him win, but, hey, against your short list? Decidedly a decade for having about 10 joint 1sts...
I wouldn't put 'fires were started' as a 'worst' film. It's not a bad film.. but that is in my opinion.
But.. Oh Rachel.. Thank you...you have made my day with a nomination for 'Cat People'.. one of my all time favourites...At times I feel I am the only person out there who loves this film. (Andrew, if you are watching.. I'm also talking to you here... see.. it's NOT just me)
And all the others you listed Rachel.. good solid contenders..
Can I put in 'I walked with a Zombie', as a double bill with 'Cat people'
Agreed about 'Zombie and Cat People. Of Lewton's three on the list, I actually would have picked The Seventh Victim as my favourite, but I suppose that was a little(!) more conventional than the others.
DeleteThis post was so hard to do; there are too many good ones. I knew Ray would include Cat People. Olivia de Havilland is my goddess.
ReplyDeleteI think my list of nominees veered more into noir-land, but that is a matter of taste. A movie I am missing here is the amazing Brief Encounter. I am even considering putting it top of my list for the forties.
ReplyDeleteAh, quite .. how could the rest of us have missed 'Brief Encounter' .. Thanks for bringing that up .
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I should have included Brief Encounter. Good call.
ReplyDeleteAnother decade completed! Looking back at previous posts, I appear to have done the forties in a little under eight months, which feels remarkably short. But it's still such a long way to go! The fifties have more films contained and the sixties is even more still.
ReplyDeleteBEST PICTURE:The Third Man
Nominees: Casablanca, Rope, The Red Shoes, The Treasure of Sierra Madre
I thought this might be The Red Shoes when I watched it. I'd seen The Third Man before but decided to watch it again when The Book brought be past it as the penultimate film of the decade and gave it the nod. A decade of big Hollywood movies with the rest of the world war-torn or not sufficiently developed to have a film industry at this time. Nonetheless, I note that this makes my my three Best Picture winners for each decade so far are this from the UK and two from Germany. Nothing from the US (or France & Italy!)
BEST ACTRESS: Olivia de Havilland
Nominees: Judith Anderson, Barbara Stanwyck, Lauren Bacall, Gene Tierney
You know that question of "Which people, alive or dead, would you invite to your ideal dinner party?"? Well, I'd just want to invite friends. I'm very interested in biographies and interviews of key people from history etc, but you should never actually meet your heroes and if it's about having a good time over food then I'd just want friends there. But there's something about Olivia de Havilland that makes me think she'd be marvellous to know as a person. Anyway, we're supposed to be rating her as an actress here and she's very good at that as well. Yes, I know Judith Anderson only appeared in Rebecca where she had a supporting role, but it's one of my favourite cinema performances of all time so she gets a mention.
BEST ACTOR: Humphrey Bogart
Nominees: James Stewart, Joseph Cotton
This decade was all about stars and none shone brighter than Bogart. I actually found this a really tough category to make a shortlist for. Maybe it's because everyone else was so much in his shadow. There's no way Stewart or Cotton were ever going to get close to winning this and, to be honest, when I finished jotting down notes I was surprised to find that they were the best of the rest.
BEST DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock
Nominees: Howard Hawks, John Huston, Michael Curtiz, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, Jacques Tourneur
Much the most competitive category, Hitch getting it in a split decision over Hawks. MP&EP perhaps getting a mention for their writing and producing of the films they directed. Incidentally, where do we stand on the subject of Michael Curtiz? He always seems to be dismissed as a mediocre director whose films somehow succeeded in spite of his clumsy touch rather than because of any talent he may have had. But, he's made a string of great films and they all seem very well directed to me.
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
- Walt Disney produced Fantasia, Pinocchio and Dumbo, all of which were in some sense "directed" by Ben Sharpstein, but it's not clear what impact each of them had compared to the producer/director relationship we're used to with live-action movies. All three excellent though.
- Val Lewton's run of atmospheric, low budget horror films were brilliant. The first two directed by Jacqies Touneur (who later made Out of the Past), but it appears that Lewton himself was key to what made these films stand out
- Lots of great supporting players across the decade; Claude Rains and Sydney Greenstreet for example. Or fine one-off performances like Jean-Louis Barrault (Children of Paradise) or Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes)
A note on Henry Fonda: It's not that I don't like the guy or his performances, exactly. And maybe it's just the films he was in here. But there was something overly worthy about him each time I saw him that bored me. A bit like Garbo in the thirties, I often had the sense that he was great if only I wasn't watching him in this.
ReplyDeleteGood choices Dessie! Although your refusal to pick out favorite lines still vexes me! But agreed about your choices (although I didn't like Third Man quite so much). Olivia de Havilland is such a treasure.
ReplyDeleteI go through the book with a pen and notepad when I reach the end of a decade. I jot down everything likely to be worthy of consideration for an award, reminding myself of films that might have slipped my memory or that I have mixed up in my mind (EG: Laura and The Lady Eve). Then I review what I've written and make my selections. But there's no way I'm going to adequately assess best lines doing it that way. Someone might have said something utterly brilliant in The Mortal Storm but I ain't going to remember it now. I finished watching The Asphalt Jungle less than five minutes ago but I'm not sure I could quote one thing that anyone said in it!
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