Has this film year overstayed its welcome? Let's take a flashback then, way back to April 1965 when Sidney Poitier read out Julie Andrews as the winner of Best Actress. Julie was her typically gracious self repeating her ambiguously directed gratitude (she only really thanked Walt Disney) so much in her short speech she had to stop herself. "...but then I've already said that!"
Sidney Poitier escorts Best Actress Julie Andrews off the stage
I don't think we've ever talked about this particular win (strange that) at The Film Experience but it's quite atypical. "Mary Poppins" isn't a particularly baity role, however iconic. She's also "practically perfect in every way" which leaves virtually no room for a character arc. Can you think of a Best Actress win that's correlative?
Julie's speech was much cheekier at the Globes. Do you know who she thanked in her speech? The answer is after the jump.
Yep, she thanked the producer Jack Warner. Why is that cheeky? Because he didn't produce her film. He produced My Fair Lady. He had nixed Julie's chances to transfer from Broadway with the film presuming her unbankable or too green or whatnot and if he hadn't done so we would never have had Mary Poppins. And least not in the form we currently know it.
While Oscar fanatics tend to remember the competition in famous duels, 1964 is an odd year because what most people remember is who she was not competing with: Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, who was snubbed despite the Academy's obsession with all things My Fair Lady.
The Golden Globe Best Actress Nominees That Year
Drama
- Anne Bancroft, The Pumpkin Eater [WINNER]
- Geraldine Page, Dear Heart
- Ava Gardner, The Night of the Iguana
- Rita Hayworth, Circus World
- Jean Seberg, Lilith
Interestingly, only one of the Drama nominees went on to an Oscar nod. That would be the winner.
Comedy / Musical
- Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins [WINNER]
- Sophia Loren, Marriage Italian Style
- Debbie Reynolds, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
- Melina Mercouri, Topkapi
- Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady
Three of them went on to Oscar nods.
Julie on Oscar night, April 1965
The Oscar Nominees
- Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins [WINNER]
- Anne Bancroft, The Pumpkin Eater
- Sophia Loren, Marriage Italian Style
- Debbie Reynolds, The Unsinkable Molly Brown
- Kim Stanley, Seance on a Wet Afternoon
My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins hogged virtually all the Oscars that year winning 8 and 5 respectively. Which would you have voted for? Or maybe you're all up in Becket, Dr Strangelove or Zorba the Greek?