by Nathaniel R
An intermittent off center obsession I miraculously don't believe we've discussed after years of blabbering at TFE: title cards, especially as they relate to actors. My personal favorite is when the name in question aligns with the actor's face on screen (quite rare all told since the order is contractual and title card placement feels like that rare piece of cinema construction that no director has ever bothered to worry about - "just put 'em wherever!".
Sometimes they're agonizingly placed (remember when several of the goddess actress names were superimposed over shots of tertiary character John C Reilly at the beginning of The Hours). Just for kicks with the Smackdown but 24 hours away, which Best Supporting Actress nominee wins the battle of 1984 title cards? Let's take them from worst to best after the jump...
5. Glenn Close in The Natural
(third billed of eight - i.e. The SAG Ensemble list had the SAG Awards existed and this film been nominated for Outstanding Ensemble which it probably would have been under Most Famous Cast reasons)
For the amount of overkill in The Natural's photographic mythologozing of itself, it's weirdly funny that the credits are so "here, whatever."
4. Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage to India
(1st billed of six... though the names are in alpha order but for the "and" credit)
Beautiful & golden like the Oscar bait movie. But for this exercize doing a Woody Allen style cast as one unit card takes the fun out of the comparison!
3. Lindsay Crouse in Places in the Heart
(second billed of six)
The credits are as understated as the actress. Her name appears over what looks like a stately old building. Seems fitting if uninspired. (Her screen hubby Ed Harris, third billed, gets a church which is also correct since gazing upon Ed Harris in the 1980s was proof of God's existence. Dayum.)
2. Christine Lahti in Swing Shift
(third billed of five)
Goldie & Kurt get their names supersized before the title but Christine gets a vintage 40s photograph to the tunes of an incongruously 80s Carly Simon original which is in its weird way aptly descriptive of the mix of years in the performance. (Trivia: Movies were once federally mandated to begin with Carly Simon originals but Hollywood gave up after Working Girl because who could top "Let the River Run" over images of the Staten Island ferry?)
AND THE WINNER BY A HUGE MARGIN...
1. Geraldine Page in The Pope of Greenwich Village
(fourth billed of eight despite very little screentime)
The credits appear over a montage of Mickey Rourke preening, as he dresses for work. I grinned from ear to ear, perhaps I even cackled when Geraldine Page's name appeared over an image of Mickey Rourke zipping up his pants and adjusting the family jewels. Priceless. This movie is filled with cocky thespians and Geraldine has the biggest dick.
Will this order be repeated in the results of the actual Smackdown? You'll see tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST!