Throwback FYC: Carrie Fisher, 1977
Wednesday, January 4, 2017 at 8:00AM While the Star Wars franchise didn't become or stay a global phenomenon on the strength of its acting, it did received one Oscar nomination in that arena: Sir Alec Guiness as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (1977). Later Sir Ian McKellen would pull off a similar trick for the Lord of the Rings franchise proving that it really helps to be a knighted acclaimed male thespian to get respect for genre films.
But Star Wars's Oscar campaign in 1977 (which resulted in 10 nominations, 6 wins, and a special non-competitive Oscar) did include the then 21 year-old Carrie Fisher.
It's insane that our beloved Carrie Fisher was never Oscar nominated but that insanity stems not from Star Wars, however iconic Leia is and will continue to be, but from her infinitely quotable and self-deprecatingly delicious screenplay to Postcards from the Edge (1990). Her significantly reworked adaptation of her own novel put nearly all of the actually Oscar-nominated screenplays that year to shame.
Joan Blondell in Opening Night (1977)We've already revisited the Supporting Actress race of 1977 in our "Smackdown" series* but there wasn't room for the braided bunned Princess that year even if you attempt to rejigger the category. For if you toss out a member of that uneven batch you've got to make room first and foremost for Joan Blondell's win-worthy work as an exasperated writer dealing with a addict of a leading lady in Opening Night. Come to think of it, and now I totally can't stop thinking about it, Carrie herself would surely have related like crazy to both sides of that volatile battle of artistic and destructive wills in the John Cassavettes film.
* yes, the series will return soon.
Reader Comments (8)
Keep Redgrave,Keep Weld chuck in Blondell,Plowright in Equus and Lilia Skala for Roseland.
Where do you get old FYC ads.
I'd be tempted to throw her in for BSA for When Harry Met Sally as well.
Mentally recasting Rowlands in MacLaine's role in Postcards From The Edge. And Fisher in Streep's role.
Cal -- WHY? Postcards is perfect as is. Some of the best work done by Maclaine and Streep ever.
Fisher could have easily bee justified with a nom for her work in either Hannah and Her Sisters or When Harry Met Sally... (in fact I'd argue she deserved to win the award for the latter).
It's madness that she wasn't nominated for writing Postcards from the Edge.
Gena Rowlands in MacLaine's role would totally win the Oscar, but can she sing I'm Still Here as perfectly as Shirley did?
This might be one of my favorite posts... I agree that not nominating Carrie Fisher's "POSTCARDS" screenplay is the most insulting snub of her career.
As someone who wasn't old enough to be aware of the "Oscar Season" talk going on back in her most successful years... did Carrie Fisher ever get into the Oscar conversation for anything other than "POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE" really?
I don't feel I've seen enough of the competition from the years I'll mention below... but I would be curious to hear if she ever had real heat for any of her other work?
Personally, I would think her best screen performances are:
1975 - "SHAMPOO"
(I don't know much about the actual nominees for the Golden Globes' 1975 Best Acting Debut In A Motion Picture - Female... is it surprising that she got no notice despite her pre-ordained fame and the Globes loving that kinda stuff? Was the role just too small?)
1977 - "STAR WARS"
(Do you think this FYC ad was just an oddity that year... or was there ever a sense that she could actually be a contender that year?)
1987 - "HANNAH & HER SISTERS"
(I've never seen it... someone mentioned she'd be nomination worthy here? Was Weist just too distinct of a stand-out for anyone else to gain notice? Would Fisher seem like she was next in line for the film in this category? Or would other co-stars be more likely?)
1989 - "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY"
(Now this is a movie I've seen... and while I haven't seen all the eventual nominees... I do love this Carrie Fisher performance. Was she ever in the discussions?)
On another note... two films of Carrie Fisher's that hold a special place in my heart... and deserve no discussion regarding Oscars:
"UNDER THE RAINBOW" - So wonderfully and uncomfortably awful... but I'll watch anything related to "THE WIZARD OF OZ"
"THUMBELINA" - A Faerie Tale Theatre episode... I loved this show... and have had the music from it stuck in my head ever since Fisher passed. Corny I know... but I'll always love it.