1943 is coming...
Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 1:00PM by Nathaniel R
Thanks to all the wonderful readers who've commented on or shared or expressed enthusiasm for the Supporting Actress Smackdowns this summer. So far we've looked at 1970 and 1994. Our 'year of the month' for July will be 1943.
On Sunday July 29th "The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1943"
- Gladys Cooper, The Song of Bernadette [Amazon | iTunes]
- Paulette Goddard, So Proudly We Hail [Amazon]
- Katina Paxinou, For Whom the Bell Tolls [Amazon | iTunes]
- Anne Revere, The Song of Bernadette [Amazon | iTunes]
- Lucille Watson, Watch on the Rhine [Amazon | iTunes | Filmstruck]
Balloting opens July 1st and closes July 26th. Please do not vote before balloting is open as your ballot will likely be lost in the shuffle. HOW TO VOTE: E-mail with "1943" in the subject line and each performance that you've seen rated on a scale of 1 (bad) to 5 (stupendous) hearts. You don't have to include the reasons behind your votes but if you do we might quote you at the smackdown. (If you wish include a secondary list of your preferred shortlist in this category feel free.)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Also because we want to do better about helping ourselves and you contextualize these events after the jump a list of 1943 films that are available without too much expense on various streaming services...
Filmstruck
(Some of these are also available to rent on other services if you don't have Filmstruck)
Above Suspicion (Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford)
Cabin in the Sky (the all black musical directed by Vincente Minnelli)
Casablanca (it's listed as 1942 everywhere but its release was confusing. It was named the Best Picture of 1943)
Cross of Lorraine (WW II drama - Gene Kelly co-stars)
Edge of Darkness (Erroll Flynn stars in a WW II drama set in Norway)
Keeper of the Flame (Tracy & Hepburn)
Lassie Come Home (with child stars Liz Taylor and Roddy McDowall)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Starring Deborah Kerr but not released in the States 'til 1945)
The Man in Grey (period costume drama that first clued people in to the wonders of James Mason)
The North Star (WW II drama set in the Ukraine - 6 Oscar nominations including cinematography for world great James Wong Howe!)
Sanshiro Sugata (Akira Kurosawa's directorial debut)
Thousands Cheer (Gene Kelly musical - 3 Oscar nominations)
Netflix
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines (training film by Oscar-winner John Ford)
Amazon Prime (Free)
The Gentle Sex (British girls help out during the war)
Gung Ho! (WW II drama with Randolph Scott)
Stage Door Canteen (musical)
Miracle of Morgan's Creek - one of 1943's best films if you ask us
Amazon or iTunes Paid Rentals
The Constant Nymph (Joan Fontaine actress nomination)
Destination Tokyo (Cary Grant War picture - 1 Oscar nomination)
The Human Comedy (Mickey Rooney - 5 Oscar nominations)
Jane Eyre (Orson Welles & Joan Fontaine)
Madame Curie (Greer Garson - 7 Oscar nominations)
The More the Merrier (Jean Arthur WW II comedy - 6 Oscar nominations)
Miracle of Morgan's Creek (a brilliant Preston Sturges comedy - seriously, WATCH IT - 1 Oscar nomination)
The Ox-Bow Incident (Best Pic nominee with no other nominations!)
Phantom of the Opera (Nelson Eddy version - 4 Oscar nominations)
Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock's favorite of his own films. It's awesome)
Stormy Weather (Lena Horne musical)
Reader Comments (27)
Pouts at 1943 getting a whole-ass month dedicated to it when not much enthusiasm will muster from users.
I pity the Smackdown panel with having to watch The Song of Bernadette. I feel like I saw that film a million times on Irish television when I was growing up. It was always treated as An Important Film that you fell asleep to after Easter dinner
IanO -- some people really like that movie though. I've never actually seen it (gulp) so I'm looking forward to filling in that sizeable gap.
I feel like lately I've dwelled too much on the Smackdown films I'm not looking forward to. So instead I'll say: at least there's a Bette Davis performance I haven't seen before!
/3rtful Speak for yourself. Because that is probably the only person to speak to!
A Bette Davis film, a Claudette Colbert film, an Ingrid Bergman film, and a Jennifer Jones film! Would could stop me from participating?!
*looks at runtimes for Song of Bernadette and For Whom the Bell Tolls*
I'm excited, while I've seen every nominee except Goddard it was a long time ago. I remember not liking For Whom except for Katina. At a nearly 3 hour runtime, it's going to be difficult to revisit. I hope you dedicate a special segment to Patricia Collinge for marvelous turn in Shadow of a Doubt. Really when I think of 1943 that's the film for me (I consider Casablanca a 42 film) I do enjoy when you further back in oscar history because it allows me to visit film's I've never seen before with stars who are long gone that I appreciate greatly.
My favorite non-nominee: Jane Darwell in The Ox-Bow Incident. Ma Joad she ain't
How I wish Agnes Moorehead was in there for JANE EYRE.
Of the five nominees I'd only retain Anne Revere in "The Song of Bernadette". I think it's a terrific picture - full of memorable performances and buoyed by the kind of gorgeous black and white production values that became a 20th Century Fox hallmark in the 40's. Winner that year should have been marvelous Jean Brooks as the young hedonist who falls prey to a Satanist cult in Val Lewton's "The Seventh Victim". The picture's a jaw-dropping wow and so is she. '43 had no shortage of deserving candidates that Oscar ignored. Jane Darwell (doing a potent 180 from her saintly Ma Joad) as a bloodthirsty old harridan in "The Ox-Bow Incident", Ruth Hussey, meant to be the heavy in the treacly "Tender Comrade" - but clear-eyed and compelling next to the self-canonizing postures pulled by noble Ginger Rogers. The under-rated Nancy Coleman is very moving in Warners' "Edge of Darkness" as a captive forced to "entertain" her Nazi captors. Not to mention Gladys George's boozy fading singer manipulated out of a job by conniving Ida Lupino in "The Hard Way" or Margaret Landry, very sensitive as the young girl whose mother locks her out, letting her fall prey to "The Leopard Man". If you're including films that weren't technically eligible for the '43 Oscars (and you've mentioned titles like "Jane Eyre" which Fox sent to London for a one night royal preview performance in December '43; It didn't come out in the States till "44; Britain's entertaining "The Man in Grey" got its Academy qualifying American release after '43. And of course Kurosawa's "Sanshiro Sugata" - or any other Japanese movie - was not about to be endorsed or even acknowledged by the Academy at the height of World War 2 ). As I say, if you're including foreign films technically ineligible for Oscar in the year of their release, then - once seen - it's hard to ignore French character actress Gabrielle Dorziat in "La Baron Fantome" and Anna Svierkier as the tragically persecuted old lady in Dreyer's "Day of Wrath".
Ken -- i've never even heard of The Seventh Victim so I'll have to sseek it out!
I'm very excited for this Smackdown since the 40's are my favorite film decade but some of the movies that require review are less than thrill inducing.
Thank goodness it hasn't been that long since I've seen For Whom the Bell Tolls so I don't have to slog through that ponderous bore again but cripes this means I have to watch the ghastly Jones contort her features woodenly in Song of Bernadette since I haven't seen it in decades. At least I love both the nominated actresses from that film so hopefully I can just focus on their performances.
But I am looking forward to revisiting the other two pictures.
I cosign that Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a very worthwhile treat to track down. How Sturges got away with that premise during the Hayes office years is a wonder.
If I recall correctly The Cross of Lorraine has some surprisingly graphic violence for a 40's film.
The things that makes this Phantom of the Opera worth seeing are Claude Rains as the phantom and the rich Technicolor and lavish settings.
Yes Shadow of a Doubt is awesome and so is The Ox-Bow Incident. In very different ways but great films.
The Seventh Victim is well worth checking out, very eerie. Plus it was Kim Hunter's screen debut in the lead.
It will be all new to me. I haven't seen 95% of the above listed films. Just "Casablanca", "Jane Eyre", "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Shadow of a Doubt".
The Ox-Bow Incident is an absolute masterpiece. I could totally see a Trump-era remake/adaptation.
I Spike Lee must remake a single movie in his life, this movie is The Ox-Bow Incident.
If Spike Lee must remake a single movie in his life, this movie is The Ox-Bow Incident.
Song of Bernadette and For Whom the Bell Tolls are long movies yes, but Bernadette is a much better made film. Even if you don't like the performers (and everyone is doing a great job with this film) there are many technical aspects to admire like the cinematography, art direction, and music. With FWTBT, Paxinou has enough energy to hold the movie together and Bergman tries valiantly during her scenes, but it does slog through and that last scene with Cooper was laughingly bad.
I loved this era... have seen some of the movies... but not even half of the greats.
I love The Ox Bow Incident.
Ken: I agree w/ you on The Seventh Victim and Jean Brooks. Anyone who hasn't seen it should do so asap! (And basically every other Val Lewton film from the 40's, too.) Jean Brooks is indeed unforgettable in it, and it's lovely to see the young version of the great Kim Hunter in the lead.
The decade for those who want to see well dressed gorgeous intelligent women with the best hairstyles (the 1940s is known as the long-haired decade of the three of the golden age of talkies, 30-40-50). Also charming and elegant men. The movies are very good too. Amusing and diversified. One or other masterpiece.
For all the griping about Bernadette, it's a surprisingly watchable film. A couple of spots dragged enough to remind me of the running time, but it's much swifter than I would have thought. Fingers crossed that I feel the same way about Bell...
Inspired by this post I watched last Friday (29) four movies from the 1940s of my favorite genre: musicals. Watching these movies was like traveling to another planet and coming across another kind of people, atmosphere, really. They are not human, are they? Are they real? I have my doubts, but anyway the movies.
The Gang's All Here (1943) - Carmen Miranda's best film with that choreography by Bursby Berkeley (also director of the film) with those giant phallic bananas. Alice Faye also in the cast.
The Dolly Sisters (1945) - Betty Grable and June Haver as real-life sisters in a fun movie that is more visual than substance but like the old movies is a show of art direction, cinematography and costumes.
Down To Earth (1947) - Rita Hayworth, a goddess, playing a muse, Terpsicore, among humans. Not one of her best films in the Columbia star phase, but the dance and music as always, along with herself, make up for the weak script that is an apparent sequel of Here Comes Mr Jordan (1941).
The Harvey Girls (1946) - Judy Garland unmistakable in her years of great star of musicals of Metro. Her reteaming with the scarecrow of The Wizard of Oz (1939) Ray Bolger. Angela Lansbury plays the mean girl and Cyd Charisse starting. Technicolor, colorful costumes in the western fantasy setting, great songs including Oscar winner "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe", need more? The best of the quartet. This I confess I had to rewatch the next day, Saturday.
My great aunt is katina paxinou so i will be loving this smackdown for sure :)
ELI -- what? That's so cool.
George Stevens is most remembered for his dramatic and tense films, but he directed entertaining and human comedies like The More The Merrier in 1943 that competed for the Oscar of Best Picture against Casablanca, George Stevens lost the statuette to Michael Curtiz and Jean Arthur had her only nomination in a career marked by great moments. She was one of the director's favorite actresses who directed her in other great films: The Talk of The Town and Shane, her last film. The More The Merrier is a brilliant comedy about loneliness, the fear of being alone and of commitment and tells the story of strange people sharing the same apartment. Deserved the Oscar of Supporting Actor for Charles Coburn, most remembered today as one of the victims of Marilyn Monroe's irresistible charm in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
OK, wow, no wonder THE CONSTANT NYMPH was an obscurity:
"The will of Margaret Kennedy stated that the film could be shown only at universities and museums after its original theatrical run ended. As a result, the film was unavailable for exhibition for nearly seventy years. The film received its first authorized public screening in decades as part of the 2011 Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival."
The Song of Bernadette is really wonderful. The cinematography, art direction, music--all the best the studio system could bring. The film is especially relevant today, commenting persuasively on gender politics, spiritual hypocrisy and bureaucratic hysteria. Jennifer Jones conveys an extraordinary luminous presence throughout. One of the Top Ten Best Actress winners of all time.