Oscar Trivia: Ranking the His & Hers Supporting Oscar Wins
Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 10:30AM 
Moreno & Chakiris winning for WEST SIDE STORYby Nathaniel R
Only 8 times in the 92 year history of the Academy Awards have both Supporting trophies gone to the same movie. We were thinking about this factoid recently given that 1957 is the topic of next week's Smackdown (get those votes in). 1957's Sayonara wins for Miyoki Umeshi and Red Buttons (who played newlyweds) marked the third instance of both supporting trophies going to the same movie in just a seven year span. Given that that specific type of Oscar pairing has only happened five times more in the next sixty-two years of history, it's clear that "his & hers" was definitely more of a 1950s voter mindset than it is now.
[Tangent: Lead 'His & Hers' statues happen with about the same frequency but are mostly bunched up in the late 70s for some reason]
Let's rank what came before with double supporting wins in a highly unscientific fusion of the performances...
So, if one person is excellent and the other was solid, they might not rank as high as two very good performances. Listen, it's not an exact science, hee, and we kept changing the order, but let's do this anyway. Your own rankings are naturally required in the comments...
08. Miyoshi Umeki & Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
Relationship to each other in the film: ROMANTIC COUPLE
They're adorable together as newlyweds who are up against it with the military and both of their cultures frowning on their interracial union. That said the movie doesn't ask them to do much beyond selling their happiness as a unit and their sadness as individuals who don't see a way to keep being happy.
07. Donna Reed & Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
Relationship to each other in the film: TANGENTIAL
Of all the winning pairs, this is the one we have the foggiest memories of. A rewatch is in order but at least the first time through this movie the fine ensemble was overshadowed by a truly dynamic trio of headliners: Clift, Kerr, and Lancaster.
Robards and Redgrave drinking champagne together a decade before their Oscar wins in the same movie
06. Vanessa Redgrave & Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
Relationship to each other in the film: NONE
A lopsided double. Vanessa gives one of the all time great supporting performances as the enigmatic title character but Jason Robards, playing the playwright Dashiell Hammet is barely in the movie and the scenes he's in don't justify a win let alone a nomination. This remains one of the all-time Oscar mysteries since he'd also won the year before so there wouldn't have even been a 'momentum' factor. Robards was a fine actor and his other Oscar moments make total sense but he's the very least of the supporting actor nominees from 1977; wins for Firth, Schell, Baryshnikov or Guinness would have all made more narrative and "deserving" sense.
05. Rita Moreno & George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
Relationship to each other in the film: ROMANTIC COUPLE
West Side Story demanded a lot of its actors and Moreno and Chakiris came ready to deliver with physically impassioned performances. Moreno of course is an all-timer, her Anita is one of the most electric performances ever captured on film.
Dianne plays the only sister Michael *isn't* sleeping with in "Hannah and Her Sisters"
04. Dianne Wiest & Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Relationship to each other in the film: IN-LAWS
Wiest is miraculously three dimensional and funny and sad and alive in this Woody Allen picture. Even her thoughts in narration are brilliantly performed. The win was more than warranted. We're slightly less fond of Michael Caine's work but it's a memorable dramedic turn nonetheless.
Hunter, Madsen, and Brandon on the set of "Streetcar"
03. Kim Hunter & Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Relationship to each other in the film: TANGENTIAL
It remains an oddity of history that the only actor that didn't win for A Streetcar Named Desire was male lead Marlon Brando. The quartet at the center is impeccable.
02. Melissa Leo & Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
Relationship to each other in the film: PARENT/CHILD
Would it be too soon to do a Supporting Actress Smackdown for 2010? There were three win-worthy turns, plus a category fraudster, and a BP coaster. As far as Supporting Actors go, I maintain that Bale was one of two male leads of The Fighter. Regardless of wrong category issues, Bale and Leo were both veritably on fire in this muscular actor's drama. The entire ensemble is on point as if they're all in the ring and ready to go toe to toe in each scene and deliver their own knockouts.
Cloris Leachman, Ben Johnson, and Gene Hackman (fresh Oscar winners all) visiting Charlie Chaplin's table at a post Oscar party
01. Cloris Leachman & Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
Relationship to each other in the film: NONE
Double genius. Even crazier is the fact that the film's other performances are almost as good. Jeff Bridges and Ellen Burstyn were deserving nominees from the rich ensemble as well. Timothy Bottoms, Eileen Brennan, and Cybil Shepherd weren't nominated (As hard as it can be to remember while screening this classic, 1971 did have other movies) but they're quite also terrific. Crazier still: Somehow The Last Picture Show isn't even Bogdanovich's best movie! His early triple The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973) rivals any director's best consecutive triple. It's really too bad that his subsequent efforts couldn't measure up or he'd be regarded as one of the all time greats.
Reader Comments (29)
I live for posts like this. Thank you! Would love to see your rankings of all the winning combinations (Actor/Sup. Actor, Actress/Sup. Actor, etc).
Chakiris and Caine pull down their duos somewhat. Reed and Sinatra are always underrated in these lists which is sad. Bale and Leo is the most Your Mileage May Vary duo. Number one is undeniable. Soul, heart and gravitas from those two deserving winners.
I would say this ranking is pretty good however the only change I'd make is rank 61 above 86 just based on the strength of Moreno. Then'd rank 51 second instead of 10.
I would certainly award 1950 the double supporting trophies of the eventual nominees as Ritter hands down should've won. Again in the 50's I'd award 54 and 56 double supporting trophies.
The following years I'd consider handing a second trophy as well: 66, 69, 78, 81, 13 & 16. So yeah you could say I'd think there should be more or just replacements for the double supporting trophies.
Target is sensational also!
Most of these assessments are absolutely on the money. I do, however, disagree about Jason Robards, Jr. in Julia.
I remember vocal debate about the supporting actor category before the ceremony.
Star Wars was not considered to have sufficient pedigree. Guinness was out.
Equus overplayed its hand by replacing the theatre’s use of men masquerading as horses with actual animals. The violent blinding of the horses was repulsive. Director Sidney Lumet cost not only Peter Firth the supporting Oscar, but Richard Burton the lead Oscar as well.
Baryshnikov was a brilliant dancer and thrilling eye candy in the love scenes in The Turning Point. He was and remains quite limited as an actor.
Maximilian Schell was merely satisfactory in Julia.
Robards rose to the top for three reasons. One was the scene in Julia as Hellman’s boat leaves the dock for Europe. Lillian stands at the rail looking for her lover in the throngs below. At the last minute she sees him. The camera goes in for a close up. Hammett tips his hat rakishly and charms her and the audience. It was a true movie star moment from an unexpected source.
Two, Robards had opened on Broadway just prior to the Oscar voting period in Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet, directed by Jose Quintero. The two men were considered to be the finest interpreters of the great playwright. Reviews were laudatory and elevated Robards reputation as an actor in general.
And three, Robards was the sole American on the ballot. Time and again, that unique attribute has helped underdogs win. Ask Marisa Tomei.
OMG Cloris Leachman and Ben Johnson <3
@Nathaniel: speaking of Bogdanovich's early run, have you been listening to the new season of You Must Remember This? It's about his wife Polly Plat and their creative relationship. It's really fascinating and explains a lot of her role in his early success.
Years I would like to have seen His & Hers Oscars:
1936: Mischa Auer/Alice Brady (My Man Godfrey)
1954: Lee J Cobb/Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
1965: Frank Finlay/Joyce Redman (Othello)
1980: Jason Robards/Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard)
1985: William Hickey/Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor)
2002: Chris Cooper/Meryl Streep (Adaptation)
2004: Clive Owen/Natalie Portman (Closer)
2005: Jake Gyllenhaal/Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)
2012: Philip Seymour Hoffman/Amy Adams (The Master)
I apologize if this is a double posting. I wrote a nearly identical post about a couple of hours ago, and it never showed up, but who knows, it may eventually turn up.
Carlos - i heaven't yet, no.
James, and Helen Hunt!
1. Cloris & Ben
2. Hunter & Malden
3. Moreno & Chakiris
4. Leo & Bale
5. Redgrave & Robards
5. Wiest & Caine (those awards should've gone to Barbara Hershey & Max von Sydow)
6. Reed & Sinatra
7. Umeki & Buttons
Wow wow. Stunned at Melissa Leo & Christian Bale being at number two. Found those performances to be so loud and boring. Lots of screaming at the camera and chewing the scenery. But then again it’s been 10 years maybe I should rewatch... but David O Russell is so vile so maybe not.
LOVE this sort of trivia!!!
Enjoyed reading your reasoning behind each choice even if our placements are quite different.
My ranking would run this way with the stronger of the pair listed first.
1. Dianne Wiest/Michael Caine-Words are insufficient to describe how brilliant Dianne Wiest is in Hannah and Her Sisters but I’ll try. She’s sublime and inimitable, every single gesture is organic and true. Caine is very, very good encumbered somewhat by the fact that his character Elliot is a selfish tool for most of the film’s running time.
2. Cloris Leachman/Ben Johnson-I was very torn between Cloris & Ben vs. Dianne & Michael but Dianne’s is one of my very favorite performances ever which gave that pair the edge. Leachman & Johnson are perfection though.
3. Donna Reed/Frank Sinatra-Perhaps because the lion’s share of her scenes are with Monty Clift coupled with her dainty ladylike demeanor being at odds with the sordidness of her profession and her more pervasive presence in the story but Donna makes a far greater impact in Eternity. Sinatra is Sinatra for most of his time on screen, not that that’s a bad thing but it gets in the way at times in really seeing Maggio. His final scene really leaves a powerful impression however.
4. Rita Moreno/George Chakiris-Rita is a peerless dynamo. Chakiris dances beautifully and gets his scenes across but neither his impact nor the heft he brings to the narrative is anywhere near hers.
5. Karl Malden/Kim Hunter-Both give good performances. My putting Kim Hunter second has more to do with my distaste for the pathetic doormat that is Stella than her work trying to make something of her.
6. Vanessa Redgrave/Jason Robards-Robards pulls the pair down here. He was a great actor and does just fine as Dashiell Hammett but the role is a nothing. Vanessa is mesmerizing, she should have multiple Oscars! At least she has this one.
7. Red Buttons/Miyoshi Umeki-I agree they are sweet together but Oscars? No. Much as I think Gig Young deserved his Oscar for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Red was brilliant as Sailor in the same film and had he been nominated there I wouldn’t have objected had he won.
8. Christian Bale/Melissa Leo-I’m sure others would rank them higher but I hated The Fighter and I hated both of them in it.
James: 1977 Supporting Actor was not a super strong field, especially from a conventional standpoint. Of that field, Guiness probably should have taken it in a walk. Oddest miss, though? Christopher Walken, Annie Hall. Yes, very small, very weird role, but, well: WALKEN.
Years I would like to have seen His & Hers wins
1936: Mischa Auer/Alice Brady
1954: Lee J Cobb/Eva Marie Saint
1965: Frank Finlay/Joyce Redman
1980: Jason Robards/Mary Steenburgen
1985: William Hickey/Anjelica Huston
2002: Chris Cooper/Meryl Streep
2004: Clive Owen/Natalie Portman
2005: Jake Gyllenhaal/Michelle Williams
2012: Philip Seymour Hoffman/Amy Adams
nice ranking! i think mine would probably be the same. i also echo Faye's comment above that the Reed/Sinatra duo is sadly underrated.
if only Naomie Harris won for MOONLIGHT (like she should have, because Viola should have won in Lead), then she and Mahershala Ali would have been a perfect winning pair, and for my money, an easy number one on this list.
Donna Reed is lowkey one of my top five supporting actress wins. I loved her chemistry with Clift in that movie.
Aditya — While I wish Naomie Harris would have been the champ that year, I think Michelle Williams would have emerged as the favorite without Viola in the mix.
@Owen-While I will sort of disagree with you on Bale, I do however agree with you on Leo as she just over-acted in that film and her Oscar campaign was a real turn-off.
This is a great post! And I don't only say that because it touches on 2 of my 3 favorite Supporting Actress wins ever (Wiest's and Leachman's).
And I like where ken s took it - especially that alternate 1985 winning pairing of Hickey and Huston.
wow, i would have bet good money that the west side story duo would top your list, nathaniel, even if rita carried george across the line
Malden and Hunter all the way.
James - Absolutely agree with you re: Jason Robards, I remember how every critic lauded Jason Robards. His standing as the definitive interpreter of O'Neill gave him an edge. It also didn't hurt that he had been married to Lauren Bacall. He was the American Hollywood insider in a field of foreigners. Vanessa Redgrave was so good in that film it made everyone remember that movie more fondly.
I'm not as fond of Melissa Leo at all in that film, give me Amy Adams any day.
For the #2 slot I would go with Weist/Caine.
I think Jason Robards and George Chakiris are penalized somewhat here by the size of their roles. Both acquitted themselves just fine. Chakiris and Moreno won I think by saving their movie from their leading stars (I'm semi serious), same with Buttons & Umeki.
And Robards won because of his weak competition - what weird nominees. Weren't their any better ones around to nominate? I think 1977 deserves an investigation because I think it is one of the (perhaps only?) few times when "women's films" dominated the Oscars.
And of this list, I'd put Bale & Leo dead last. Both of them seemed fakey and hammy to me, and almost as if they were saying their lines phonetically. And of course with a soupcon of category fraud thrown in.
I know there are 16 men and women here, but four of the women dominate in my opinion: Cloris Leachman, Vanessa Redgrave, Dianne Wiest, and Rita Moreno.
PS Carlos, I think that whole Bogdanovich and Polly Platt thing was the basis for the Drew Barrymore movie Irreconcilable Differences. I think Sharon Stone even played a fictionalized Cybill Shephard.
Robards was fine but nothing special.
Donna Reed was great. Frank Sinatra was also in her movie.
I agree that Jason Robards' win in 1977 was along the lines of Gloria Graham winning in '52 for The Bad and the Beautiful: an excellent actor winning an Oscar for a small, not-terribly-important role. But James' breakdown of the category and the competition that year makes the choice much less baffling. Still, based on the nominees, Alec Guinness would have been a much better choice. I'm not at all a Star Wars fan but that is an iconic role.
I really miss these big ensemble movies that can give at least two great perfomances without them interacting that much.
Even in Hannah and Her Sisters, where Dianne and Michael actually has a relationship, they barely even talk to each other.
I also would have more than just seven. My own his & hers supporting wins would be:
2004: Natalie Portman & Clive Owen (Closer) [Kills me put they in lead]
2002: Queen Latifah & John C. Reilly (Chicago)
1986: Dianne Wiest & Michael Caine (Hannah And Her Sisters)
1980: Mary Steenburgen & Jason Robards (Melvin And Howard)
1971: Cloris Leachman & Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show)
1969: Susannah York & Gig Young (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?)
1967: Estelle Parsons & Gene Hackman (Bonnie And Clyde)
1966: Sandy Dennis & George Segal (Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?)
1953: Donna Reed & Frank Sinatra (From Here To Eternity)
1951: Kim Hunter & Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire)
1950: Celeste Holm & George Sanders (All About Eve)
1947: Ann Todd & Louis Jourdan (The Paradine Case)
1944: Clifton Webb & Judith Anderson (Laura)
1936: Alice Brady & Eugene Pallette (My Man Godfrey)
1930-1931: Virginia Cherrill & Harry Myers (City Lights)
Thank you for reminding me of one of the best screwball comedies of all time;- What's Up Doc?
I can watch this film over and over again and still laugh my head off.
They don't make films like this anymore.