The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Given that this year brought us only one repeat acting nominee from last season (Olivia Colman, from The Father to The Lost Daughter) we thought it would be a fun detour to look back at thespians that Oscar was obsessed with for a relatively intense stretch of time. Which of the 20 actors nominated this year will be back again next year and start a run towards this rarefied list?Care to make a guess? Maybe it'll be Olivia Colman a third consecutive time. We could see it if Empire of Light opens in time.
Now, it's pretty easy to return again and again at The Emmys given that one series can last for several years (and the TV Academy falls out of love slowly), but for the Oscars, where it's new projects and characters every year, it's very dificult to hold interest for years on end...
As we countdown to Oscar we'll try and do daily trivia for you for curiousity, infotainment and merriment. Since today's magic number is 38 and no one has ever been nominated for exactly 38 Oscars, let's talk about actors who won when they were 38 years old. There are only 12 of them. Have any favourite performances from this list?
After voting in the Smackdown Nathaniel and the panel which included Mark Harris, Loren King, Farran Smith Nehme, Molly Pope, and Matthew Rettenmund got together to talk about the five films we watched and that era in Hollywood during World War II. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
Index (62 minutes) 00:01 Introductions of the Panel 03:00 Dragon Seed, yellowface, production trouble, and Oscar theories 11:50 Since You Went Away, war propaganda, and acting styles 24:00 None but the Lonely Heart, Cary Grant, Barrymore and "great lady" acting 38:50 Gaslight and Mrs Parkington 51:30 Our favorites of 1944 including Meet Me in St Louis and Double Indemnity 57:30 The forgotten Wilson, final Oscar notes and goodbyes.
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Gladys Cooper downing the drinks! Was she watching Dragon Seed, too?
1916 Happy Centennial to Best Actor winner Peter Finch (Network), one of only two posthumous acting winners in Oscar history. The other is Heath Ledger. (Curiously they were both Australian) 1924 Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, 8½) is born in Italy. Becomes one of the all time great movie stars by his mid 30s. His career spans over 50 years of cinema. 1933 Greer Garson weds Edward Snelson, first of three husbands, though the cohabitation is brief. Ten years later she famously marries her screen son in Mrs Miniver. 1934 ...And God Created Brigitte Bardot in Paris
1945 Mildred Pierce opens. Joan Crawford will win Best Actress for this fabulous noir melodrama 1949 Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis first film together My Friend Irma 1950 American indie icon John Sayles is born in New York. Among his most famous films: Return of the Secaucus 7, Passion Fish, and Lone Star 1951 Franchot Tone marries Barbara Payton, his third wife, a disastrous marriage for both. And he survived Joan Crawford. 1957 The great cinematographer Harris Savides is born. Credits include Zodiac, Milk, and Birth. His last gorgeous film The Bling Ring was released posthumously
1960 Sunrise at Campobello premieres at the movies. Greer Garson will snag her seventh and final Best Actress nomination as Eleanor Roosevelt. She'll lose to Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8 though their fates were reversed at the Golden Globes. 1961 Shirley Booth starts her run as Hazel a TV sitcom that lasts five seasons. The next summer she wins the Lead Emmy making her a Triple Crowner after her Tony & Oscar for Come Back Little Sheba. 1964 Janeane Garofalo is born. We don't appreciate her comic brilliance in Reality Bites (1994) enough. 1967 Supporting Actress winner Mira Sorvino is born. If you never read our 1995 Smackdown it was a good one so check it out.
1968 Nicole's bestie Naomi Watts is born (curiously neither were born in Australia but moved there as children). Also "Hey Jude" by the Beatles hits #1 and stays there for 9 weeks 1976 Israeli star Ohad Knoller is born. Credits include Yossi & Jagger, Yossi, Munich, and The Bubble 1984 Jessica Lange's Country opens. Exactly one week after Sally Field's Places in the Heart in the year of the farm wife 1987 Hilary Duff who comes to fame as "Lizzie McGuire" is born. Currently co-starring on the underappreciated Emmy worthy comedy Younger 1992 Keir Gilchrist, who was so wonderful as a gay teenager on The United States of Tara and was last seen in It Follows is born
1994 Tim Burton's Ed Wood premieres. Do you still love it? 1997 Chad Lowe & Hilary Swank marry. Two years later she wins the Oscar and forgets to thank him. She remembers the second time but why was their a second time again. ARGH! (Old wounds - editor) 2001 Ben Stiller first delivers "Blue Steel" in movie theaters in Zoolander 2012 Looper hits theaters. That was a good one though perhaps it was a warning that Joseph Gordon Levitt was always going to try to "alter" himself in some way (face, voice, body whatever) for his future leading roles shaving off parts of his charisma in the process.
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
Our time travelling comes to an end this week with a movie that was filmed before The Harvey Girls but, due to expensive reshoots, wasn't released until months later. Ziegfeld Follies (not to be confused with Ziegfeld Girl) is a plotless series of excuses for MGM to throw its considerable stable of talent into a series of comic and musical sketches tailor made to show off the stars - and the studio - at their finest. The Movie:Ziegfeld Follies(1946) The Songwriters: Kay Thompson (lyrics), Roger Edens (music) The Players: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, William Powell, Esther Williams, directed by Vincente Minnelli
The Story: According to rumor, originally this enjoyable little slip of a number was designed for Greer Garson. However, when Garson backed out, it became a number about Garson, lampooning her accent, image, and Oscar-bait dramatic roles. However, the satire was all in good fun, in large part due to the lyrics by Kay Thompson.
Though this was Thompson's first credit on a Judy Garland performance, she had been working with Garland since befriending the young starlet on a radio show in 1939. On top of a successful nightclub career, Thompson would become MGM's top vocal arranger and vocal coach, working with Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, June Allyson, and more. But more than Thompson's vocal control rubbed off on Judy. Watch this clip with Audrey Hepburn, and compare the physicality - from poses to gestures, between Kay and Judy.
While Kay Thompson would remain close friends with Judy Garland, eventually even lending Liza a hand, her own movie career never took off. Instead, Thompson would become world famous for another career: as the creator and writer of the children's series Eloise.