Best Actress in the 1920s: An Alternative Oscar History

by Cláudio Alves

Janet Gaynor won the first ever Best Actress Oscar with her performances in Borzage's 7TH HEAVEN and STREET ANGEL, as well as Murnau's SUNRISE. Does she also win here?

To misquote Mark Twain, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Or maybe I should go with Dr. Frankenstein by way of James Whale and scream to the high heavens: It’s ALIVE! Now, dear readers, as I try to return to writing regularly for The Film Experience, I feel like I owe you an explanation for my prolonged absence, not to mention an apology.

I’ve suffered from migraines since I was four, but around the middle of July, a crisis like none other began. Unparalleled in intensity and duration – still going, though not as strong as before - it took me to the ER, a CT scan, a cardiologist’s office, a bunch of new medication, and, soon, a wisdom tooth extraction and an appointment with a neurologist. In other words, it’s been hell, endless pain for over a month that mostly left me useless as far as writing articles or anything longform is concerned. Still, movies have been a refuge, as they’ve always been, and social media has allowed me to keep writing in short spurts whenever the pain medication kicked in, mostly about what I’ve been watching. Specifically, I’ve been emboldened by Twitter user HungryBear’s Oscar retrospectives to revisit my Best Actress picks from the very beginning of the Academy Awards, way back in 1928.

What better way to mark my comeback than to share these with you, too? TFE readers seemed to like reading – or enjoyed arguing over and against – my picks from the 80s, when I shared them two years ago, after all. That’s most of what I’ll be doing as I prepare myself for another TIFF coverage in September, with maybe a couple of other things thrown in if my ever-evolving torment nexus of pain permits it. Anyway, to start things off, we have the first three Oscar editions, when the twenties were honored and, with them, the twilight of the silent era…

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Smackdown '46: Duel in the Sun with the King of Siam

Welcome back to the Supporting Actress Smackdown. Each month we pick an Oscar vintage to explore through the lens of actressing at the edges. This episode goes back to the 19th Academy Awards honoring 1946. It isn't a particularly beloved Oscar vintage though the Best Picture winner, The Best Years of Our Lives, is sublime. Apart from the winner and the Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life, the Academy all but ignored the most enduring pictures of that post-war year (Notorious, Gilda, The Postman Always Rings Twice). But we're here to discuss Best Supporting Actress and these five women were having a moment...

THE NOMINEES For the 1946 Oscars the Academy invited back two previous winners (Gale Sondergaard & Ethel Barrymore), tossed a bouquet in the form of 'career' nomination to a legend (Lillian Gish), honored a character actress for stretching (Flora Robson) without realizing how poorly that kind of stretch would age, and invited a new starlet (Anne Baxter) into the club. That's a typical mix in some ways though the films were a fun mix of genres rather than five straightforward dramas. We've got a culture clash historical epic (Anna and the King of Siam), a thriller (The Spiral Staircase), a camp western (Duel in the Sun), a post-war spiritual journey (The Razor's Edge), and a restless genre-hopping whatsit (Saratoga Trunk).

THE PANELISTS Here to talk about the performances and films are (alpha order from left to right), playwright Peter Duchan, film critic Guy Lodge, Statueseque's Allen Nguyen, and Actor Tory Devon Smith. And, as ever, your host Nathaniel R. Let's begin...

 SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...  

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Best Supporting Actress 1946: Getting to know the nominees

by Cláudio Alves

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1946 is fast approaching, and with it comes one of the most head-scratching lineups in the category's history. To call this bunch of films, performances, and legacies problematic is to undersell just how much racial insensitivity plays into this particular Oscar race. Still, what complicates matters further is that the nominated actresses are all artists with considerable talent, superlative careers – most of whom started on stage – and undeniable historical importance. Unpacking all this mess is too great a task, but I'll try to introduce you, dear readers, to this impressive quintet of Old Hollywood thespians...

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Showbiz History: Way Down East, Valerie Perrine, Kalifornia

8 things that happened on this day in history as it relates to showbiz...

1838  Legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery. Where's his biopic? Seriously.He shows up briefly as a supporting character in both the miniseries North and South and the feature film Gloryin the 1980s but since then, no films or TV about him, apart from documentaries?  

1920 Way Down East starring Lillian Gish as a wronged young woman premieres...

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Showbiz History: Valentino's Wedding, Shirley's Discovery, Frasier's Ending

Six random things to celebrate on this day (May 13th) in showbiz history...

1919 It's the centennial today of the silent film Broken Blossoms starring Lillian Gish (which you can watch in full on YouTube), an interracial weepie romance with Richard Barthelmess in "yellow face" as a Chinese Man that Gish falls for. Some critics consider it D.W. Griffith's best film. 

Valentino and Rambova

1922 Silent film superstar Rudoph Valentino, who made millions swoon all over the world, weds costume and set designer Natacha Rambova at the age of 27. Valentino would then be arrested for bigamy since he'd been divorced for less than a year at the time (which was legally a no-go back then in California)...

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