Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Eve Arden (Mildred Pierce)
Ann Blyth (Mildred Pierce)
Angela Lansbury (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Joan Lorring (The Corn is Green)
Anne Revere (National Velvet)
Biggest Snub:
Joan Blondell – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
My Overall Thoughts:
This is another year with 5 very good nominees and any of them could have taken home Gold since non stand out so among the rest.
My Rankings:
Supporting Actress
5. Joan Lorring
4. Ann Blyth
3. Eve Arden
2. Angela Lansbury
1. Anne Revere
Movies
4. The Corn is Green – Pretty mediocre film that doesn’t manage to work as well as one would hope. The cast is fine and even though this should feel like a very inspiring story, it fails to make things as interesting as is needed. Lorring and Dall were both nominated for Oscars for their performances in supporting roles but they also feel pretty weak. Even with Davis in the lead role, this film is quite lacking because it moves along at such a slow pace and isn’t engaging enough. The story might have been much more relatable when it came out but now it just doesn’t manage to resonate at all.
3. National Velvet – Very interesting story about the connection between a young girl and her horse. The analogies between the two of them are quite blatant here and it’s easy to see why they have such a strong connection. Rooney is great as a former horse trainer that the young girl tries to convince to train and perhaps even ride the horse in the race. Heartwarming story about doing your best in order to get the best results. Taylor is quite good here and I was surprised to see that even as a child actress she was able to make us care about her character.
2. Mildred Pierce – Crawford does a great job in the lead role. Loved the way this film utilizes a non-linear format to give us the whole story. The way that we get to see how the characters evolve over the course of the story is great and I wasn’t expecting this film to be as interesting as it turned out to be.
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Excellent morality tale that works so well. The story is presented really well on the screen and doesn’t skimp on showing the horrors that someone might commit in order to retain their youthful looks. We get to see how the picture itself represents the internal evil that embodies this characters drive to stay young no matter the cost to everything around him. Great seeing Landsbury in this in one of her earliest roles especially since this was the only one of three roles she was nominated for an Oscar for. This film (and the story it’s based on) leave so much to ponder about our lives and what attributes we would be willing to sacrifice in order to maintain something else.
3. National Velvet – Very interesting story about the connection between a young girl and her horse. The analogies between the two of them are quite blatant here and it’s easy to see why they have such a strong connection. Rooney is great as a former horse trainer that the young girl tries to convince to train and perhaps even ride the horse in the race. Heartwarming story about doing your best in order to get the best results. Taylor is quite good here and I was surprised to see that even as a child actress she was able to make us care about her character.
2. Mildred Pierce – Crawford does a great job in the lead role. Loved the way this film utilizes a non-linear format to give us the whole story. The way that we get to see how the characters evolve over the course of the story is great and I wasn’t expecting this film to be as interesting as it turned out to be.
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Excellent morality tale that works so well. The story is presented really well on the screen and doesn’t skimp on showing the horrors that someone might commit in order to retain their youthful looks. We get to see how the picture itself represents the internal evil that embodies this characters drive to stay young no matter the cost to everything around him. Great seeing Landsbury in this in one of her earliest roles especially since this was the only one of three roles she was nominated for an Oscar for. This film (and the story it’s based on) leave so much to ponder about our lives and what attributes we would be willing to sacrifice in order to maintain something else.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – I guess so! All 5 nominees are great and AR did a fine job with her performance and is as good enough a choice as any of them.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 