Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Ann Todd – The Passionate Friends
My Overall Thoughts:
This is a year with 5 excellent performances and any of them would have been worthy winners.
My Rankings:
Actress
5. Jeanne Crain
4. Olivia de Havilland
3. Deborah Kerr
2. Loretta Young
1. Susan Hayward
Movies
5. Edward, My Son – Interesting premise that just doesn’t work very well at all. Tracy is completely miscast in the title role and its hard to imagine him as this kind of character. The crimes he commits over the years are all in the name of his son and he bulldozes anyone who tries to stop him. This could have been a much better story if it focused more on how a good man would be affected by these tings but since the character doesn’t seem to have an ounce of good in him, that’s pretty impossible. Kerr stands out as his wife who does all she can to try and protect those around her from her husband yet is helpless in her endeavors. Kerr was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role in this film and she remains the best part of it all.
4. The Heiress – Drags too much, but the performances are pretty good. De Havilland won a Best Actress Oscar for her role.
3. Pinky – Very enjoyable film that tries to tackle the race issue from a different perspective than usual. It’s a bit unbelievable how Crain is meant to be a black woman, but the way that she is treated by the townspeople leads to much problems especially when dealing with the work she does for a wealthy old woman and it’s reparations. Crain still was able to garner a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance here. Barrymore and Waters were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for their work here, but they unfortunately probably cancelled one another out. The climatic courtroom drama brings some some very interesting ideas and it’s too bad that the film doesn’t try and find a way to focus more on those aspects because it would have made this film even better.
2. Come to the Stable – Interesting film that is able to show how the appearance of two women trying to make a change in the world can affect everyone in the town in a very poignant way. Young and Holm are both great as the nuns and make us believe that they are truly doing pure work. Along with Lanchester, Holm and Riley all were nominated for Oscars for their work; Young for Best Actress and both Holm and Lanchester for supporting actress. Really liked the way that the story of how they came to this particular place to build their hospital feels like a fairy tale or myth and that adds so much more to the impact of this story. The plot is filled with some nice twists and turns that raise the suspense level of things even if the story is pure drama. This is truly a film all about having faith.
1. My Foolish Heart – Interesting premise that works despite the fact that the story is only allowed to allude to certain aspects of the story instead of stating things outright. Hayward does a wonderful job in the lead role and makes the viewer care so much about what happens to her over the course of the film. She was deservingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in this film. She has great chemistry with Andrews as we slowly watch their relationship develop. The film deals with some very intriguing themes in an clever way that helps make the story enjoyable to watch unfold.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – I guess so! OdH is quite good in TH, but some of her competitors were slightly better, but its still understandable that she could win here.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 