Did They Get it Right? – Best Actress – Oscars 1944

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight)

Claudette Colbert (Since You Went Away)

Bette Davis (Mr. Skeffington)

Greer Garson (Mrs. Parkington)

Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity)

Biggest Snub:

Tallulah Bankhead – Lifeboat

My Overall Thoughts:

This is a year with 5 great nominees and all are quite deserving. Any of them would have been a worthy winner.

My Rankings:

Actress

5. Bette Davis
4. Greer Garson
3. Barbara Stanwyck
2. Claudette Colbert
1. Ingrid Bergman

Movies

5. Gaslight – Great premise that works so well despite feeling so ahead of it’s time. The cast is superb with Bergman having great chemistry with both Boyer and Cotten. Bergman rightfully deserved her first (of 3) Oscar for this role. Landsbury was surprisingly good in her first film role which ended up garnering her a Best Supporting Actress Nomination. Loved the way that the suspense gets higher and higher as the film moves along.
4. Mr. Skeffington – Very interesting premise that works quite well. Davis is great in the lead but she is outshone by Rains every step of the way. Both were nominated for Oscars for their performances, yet neither was able to win. The story moves along at a great pace and we get a clear idea of the things that drive each of the characters. The script is written exceptionally well and there are some great lines spoken in the dialogue which allude to various scandalous actions of characters. They do a great job of dealing with religious issues, namely that Skeffington is a Jew and we see the prejudice some characters have wit that fact and how the world itself dealt with those issues at those times.
3. Mrs. Parkington – Great story that works really well since it allows us to get a full understanding of the life of the main character and how she became the woman she now is. The film uses the flashbacks really skillfully and is helps develop the characters even more as we get to see how things came to be. The cast is superb and both Garson and Moorehead were nominated for Oscars for their work here and the wife and best friend of a wealthy businessman. Pidgeon is also great as the leading man here because we get to see how his character and his motivations in life slowly evolve over time.
2. Since You Went Away – Amazing film that takes a complex subject and makes it so heartwarming. The mixing and matching of numerous parallel storylines works extremely well and it helps make it all seem so realistic. The multi-generational look at how people perceive war is done superbly. The cast is great and despite multiple characters and storylines, this film is so easy to follow as things move forward. Still shocked that this film only got one Oscar win of its 9 nominations (for dramatic musical score) and it is so much better than the eventual winner, Going My Way (1944).
1. Double Indemnity – Great thriller that has nice twists and turns throughout. Great plot by Chandler and dialogue by Wilder.