For the first two editions of my fantasy column, "If I Picked the Winners", I picked the relatively recent category of Best Actor 1997 and the extremely recent category of Best Picture 2009. For my third edition of this column, I thought I would go old-school and pick the oldest Best Supporting Actor category in which I had seen all the nominees, which ended up being 1953. I'm not sure if anyone old enough to remember 1953 reads this blog, but if you're out there, get ready for a trip down memory lane, and for everyone else, this is a good starting point for an education on the history of cinema.
The year 1953 was all about "From Here to Eternity". The film was based on the popular book of the same name, written by James Jones, but was heavily edited and changed to get the cooperation of the U.S. Military. The changes did not seem to bother the movie-going public or the Academy though, as the film did gang-busters across the nation and the Academy nominated it for an impressive thirteen awards and rewarded it with eight Oscars, which tied "Gone With the Wind" for a record at the time. More pertinent to this column though, it resurrected the career of Frank Sinatra, who was desperate for the part, as his career was in the proverbial crapper at the time. Luckily for Sinatra, he did get the part and the film turned out to be the defibrillator he needed to jump-start his flat-lining career, as he won 1953's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Did he deserve it though?
The year 1953 was all about "From Here to Eternity". The film was based on the popular book of the same name, written by James Jones, but was heavily edited and changed to get the cooperation of the U.S. Military. The changes did not seem to bother the movie-going public or the Academy though, as the film did gang-busters across the nation and the Academy nominated it for an impressive thirteen awards and rewarded it with eight Oscars, which tied "Gone With the Wind" for a record at the time. More pertinent to this column though, it resurrected the career of Frank Sinatra, who was desperate for the part, as his career was in the proverbial crapper at the time. Luckily for Sinatra, he did get the part and the film turned out to be the defibrillator he needed to jump-start his flat-lining career, as he won 1953's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Did he deserve it though?
5. Brandon De Wilde in "Shane"
I must confess that it has been over a decade since I have seen this film, as it was one of the first older films I saw when I started my Oscar obsession, but at the time I hated the movie. To be totally up-front, I am not a huge fan of the Western genre, but even as Westerns go, "Shane" is a bad movie, and this in large part due to the performance of Brandon De Wilde. Child actor Brandon De Wilde is suppose to be the emotional heart of the movie, but instead comes off as winy and over-dramatic. I'm not against child actor's receiving Oscar nominations, Tatum O'Neal's performance in the excellent film "Paper Moon" is an all-time classic and more recently Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" gave one of the best performances of any actresses in the last decade, but just because a child looks cute and is able to fill up their tear ducts does not mean they deserve a nomination. And that is pretty much all Brandon De Wilde does in the film (other than over-act). Even his famous line from the movie, "Shane! Come back!", is terribly over-dramatic. Luckily for Mr. De Wilde though, he did redeem himself somewhat as a teenager by giving a much stronger in performance alongside Paul Newman in "Hud", so if you want to watch a film with Brandon De Wilde, I recommend you check out that film instead.
4. Jack Palance in "Shane"
That's right, somehow this monstrosity of a film that is "Shane" received two nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Jack Palance serves as the films ominous villain, a gun-for-hire from Cheyenne who is helping the evil Hyker's take the Starett's (De Wilde's family) land. This role, somewhat like Peter Fonda's role in "Ulee's Gold" that I discussed in the first edition of this article, is one of those "strong, silent" roles the Academy loves so much. If I remember correctly, Palance has very few lines of dialogue in the film, and while he doesn't necessarily do a bad job, the all black costume he wears does just about as much as his performance to set the tone of his character. Even though Palance did not win for this performance, many years later he would have one of the most famous moments in Oscar history by doing one-armed push-ups on stage after his Best Supporting Actor victory for the Western Comedy "City Slickers". Which just goes to show, if you work in the movie business for a long time, eventually someone is going to reward you.
3. Robert Strauss in "Stalag 17"
"Stalag 17" is a great Billy Wilder comedy about American POWs held within the confines of a German camp. If you have never seen or heard of the film, you might know the television show based on the film, "Hogan's Heroes" (and yes, "Stalag 17" has its own Sgt. Shultz). "Stalag 17" is a little bit more serious than "Hogan's Heroes", but the film is still a comedy, and that is in large part due to the great performance given by Robert Strauss. Strauss, a big fat oaf nicknamed "Animal", along with his buddy Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) serve as the film's comic relief, and both do a great job. Strauss though particularly stands out as he goes full blown into the wacky side of his character, and the results work perfectly for that "Billy Wilder comedy" feel, that makes his comedies such classics. If you haven't seen the movie, you should definitely check it out sometime, and if your a fan of the TV show "Hogan's Heroes", you especially owe it to yourself to check out this movie.
2. Eddie Albert in "Roman Holiday"
"Roman Holiday" is my favorite film of 1953 and one of my favorite films of the 1950's. It basically is "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" if Matthew Broderick was a princess escaping her duties in Rome instead of a Chicago suburban teen playing hookie from school. Both films have the same sense of excitement and irreverence towards life, but "Roman Holiday" is probably most famous for launching the career of Audrey Hepburn, winning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. She gives a great performance, but Eddie Albert, the sidekick photographer to Gregory Peck's reporter, also does his part to make the film memorable. As the third wheel of the group, there is nothing crucial in his role towards the story, but he always adds a sense fun to the whole thing. The role is far from showy, but that's what makes it so impressive, as Albert realistically portrays his character and subconsciously provides the needed support to Peck and Hepburn that makes "Roman Holiday" the home-run that it is. If you want to see a good American film from the 1950's (not an easy task), you should definitely rent "Roman Holiday", and while Eddie Albert's performance will probably not be the first thing about the movie that sticks out, give it some time and I think you will realize how important his role is to the feel of the movie.
1. Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity"
This is an example where I actually agree with the Academy's decision, but it is not because I am a fan of the movie, far from it. In fact, "From Here to Eternity" is one of the most overrated Best Picture winners in Oscar history. The film is basically a glorified soap opera with an eye for some cinematic shots here and there (like the famous scene of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr making out on the beach as the waves role over them). The only part of the film that that is interesting at all is the performance given by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra fought hard to get the role, and his instincts were right, as he plays the role perfectly. His relationship with Montgomery Clift is really the only interesting relationship in the movie (not a good thing for a movie about relationships) and the scene where he talks to Clift after almost being beaten to death is easily the film's best scene. Luckily for actors, good acting doesn't require that the movie be any good, and that is definitely the case with Sinatra and "From Here to Eternity". The other great thing about Sinatra in this movie is that had he not gotten the part, the myth that the mafia forced the studio to cast him never would have been started, and if that rumor had never existed, then we would never had seen a decapitated horse's head in a man's bed ("The Godfather" reference in case you didn't know). And that my friends, is the magic of Hollywood.
Well that's my opinion on the 1953 Best Supporting Actor race. If you have seen these films, let me know your thoughts in the comments section, and if you haven't, you might want to think about starting a Netfilx or Blockbuster Total Access account and check up on some of cinema's famous movies from the past.
This wasa not a memorable year for movies.
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