Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Uri wrote:Et tu, Damien?

I've been at it so many times before, so to quote myself of about five years ago:

"Isn’t it great we’re not committed to the Hollywood politics? So why not practice it here. Thelma Ritter was the lead in The Mating Season. She was the protagonist, she had the most screen time – the film was about her character. Reducing her to the supporting category, is an expectance of the convention that women who “past their prime”, especially those who’s never been considered desirable objects to begin with, are not entitled to be a main attraction of any kind. On my list, she is one of the top five leading actresses of ’51, third only to Leigh and Hepburn."

Now – Eleanor Parker, on the other hand, had a small, though showy, part in Detective Story. She was indeed, at the time, following her big splash in Caged, seen as a major star in the making, and she was certainly in her conventional "sexual prime", so she was automatically declared as lead. But, as I said, why confine ourselves to these conventions? Switching Ritter and Parker would make a perfect solution, imho.

I like Damien's off-the-beaten-track recognition of Losey's remake of M and Mann's The Tall Target as well as some of his acting choices.

As we've discussed many times before, the placement of actors in lead vs. supporting categories often makes no sense and goes back to the very first supporting nominations in 1936 when Stuart Erwin who was in every scene of Pigskin Parade was nominated in support and Spencer Tracy who played a supporting role in San Francisco and was billed under the title, was nominated as lead.

Thelma Ritter, however, is a different case. The Mating Season was released in January, 1951 when Ritter was just emerging as a name to be reckoned with. Two years earlier she wasn't even credited for a performance in A Letter to Three Wives that many consider one of that year's best. All About Eve was just starting to win awards and she hadn't even been nominated for her first Oscar yet. While Ritter's character is clearly the driving force behind The Mating Season, her fourth billing in the film is consistent with her stature as a relative unknown at the time.

By August she was receiving star billing alongside Monty Woolley in As Young As You Feel despite a relatively small part and by November she was being billed over the title for The Model and the Marrige-Broker. Fox promoted for best actress in the latter as well as for support in The Mating Season, which was consistent with her billing. Age discrimination had nothing to do with it.

Eleanor Parker, on the other hand, was a major star and had been since the mid-forties. Her name above the title in Detetive Story helped sell tickets. I think her nominatioin in that category is well earned. If anything I'd leave Ritter in support for The Mating Season, add her to the best actress list for Marriage Broker in lieu of Peggy Dow who I'd move to support in place of Nana Bryant. I'd also replace Donna Corcoran with Spring Byington from Angels in the Outfield, Ann Blyth with Ethel Barrymore in Kind Lady and Jayne Meadows with Gladys Cooper in Thunder on the Hill if I were Damien, but I'm so I'll just have to consider them for my own next revision.



Edited By Big Magilla on 1153322054

Bruce_Lavigne wrote:Best Supporting Actress
Shelley Winters (A Patch of Blue)

Surely you mean Shelley Winters in A Place In the Sun?

Best Picture
• Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder)
• The African Queen (Sam Spiegel, John Woolf)
• Rashômon (Minoru Jingo)
• Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (Charles K. Feldman)


Best Leading Actor
• Humphrey Bogart (The African Queen)
• Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire)
• Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun)
• Michael Redgrave (The Browning Version)
• Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train)


Best Leading Actress
• Irene Dunne (The Mudlark)
• Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen)
• Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire)
• Thelma Ritter (The Mating Season)
• Shelley Winters (A Place in the Sun)


Best Supporting Actor
• Leo Genn (Quo Vadis?)
• Alec Guinness (The Mudlark)
• Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire)
• Kevin McCarthy (Death of a Salesman)
• Peter Ustinov (Quo Vadis?)


Best Supporting Actress
• Hope Emerson (Westward the Women)
• Lee Grant (Detective Story)
• Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire)
• Lenore Lonergan (Westward the Women)
• Jan Sterling (Ace in the Hole)


Best Director
• Alfred Hitchcock (Strangers on a Train)
• John Huston (The African Queen)
• Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire)
• Akira Kurosawa (Rashômon)
• Billy Wilder (Ace in the Hole)



Edited By Bruce_Lavigne on 1285466207

Best Film

1. A Place in the Sun
2. Diary of a Country Priest
3. Strangers on a Train
4. Early Summer
5. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

Best Director

1. George Stevens, A Place in the Sun
2. Robert Bresson, Diary of a Country Priest
3. Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train
4. Yasujiro Ozu, Early Summer
5. Albert Lewin, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

Best Actor

1. Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun
2. Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
3. James Mason, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
4. Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol
5. Arthur Kennedy, Bright Victory

Best Actress

1. Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire
2. Anna Magnini, Bellissima
3. Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun
4. Ava Gardner, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
5. Thelma Ritter, The Model and the Marriage Broker

Best Supporting Actor

1. Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train
2. John Charlesworth, Tom Brown’s School Days
3. Henry Nakamura, Westward the Women
4. Will Geer, Bright Victory
5. Keenan Wynn, Kind Lady

Best Supporting Actress

1. Hope Emerson, Westward the Women
2. Nancy Kulp, The Model and the Marriage Broker
3. Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire
4. Peggy Dow, Bright Victory
5. Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season

Best Screenplay

1. Early Summer
2. Westward the Women
3. Bellissima
4. La Poison
5. The Model and the Marriagebroker

Best Screenplay Adaptation

1. A Place in the Sun
2. Diary of a Country Priest
3. Strangers on a Train
4. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
5. Miss Oyu

Best Cinematography

1. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
2. A Place in the Sun
3. The River
4. Strangers on a Train
5. Miss Oyu

Best Editing

1. Strangers on a Train
2. A Place in the Sun
3. Westward the Women
4. The River
5. Bellissima

Best Sound

1. Strangers on a Train
2. The River
3. Across the Great Divide
4. Westward the Women
5. A Place in the Sun

Best Art Direction

1. When Worlds Collide
2. A Place in the Sun
3. Miss Oyu
4. Strangers on a Train
5. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

Best Costume Design

1. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
2. A Place in the Sun
3. A Christmas Carol
4. Westward the Women
5. Miss Oyu

Best Music

1. A Place in the Sun
2. Strangers on a Train
3. Westward the Women
4. Across the Great Divide
5. A Streetcar Named Desire

1951
Best Picture
Ace in the Hole
Bellissima
A Place in the Sun
Strangers on a Train
*A Streetcar Named Desire

Best Actor
*Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen
Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun
Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole
Michael Redgrave, The Browning Version

Best Actress
Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen
*Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire
Anna Magnani, Bellissima
Silvana Mangano, Anna
Eleanor Parker, Detective Story

Best Supporting Actor
Vittorio Gassman, Anna
Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire
*Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train
Peter Ustinov, Quo Vadis?
Raf Vallone, Anna

Best Supporting Actress
Ava Gardner, Show Boat
Kim Hunter. A Streetcar Named Desire
*Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season
Jan Sterling, Ace in the Hole
Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun

Best Director
Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train
John Huston, The African Queen
*Elia Kazan, A Streetcar Named Desire
George Stevens, A Place in the Sun
Billy Wilder, Ace in the Hole

1951

Best Picture
The African Queen
An American in Paris
A Place in the Sun
Rashomon
*A Streetcar Named Desire

Best Actor
Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen
*Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun
Fredric March, Death of a Salesman
Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol

Best Actress
Claudette Colbert, Thunder on the Hill
Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen
*Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire
Eleanor Parker, Detective Story
Jane Wyman, The Blue Veil

Best Supporting Actor
Richard Basehart, Fourteen Hours
Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire
Kevin McCarthy, Death of a Salesman
Peter Ustinov, Quo Vadis
*Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train

Best Supporting Actress
Mildred Dunnock, Death of a Salesman
Nina Foch, An American in Paris
Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire
*Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season
Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun

Best Director
John Huston, The African Queen
*Elia Kazan, A Streetcar Named Desire
Akira Kurosawa, Rashomon
Vincente Minnelli, An American in Paris
George Stevens, A Place in the Sun