Best Supporting Actress 1976

[nightwingnova]

Straight brings class and feeling to her role, but it's not special enough to do more than note how good she is at it.

Laurie is ludicrous and not bad at it. I'm not sure it's the right interpretation though.

Foster is excellent. Truthful and spunky.

[Hustler]

What a strong lineup! Grant´s nomination is another proof of Academy members´trauma as a second attempt to honor a blacklisted actress.
Alexander´s role is too forgettable in my opinion.
I´m between Foster who shines in Taxi Driver, Piper Laurie in a meritory comeback and the great Straight.
My vote goes to Straight.

[Cinemanolis]

Although a similar scene between Miranda Richardson and Jeremy Irons in Damage, some years later, failed to win the actress an Oscar.

Miranda Richardson is superb in the scene you mention.

I am looking forward to the Supporting Actress 1992 poll. 5 worthy (more or less) nominees : Richardson, Redgrave, Plowright, Davis, Tomei which led to a controversial win.

[Reza]

I just don't know that Straight's was so crucial to the film's story that her being cut from the film would have made it a better or worse film.

I think Straight's character, in her interaction with Holden in the brief scene described by Aceisgreat below, explains who and where Holden is coming from as a person and as a family man. It is in sharp contrast to his relationship with Dunaway and which becomes more and more evident to him as the affair progresses and he comes to realise that he made a mistake. Yes, Straight could have been omitted from the film but this brief scene and especially the explosive scene where she verbally attacks her husband makes for a good dramatic Oscar moment.

Although a similar scene between Miranda Richardson and Jeremy Irons in Damage, some years later, failed to win the actress an Oscar.

[ITALIANO]

Lee Grant's infamous "hair-cutting" scene is even more rificulous because of the serious, "Method"-like approach she faces it with - one can only imagine the time she must have spent preparing for this, her "big" moment in the movie. The Academy, though, as it often happens with this kind of things, was impressed.

Crazy mothers are such a cliche of horror movies (and, let me say it, of Italian giallos too), that it's nice that one of them finally did get a nomination. But a nomination is enough - there's nothing exactly challenging in the role, and you feel that any good middle-aged actress would have done it as well as Piper Laurie.

Jane Alexander is good in her very short but certainly pivotal role in All the President's men - and I like her approach to it, her tendency to avoid any kind of attention-getting, "actressy" tricks - but while it works well for the movie itself, this makes her presence a bit too minimalistic to be really impressive.

Impressive is the word one can definitely use for Jodie Foster's much talked-about turn in Taxi Driver, an "iconic" role if there ever was one, and one which had a deep influence not only on the young star's life and career but, as we know well, on the fragile psyche of some in the audience, too. It is even too "legendary" - when one sees it now, so many years after the fact, the performance itself looks admirably natural and unaffected, but much less powerful and even less shocking than it must have seemed back then.

So, in a way, Beatrice Straight gets my vote only by default. I must admit that I like my Supporting performances to be a bit more substantial; getting an Oscar for one afternoon's work is probably a bit unfair. But then worse and less deserved Oscars have been given to actors who worked several months on their movies, and what ultimately counts is the result. Straight's scene is certainly well performed; Chayefsky may be hated here but he knew how to give his actors lines they could do wonders with (which, of course, doesn't necessarily means GREAT lines); there are certainly other reasons why she won, including psychological ones, but I'm not sure it was the wives - more probably the cheating husbands themselves; I mean, who wouldn't want to be welcomed by such a noble speech from a betrayed wife? Only in the movies, really.



Edited By ITALIANO on 1282752525

[OscarGuy]

I have seen 3 of the 4 and I think All the President's Men is somewhere in my Netflix queue, but as it stands, my vote went to Jodie Foster. She was so young, but so effective. She is one of the few gold standard of child actors, IMO. And while I think Beatrice Straight's performance is quite evocative, I just don't think it easily compares to Foster. I also love Piper Laurie in Carrie, so it's not a bad list of those three at all.

As for quantifying what is a supporting performance or not, I just don't know that Straight's was so crucial to the film's story that her being cut from the film would have made it a better or worse film. For me, that's what a great supporting performance award should be given for, not just because the performer nailed one non-pivotal scene. For me, though, I think Lynn Redgrave's touching performance in Kinsey is the kind of brief supporting turn that I would not object to honoring with an award. But that's me, we've each got different standards, though. And I may be the only one that didn't feel Straight's scene was important to the story, so you're welcome to disregard my thoughts on that if you wish.

[Bruce_Lavigne]

I truly loathe the idea that a performance has to be a certain length in order to be considered worthy of an Oscar and/or nomination. It's the impact and level of connection with the audience that the actor is able to establish in that short amount of time that should be used to evaluate a performance.

I agree with this 100%. I've always had a problem with the idea that a role could be "too small" to be worthy of recognition in a category designed specifically to deal with supporting performances. I cringe at how much equivocating goes on in Oscar discussions to justify placing obvious leads in the supporting categories, then dismisses a master class like Straight's big scene because it's too short.

That said, as fine a winner as Straight was, my vote goes to Foster. (I've never bothered with Voyage of the Damned, and the replies here have reinforced that I don't need to.)



Edited By Bruce_Lavigne on 1282687047

[Eric]

Marlene Warfield in Network

Ooh, totally forgot about her. She would definitely get a slot in my lineup.

[flipp525]

I truly loathe the idea that a performance has to be a certain length in order to be considered worthy of an Oscar and/or nomination. It's the impact and level of connection with the audience that the actor is able to establish in that short amount of time that should be used to evaluate a performance.

What else is there to say about Lee Grant in the last of her nominated performances in the "Holocaust-on-water" Voyage of the Damned? The crazy hair-cutting scene, the scenery-chewing up and down the gangplank--the woman has to get some credit for allowing herself to be captured on film in such a way (but not much). Really, though, I have no idea what people found nomination-worthy here. Katherine Ross obviously should've taken her place if someone had to be recognized from the film.

Piper Laurie is a hoot and a half in Carrie and she does get points for finding a glimmer of humanity in the role. I think the scariest thing about her performance is how easily found these types of people are in today's America (And, guess what? They're all going to be in D.C. this weekend at the Tea Party rally! ::hides in my condo::) .

Jane Alexander is completely believable as the terrified bookkeeper in All the President's Men and deserved this nomination ("If you can get Mitchell, that would be great!").

Jodie Foster is fantastic in Taxi Driver, conveying a depth of interior knowledge of her character well beyond her years. Excellent work, no matter what age.

What Beatrice Straight manages to pull off as Louise Schumacher in Network makes you believe she deserved the Oscar. It's not just a brilliant monologue; it's a heartbreakingly genuine moment in a movie largely comprised of satire and artifice. Her sense of urgency breaks through the screen like a window, almost into a different movie, demanding the audience's attention. She goes from hurt to anger to complicity to, finally, acceptance and shared humor with Holden - and all in only, what is the agreed-upon time now, four minutes and forty-seven seconds? It was a brilliant turn that was worthily acknowledged by the Academy.

Honorable mention: Rita Moreno proves she's not a one-off in The Ritz. Jo Van Fleet in The Tenant and Marlene Warfield in Network also deserve mention.



Edited By flipp525 on 1282691266

[Snick's Guy]

PIper Laurie was a hoot -- but veers too much into camp. Went with Jodie Foster.

[Mister Tee]

Piper Laurie clearly has a much more substantial role, and it's nice it kicked off a second act to her film career. But it's one of those performances I can't take seriously enough to vote for.

It's not meant to be taken "seriously." De Palma (wisely) told her to play the role for comedy.

Obviously I can see that. What I (inarticulately) tried to express was that, while such turns frequently entertain me, I remain enough of a fud to mostly exclude them from prize consideration.

[Eric]

Piper Laurie clearly has a much more substantial role, and it's nice it kicked off a second act to her film career. But it's one of those performances I can't take seriously enough to vote for.

It's not meant to be taken "seriously." De Palma (wisely) told her to play the role for comedy.

My vote here should be obvious. Nearly as obvious as the fact that I'd have also slipped Betty Buckley and Amy Irving into the lineup too. My last two slots would've also gone to horror movie players: Shelly Winters (The Tenant) and Sandy Dennis (God Told Me To).



Edited By Eric on 1282673395

[Mister Tee]

You can argue the effects promoting supporting players as leads had had over the two previous years -- Perrine might have won in supporting, but that's not clear; Fletcher unquestionably DID win in lead. But I think it's indisputable that, this year, putting Talia Shire in the lead actress category (where her chances were sub-zero) cost her a best supporting acttress trophy she'd have won with ease. Not to say she'd have been the most deserving...but, given voter antipathy for most of the other nominees -- so severe it resulted in a cameo role taking the final prize -- I have no doubt the wildly popular Rocky would have carried her to victory.

Shirley Stoler was the notable omission for me, given how well Seven Beauties did otherwise, but we've noted before how difficult it is to get supporting nods for not-in-English performances.

To the nominees:

Voyage of the Damned is an almost incomprehensibly bad movie -- so incoherent I at one point thought they'd mixed up reels. Grant is bad, but, given the context, I don't so much hold it against her.

Jane Alexander and Beatrice Straight didn't exactly get nominations from nowhere. Both had been highly praised when ther films opened, but very much along the lines of "does quite well in a small role". In a year with standard competition it's possible neither would have made the cut. Of the two, I prefer Alexander, though Straight isn't bad. (And a recent viewing revealed her scene as even shorter than I'd remembered. It's routinely referenced as a five-minute speech, but it felt closer to 3 1/2)

Piper Laurie clearly has a much more substantial role, and it's nice it kicked off a second act to her film career. But it's one of those performances I can't take seriously enough to vote for. I'm a bit surprised she's doing as well as she is in the voting here -- I thought she'd get some votes (Eric's, easily), but I wouldn't have expected the groundswell.

My vote goes to Jodie Foster. I've expressed numerous times my lack of enthusiasm for Foster as an adult actress, but I loved her from the first time I'd seen her (in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) as a child. I can't say her work in Taxi Driver is monumental -- it's not on the level of O'Neal's work three years earlier -- but it's solidly impressive, and, in a field I view as hopelessly weak, she's my easy call.

[Precious Doll]

Piper Laurie by a mile in a strong year for supporting actresses. Funny, scary, over-the-top, moving and subtle, she gets to let loose a spectrum of emotions and performers faultlessly.

Jodie Foster, Jane Alexander & Beatrice Straight are good, whilst poor Lee Grant gives what is one of her worst performances.

My choices are:

1. Piper Laurie for Carrie
2. Candy Clark for The Man Who Fell to Earth
3. Brigitte Mira for Chinese Roulette
4. Marion Eaton for Thundercrack
5. Valeska Gert for Coup of Grace

Other notable performances include Veronica Cartwright in Inserts (she would have made my final five in most years), Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen and Priscilla Pointer for Carrie, Rita Moreno in The Ritz & Shirley Stoler in Seven Beauties.

[Reza]

Grant is hilariously bad (the scene with the scissors) and uses a couple of hand and facial twitches she had used to better effect in 1967s In the Heat of the Night.

Laurie, also over-the-top and high camp, at least creates a character that manages to gain some sympathy. She is a great villain.

Foster is good but I think it was the sensational aspect of her character that got her recognised.

I can barely remember Alexander in her film.

Have always loved Straight in Network. Yes she and Holden were the only ''humans'' in the film and both get to act out highly emotional but theatrical scenes with dialogue that is incredibly artificial......Holden when he berates Dunaway and Straight when she confronts Holden over his affair. It's a brief scene but explosive.

Voted for Straight.

My top 5:

Beatrice Straight, Network
Katherine Ross, Voyage of the Damned
Piper Laurie, Carrie
Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver
Shelley Winters, Next Stop Greenwich Village