1936 – Beulah Bondi
The Gorgeous Hussy
This can often be a difficult category to navigate, to critique. The characters, by definition, didn’t get the spotlight much. They didn’t have much screen-time to work with. And often-times they aren’t even pivotal to the overall plot of the movie. But here, Bondi played Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. I’m happy to say she was a definite plot point. A lot of what Jackson did was because of his wife, the way she was treated by the public, and his simple yet steadfast love for her.
She had that down-to-earth wisdom that elderly country folk are often known for. She was calm and caring, sweet and demure. Sure, she smoked a pipe like a crass bumpkin, but that was only frowned upon by Andrew’s political opponents. And when she died, she seemed to exert more influence over her husband than when she was alive. That is what Bondi had to work with, and I’d say she did the part justice. At that time, it was generally the role of women to stay in the background, keep out of sight. But that was probably difficult to do as the First Lady of the country. Bondi really did a fine job with that dichotomy.
First, she really looked the part. She had that sweet grandmotherly visage, but also enough sternness to scold her husband on his manners and low-born speaking. She knew when to smile and when to be serious. And she really shined in her final scene, where she tells the gorgeous hussy, Peg, played by Joan Crawford, that she knows she is dying, and the gentle tenderness she displayed was remarkable. She asked Peg to care for Andy, who would surely need her in the coming years. The scene was beautifully played. There was a fatigue in her eyes that really sold the moment perfectly. It was as good as a death scene, though not so immediate.
Bondi had a small role, but she played it well and I think she deserved her Oscar nomination. What she gave us wasn’t too little, but neither was it too much. It was just the right mixture of the frailty of age, and the strength of her position as the wife of the most powerful man in the nation. But she lost to Gale Sondergaard in Anthony Adverse. Yeah, I can see that.