1943 – Lucile Watson
Watch on the Rhine
Luclie Watson did a fantastic job in the role of Fanny Farrelly. The first half of the movie, which was much more light-hearted than the second half, gave Watson the chance to show a bit of a comedic side. The second half was deeper and more dramatic. Fanny became a dramatic character and Watson was just as grave and serious as the rest of them, delivering her dialogue with gravitas and poise, making me like her character even more.
The character of Fanny was almost crabby, but was absolutely likeable, certainly self-centered, almost to the point of narcissism, but still fun to be around, and even a little clueless or oblivious to reality or even logical thinking. But she was also a caring and loving mother who adored her family. She played the kind of lady we’d all like to know. Watson played that aspect of Fanny perfectly, lending a care-free feel to the first half of the story. The way Watson played Fanny, she wouldn’t have been out of place in a screwball comedy. Incidentally, What I loved about her character here was that she totally reminded me of Hyacinth Bucket in that British comedy series Keeping Up Appearances, a wonderfully funny character played by Patricia Routledge. Watson was just as high-faluten’, uppity, and silly as that well-known character.
But the second half of the film turned much darker and focused on other characters. She almost didn’t need to be there during the whole drama surrounding her daughter’s anti-fascist husband, Kurt. And then in the last few minutes of the narrative, she became just as serious and conscious of the world around her, which included the wars that her daughter and her family were fighting. She even selflessly gave a great deal of money to help them in their cause. And I loved Watson in these scenes, too. In fact, brief as they were, I thought that those were the scenes where Watson really got a chance to shine. She knew that by letting her son-in-law, who had just murdered a man, go, there might be problems for the family, but she showed her metal and did the right thing without fear. I was a great moment for the character and the film. Watson gad a sense of dignity that was very appropriate.
I completely agree with her Best Supporting Actress nomination. She took a role that could have been fairly unmemorable, and made it memorable in a very good way. She easily held her own, playing opposite the popular Bette Davis, and the Best Actor Oscar winner Paul Lukas. But she was up against Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls and Gladys Cooper in The Song of Bernadette. Those would have been hard performances to beat.