Snugglecub – Page 3 – Academy Award Best Picture Winners

1943 – Jean Arthur

1943 – Jean Arthur

The More the Merrier

Hmmm… How to say this delicately… This is the movie that made me dislike Jean Arthur. I’m not saying she was an awful actress. I’m just saying she played an annoying character. And as far as I can tell, that is partially due to the annoying script, but it is most certainly the fault of the actress, as well. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this film, and there are things about the plot I neither liked the first time, nor did my opinion change this time. Let me explain.

Jean Arthur was fine, for the most part. I’ll say that again – for the most part, she was fine. She looked beautiful, she understood that she was in a romantic comedy, not a serious drama, and she played it all with an easy air about her that was attractive. And she knew how to act the more serious parts. In fact, I’ve seen her in other movies that had a similar feel, and she was just fine. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington comes to mind. But the way this movie ended just stuck in my craw.

So she falls in love with Joel McCrea’s Mr. Carter. I mean, who wouldn’t? She breaks her engagement with Mr. Pendergast. Again, who wouldn’t? And she gets married to Mr. Carter in a shotgun wedding so there wouldn’t be a scandal that would ruin her reputation. So now she’s married to the right man, and she should be happy, but she’s not, and the movie isn’t exactly clear on why. She is sobbing in the most ridiculous way. She isn’t exactly crying. She’s just making this ear-splitting, droning, fakey, whining sound with no real point, like the noise a two-year-old makes to get the attention of a parent.

And is it because she thinks he only married her to save her honor and her reputation? It shouldn’t be. She already knows he actually loves her. He already said so in their bedtime conversation. Is it because he has official military orders to go to Africa the next day? It shouldn’t be. She knew that going into it. So I’m confused as to why she’s whining, and it seems that she is too. She just stands there keening inarticulately. And I know this is supposed to be a silly comedy, but it seemed that Miss Arthur was confused about her motivation in that final scene, and I was, too. So Best Actress? I don’t think so.

1943 – Greer Garson

1943 – Greer Garson

Madame Curie

Greer Garson played herself once again. You could easily transplant her into the exact same characters in some of her other films, and you’d never notice the difference. She had the same look, the same accent, the same cadences, the same facial expressions, the same attitude. She was just nice and wholesome, and not much else. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body, which matched her costar, Walter Pidgeon perfectly. There just wasn’t much to her character that stood out to me, and it made me wonder why she was nominated for best Actress.

But Greer’s part in this movie did have one saving grace for her, one deeply dramatic scene that had to have been the reason she was nominated for an Oscar. It was near the end, after Madame Curie learns that her husband has been killed in an accident involving two horses pulling a carriage. She went catatonic, refusing to eat or drink as she processed her new reality. The makeup on Garson made her look drab and sickly. The dead look in her eyes was something I have never seen from the actress. And then once her old friend leaves, she gets up and goes through a few special objects that brought up memories, and they have an effect on her. She turns away from the camera and begins sobbing and crying. It totally fit the scene and Garson was good.

I say good, but not great. First, she hid her face, so you couldn’t see her full unbridled emotional journey in her eyes. It was there, but it was hidden from the viewer, and I think I would have been more invested in Madame Curie’s pain if I could have seen her face. There was one other scene in the film where she showed a bit of strong emotion. She was angry when she thought that four years of difficult and tedious work had produced no results. Again, she was good there, but not great. And what’s more, I think that maybe she could’ve been better.

Like her costar, I am not convinced she should have been nominated for Best Actress, except that she appears to have given audiences what they wanted, good-natured wholesomeness that bordered on unrealistic. But that’s what she was good at. And I have to admit, she looked just as beautiful as ever, so that helped.

1943 – Walter Pidgeon

1943 – Walter Pidgeon

Madame Curie

Let me just say, right off the bat, I am not exactly sure why Walter Pidgeon was nominated for Best Actor for this role, and here’s why. We’ve seen him play this character many times before. I can only imagine that he was just playing himself. He didn’t stretch himself as an actor. You look at his performances in How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Miniver, Blossoms in the Dust, and even Flight Command, and I’ll fully admit that these are the only films that featured Pidgeon that I have ever seen, but he played the exact same character in each one. There wasn’t even a slight varience. The way he played each roll was exactly the same.

Yes, ha played a likeable character, but there was nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing deep, nothing daring. He was a nice guy, through and through, and he was very well paired with Greer Garson. Apparently, Hollywood loved seeing the two of them together on the big screen. In this film, he played Professor Curie, who was supposed to be a confirmed bachelor who thought that women had no place in a scientific profession. But really, I didn’t buy his protestations to the female student assigned to work in his lab. He was too nice, just like he was in all those other films. And then he became golly-gee-whiz twitterpated, and ended up marying her.

He didn’t have any real dramatic scenes, no real conflict, no real opportunity to show off any acting skills. The most we got from Pidgeon was mild and well-mannered frustration, or consternation. Yes, there was one scene where he attempted to defend the honor of his wife in front of a college budget committee, when they tried to pass her over because she was a woman, but there was no real drama there, nor any comedy, for that matter. He just played a nice man who was speaking up for his wife, as any good husband should.

He seemed to take innocence and wholesomeness to a new level. But maybe that’s just what audiences wanted to see from him. Maybe that’s what the rather bland script demanded. Or maybe, Pidgeon just didn’t turn in a performance that was worthy of an Oscar nomination. Either way, this is the only time I’ve ever seen Pidgeon sport a beard, and I have to say, it suited him. He looked very handsome.

Avengers: Endgame – Character Posters

Avengers: Endgame – Cast Photos

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel

Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine

Gwynneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts / Rescue

Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther

Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange

Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne / The Wasp

Sabastian Stan as Buckey Barns / The Winter Soldier

Avengers: Endgame

Cast Photos

Character Posters

22 – Avengers: Endgame

Well, here we are at the big one. This is the climax of the Infinity Saga within the MCU franchise. Here is where we resolve the Snap, which happened in Infinity War, and add in the final player in the action/Drama, Captain Marvel. This was not only one of the biggest films in the whole Marvel tapestry, it was one of the biggest earning films of all time – ever. To quote Wikipedia, “It grossed $2.799 billion worldwide, surpassing Infinity War’s entire theatrical run in eleven days and setting a number of box-office records; it was the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 to March 2021”

It was incredible and absolutely lived up to all the hype. It brought in every hero from the MCU franchise. Of course the big three were there, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, but we also got back The Guardians of the Galaxy, The Winter Soldier, Falcon, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, The Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Ant-Man, and of cour4se, Captain Marvel. But it also brought along all the surviving peripheral heroes from all the different franchises like Valkyrie, Okoye, Shuri, Wanda Maximoff, The Wasp, The Ancient One, and even Loki. Plus a great little scene with Thor’s mother, played by Renee Ruso.

But the real highlight of the film was its awesome main villain, Thanos. Josh Brolin took that role and made his one of the greatest bad-guys of all time. He was powerful, smart, cruel, and best of all, supremely determined to achieve his goals, and willing to crush anyone or anything that stood in his way. Brolin’s performance was spellbinding, even though it was all done with facial capture technology, motion capture software, and CGI. The visual effects throughout the entire film were amazingly photo-realistic, and Thanos was no exception.

But it wasn’t just the spot-on visuals that was impressive. The story was fantastic! The action was thrilling! And the Drama was enough to bring me to the edge of tears every time I see it. Spoiler Alert. The moment when Thor’s hammer flies back and caught by Captain America is enough to me raise my fists in the air in excitement. And the death and funeral of Tony Stark is simply heartbreaking. Yes, the self-sacrificial death of Black Widow was also pretty devastating, but it just didn’t have the same impact as the film’s climax. The entire final battle scene was just mesmerizing. It gave every character their moment to shine, reminding us of why we like each of them. I can’t help but watch that final battle sequence on the edge of my seat, every time.

But I think the biggest shout-out has to go to the film’s directors, the Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe. They knocked this out of the park. I can’t even imagine what is involved in making a movie of this magnitude, but they pulled it off beautifully, controlling and coordinating every aspect of the process from beginning to end. They didn’t direct all the movies that came before Endgame, but they brought the varied actors all together and were respectful to where every one of them came from and what came before. They made Endgame work as part of the fabric, the overall tapestry, that is the MCU.

This was the perfect ending to the Infinity Saga. It is the twenty-second film in the franchise and it is the culmination of all the movies that came before it. It summed them all up and gave them a satisfying ending. But as we all know this wasn’t the end of the franchise. It was just the end of the Infinity Saga. And in true comic book fashion, the story continued. This was not the end, but it was a phenomenal cap the Infinity Saga. This will always be one of my favorites! The surviving heroes continue to show up in future MCU movies. And the great action films just keep coming and coming. And even the films which are not as well-received, still enthrall me. I am a true fan and I hope they keep going. I love them three thousand.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

The surviving heroes go to kill Thanos. “I went for the head.”
Hulk tries to make time travel work with Ant-Man.
Thor, who has suffered more loss than anyone in the MCU, is reintroduced as “fat Thor.” I love Thor’s reaction to hearing the name of Thanos.
Planning the time-heist.
Hulk’s conversation with The Ancient One where he gets the Time Stone
Thor’s conversation with his mother. “I am totally from the future.”
Hulk’s snap and the destruction of the Avengers’ complex.
The beginning of the battle. Thor suits up with a braided beard and lightning in his eyes! Then Thor, Cap, and Iron Man fight Thanos! Also the short conversation with Thanos before the fight starts.
Special moments in the battle: (A) Captain America catches and uses Thor’s hammer! (B) Thanos breaks Cap’s shield. (C) Hawkeye escapes the tunnels with the stones. (D) Cap faces down Thanos’ entire army alone. Then, “On your left,” and the arrival of the lost heroes. (E) Black Panther, then Spider-Man, then Captain Marvel takes the stones, trying to get them to the Brown van. (F) Captain Marvel arrives and destroys Thanos’s ship. (G) Wanda Maximoff breaks Thanos sword in half and nearly defeats him by herself. (H) Thanos tries to head-butt Captain Marvel and she doesn’t even react to it. (I) “And I… am… Iron Man.” SNAP! (J) Thanos turns to dust.
Tony Stark’s funeral and his final message to his family. “Part of the journey is the end.”

1943 – Lucile Watson

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.

1943 – Paul Lukas

1943 – Paul Lukas

Watch on the Rhine

So Paul Lukas took home the Oscar for his performance in Watch on the Rhine. He also played the role on Broadway before the film. He was a Hungarian-born actor, but it was a little difficult to place his accent during the film. He was supposed to be a German who spoke several languages fluently, and I thought I could hear a bit of French when he delivered his dialogue. He played Kurt Muller, a man who made a profession out of being an anti-fasciest. And he was very passionate about his work, willing to fight for it, and willing to die for it, if necessary.

Lukas created a character, who, though he ends up murdering a man in order to save the lives of others, he is the hero of the movie. The film almost, but not quite, treated the murder as a justified act of patriotism. But he was more than just a freedom-fighter. He was also a loving father and husband, and he was clearly just as passionate about his family as he was about his work, which I liked.

So what made Lukas stand out among his competitors to win the Academy Award? Was it his looks? Well, he was certainly not a bad looking man, though he wasn’t a Hollywood heartthrob. Was it his attitude? He had a very stoic and matter-of-fact attitude, which is a common German trait. But no, I think it was his passion. Passion for his work, his family, and his convictions. It’s what made him a sympathetic character, despite the dark business to which he had to attend. Lukas did a great job of bringing that passion to the foreground, making it Kurt Muller’s defining characteristic.

But like any gentleman, he never lost control of that passion. He ruled it, and never let it rule him. One of his best scenes was one in which he is talking to his eldest son, trying to explain why he had to go back to Germany, even though his very survival was not guaranteed. He also had to explain to his son, who wanted to accompany him on his dangerous mission, why he had to go alone, but also acknowledging that the boy’s time would come when he would have to fight for his own cause, and that he was proud of him. I thought it was a wonderful performance, and the Academy voters seemed to agree.

1943 – Claude Rains

1943 – Claude Rains

Casablanca

My goodness! Was there a movie in that era of old Hollywood that didn’t feature Claude Rains? He was in everything! And he was always good! And Casablanca is no exception. He did a fantastic job of playing a true supporting role. He was charming, charismatic, and handsome, easily keeping up with the film’s leading man, Humphrey Bogart. He looked the part and acted the hell out of it.

As Captain Renault of the French Police in the city of Casablanca, he was wonderful and memorable. He was as corrupt as he could be, and completely unapologetic about it, almost wore it as a badge of honor. He gladly served the Nazi officers in search of Victor Lazlo, even to the point of betraying his friend Rick to the bad guys in the film’s climax, and then ended up betraying them when the opportunity presented itself. He created such a despicable, and yet likeable character.

I loved how Rains completely understood the character, how he was happily subservient to the Nazi occupiers, took bribes and money from Rick’s gambling tables in fixed games, and having all the alcohol he wanted while never paying for any of it. But strangely enough, he also seemed to be good at his job, catching the murderous criminal, Signor Ugarte to show off for Major Strasser of the Third Reich. As an actor, Rains had the confidence and charisma to show that Renault was intelligent and absolutely amoral in his dealings with friends and enemies alike.

The scene in which Rains stood out to me was fantastic. When Strasser is embarrassed because the French citizens started singing their own National Anthem, La Marseillaise, over the German’s in the Café, who were singing Die Wacht am Rhein, the Nazi orders Renault to close the café. He protests once, but when the order is reiterated, he immediately blows his whistle and closes the establishment. Rains was great in that scene. When Rick asks why his business is being closed by the police, Renault answers, “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” Someone gives him money, saying, “Your winnings, sir.” Then he finishes up with, “Oh, thank you very much. Everybody out at once!” Rains was perfect, and I loved his performance.

1943 – Humphrey Bogart

1943 – Humphrey Bogart

Casablanca

Can you imagine anyone except Humphrey Bogart playing Rick Blaine in Casablanca? Of course not. That look, that attitude, that swagger, that delivery was all Bogart. And Bogart was no stranger in front of the camera, but this was the leading role that launched him into super-stardom. True, he’d just starred in the Maltese Falcon two years before, but Casablanca seemed to be on another level.

Rick was the owner of Rick’s Café Américain, a nightclub and casino in Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco. A wide variety of people frequented the place, from wealthy war refugees to criminals, from the French Police to high-ranking Nazi officials. And in Rick’s book, only money mattered, not status. In that way he remained true to his current convictions of complete political and social nutrality. And I think this is where Bogart shined. He totally understood the character and his motivations. He treated everyone the same, no matter what side of the war they were on. That was Rick, at least, until Ilsa showed up again.

Bogart’s on-screen chemistry with Ingrid Bergman was magical. Even though Bergman had later stated in interviews that she and Bogart were more co-workers than friends, when they were together on the screen, there was an intimacy between them that felt like they had to be more than mere aquaintences. Bogart was great as he said, “If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” Such a great line, and so perfectly delivered!

And who can forget that iconic scene in the dark as Rick gets drunk, where he utters that famous line, “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” Bogart was so real, so perfect. There was depression, anger, self pity, and a dozen other emotions just pouring out of him, and he nailed the scene. I absolutely think he deserved his Best Actor nomination. But he lost the top honor to Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine. I’ve see that film, and looking at it through my modern eyes, with how memorable and beloved as Casablanca is, I think Bogart should have taken home the Oscar. He was robbed, plane and simple.