Author: Snugglecub

1942 – William Bendix

1942 – William Bendix

Wake Island

Ok, I’ll say it.  This is one of those acting nominations that I don’t get.  This was a serious movie about the brave men, both soldiers and civilians, who fought and died on Wake Island in WWII.  Bendix played Private Aloysius K. Randall, a goofy palooka who was like the comic relief in the dangerous situation.  He, and his friend, played by Robert Preston, were consistently making wise-cracks and getting into fist fights.  But I don’t feel the character added much to the plot, and unfortunately, I don’t feel that Bendix did much to add to the character.

As the comic relief, he wasn’t very funny.  As a soldier in battle, he didn’t really do much.  His only distinction was in the script.  When Randall had the chance to get on the last boat to safety as a civilian, he turned it down and asked to be reinstated as a soldier, even though it was most likely a death sentence, which I suppose might have appealed to the propaganda angle of the film.  Bendix was like the common man, and the filmmakers wanted to persuade common American men to fight in the war, and risk death in the service of their country.  It was a noble and honorable sentiment, and I suppose Bendix did that well enough.

So was Bendix perfect for the role?  Yes, he was, as it was written.  Was the role worth an Oscar nomination?  I don’t think so.  There just wasn’t much to it.  And unfortunately, I don’t know what Bendix could have done to elevate the character.  Maybe he could have played it a little more seriously, given the character of Randall more gravitas, more somberness, or even a sense of impending doom.  Maybe he could have been more earnest in his desire to fight, and when he was in battle, been tougher, more feral.  But even there, he was too much the gentle giant.

I don’t know.  I just didn’t get any fierceness from him, neither in battle, nor in his desire to fight for his country.  But that’s just me trying to turn him into a tragic character, a dramatic character, and that’s not how Randall was written.  He was supposed to be a loveable palooka, short on smarts, but not in heart.  Still, maybe there might have been a way for Bendix to be the goofball, but still give the character more weight.  But that didn’t happen, and more’s the pity.

1942 – Van Heflin (WINNER)

1942 – Van Heflin

Johnny Eager

How do you win an Oscar for playing a chronic drunkard for an entire movie?  I don’t know, but Van Heflin did it, and he did it wonderfully.  From his first appearance on the screen to nearly his last, the character of Jeff Hartnett, the right hand man of notorious gangster Johnny Eager.  Jeff is an intellectual man, but a complete raging alcoholic.  His role in the narrative seemed to be that of Johnny’s conscience, and his only true friend.  He willingly helped Johnny in his criminal schemes and hated himself for doing it.

So really, Jeff was a weak-willed man who drank because he was riddled with guilt over his ongoing part in Johnny’s life of crime.  But as long as Johnny kept being his friend and providing the booze, he would continue to do his job.  Believably drunk is not always easy to play, but Heflin was up to the challenge.  For the most part, he played Jeff as sleepy, like he was only a few minutes away from passing out on the floor, though he never did.  And he was constantly jonesing for a drink, never turning down a shot whenever one was offered.  At times he was nearly shaking with need.  The only other movie that had that kind of a character was The Lost Weekend, and I think Heflin did a better job than Ray Milland.

Van had a few scenes that packed emotional punches, and allowed him to show off his acting skills.  In one, he admits to Johnny that he nearly had a moment of clarity where he intended to go to the police to tell them all about Johnny’s crimes before committing suicide.  Fortunately, he found that he was a coward, and decided to crawl into a bottle instead.  The other was the climax of the film, where he holds the dying Johnny in his arms and sheds real tears over the death of his friend.  Both were powerful moments and Heflin really earned his Oscar.

But there were also a few scenes in the movie where Jeff actually seemed sober, or mostly sober.  He seemed likeable enough, but even then, there was that underlying alcohol-soaked demeanor, the slow movements, the difficult speech, the shaky countenance. Heflin did an amazing job, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. Now, I’m curious to know what else he was in.

1942 – Rosalind Russell

1942 – Rosalind Russell

My Sister Eileen

I liked this movie, and I liked Russell’s performance.  Yes, she was the lead, but more than that, she was a better actress that her costars.  She stood out.  There were a lot of supporting characters, and the rest of the cast was just fine, but Russell was clearly more polished, more believable, and more charismatic.  She was just better.  Whenever she was on the screen, my eyes were more drawn to her, whether she was the focus of a scene or not.  Strangely enough, I can’t put my finger on exactly why that might be, but it’s true.

Russell played Ruth Sherwood, one of two sisters who leave the small town to pursue their dreams of becoming an actress and a writer.  But being a screwball comedy, something I was not aware of before watching the movie, of course, the sisters fall into a mildly bad situation, and silly hijinks ensues.

Now, of the two siblings, Russell played the sensible one, the writer, the one who relies on her brains rather than her beauty.  She was the dark-haired one, while her sister was a bubble-headed blond, and for some reason this was supposed to imply that she was less attractive than the aspiring actress.  But in that one aspect, Rosalind may have actually been miscast.  In the film, multiple references are made to Russell’s unattractiveness, especially when compared to her sister.  But I think she was more attractive than her costar, Janet Blair.  So I didn’t really buy into the idea that Ruth was unattractive.

And there were times when Russell had to do the bulk of the comedy.  She not only had to use the quick-witted comments, the sarcastic jabs, and the quirky comedy, but she also had to do some highly physical comedy.  And she was great at both.  I loved the chaotic scene where the Portuguese sailors invaded their home and started a conga line, then a riot.  Russell was thrown about and forced to dance with the sailors.  And she handled it like a pro.  She was funny and she was silly, and she was, in fact, perfectly cast.  I’m glad she was given the Best Actress nomination.  It’s nice to know that comedic roles can be just as appreciated as the dramatic ones, Because Russell proved that they can be just as good.

1942 – Katharine Hepburn

1942 – Katharine Hepburn

Woman of the Year

I’ve always loved Katharine Hepburn as an actress, and here, she turns in yet another fun performance.  And this movie everything.  There was a bit of comedy that had me laughing, and a bit of drama that nearly had me tearing up.  There was tricky dialogue that must have been a challenge for the actress, and great on-screen chemistry with Spencer Tracy.  And Hepburn delivered.  She always seemed at ease, no matter what a scene required of her.

She played the character of Tess Harding, a woman whose drive to succeed in everything she did was so strong, she never learned how to truly interact with the world or the people around her.  She was so focused on herself and her own career and desires, she never considered how her actions affected other people.  But then she falls in love, and really has no idea how to be in a relationship.  She remains focused on herself, and insensitively ignores her husband, making major life-changing decisions without consulting him, not understanding that a marriage needs to be a partnership between two people, not just the desires of one.

And as for her chemistry with Spencer Tracy, I think it’s interesting to note that this was the first of their nine films together.  The romance between them looked real in the film, maybe because the actors became romantically involved in the real world, a relationship that, according to my research, lasted until Tracy died in 1967.   

And Hepburn’s style of acting, one we’ve seen in other films like Morning Glory and The Philadelphia Story, is one of self-confidence and quick, wordy dialogue.  That was still present in this film, but it had the extra challenge of lines in foreign languages, which I found pretty impressive.  Throughout the movie she had to whip out lines of dialogue in six different languages, if you include English.  She also spoke French, Russian, German, Spanish, and Greek.  And it all sounded natural for her.  She rattled it all off with an ease that was pretty amazing.  Yes, once again, I would describe Hepburn’s performance as impressive.  I particularly liked her real tears in the movie’s emotional climax at her mother and father’s wedding, and her great timing in the physical comedy scenes.  Apparently she could do it all.

1942 – Gladys Cooper

1942 – Gladys Cooper

Now, Voyager

Gladys Cooper did a really great job in this movie.  She played the film’s main antagonist.  She was a mean, sour old lady who treated her children, especially her youngest daughter, played by Bette Davis, like possessions, holding the inheritance of her wealth over her head like a threat.  She had very few kind words to say to her, but she had plenty of negative comments and opinions about her behavior.  I didn’t like Mrs. Vale, but that’s ok.  I wasn’t supposed to, which just means that Cooper did a great job, and she deserved her Oscar nomination.

From the first moment she is on the screen, she establishes herself as a bitter old woman who doesn’t ever realize how cruelly she is emotionally torturing her daughter.  She controls every aspect of the girl’s life, telling her what to wear, what to say, what to do.  And after her daughter’s stay at a sanitarium, after the girl has learned to be more independent and self-assured, she basically tells her to do as she is told or she won’t get any inheritance.  And even though Charlotte is kind to her, I could see disgust in Cooper’s eyes every time she looked at her daughter.

Cooper’s final scene was particularly well-acted.  Charlotte tells her that she has broken her engagement with a wealthy man from a high-born family.  The look of anger and disgust on her face was horrible to see from a mother to a daughter.  I was horrified to see that look.  Cooper really sold the moment showing the audience in no uncertain terms just how the character regarded her independent child.  My first thought when her heart gave out and she expired, was that it was the best thing that could happen to Charlotte.  Cooper created a powerful villain.  Even though she was not actively evil, she was most certainly a horrible manipulative person.  I wasn’t sorry she died, and I wasn’t supposed to be.

I think Cooper deserved her nomination, and if it was not for Teresa Wright’s amazing performance in Mrs. Miniver, I thinks she would have taken home the Oscar.  She was that good.  She was bitter, crotchety, and mean in just the right amounts.  And she was able to throw in self-righteousness and a “poor-me” attitude that was unmistakable.  Cooper really turned in a fantastic performance.

1942 – Bette Davis

1942 – Bette Davis

Now, Voyager

Once again, Bette Davis is nominated for Best Actress.  This was her seventh nomination out of ten and it was the fifth year in a row she earned a Best Actress nomination.  She was still the gem of Hollywood, and the audiences still loved her.  What I liked about her performance here was that it was a different kind of role.  She played a woman with crippling emotional insecurities, caused by a domineering and controlling mother who put her down and treated her like an unwanted child, well into her adulthood.

The character’s name was Charlotte Vale, and at the beginning of the film, she is so miserable, she can barely speak, even to the sanitarium psychologist who has her committed to an asylum for a six month period.  Even after she is allowed to venture back into the real world, her lack of confidence and fear of social contact was constantly hanging over her like a dark cloud.  And Davis, ever the accomplished actress, played it so well I almost didn’t recognize her the first time she was on the screen.  She was mousy, frail, forever on the verge of tears.  It was not the kind of role I’m used to seeing Davis play.

But eventually she defies her mother enough to learn that happiness is possible for her, and she blossoms into a beautiful and confident woman, capable of being loved, and giving love to others.  That was the part that Davis was used to playing, and of course, she did her usual good job.  She was beautiful and self-assured, and she played a likeable character.  She was often known for playing wicked women like in The Little Foxes or Jezebel.  But Charlotte was kind and selfless, generous and polite.  And yes, Davis was quite capable of being that, too.

But I think that it was that first third of the movie, where Davis played the insecure, down-beaten woman, where Davis was able to stretch herself as an actress.  She showed a side of herself and her acting skills that she didn’t often use, and she did a wonderful job.  There was a reason she was the toast of Hollywood.  And in this film, she was still on top of her game.  I’m not surprised this role earned her yet another Best Actress nomination.

1942 – Teresa Wright (WINNER)

1942 – Teresa Wright

Mrs. Miniver

So here is an Oscar win that was absolutely deserved.  I am a huge fan of Teresa Wright.  She was beautiful and could act with amazing skill.  She had a brilliant smile and a charming presence on the screen.  She handled the youthful starry-eyed love scenes just as easily as the more difficult emotional scene in which she talks about the potential death of her new husband in the Second World War.  She played the part of Carol Beldon, the granddaughter of Lady Beldon, a snooty old aristocrat with a historical name and money. 

But Wright created a charming girl with none of the haughty superiority of her grandmother.  She was captivating to watch on the screen, which must not have been easy when playing opposite the likes of Greer Garson.  She made Carol Beldon, and later the young Mrs. Miniver when she married Vin, likeable and easy to watch.  There was a gentleness about her that was often in contrast with the threatening backdrop of the war behind her.  And yet, there was also a practical bravery about that was attractive and noble.

Spoiler Alert, Wright provided the most powerful emotional punch in the film.  As she and Mrs. Miniver are driving home after the flower festival is interrupted by a German air raid, their car is pelted with gunfire from a German airplane.  We are shown the holes in the roof of the automobile, and after a few seconds, we find that Carol has been hit.  Wright really sold this scene.  She is in shock but not in pain, though you can tell she is having difficulty breathing.  The scene was devastating and powerful because Wright did such a fantastic job making us fall in love with her throughout the whole movie.  Kay gets her back to the house, and she is lying on the floor, slowly bleeding to death. And when she gently expires, she delivers the movie’s gut-punch.  Wright was so good in this scene.

So she took home the Oscar for her wonderful performance, and I think she totally deserved it.  She was youthful and beautiful, sweet and kind, and perfect for the role.  Whenever I see her on a cast list, I know I’m in for a treat.  Unfortunately, this was the last time she was nominated for an Oscar, so I’m glad she won.

1942 – May Whitty

1942 – May Whitty

Mrs. Miniver

May Whitty was one of those character actresses who could really only play one kind of character, but darn if she didn’t play it so perfectly.  She was the crotchety, snooty, aristocratic woman who had a better-than-thou personality.  She was self-important, self-righteous, and self-aggrandizing.  But beneath all that, she actually had a good heart.  And Whitty did a perfect job of getting all that across, even the good natured and selfless parts of the character.

And that’s one of the reasons I ended up liking her by the end of the film.  Though she had a relatively small part in the overall narrative, she had a character arc that showed the quality of the script, and the quality of the actress.  Yes, she started out as the pompous woman who believed she was better than everyone else because her class in British society, but by the end, she was shown to be a changed woman.  It was a combination of her relationship with Mrs. Miniver and her son, Vin, and the devastation caused by the war.  And finally, it was the death of her beloved niece from enemy gunfire, and the death of Mr. Ballard, that allowed her to shed tears, cementing her character’s positive development.

I really liked her in the scene where she gave the prize for the most beautiful rose in the flower competition to the deserving Mr. Ballard.  After an entire movie of being haughty and superior, she spoke words of kindness and was likeable.  And that was all due to May’s genuine performance.  “This is the first time a rose other than the Beldon rose has won the cup since the shows began.  I won’t say I’m not disappointed.  We Beldons are not used to competitors.  In the old days we just lopped off their heads.  Can’t do that nowadays.  More’s the pity.  But if I had to lose, there’s no man I’d sooner lose to than James Ballard because he’s a man of spirit, and I like a man of spirit.”  It shows how she is a gracious woman after all, and Whitty delivered it beautifully, with poise and just a touch of humbleness.

It was a good and well-written part, and I like that Whitty was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, even though she lost the award to Teresa Wright who played her granddaughter, Carol Beldon, a decision I completely agree with.

1942 – Henry Travers

1942 – Henry Travers

Mrs. Miniver

Henry Travers was a good actor.  I believe he is most famously known as Clarence from It’s A Wonderful Life, but he did a fantastic job here, too.  He had a very gentle manner about him that permeated his character.  He played Mr. Ballard, the local stationmaster, and one of the bell-ringers at the church.  His whole sub-plot in the film was a nice one.  He played the part of the common peace-loving man.  He was also a gardener who had grown a rose so beautiful that it rivaled the roses of the snotty aristocrat, Lady Beldon, which he names after the kind Mrs. Miniver.

Travers didn’t have a lot of screen time, but he made the most of what he had.  Right from his first appearance on the screen, he shows us a man who is meek and kind-hearted.  His manner is mild and polite.  He is the kind of man anyone would love to know.  And I have to think that this wasn’t just the way the character of Mr. Ballard was written.  Much of that came from the actor, and must certainly have been the way the man really was.  It seemed so natural for him.

His big scene was the one in which Lady Beldon is convinced that his rose deserves the top prize at a flower show, even though she has never lost since the flower show began.  When she announces his name as the winner of the silver cup, his surprise and disbelief rendered him speechless, and he could only stand when his friends propped him up.  As he slowly approached the dais, he was nearly in tears, and his abject humility as he accepts the cup was very touching.  Travers really did a great job in that scene.  I really believed his disbelief.

I’ve seen the film several times now, but this time I caught something I hadn’t remembered from previous viewings.  The final scene where the priest is naming off some of those who have died in the bombings, Ballard’s name is mentioned.  Apparently, his character died only two hours after winning the top prize in the flower show.  It made the ending of the film just that much more powerful and poignant.  Really paying attention to his performance in Mrs. Miniver makes me wonder what other kind of character Travers ever played in his career.  He was a good actor, and this was the perfect kind of role to earn him an Oscar nomination.

1942 – Greer Garson (WINNER)

1942 – Greer Garson

Mrs. Miniver

1942 was a great year for Greer Garson.  Not only did she take home the Oscar for her performance in Mrs. Miniver, she was also in Random Harvest, where, though she wasn’t nominated for Best Actress, I think she should have been.  And this was coming right after her nomination for Best Actress in 1941 for Blossoms in the Dust.  She was the hot ticket, and she did a fantastic job in all three of these films.  But here, in Mrs. Miniver, she seemed to have outdone herself.  She was incredible!

She played the title character of Mrs. Miniver, a British housewife who did her best to keep her family together and safe during WWII.  She had a strength to her that was matched only by her gentleness.  She held the family together through the blackouts, the air raids, and the bombings.  She survived being held hostage by a wounded German soldier.  She hid in the shaking bomb shelter, clasping and comforting her screaming children, along with her husband, while the house was nearly destroyed.  And she was there when her beloved daughter-in-law was shot and killed, holding her in her arms as the young girl died.

The movie was full of powerful scenes, and Garson created a character that was full of poise and grace in the face of life-threatening dangers.  She also had to play the part of the wife and mother who had to wait at home, caring for the young children while her husband and oldest son had to risk their lives in the war.  The movie gave Garson the opportunity to stretch as an actress, and she was up to the challenge.  The moment when Carol died, Garson’s looks of shock and grief were wonderfully intense. She really sold the moment, and without a doubt, she earned her Oscar.

But she also shined in her gentler moments.  Her portrayal of a loving wife and mother were wonderful to watch.  Her on-screen chemistry with her husband, played by Walter Pidgeon, was easy to see.  The character she created was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.  And I particularly liked how she handled her relationship with the crotchety, aristocratic Lady Beldon, meeting her vinegar with honey.  Garson really knocked this one out of the park.