Oscars: Notables

I came across the Heritage Auction Galleries for 2008 and learned an interesting little tidbit about Oscars for Supporting Actors and Actresses and Alice Brady. In the early days of the Academy Awards Best Supporting Actors and Actresses did not receive a full Oscar statuette, they would receive an award like the one above. Eventually these awards were considered second rate, despite the fact that they were Awards of Merit, and the Academy stopped handing them out after WWII. All the Supporting Actor/Actress awards from the past were traded up to a full statuette.

In 1937 Alice Brady won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mrs. O’Leary in In Old Chicago (1937). However, due to a broken ankle she was unable to attend the ceremony and in her absence a stranger walked onto the stage, accepted the award, and disappeared with it. The Academy issued a replacement but Alice Brady never got to trade her Oscar up as she died tragically of cancer in 1939 at the age of 46.

The photo above is of Charles Winninger and Alice Brady holding the replacement award, possibly shot on the set of their 1938 comedy Goodbye Broadway. Note that the plaque includes an engraving error giving In Old Chicago the date of 1837.

Tonight on TCM!

The Killers (1946)
An insurance investigator uncovers a string of crimes when he tries to find a murdered boxer's beneficiary. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker Dir: Robert Siodmak
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) An experienced gunman and a peace-loving tenderfoot clash with a Western bully. Cast: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin Dir: John Ford

Johnny Guitar (1954)

Living in her saloon on the outskirts of an Arizona cattle town, Vienna (Joan Crawford) maintains a volatile relationship with the local townsfolk for her support in the railroad being laid nearby, a railroad that will make her rich when she builds up her own town and can stop depending on the “kindness” of the community nearby. Vienna is also looked down upon for permitting a suspected stage robber called The Dancin' Kid (Scott Brady) to frequent her saloon and sometimes her bed. She and The Dancin’ Kid have been ordered to leave the area as they are suspected of murdering Emma Small’s (Mercedes McCambridge) brother. Unfortunately, Emma is a bitter, frustrated leader of a nearby community with a vindictive streak. Though Vienna and The Dancin’ Kid did not murder her brother, Emma is torn between jealousy and fear about The Dancin’ Kid and his relationship with her and Vienna. She is trying to rid both of them from her life no matter how it’s done.
Vienna's ex-lover Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a reformed gunslinger whose real name is Logan, arrives at the saloon just in time to fulfill his new role as Vienna’s protector. As he and Vienna renew their love for one another they must contend with The Dancin' Kid and his gang robbing the town bank. Knowing the townsfolk will suspect her in the crime as well; Vienna holds her ground and refuses to leave her saloon. When the posse descends upon her, Johnny comes to her rescue and they take refuge in The Dancin' Kid's secret hideaway. When the posse tracks them down Emma challenges Vienna to a showdown.







Quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen Joan Crawford in (I say this without having seen Trog, Beserk, I Saw What You Did, Della, etc.). It’s as if the actors knew they were performing in a mediocre vehicle and to make up for the lack of a good plot, decided that if they were gong to go down in flames, they would do it in good camp fashion. However, even this movie isn’t good enough to be camp. The over-acting, the unnecessary and often corny gestures, and the dialogue equated a hot mess I couldn’t peel my eyes away from despite the blaring Technicolor of Crawford’s shirts and kerchiefs. What's worse is that Western standards like Ward Bond and John Carradine couldn't even help this sinking ship.

Side note:

Apparently Crawford and McCambridge's duels were fought both on and off camera. One night, in a drunken rage, Crawford scattered the costumes worn by McCambridge along an Arizona highway and the cast and crew had to collect the outfits.

Fun Fact:

McCambridge was the voice of the demon in The Excorcist (1973).

Tonight on TCM! Time for crime!

Bullitt (1968) When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own. Cast: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon Dir: Peter Yates

The French Connection (1971)
Two New York narcotics cops set out to bust a French drug smuggling ring.
Cast: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco Dir: William Friedkin

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The legendary bank robbers run riot in the South of the 1930s. Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman Dir: Arthur Penn

Before & After: Alice Brady

When Ladies Meet (1933) ***

The Gay Divorcee (1934) ****

My Man Godfrey (1936) ***

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) ***

Pre-Code Dip: Riptide (1934), When Ladies Meet (1933)

Riptide: Park Avenue socialite Mary (Norma Shearer) and staid English nobleman, Lord Phillip Rexford (Herbert Marshall) are married as a lark, but she is very happy for several years with her husband and child. But on a trip to the Riviera she meets again an old flame, Tommie Treal (Robert Montgomery), and under the spell of the sea breezes and the Mediterranean moon, Mary is the "innocent" victim of a romantic escapade that makes the headlines and the scandal sheets. None of Mary's explanations can soothe Lord Phillip, reaping the fallout of marrying "down", and his cold indifference drives Mary, who fights against it closer to Tommie. As the two lovers surrender to their ardor, Lord R. learns from his secretary (Actually, he learns from his lawyer) that Mary had been telling the truth, and he calls for her to join him in Cannes with a clean slate. -IMDb



When Ladies Meet: Mary, a writer working on a novel about a love triangle, is attracted to her publisher. Her suitor Jimmie is determined to break them up; he introduces Mary to the publisher's wife without telling Mary who she is. -IMDb

Two good films from the pre-code era. Made mostly entertaining due to one magnificent Robert Montgomery, my classic crush. He's so charming and lovable and...drunk. I think I should also mention how wonderful Alice Brady is. Her performance in When Ladies Meet reminded me so much of Frances McDormand , a favorite current actress of mine, when she plays flighty characters.
As always, after watching a pre-code film, I am left wondering where we would be today- cinematically and indeed, socially, if there had been no threat of the government stepping in to censor films? It never ceases to amaze me how forward thinking and risqué the films of pre-code cinema are.

When Ladies Meet was done again in 1941 starring Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, and Greer Garson. I will have to watch how this one played out since it was filmed post-code.

Two wonderful articles on pre-code cinema:

Dizzy from the Altitude, Happy to Plummet: Pre-Code Cinema and the Post-Code-Shock Syndrome

Sinners' Holiday: An Ode to Pre-Code