Oscar Look Back - 1948

We’re on our second last look back at the Oscars – to 1948 – when they could have rewarded a couple of masterpieces, but instead went with a very weak winner. Oh well.

 

Best Picture

1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

2. The Red Shoes

3. Johnny Belinda

4. The Snake Pit

5. Hamlet - WINNER

Why This Ranking: Your winner was Hamlet – which is my least favorite of all of Olivier’s Shakespeare’s movies – because it is boring as hell (and Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play). The Snake Pit is kind of a classic 1940s melodrama about a woman in a mental hospital – and if over-the-top is your thing, it’s entertaining. Johnny Belinda is a surprisingly mature film about rape – but it is wrapped up in cliché and melodrama – some of which works better than others. Powell & Pressburger’s The Red Shoes is arguably their masterpiece – a brilliant technicolor marvel with great dancing, and an emotional core that is devastating. But my favorite was John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – which is my favorite of his films, and still seems surprisingly modern to this day in this drama of greed and murder. A masterpiece.

Who Was Overlooked: We’ll give them a pass for not nominating Bicycle Thieves – since it came out in America the following year, but they didn’t nominate then either, so let’s poke them for their anti-foreign language bias. One of the great film noirs of the 1940s is Force of Evil – a key film that led the blacklist. Other than the ending, Howard Hawks’ Red River is one of his very best films – with great performances by John Wayne and Montgomery Clift.

Best Director

1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre –   John Huston - WINNER

2. The Snake Pit - Anatole Litvak

3. The Search - Fred Zinnemann

4. Johnny Belinda  - Jean Negulesco

5. Hamlet  - Laurence Olivier

Why This Ranking: Personally, I think most of my problems with Hamlet have to do with Laurence Olivier’s direction – so at least he didn’t win this Oscar as well. Jean Negulesco for Johnny Belinda does a fine job – but it’s rather straight forward. Fred Zinneman’s The Search is the lone director nominee – and it’s typically fine work for the consummate pro Zinneman – without being one of his very best. Anatole Litvak for The Snake Pit goes all out with the melodrama – and does it quite well. Still, the Academy clearly got this one right when they gave the Oscar to John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – his best directing job, and a masterclass in filmmaking.

Who Was Overlooked: I am quite mystified that the Academy could nominate The Red Shows for best picture and not nominate Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger for Best Director(s) because it is a truly remarkable achievement.

Best Actor

1. The Search - Montgomery Clift

2. Hamlet  - Laurence Olivier – WINNER

3. Johnny Belinda  - Lew Ayres

Not Seen My Me

Sitting Pretty  - Clifton Webb

When My Baby Smiles at Me  - Dan Dailey

Why This Ranking: I have never even heard of Sitting Pretty or When My Baby Smiles at Me (or Dan Dailey to be honest) – although I do like Clifton Webb. Out of all the elements of Johnny Belinda, Lew Ayres’ work as the kindly doctor is the toughest to take. I’m not huge fan of either Laurence Olivier could have won for any number of performances and I would love – but his Hamlet is not one of my favorites. The same is true for Montgomery Clift and The Search – he is a brilliant actor, and The Search is not a film I would ever think when thinking of Clift.

Who Was Overlooked: It was apparently shocking at the time that Humphrey Bogart wasn’t nominated for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – and it’s even more shocking today, as that performance is the best of his career. I would have loved to see both John Wayne and Montgomery Clift get nominated for Red River – Clift because it’s way better than The Search, and Wayne because it’s perhaps second only to The Searchers in his career.

 

Best Actress

1. Johnny Belinda  - Jane Wyman - WINNER

2. The Snake Pit - Olivia de Havilland

Not Seen By Me

I Remember Mama  - Irene Dunne

Joan of Arc  - Ingrid Bergman

Sorry, Wrong Number  - Barbara Stanwyck

Why Think Ranking: I am a big fan of Barbara Stanwyck – and think it’s ridiculous that she never won an Oscar, but still, I haven’t seen Sorry Wrong Number. Again, big fan of Ingrid Bergman – but I’m not sure anyone really thinks her Joan of Arc is one of her best. Irene Dunne was another fine actress, who never won an Oscar despite five nominations (would have been great for her to win for The Awful Truth) – but I Remember Mama remains unseen by me. The two I have seen are both quite good – Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit – in the couple of years between her two Oscar wins – is very good as a woman in a mental hospital. Yet, I do think that they probably made the right call with giving Jane Wyman the win for Johnny Belinda – the first of a number of actresses to win for people playing “deaf and dumb” – it’s a harrowing and sweet performance in equal measure.

Who Was Overlooked: Again, they nominated The Red Shows for Best Picture, but they didn’t nominate the terrific performance by Moira Shearer? I also always liked Rita Hayworth in Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai as their offscreen marriage fell apart. And the great Lauren Bacall was in fine form in Key Largo.

 

Best Supporting Actor

1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Walter Huston – WINNER
2. Johnny Belinda  - Charles Bickford

Not Seen By Me

I Remember Mama  - Oskar Homolka

Joan of Arc  - José Ferrer 

The Luck of the Irish - Cecil Kellaway

Why This Ranking: I’ve already mentioned why I haven’t seen either I Remember Mama and Joan of Arc – and that extends to the nominations for Oskar Homolka and Jose Ferrer. I’m not sure if I’ve ever really heard of The Luck of the Irish – but Cecil Kellaway certainly has the proper name for that movie. As for the nominees, Charles Bickford was always a fine character actor, and his performance in Johnny Belinda is one of his best remembered, and it’s quite good. But no one is really going to complain about Walter Huston winning for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – one of the best performances of all time, and certainly Walter’s best performance, and a great story since his son directed it. An easy call.

Who Was Overlooked: The two murderers in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope – John Dall and Farley Granger – based on Leopold and Loeb are both excellent. Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo delivered one of his many great performances in a career that unbelievably resulted in zero Oscar nominations.

 Best Suporting Actress

1. Key Largo  - Claire Trevor - WINNER

2. Hamlet  - Jean Simmons 

3. Johnny Belinda  - Agnes Moorehead

Not Seen By Me

I Remember Mama  - Barbara Bel Geddes

I Remember Mama  - Ellen Corby

Not Seen By Me: I really need to see I Remember Mama – it’s odd to have two nominations in the same category, so Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby and their nominations have not been seen by me. Agnes Moorehead was always great in everything, but her work in Johnny Belinda is basically standard issue stuff. Jean Simmons had a great career, but her Ophelia in Hamlet is not one of my favorites. So, of course, Claire Trevor in Key Largo is an easy choice – but that would be the same no matter what, and it’s one of my favorite winners in this category.

Who Was Overlooked: Beatrice Herlie was in fine form in Force of Evil – although to be honest, there wasn’t a lot from this year for this category.