NY Film Critics' Historical Results - Installment 1: 1935 - 1951

Post Reply
nightwingnova
Assistant
Posts: 516
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:48 pm

Re: NY Film Critics' Historical Results - Installment 1: 193

Post by nightwingnova »

Mister Tee,

I love you!!!

I've been seeking the most complete record for years. This is the best I've seen.

I don't use the results as a "best" guide. But, instead, I use them as a factor towards whether a movie is worth watching. I've rediscovered a love for older and great films. Unfortunately, having watched some of the best via Netflix, I've also discovered how bored I get with mundane and bad movies.

So, the competitive runners-up provide some useful insights. (Wish there were more complete vote counts, though. :( )
Big Magilla
Site Admin
Posts: 19318
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:22 pm
Location: Jersey Shore

Post by Big Magilla »

Thanks, Tee.

These are very interesting but appear to be the final ballot tallies. I would love to see the complete list of submissions some day.
Mister Tee
Tenured Laureate
Posts: 8637
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:57 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

Post by Mister Tee »

Since there was interest expressed in over-the-years results of the NY Film Critics' voting, I'm going to post the info I have (over multiple threads; otherwise the post would become too large to absorb).

Info on years from 1935 (the group's founding) through 1968 (the last year under the old compromise ballot system) was gleaned from a Donald Lyons Film Comment article published in 1993. Info in subsequent years was gathered from various published sources. Where specific voting numbers were available, I've entered them here. If they're missing, it's because I was never able to track them down. But the films/performances are listed in, to my knowledge, order of finish.

The voting procedure in the first years required a 2/3 vote to declare a winner. A lot of horse-trading was thus involved, as first-ballot supporters of minor candidates would latch onto one front-runner or another as voting progressed, till one film reached the desired plateau.

After 1940 featured multiple ballot debacles (rivalling the infamous 1924 Democratic presidential convention), the rule was amended: the 2/3 rule held for the first five ballots, but whoever led on the sixth was declared the winner. This system held until 1969, when a weighted ballot system was introduced.

Data here reflects the vote in the winner-determining round. (I've indicated the round number in Roman numerals, to easily distinguish it from the voting totals). Occasionally, I've highlighted interesting contrary early-ballot outcomes (such as 1939 Best Film and 1942 Best Actress).

Anyway, the first installment:


1935
Film: I - The Informer (unanimous)
Actor: I - Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap)
[Victor MacLaglen (The Informer), 1 vote]
Actress: II - Greta Garbo (Anna Karenina) (2-to-1 margin)
[Katharine Hepburn (Alice Adams)]
Director: II - John Ford, The Informer
[Alfred Hitchcock (39 Steps & Man Who Knew Too Much)]

1936
Film: II - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 11
[Fury 4]
Actor: V - Walter Huston (Dodsworth) 12
[Spencer Tracy (Fury) 6]
Actress: IV - Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld) 13
[Ruth Chatterton (Dodsworth) 4]
Director: XII - Rouben Mamoulian (The Gay Desperado) 12
[Fritz Lang (Fury) 6]

1937
Film: II - The Life of Emile Zola
[Captains Courageous]
Actor: Paul Muni (The Life of Emile Zola)
[Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous)]
Actress: Greta Garbo (Camille)
[Katharine Hepburn (Stage Door)]
Director: I - Gregory LaCava (Stage Door)
[Victor Fleming (Captains Courageous)]

1938
Film: IV - The Citadel
[The Lady Vanishes]
Actor: IX - James Cagney (Angels With Dirty Faces)
[Spencer Tracy (Boys Town), John Garfield (Four Daughters)]
Actress: IV - Margaret Sullavan (Three Comrades)
[Wendy Hiller (Pygmallion)]
Director: I - Alfred Hitchcock (The Lady Vanishes)

1939
Film: XIV - Wuthering Heights
(I - Gone With the Wind 6, Wuthering Heights 4, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 3)
Actor: III - James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)
[Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)]
Actress: II - Vivien Leigh (Gone With the Wind)
[Greta Garbo (Ninotchka)]
Director: III - John Ford (Stagecoach) 12
[Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka) 3]

1940
Film: VII - The Grapes of Wrath 12
[The Philadelphia Story 3]
Actor: XXIII - Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator)
[James Stephenson (The Letter)]
Actress: III - Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story)
[Martha Scott (Our Town)]
Director: XX - John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath and The Long Voyage Home) 12
[William Wyler (The Letter) 4]

1941
Film: VI - Citizen Kane 10
[How Green Was My Valley 7, Sergeant York 1]
Actor: I - Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) 14
[Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) 2]
Actress: VI - Joan Fontaine (Suspicion) 12
[Olivia DeHavilland (Hold Back the Dawn) 3]
Director: VI - John Ford (How Green Was My Valley) 10
[Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) 8]

1942
Film: V - In Which We Serve 12
[Wake Island 7]
Actor: I - James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) 13
[Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca and Across the Pacific) 2]
Actress: VI - Agnes Moorehead (The Magnificent Ambersons) 11
[Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver) 7]
[I: Garson 7, Moorehead 3, Katharine Hepburn (Woman of the Year) 3]
Director: IV - John Farrow (Wake Island) 12
[David Lean/Noel Coward (In Which We Serve) 6]

1943
Film: V - Watch on the Rhine 11
[The Human Comedy 6]
Actor: I - Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine) 15
Actress: V - Ida Lupino (The Hard Way) 11
[Katina Paxinou (For Whom the Bell Tolls) 6]
Director: VII (tiebreaker) - George Stevens (The More the Merrier) 9
[William Wellman (The Ox-Bow Incident) 8]

1944
Film: III - Going My Way 11
[Hail the Conquering Hero 3]
Actor: I - Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way)
[Bing Crosby (Going My Way) 2, Alexander Knox (Wilson) 2]
Actress: IV - Tallulah Bankhead (Lifeboat) 10
[Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) 5]
Director: VI - Leo McCarey (Going My Way) 7
[Preston Sturges (Hail the Conquering Hero) 5]

1945
Film: VI - The Lost Weekend 9
[The Story of G.I. Joe 8]
Actor: III - Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) 13
[Robert Mitchum (The Story of G.I. Joe) 4]
Actress: Ingrid Bergman (Spellbound and The Bells of St. Mary's) 9
[Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) 3, Deborah Kerr (Colonel Blimp and Love on The Dole) 3]
Director: VI - Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend) 9
[William Wellman (The Story of G.I. Joe) 8]

1946
Film: V - The Best Years of Our Lives 12
[Henry V 6]
Actor: II - Laurence Olivier (Henry V) 12
[Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives) 6]
Actress: VI - Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter) 11
[Olivia DeHavilland (To Each His Own) 7]
Director: I - William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives) 12
[Laurence Olivier (Henry V) 4]

1947
Film: VI - Gentleman's Agreement 9
[Great Expectations 7]
Actor: VI - William Powell (Life With Father and The Senator Was Indiscreet) 10
[John Garfield (Body and Soul) 6]
Actress: II - Deborah Kerr (Black Narcissus and The Adventuress)
[Anne Revere & Celeste Holm (Gentleman's Agreement); Martita Hunt (Great Expectations)]
Director: VI - Elia Kazan (Gentleman's Agreement) 11
[Edward Dymtryk (Crossfire) 3, John Ford (The Fugitive) 2]

1948
Film: VI - The Treasure of Sierra Madre 9
[Hamlet 8]
Actor: VI - Laurence Olivier (Hamlet) 11
[Walter Huston (The Treasure of Sierra Madre) 7]
Actress: I - Olivia DeHavilland (The Snake Pit) (unanimous)
Director: John Huston (The Treasure of Sierra Madre)
[Laurence Olivier (Hamlet)]

1949
Film: VI - All the King's Men 9
[Intruder in the Dust 5, The Fallen Idol 3]
Actor: VI - Broderick Crawford (All the King's Men) 9
[Ralph Richardson (The Fallen Idol and The Heiress) 5, Juano Hernandez (Intruder in the Dust) 3]
Actress: V - Olivia DeHavilland (The Heiress) 12
[Edith Evans (Queen of Spades) 5, Mercedes McCambridge (All the King's Men) 2]
Director: VI - Carol Reed (The Fallen Idol) 11
[Clarence Brown (Intruder in the Dust) 6]

1950
Film: I - All About Eve 11
[Sunset Boulevard 3, The Asphalt Jungle 2]
Actor: VI - Gregory Peck (Twelve O'Clock High) 9
[Jose Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac) 6, Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets) 1]
Actress: VI - Bette Davis (All About Eve) 10
[Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday) 6]
Director: IV - Joseph Mankiewicz (All About Eve) 11
[John Huston (The Asphalt Jungle) 3, Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) 2]

1951
Film: VI - A Streetcar Named Desire 8
[The River 7]
Actor: III - Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory) 10
[Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire) 5]
Actress: V - Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire) 10
[Shelley Winters (A Place in the Sun) 5]
Director: VI - Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire) 9
[George Stevens (A Place in the Sun) 6]
Post Reply

Return to “Other Oscar Discussions”