Best Supporting Actress 1950

[Big Magilla]

Trivia note on Hope Emerson - although she had been in films since 1932, it wasn't until the triumvirate of Adam's Rib, Caged and Westward the Women from 1949 to 1951 that she became a well-known presence. She later became even better known as Craig Stevens' co-star in the nourish 1958 TV series Peter Gunn. Her most famous role, though, was one in which she wasn't seen at all. She was the radio, TV and movie voice of Borden's Elsie the Cow, the contented cow who gave contented milk, a character at one time as well known as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

[The Original BJ]

I think this is a pretty solid list -- I don't have much objection to any of the nominees.

Thelma Ritter is Thelma Ritter, which means she tosses off those tart one-liners in All About Eve in a thoroughly delightful manner, improving every scene she's in from the margins. Of course, this is not the place to enshrine the actress -- she would have numerous more substantial roles (nominated and otherwise) in the years ahead.

It's true that Nancy Olson probably wouldn't have been cited without a movie as great as Sunset Boulevard surrounding her. But I don't want to underrate her either, as she's just what the film needs: a warm and human presence to counterbalance the grotesque, cynical energies coming from everywhere else in the movie. Not special enough to win, but not undeserving of mention.

I wasn't much familiar with Hope Emerson's work before I saw Caged -- I spent much of the first twenty minutes of the movie wondering which of the many actresses onscreen she might be. But then this tall prison matron with a hardened face barrelled into the film and I knew instantly, that's gotta be her. In addition to being a strange, unique presence, I especially like the way she doesn't seem to be having much fun playing her character. This isn't a villain you're supposed to love to hate, but a sad woman with a mostly dreary life using her authority to inflict pain on others because she can. She must have been a tricky fit for Hollywood movies of this era, but it's nice she got this one great part.

I was in a production of Harvey in high school, and the girl who played Veta was more of a dramatic actress than a comedian, so I just assumed her take on the part was pretty standard: Veta was the straight man, and the humor bubbled up around her. So it was to my surprise when I finally saw the movie at just how funny the part could be in the hands of someone like Josephine Hull -- in fact, to take nothing away from the charm of Jimmy Stewart's work, I think she's THE comic standout of the movie, as her character tries to hold on to reality while dipping into her own kind of madness. I have little objection to her Oscar win.

But I cast my vote for Celeste Holm, a typically good supporting actress who probably had her best part as Karen in All About Eve. Holm does a wonderful job portraying a character I'm sure many in show business can relate to -- someone adjacent to huge stardom who nonetheless remains outside of it, who finds it tricky to navigate what she wants to be a normal friendship with someone whose outsize life and career don't really allow for those. It's a pretty complex character, especially because so much of the character's function within in the movie is more a sounding board than a major plot player, and Holm finds a lot of honest, human colors along the way.

[Greg]

Holm's Karen is such a stronger showcase for her than her actual Oscar-winning role in Gentleman's Agreement was for which I cannot recall a single scene.

For whatever reason, the one thing I remember of Holm from Gentleman's Agreement is her stirring a lump of sugar in the coffee that Gregory Peck's character is about to drink.

[flipp525]

Holm is a genial presence but not much more than that - she doesn't clue us in to the history of the friendship that she represents so she ends up little more than a sounding board for Davis' insecurities. Plus her character exists to enable the one subplot - Davis' romantic longings - that doesn't make a lick of sense. I wanted a less wholesome presence in this part, an Arden or a Trevor.

I don't get that impression at all from Holm's performance. In fact, in the scenes that lead up to her "helping" Eve pull off the understudy taking the lead for the night, she infuses her scenes with a kind of weary resignation that what is happening to Margo is somewhat deserved based on what must be many similar scenes from years of being friends with her. And then later, those scenes in the restaurant with Baxter at the end are just devastating as she realizes she's been utterly conned. Hers' is easily the best of this line-up with the terrifying Hope Emerson (and non-nominated Betty Garde from Caged) not too far behind.

Holm's Karen is such a stronger showcase for her than her actual Oscar-winning role in Gentleman's Agreement was for which I cannot recall a single scene.

[bizarre]

I have seen all the nominees save for Hull, but I'm not convinced I'm missing too much.

I'd rank them like so:
1. Olson
2. Ritter
3. Holm
4. Emerson

Nancy Olson is winning in Sunset Blvd., bringing a freshness, vitality and sensitivity to a pretty standard ingenue part, leaving us with an impression of more personality than was probably in her character on the page and cutting quite cleanly through Wilder's dour hatred of women (no mean feat - I'm not a fan of Swanson's performance here, or Stanwyck's in DI, or MacLaine's in The Apartment necessarily; all fall prey to the pitfalls written into their characters). It isn't earth shattering work but it's a breath of fresh air in a cruel closed circuit of a film.

Thelma Ritter does her Ritter thing. It's expected but funny and tart as usual, it's just a pity she's gone so soon from the film.

Holm is a genial presence but not much more than that - she doesn't clue us in to the history of the friendship that she represents so she ends up little more than a sounding board for Davis' insecurities. Plus her character exists to enable the one subplot - Davis' romantic longings - that doesn't make a lick of sense. I wanted a less wholesome presence in this part, an Arden or a Trevor.

Emerson is fun but all blunt menace in Caged - it's a freakishly good ensemble, but so many of the less-showcased members of this gallery of grotesques make a more potent impression. And I was more impressed by Agnes Moorehead's less showy role as the prison warden, exemplifying the bureaucratic shortfalls of the system while giving a real sense of the truly good intentions and caring numbed by exhaustion and a systematically instilled apathy. She manages to be a symbolic construct and a real woman at the same time and should have been nominated in Emerson's stead, I'm not sure how close she was though.

My picks for this year (which was very strong in general):
1. Googie Withers, Night and the City
2. Agnes Moorehead, Caged
3. Jeff Donnell, In a Lonely Place
4. Jane Marken, Manèges
5. Noriko Honma, Rashōmon

[Big Magilla]

First off, the other two -- and how predictable that the worst of the nominees was the winner. The put-upon sister in Harvey seems like a can't miss role, and a Spring Byington, Mabel Paige or Ida Moore would have been ideal. But Josephine Hull's performance is a terrible amalgam of irritating mannerisms -- she's charmless and no fun at all.

(For the record, I detest Harvey. It's is a too frantically paced – farcical comedy (God, bad farce is painful to sit through). But even worse than that, it – and presumably the 1944 Pulitzer Prize winning play upon which it's based – was an early (maybe even the first) proponent of the noisome R.D. Laing -- Cuckoo's Nets/King of Hearts premise that it is crazy people who are really the most well-adjusted. In this case, Elwood P. Dowd is an alcoholic with an invisible 6 foot rabbit as a constant companion, and he's portrayed as a calm, sagacious observer of life and human behavior. Despite his constant drinking, he's never even tipsy, and conveniently he has family money, so holding a job never even is an issue. Typical that in the same year he appeared in Winchester '73 and Broken Arrow, James Stewart would receive an Oscar nomination for this thing.)

You have to be in the mood. Jimmy Stewart loved the character and continued to play it on stage and in at least one TV rehash in 1972 opposite Helen Hayes who had won a Tony nomination for the 1970 Broadway revival opposite Stewart. Allegedly Hayes didn't care much for the part and agreed to do it only for the opportunity of working with Stewart.

Hayes also reprised Hull's role in two TV productions of Arsenic & Old Lace - opposite Billie Burke in 1955 and Lillian Gish in 1969, neither of which I've seen.

[Big Magilla]

Aside from Grahame, there wasn't really anyone of note who was overlooked this year.

What about your gal Jane Darwell in Wagonmaster?

And I agree with Daniel that Gloria Grahame is a lead -- she's my 5th place Best Actress for 1950.

Haven't seen Wagonmaster in years, don't remember Darwell in it.

I re-watched Design for Living the other day just because Hustler nominated Darwell in it in our Best by the Best game and couldn't remember her in that either and with good reason it turns out - she plays Fredric March's British maid who opens the door for Edward Everett Horton in one scene and someone else in another and that's it. Mary Gordon, who doesn't even receive onscreen credit, had a bigger part as a theatre usher.

[Reza]

Celeste Holm claims that Bette Davis responded to her initial "Good morning" with a tart "Oh shit, good manners," and the two never spoke again.

For anyone interested in all the backstage gossipy goodness, I would highly recommend reading Sam Staggs’ All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! It is exhaustively researched and a real juicy read for anyone who’s a fan of the film.

I have his When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as well but I haven’t had time to read it yet.

I have this book on ''Eve'' and have even read it. This exchange between Holm and Davis must have slipped my mind.

The book on ''Streetcar'' sounds interesting. The author has also written similar books on Sunset Blvd and the '59 version of Imitation of Life.



Edited By Reza on 1274857183

[Damien]

Aside from Grahame, there wasn't really anyone of note who was overlooked this year.

What about your gal Jane Darwell in Wagonmaster?

And I agree with Daniel that Gloria Grahame is a lead -- she's my 5th place Best Actress for 1950.

[Damien]

I think this is the only category in any year where my top 3 choices were actually nominated.

First off, the other two -- and how predictable that the worst of the nominees was the winner. The put-upon sister in Harvey seems like a can't miss role, and a Spring Byington, Mabel Paige or Ida Moore would have been ideal. But Josephine Hull's performance is a terrible amalgam of irritating mannerisms -- she's charmless and no fun at all.

(For the record, I detest Harvey. It's is a too frantically paced – farcical comedy (God, bad farce is painful to sit through). But even worse than that, it – and presumably the 1944 Pulitzer Prize winning play upon which it's based – was an early (maybe even the first) proponent of the noisome R.D. Laing -- Cuckoo's Nets/King of Hearts premise that it is crazy people who are really the most well-adjusted. In this case, Elwood P. Dowd is an alcoholic with an invisible 6 foot rabbit as a constant companion, and he's portrayed as a calm, sagacious observer of life and human behavior. Despite his constant drinking, he's never even tipsy, and conveniently he has family money, so holding a job never even is an issue. Typical that in the same year he appeared in Winchester '73 and Broken Arrow, James Stewart would receive an Oscar nomination for this thing.)

Thelma Ritter is marvelous in All About Eve but -- and it's is one of this very good film's shortcomings -- she completely disappears from the picture in the second half -- for no apparent reason because her character would naturally be assisting Margo Channing throughout. Must have been a scheduling conflict of some sort. Anyway, her absence diminished the impact of her perdormance.

As for the Top 3. My number 3 is Nancy Olson. When you see her listed as a 1950 nominee, you assume that she got carried along on enthusiasm for Sunset Boulevard, like, say, Minnie Driver with Good Will Hunting. But then you see the film and not only is she a lovely screen presence, but she grounds the film, keeping it in touch with reality and audience identification, a necessary counterbalance to the delicious freak show.

I first saw Hope Emerson in Caged when I was about 10, and her prison matron immediately became one of the most indelible cinematic presences I'd ever encountered. I've seen the film 7 or 8 more times since then, and I always find her utterly fascinating and compelling. The great thing about her performance is that she's terrifying but also completely believably human, with even a few touching moments, and as Italiano pointed out, her facial movements are wonderfully expressive.

But I would give the award to Celeste Holm in All About Eve. Warm, wise and witty, she's just perfect.

My Own Top 5:
1. Celeste Holm in All About Eve
2. Hope Emerson in Caged
3. Nancy Olson in Sunset Blvd.
4. Elsa Lanchester in Mystery Street
5. Phyllis Thaxter in The Breaking Point



Edited By Damien on 1274852278

[flipp525]

[Holm's] boundless friendship with Bette Davis seemed so genuine it was a shock to learn in recent years that the two actresses didn't like one another and spoke only in character in their scenes together.

Celeste Holm claims that Bette Davis responded to her initial "Good morning" with a tart "Oh shit, good manners," and the two never spoke again.

For anyone interested in all the backstage gossipy goodness, I would highly recommend reading Sam Staggs’ All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! It is exhaustively researched and a real juicy read for anyone who’s a fan of the film.

I have his When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire" as well but I haven’t had time to read it yet.



Edited By flipp525 on 1274809936

[Snick's Guy]

A very good year for supporting performances, and one in which the Academy got it almost spot on.

With several worthy contenders, my vote goes Emerson.

Starting with this year, we will have many, many opportunities going forward to vote for Ritter. Will be interesting how she does going forward, and how many wins (if any) she will receive from this board.

[Mister Tee]

Billing or not, I have to side with those who say Grahame was a clear lead.

A mostly lukewarm slate, for me. The films are solid, but no performance jumps out at me.

Italiano pegs Olson pretty well. Likable actress in great film, but nowhere near a contender for this prize. She is to Sunset Boulevard as George Segal is to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- the one of four nominees clearly not deserving of a win.

Thelma Ritter bats out the one-liners, as usual, but this is a smallish role, compared to Holm's in Eve, or Ritter's later efforts -- the nomination is tribute to how strong an impression she made, but a win woiuld be over the top. Ritter has two very strong/superior nominations in the years just ahead, so it's easy to hold off here.

Hope Emerson is very enjoyable, but I can't take her movie seriously enough to vote for her here.

Celeste Holm does have a full-bodied, reasonably complex character to play. Had I not already voted for her in '47 I might go for her here. But the performance doesn't so wow me as to get my vote.

So, for once, I'll play the Magilla role and choose the old lady. Josephine Hull appeared in maybe the three most legendary Broadway comedies of the era -- You Can't Take It With You, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Harvey -- and this was her best re-creation of her NY triumph. I'd disagree with Magilla's take -- I've always considered Stewart and Hull equally responsible for Harvey's success. In fact, I think it's their contrasting styles -- Hull's dithery hysteria alongside Stewart's preternatural calm --that makes the material play as well as it does. I wouldn't call it a performance for the ages...as I say, I'm lukewarm on all the year's candidates...but it's enough to get my ballot-mark.

[Uri]

Aside from Grahame, there wasn't really anyone of note who was overlooked this year.

Judy Holliday was eligible for Adam's Rib.

[Precious Doll]

As good as Hope Emerson is in Caged, I think her best performance was in William Wellman's frontier drama Westward the Women.