Best Supporting Actress 1956

[Damien]

Dorothy Malone, on the other hand, is completely believable within the melodramatic context of Written On The Wind, and her dance in her neglige is a great screen moment. Plus, I love the fact that someone in a Douglas Sirk film has an Oscar.

Agreed, along with her last scene with Rock Hudson whilst she fondles a miniature oil rig. I've seen Written on the Wind a number of times at the cinema and that scene always produces lots of laughter.

I may never have quoted Marylee Hadley, but I have fondled miniature oil rigs in my time.

[Mister Tee]

I try to be purist and only vote where I've seen all five -- I haven't even voted for best actress 2009 because I'm waiting for Mirren to hit Netflix -- but I believe I cast votes for best actress in '35, '43 and '51 despite there being one nominee in each year that has eluded me. But I don't have a whole lot of gaps to fill. When you spend 45 years tracking down major category nominees, you cover most of the waterfront. I did, as noted, skip '51 supporting actress because I was missing two, and that seemed to skew things too much.

As far as what are "the early years" -- depends on your definition. I started following the Oscars religiously about 1966, and started seeing virtually all major category nominees by '69, so I guess prior to that would be where I had to go digging. But in terms of what I viewed as the truly early, out of reach years, for me they were those dastardly entries prior to 1934, most of which were completely unavailable prior to home video and TNT/TCM in the 80s, and some of which, like Berkeley Square, East Lynne or The Devil's Holiday, remain unseen by me today.

[Big Magilla]

Just out of curiosity, what do you guys consider the "early years"? For me they end with 1956 after which I became a fairly active film goer.

[FilmFan720]

I tend not to vote unless I have seen all the nominees (or if I haven't seen one, am confident that I wouldn't vote for it). These early years I am so sparsely seen that I don't vote/comment much, but I do love reading all the comments from those more in the know...they guide my Oscar completionness

[ITALIANO]

My very personal rule is that I don't vote unless I have seen at least four of the nominated performances. But this is very subjective of course, and since this is after all a kind of game, I can understand those who vote for a performance they love even if they have missed the other (potentially better) nominees.

Voting for a performance one hasn't seen just based on the name of the actor (or actress) is something else though, and much less understandable.

[OscarGuy]

I don't know how many do, but I generally null vote when I know too little about the nominees.

I did not do that the year of the Jo Van Fleet and Betsy Blair face off. And I had seen both nominees, so since they were the two most considered the best, I don't think my vote for Jo Van Fleet would really be out of line. And my reason for voting for her was that I didn't really think Betsy Blair gave much of a performance, but more so that I think Jo Van Fleet gives one of my all-time favorite performances.

[ITALIANO]

It's certainly often based on name recognition and on the fact that not all those who vote here have seen all the nominated performances. But I'd say that Written on the Wind is considered today a kind of classic - a minor classic maybe, but still a classic - so I'm sure that many know Malone's performance. She's winning now by the way.

[Mister Tee]

I'd never have described Malone as an unknown, but I think she's considerably more familiar for those of us who were around when Peyton Place aired than for those 20-30 years younger. According to IMDB, she's still around, but has only had one (negligible) credit in pretty much the last quarter-century.

Heckart, by contrast, died in 2001, but was doing highly visible theatre and television right up to the end. Again, I'm not suggesting the votes for her are insincere; I just wonder if they reflect level of exposure.

By the way, for the purposes of this, I googled all five nominees, and was startled at how substantial a career McCormack has had, even if it was all under the radar as far as my viewing was concerned.

I agree with your expectation vis a vis Lansbury/Manchurian Candidate, as that year's race is viewed as almost in the Judy/Grace Kelly class of legendary injustice (in both cases the argument not with the winner, who was quite good, but with the failure to note a performance now viewed as iconic).

[Big Magilla]

I would love to see more opinions expressed as well, but I'm not so sure name recognition is the issue for 1956.

Dorothy Malone is not an unknown and Written on the Wind is certainly an accessible film. I just think people have a real affection for Heckart's performance - I know I do.

1944 is another matter. I think Ethel Barrymore would have had more of a plurality had more people seen her performance - None But the Lonely Heart has never been released on DVD in the U.S. and is rarely shown on TV these days. Gaslight is, however, readily available on DVD and constantly shown on TV and Lansbury certainly does have the name recognition. She also did well with The Picture of Dorian Gray coming in one short of a tie. I suspect she will run away with the 1962 vote when her most acclaimed performance in The Manchurian Candidate is up for the vote.

[Mister Tee]

I'm very much a believer in the secret ballot, but I wish more of those voting would disclose their thinking here (beyond the half-dozen or so who always weigh in). Particularly because it seems the "surprise" big vote-getters are frequently unexplained, as Heckart here, except by Italiano.

I don't doubt many of these votes are sincere, like Italiano's certainly is, but part of me wonders if some odd outcomes -- another, Lansbury's startlingly strong showing for, to me, a minor performance in Gaslight -- could be explained largely by name recognition. Lansbury was surely the most enduringly famous of the '44 group, and I'd say Heckart, by virtue of her longevity, would be the best known today of the '56 crew.

[Precious Doll]

Dorothy Malone, on the other hand, is completely believable within the melodramatic context of Written On The Wind, and her dance in her neglige is a great screen moment. Plus, I love the fact that someone in a Douglas Sirk film has an Oscar.

Agreed, along with her last scene with Rock Hudson whilst she fondles a miniature oil rig. I've seen Written on the Wind a number of times at the cinema and that scene always produces lots of laughter.

[ITALIANO]

Yes, in case Eileen Heckart wins here (for the moment it's a tie) it would be the first real surprise from these polls in this category. Overacting, for sure, but not of the worst kind and, as Damien pointed out, let's face it, very funny. I think that in such an enjoyably campy list of nominees, her win wouldn't be undeserved.

The movie itself is, of course, legendary - for good and mostly for bad reasons - and certainly unique (the dialogue may be absurd, but it's not easily forgettable - if, after so many years, we all remember "I want that medal!"). It's also the kind of movie that, in those years, could have only been made (been THOUGHT, actually) in America - can you imagine it in the Italy of Brread, Love and Dreams, with Anna Magnani as the mother and, say, Tina Apicella as Rhoda? Impossible. And its theme is typically American - typically paranoid even - as is the idea that the enemy is among us, is one of us actually, lives in our perfect-looking middle-class homes, and despite the affection we may feel for him (or her), must be destroyed without mercy.

[Big Magilla]

I think the mumbo-jumbo in The Bad Seed was taken quite seriously at the time. Only the actors seem to be on the joke.

[Damien]

I always write my thoughts in these threads before reading anyone else's and before voting and seeing the tabulations. And I have to say I'm absolutely shocked that Eileen Heckert is ahead. To me it's one of the worst performances ever nominated (though Heckert was very good that same year in Miracle In The Rain), even though it is a lot of fun.

Tee, I had the same reaction to you the first time I saw The Bad Seed -- it is hallucinatory; you can't quite believe what you are seeing (or hearing).

By the way, when The Bad Seed was released in 1956, it was advertised as being "For Adults Only!" I'm not sure if that's because it was thought younger people would get upset by the violence or because they were afraid Rhoda would give kids ideas.

[Damien]

This year provides a real conundrum.

Well, we can write off Mercedes McCambridge and Mildred Dunnock, although Dunnock does have some nice moments in Baby Doll.

Eileen Heckert's is one of the most hilariously god-awful pieces of overacting every recorded on film. It's so terrible, so strained, so unconnected to anything resembling reality that it's an utter hoot. As is the character's name, Hortense Daigle.

So here's the problem this year. Patty McCormack's Rhoda Penmark is one of the screen's unforgettable characters, a true icon. I have an 8 x 10 of her hanging over my office desk. But is the character believable? Patty may be a smidgen too arch when enacting the "good" Rhoda -- no child is THAT perfect. And like the other cast members of The Bad Seed, she also has to deal with some of the most artificial and ludicrous dialogue ever uttered.

Dorothy Malone, on the other hand, is completely believable within the melodramatic context of Written On The Wind, and her dance in her neglige is a great screen moment. Plus, I love the fact that someone in a Douglas Sirk film has an Oscar.

I'd love to split the statuette in half and give it to both Patty and Dot, but the fact that I quote Rhoda Penmark all the time but not Marylee Hadley must mean that Patty made the more indelible impression. I vote for Little Miss McCormack.

My Own Top 5:
1. Marie Windsor in The Killing
2. Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed
3. Dorothy Malone in Written On The Wind
4. Gloria Talbot in All That Heaven Allows
5. Vera Miles in The Searchers



Edited By Damien on 1276635676