Best Supporting Actress 1964

1927/28 through 1997
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Best Supporting Actress 1964

Glads Cooper - My Fair Lady
0
No votes
Edith Evans - The Chalk Garden
4
18%
Grayson Hall - The Night of the Iguana
5
23%
Lila Kedrova - Zorba the Greek
8
36%
Agnes Moorehead - Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte
5
23%
 
Total votes: 22

bizarre
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Re: Best Supporting Actress 1964

Post by bizarre »

I haven't seen any of these nominees, but this looks like a diverse bunch.

My picks:

1. Odete Lara, Men and Women
2. Louise Latham, Marnie
3. Mitsuko Kusabue, Yearning
4. Anne Vernon, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
5. Gloria Foster, Nothing But a Man
Cinemanolis
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Post by Cinemanolis »

MY TOP 5

Edith Evans - The Chalk Garden
Ava Gardner - The Night of the Iguana
Greyson Hall - The Night of the Iguana
Lila Kedrova - Zorba the Greek
Irene Pappas - Zorba the Greek
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

The Chalk Garden was released as an Amazon exclusive.

It's available for rent at ClassicsFlix.com:

http://www.classicflix.com/advance....x=0&y=0
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Post by Mister Tee »

Not an easy year for me to decide.

I didn't know until reading Inside Oscar that Agnes Moorehead had been the favorite -- which is odd, considering I'd been well aware that Rutherford was the front-runner a year earlier. I thought Moorhead was flagrantly over the top, but, then, I pretty much always felt that.

Gladys Cooper was fine but not exceptional in My Fair Lady.

I have neither the problem some have with Grayson Hall's performance, nor any particularly strong appreciation. She's a respectable nominee, but doesn't tempt me to vote for her.

My main problem with the category is, I haven't seen The Chalk Garden (at least in its entirety) since I was 12 years old. My parents took us to see it at Radio City Music Hall, of course because it featured legend-of-childhood Hayley Mills. I have fairly strong memories of the film despite the years -- even then I sensed it was one of those "sad things are going to happen to people" mediocre plays from the Inge era. And I can remember Evans reasonably well, though not with enough detachment to decide whether it was just her doing her usual thing or something truly memorable.

Meantime, I do consider Kedrova's work truly memorable. Zorba on the whole doesn't hold up that well -- two hours of Anthony Quinn projecting life-force is my definition of tiresome -- but the scenes with Kedrova are the strongest in the film, and she's the one to whom I'm inclined to give my vote.

But for now I'll refrain from voting. If Chalk Garden should show up on TCM or somewhere, I'll check that box off and, very likely, cast a vote for Kedrova. But honesty compels me to stay out of it for the moment.
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Post by Snick's Guy »

Good lineup, but had to go with my personal fave, Grayson Hall.
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Post by ITALIANO »

John Gielgud's collected letters are a fascinating read - so full of intelligence, of insight about the acting profession, about his own and his colleagues' flaws and virtues. In one of these letters - I don't have the book with me now - he compares the talents of those two queens of British stage - Gladys Cooper and Edith Evans. Same age, same kind of roles - they certainly had much in common. Still, according to Gielgud, Evans definitely was the better actress, more versatile and generally warmer. And while the two performances they were nominated for this year can't really be compared, it's difficult not to agree with him anyway.

Cooper's performance probably isn't the least good among these nominees - but it's without a doubt the least interesting.

Agnes Moorehead is at least enjoyable in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, and her intelligence filters even through this kind of cliched role - but she had been so much better in the past; in this case, a nomination is all she deserves.

The Night of the Iguana is a good movie full of remarkable performances; and while today both Kerr and Gardner - despite their "star" status - would probably be promoted as supporting in order to desperately grab a nod, back then the Academy was subtle enough to select a TRUE supporting player from that movie - Grayson Hall. The role isn't big and the performance isn't showy, but the portrayal of this spinterish, lonely and probably frustrated teacher is quite well done, and there's a human side about the character that makes the homophobia behind it less evident and annoying especially today (roles of predatory lesbians - unfortunately not as well written and acted - became so common for about twenty years after this movie that Hall may be consider a kind of precursor).

I could never give any kind of awards to a movie like The Chalk Garden. The original play wanted to be Checkov and didn't succeed, but at least must have been, I guess, a pleasant way to spend a sunday afternoon; it was made into a vehicle for then-star Hayley Mills by - of all people - producer Ross Hunter, so you can imagine the result. Still, some of the actors do a good job, and I won't deny that Edith Evans finds unexpected depth and sympathy in a character which could have been played more superficially by a lesser actress.

But this was clearly, and rightly, Lila Kedrova's year. The role had been offered first to Simone Signoret, who flew all the way to Crete, tried it, and then gave up; any other middle-age actress was sent the script - including Ann Sothern, Stella Adler, Barbara Stanwyck - and they all refused. It's not difficult to understand why - the role is a delicate balance between pathos (and self-pity) and humor, a combination not easy for any actress - the self-mocking especially unconfortable for anyone who had been years before beautiful and a star. Cacoyannis was lucky enough to remember this eccentric Russian character actress who readily accepted the part. In Kedrova's hands, Madame Hortense is a personal triumph - and maybe it was her Eastern European origins which helped her to surrender herself to the character, to go completely and fearlessly with it; the result is funny, it is sad, it is ultimately hearbreaking. Like all unique performers, Kedrova wasn't easy to cast (though after the Oscar she made several movies, including a good Italian comedy directed by Franco Brusati called Tenderly) - but Zorba the Greek is the definitive proof of her talent.




Edited By ITALIANO on 1279034821
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Post by Damien »

One of the easiest years ever: Agnes Moorehead for her great, no-holds-barred, wildly funny and touching work in Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

Edith Evans is very good in The Chalk Garden, and I'm glad that Gladys Cooper received another nomination, though she didn't make too much of an impact as Mrs. Higgins. The other two hold no interest for me.

My Own Top 5:
1. Agnes Moorehead in Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte
2. Phyllis Thaxter in The World of Henry Orient
3. Angela Lansbury in The World of Henry Orient and Dear Heart
4. Lee Patrick in The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
5. Betty Bronson in The Naked Kiss
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Post by Reza »

I've never failed to be repulsed and moved by Lila Kedrova as the sad, pathetic prostitute in Zorba. My vote easily goes to her.

I love the scenes between Gladys Cooper and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Her constant put down of her son is hilarious. A great pity she was never awarded an Oscar and the Academy should be taken to task for overlooking so many greats for not even honoring them for their careers.

I have never understood the nomination for Grayson Hall.

Also not such a big fan of Agnes Moorehead in Charlotte although she has a certain camp value.

Dame Edith is very good in The Chalk Garden and it is, indeed, a surprise that the Oscar went to Kedrova when Cooper, Evans and Moorehead were so overdue for recognition for their long and very distinguished careers.

However, I'm happy that Kedrova won.

My top 5:

Lila Kedrova, Zorba the Greek
Dame Gladys Cooper, My Fair Lady
Dame Edith Evans, The Chalk Garden
Ann Sothern, The Best Man
Agnes Moorehead, Hush....Hush, Sweet Charlotte
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Post by Big Magilla »

This was an interesting race that pitted three former nominees, all with legendary careers, against two relative unknowns. The only question seemed to be which of the three would finally win.

Agnes Moorehead was probably the most popular at the time. She was co-starring in one of the biggest hit TV series of the day, Bewitched, and her film was probably freshest in the minds of voters. The production delays on Hush, Hush...Sweet Charlotte caused by Joan Crawford's alleged illness were so severe that they caused co-star Barbara Stanwyck to drop out in order to begin filming her TV series The Big Valley. She was replaced by Mary Astor.

Moorehead herself gave notice that if the film didn't start immediately she, too, would have to drop out. Thelma Ritter was put on standby but when Olivia de Havilland agreed to come on board to replace Crawford the film immediately got going.

Moorehad had a field day as the slovenly maid upstaging Bette Davis and de Havilland as well as her long ago Mercury Theatre co-star Joseph Cotten.

Gladys Cooper had been the British pin-up queen of World War I in a famous picture postcard in which she daintily raises her skirts above her ankles. A long time star of the London stage, W. Sommerset Maughm wrote The Letter for her.

Cooper's bit as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady hardly taxed her considerable talents. Her nomination was in all likelihood as much for having to give up The Chalk Garden as it was for her slight, if delightful, bit in the Oscar winning musical.

Cooper had won a Tony nomination for creating the part of the selfish grandmother in the Broadway version of The Chalk Garden but had to drop out of the film version due to overtime on My Fair Lady and a firm start date for her TV series, The Rogues.

Cooper's loss was Edith Evans' gain. Evans had played the part more recently than Cooper on the London stage and was more than happy to fill in for her in the film version. Though billed under the title, she easily stole the film from its three formidable stars - Deborah Kerr and Hayley and John Mills.

Lila Kedrova didn't exactly come out of nowhere. The Russian born actress had appeared in several French films, but Zorba the Greek was her first film in English. Though she's quite touching as Madame Hortense, the dying Greek prostitute, I personally think she was better in the revival of the 1968 musical version in 1983, for which she won a Tony.

I am not at all a fan of Grayson Hall's strident portrayal of the repressed lesbian tour director in The Night of the Iguana. With great performances in the film by Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner and Cyril Delevanti it's always puzzled me that she was the only one singled out for a nomination.

My choice for the fifth slot is Ann Sothern as the savvy Washington hostess in The Best Man. Ironically Southern was director Michael Cacoyannis' first choice for Madame Hortense in Zorba but her agent turned it down without consulting her.

My vote goes to Edith Evans.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1278994815
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