Review and Analysis of the 17th Academy Awards

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Review and Analysis of the 17th Academy Awards

The 17^th Academy Awards were a mess. The year itself wasn’t amazing and at least the Academy nominated a couple of the year’s best films, but many of the winners ended up being bad choices that feel especially dated now. There is a big number of films on these slates that did not age like fine wine, let’s just say that. But in some categories, the right people and movies won, so overall it’s more of a mixed bag than a misfire.

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OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

Going My Way is your standard musical of the time, but it’s not among the best that the genre has to offer. In fact, this is one of those Best Picture winners that are difficult to not like and are quite appealing, but are lacking in true artistry or greatness. Double Indemnity aged infinitely better and it is, in fact, one of the best noirs of all time, the greatest one in my personal assessment. This constitutes one of the worst mistakes in Oscar history. Gaslight would have also been a worthy winner, but Since You Went Away and Wilson had no business being here. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST DIRECTOR

Leo McCarey is a great director. He deserved his Oscar win back in 1937 for ‘The Awful Truth’. However, in this case the win here is beyond questionable. It is downright insulting that the director of the schmaltzy Going My Way won over the likes of Otto Preminger, who directed Laura with so much style, and obviously Billy Wilder. Double Indemnity is his career-best work, which says a lot given his caliber, so the fact that he lost here represented one of the worst choices by the Academy of all time. Thankfully, he would win the very next year. Other nominees included Alfred Hitchcock for his strong work on Lifeboat and Henry King for his mediocre work on Wilson. Gaslight was nominated for Best Picture, but somehow George Cukor was snubbed in the director category, which was unfortunate.

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BEST ACTOR

Bing Crosby is one of the rare music men who got this coveted acting award, which made sense to have happened as he was a huge name back in the forties. He’s a fine actor in his own right and he did deliver a solid performance in his charming, but inconsequential flick, but others would have been more deserving of a win here. Alexander Knox was actually terrific in Wilson while Cary Grant was stupendous in an atypically dramatic role in None but the Lonely Heart. Another standout was Charles Boyer, who delivered one hell of a villainous turn in Gaslight. My personal choice would have to be Fred MacMurray, who delivered his career-best turn in Double Indemnity. The fact that he wasn’t even nominated is insane to me.

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BEST ACTRESS

This was another absolutely incredible slate during this decade when actresses truly had some brilliant roles. Ingrid Bergman ended up winning her first Oscar and it was very much deserved. She’s a timeless star and in Gaslight she was gorgeous, but also vulnerable and very sympathetic. This choice unfortunately meant that Barbara Stanwyck once again lost, which was a real shame. She would probably be my choice for this year as she had by far her greatest role in Double Indemnity and she truly is the quintessential femme fatale. The other nominees were also wonderful: Claudette Colbert and Greer Garson were both great in otherwise mediocre movies while Bette Davis killed it in one of her most underappreciated and lesser known roles in the fascinating Mr. Skeffington.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

I actually don’t have any problems with Barry Fitzgerald getting this one for his wonderful turn as Going My Way’s Father. He was quite charming in the role. My issue lies more with him being somehow nominated in both male acting categories, which was ridiculous and it thankfully will never happen again. Of the other nominees, Claude Rains was the best one as he was his usual great self in Mr. Skeffington, but overall this wasn’t a particularly strong slate.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Ethel Barrymore won this year for her performance in the strange and uneven None but the Lonely Heart. She was great and I have no problems with her winning here, but my personal choice would have to be Angela Lansbury for her star-making turn in Gaslight. She was delightful and immensely charismatic there.

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

All three of the screenplay categories this year were a giant mess. Wilson ended up winning here, which was an atrocious choice given that it’s your regular, forgettable biopic that has strong dialogue, but that’s all there is to it.

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BEST SCREENPLAY

This is basically the adapted screenplay category and obviously what the Academy did here constitutes as among the worst atrocities committed this particular year. Going My Way is a charming little musical, but its story is your typical fluff piece that had no business winning an Oscar, especially when it was competing against the likes of the sophisticated Laura, the wonderfully crafted Gaslight and the masterfully written and intricate Double Indemnity.

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BEST ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE STORY

How could have Going My Way won two screenplay Oscars? This is a very confusing occurrence within an already befuddling handling of these awards during this period. I’ve only seen Lifeboat of the nominees, so I cannot really judge who should have won this odd category.

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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Fighting Lady became the second winning film in this category. It’s another WWII documentary. It is actually stupendously shot and quite strong in its craftsmanship, but its excessive patriotism made it quite dated.

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BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

1944 was a great year for animation, but for their slate, the Academy unfortunately did not choose wisely, resulting in a so-so list. The Looney Tunes entry that they nominated was weak while most of the others were uninspired flicks from different studios. Thankfully, the winning movie is a renowned classic. ‘Mouse Trouble’ is one of the greatest Tom and Jerry shorts and it is only fitting that it was honored like this. It’s a shame that they failed to nominate other great works from other series from this calendar year. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST SCORING OF A DRAMATIC OR COMEDY PICTURE

Since You Went Away took this one, which truly was an atrocious choice. It is troubling that the Academy chose this forgettable score over Miklos Rozsa’s masterful and moody score that is timeless.

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BEST SCORING OF A MUSICAL PICTURE

This slate was huge, but only a couple of movies there are known at any capacity. That also goes for the winning picture, which I haven’t seen myself, thus this entire category is puzzling to me.

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BEST ORIGINAL SONG

In a weak year for this category, Swinging on a Star from Going My Way easily won and I have no qualms about that. It’s a great song that is immensely endearing and just so much fun. It’s actually the best part of that movie and it was great that it won.

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BEST SOUND RECORDING

This was a very obvious choice from the Academy as Wilson is a very loud movie as it has many songs in particular. But if you look at sound alone and how evocative it is there, Double Indemnity should have won in this category as well.

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BEST ART DIRECTION, BLACK-AND-WHITE

Gaslight made the most out of its location and meticulously crafted details, including the titular objects and the overall house looked splendid. Thus, it was the deserved winner here. Of the other nominees, Laura was clearly the best-looking one.

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BEST ART DIRECTION, COLOR

Color movies were not in abundance this year, so Wilson easily ended up taking this one. It’s a solid choice, but again it had no real competition here, so I cannot really praise it for winning, now can I?

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BLACK-AND-WHITE

Unlike the color slate, the black-and-white category was infinitely better. In fact, I personally would have a tough job deciding what movie exactly to honor here. Laura ended up winning and I have no problems with that as it’s an exceptionally looking picture that is immensely atmospheric and one of the best noirs out there. But I could see a strong argument for Gaslight of course, which was just gorgeous, and Double Indemnity, which of course is very polished. I could even see the case for Lifeboat, which makes the most out of its simple setting.

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, COLOR

Wilson looks fine, but its cinematography is far from cinematic or artistic in any way. It won this year because it was a clear favorite from the Academy and there were no other truly memorable color pictures in this very weak slate.

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BEST FILM EDITING

How do you give a two and half hour movie a win for editing? This baffles my mind. Now, Wilson honestly wasn’t as boring as I’d thought it would be, but still in a year of deftly edited and paced Double Indemnity, this choice fares even worse.

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BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

This year wasn’t really known for VFX-heavy spectacles. It has no memorable fantasy or horror or SF movies to speak of. That resulted in this slate that was heavily populated by war dramas and period pieces. I haven’t seen the winning movie here, but the entire list was not great.

 

Overall, this was a problematic year for the Oscars. Some of the winners were deserving, especially a couple of acting choices, but many decisions are still head-scratchers, especially those big ones for Best Picture and Best Director. Double Indemnity not winning anything will forever taint this Oscar year.