Review and Analysis of the 22nd Academy Awards

……………………………………………………..

Review and Analysis of the 22nd Academy Awards

The 22nd Academy Awards were a mixed bag of choices. The Academy nominated a couple of strong movies, but they did snub other great films that aren’t from the US. Most of the slates were subpar with only a few being stellar. It was clear which movie the Academy liked most this year, but that film is far from the best one in terms of quality and how it stood the test of time. Some of the technical and acting wins here were deserved, but others were quite head-scratching.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

The Best Picture slate for 1949 is pretty good, though nowhere near as strong as the previous year’s slate clearly was. Two war movies comprise this list, one political movie, a romantic drama and a psychological drama. Of these movie nominees, only two were genuinely great with the others ranging from serviceable to pretty good. Battleground is a very grounded and moving take on the war movie while Twelve O’Clock High was quite the opposite – it was stuffy and boring. All the King’s Men ended up winning, but this was mostly on the merits of its themes and plot instead of the quality of the film itself, which is only solid. It’s a well acted and important, but messy movie that shouldn’t have won, especially not when competing against the likes of the chilling and wonderfully made The Heiress and the heartwarming and charming A Letter to Three Wives. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST DIRECTOR

Yasujiro Ozu probably did the finest directorial job this year, but expectedly for the time a foreign director was snubbed. The resulting list isn’t particularly strong to be honest with a few exceptions. William Wyler’s work on The Heiress was rightfully recognized for instance whereas William A. Wellman’s work on Battleground was also superb. But it is interesting to note that this year a split between Best Picture and Best Director happened, which signifies that even the Academy honoring All the King’s Men for the top prize still wasn’t enough to give Robert Rossen the directing win because they knew that the movie had flaws in the backs of their minds. Joseph L. Mankiewicz ended up taking his first of two consecutive directing Oscars and it happened to such a great filmmaker. His work on A Letter to Three Wives is understated, but still masterful and highly effective.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST ACTOR

I haven’t seen all of the nominees in this slate, but of the ones that I’ve seen I have to say that the best person won. The fact that James Cagney wasn’t even nominated for one of his most signature roles is beyond me. Kirk Douglas got his first Oscar nom for his stellar turn in the boxing picture Champion. But the eventual winner turned out to be Broderick Crawford and he earned this win as he single-handedly carried All the King’s Men on his capable shoulders. He was perfectly cast and he delivered, so it’s difficult to argue with this decision.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST ACTRESS

The acting categories weren’t the greatest this year to be frank and this slate proves it. Jeane Crain was badly cast to play a black woman in Pinky as she was white, but even the performance itself is just fine. Similarly, Loretta Young’s turn in Come to the Stable was only serviceable, but the Academy for some reason really loved this performer, so they nominated her again. I am glad that they gave the second Oscar to Olivia de Havilland and this was the better of the two winning turns. She was fantastic, believable and compelling in The Heiress. On a side note, the superb performance from Setsuko Hara was obviously snubbed.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

This slate features solid, but far from remarkable roles for the most part. The winning performance was particularly forgettable. Dean Jagger was fine in Twelve O’Clock High, but hardly worthy of a freaking Oscar win. The only guy who was phenomenal here was Ralph Richardson, whose contribution to The Heiress shouldn’t be forgotten. He was marvelous and it’s so frustrating that he lost this one.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

This list contains two actresses from the same film. Yes, Ethel Barrymore was reliably excellent and charismatic in the drama Pinky while Ethel Waters was so lovely and endearing as Dicey Johnson. To make matters more fascinating, we’ve also got an additional pair of actresses from the same movie as Elsa Lanchester and Celeste Holm were both nominated for their pretty strong work in Come to the Stable. Mercedes McCambridge, however, ended up taking this one due to a strong swell of support for All the King’s Men. She was fine, but far from remarkable in my eyes.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST SCREENPLAY

A Letter to Three Wives took this one and it couldn’t have happened to a nice movie. It’s a romantic melodrama that ended on such an uplifting and heartwarming note despite all odds. It’s a movie that is timeless in quality and just immensely enjoyable throughout. It’s interesting the the Best Picture winner lost this one.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST STORY AND SCREENPLAY

Battleground deserved to win this odd award, especially in such a lackluster slate of nominees. This war movie has a surprisingly grounded, realistic screenplay and it’s particularly well written in dialogue.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST MOTION PICTURE STORY

I haven’t seen the winning movie here, but it’s crazy that White Heat lost this one. But that movie was mostly snubbed this year, which is insane to me.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

1949 was an excellent year for animated shorts. The Tom and Jerry series and the Warner Bros. cartoons both excelled during this period. The Academy did snub some of the best entries from both of these series, but at least they nominated a couple of standout shorts and the right movie ended up winning the award. The slate also included a Donald Duck short and a unique Columbia entry, leading to a pleasantly diverse slate. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST SCORING OF A DRAMATIC OR COMEDY PICTURE

The Heiress is a very intense, wonderfully scored movie. The score only further added to that intensity. It’s terrific, so I am glad that it won. The other nominees were much weaker in this instance.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST SCORING OF A MUSICAL PICTURE

On the Town is one of the most purely entertaining and enjoyable movies of this year. It’s a fun and energetic musical, so this win seems pretty reasonable to me.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is such a charming song. I haven’t seen the movie this song is from yet, but the number is perfectly endearing, romantic and just fun. The other songs were quite inferior to it, so this choice was another strong one for the Academy.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST SOUND RECORDING

This slate is very weak. The winning movie was Twelve O’Clock High. This film sounds strong, but none of these movies blew me away with their sound, so I am not particularly thrilled with this choice.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST ART DIRECTION, BLACK-AND-WHITE

The Heiress looked so strong with phenomenal production design among other aspects, so this win was the only worthy choice of the nominees.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST ART DIRECTION, COLOR

I have yet to say this version of Little Women, so I cannot comment whether this win was deserved or not. This entire slate is filled with lesser-known pictures.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BLACK-AND-WHITE

I am so glad that they give this award to Battleground. The Heiress could have easily won too, but Battleground has a very realistic, grounded look to it with the snowy landscapes making it quite memorable and cinematic.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, COLOR

The cinematography in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was done in Technicolor and the cinematographer Winton C. Hoch was rightfully bestowed with an Academy Award for his terrific work here. It’s such a pretty-looking picture.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST COSTUME DESIGN, BLACK-AND-WHITE

The Heiress won this one too and it was another excellent win. This movie is so great and I am glad that it dominated in these technical awards, but I wished that it won in some bigger categories too.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST COSTUME DESIGN, COLOR

I have yet to see the winning movie here, so I cannot say if this win was at all deserved. This was another odd slate of films that aren’t well known at all today.

……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………..

BEST FILM EDITING

Champion is very well edited. It has its issues, but editing is not one of them. Boxing movies usually do well here and this was no exception. It’s a solid choice by the Academy.

……………………………………………………..

 

……………………………………………………..

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

Mighty Joe Young is pretty much a King Kong rip-off, but a charming and solid one at that. It’s the only movie that had any big effects this year and they looked pretty good, so this was the only obvious choice in this instance.

 

Overall, this was a solid, but not great year for the Academy. They snubbed some great foreign fare while the overall slates ranged from solid to downright odd and weak. Some of the technical and acting wins were deserved, but most often the choices for the win weren’t the best ones possible.