The Tough Choice: Best Supporting Actress, 1945

The most difficult category of the year, because it truly is a murderer's row. Three of these actresses were nominated for their first and only time: Eve Arden, who went on to fame and fortune on television; and teenage actresses Ann Blyth and Joan Lorring, both playing "bad girls" in different degrees and accents. The other two were returning nominees. Angela Lansbury had just made her film debut the year before and already found herself a two-time nominee. Anne Revere had been nominated for The Song of Bernadette two years prior, but it was her role as the mother in National Velvet that won her the Academy Award:

She was nominated again for Gentleman's Agreement two years later, but the Red Scare effectively blacklisted her for twenty years. What a stupid time. Anyway, here are the nominees for 1945's Best Supporting Actress:

Eve Arden, Mildred Pierce

Ann Blyth, Mildred Pierce

Angela Lansbury, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Joan Lorring, The Corn is Green

Anne Revere, National Velvet

In Mildred Pierce, Eve Arden is the wisecracking friend and co-worker, while Ann Blyth is the traitorous, ungrateful daughter. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Angela Lansbury is the saloon singer who maintains her innocence and, disastrously, falls in love with the titular heel. In The Corn is Green, Joan Lorring is the uncouth daughter of a schoolteacher's housekeeper who presents a challenge for the household and its hopes for the young Welshman they hope to make a writer of. And Revere is Momma to Liz Taylor.

My rankings, from fifth to first:

The Sure Thing: Best Actor, 1945

If you were paying attention and betting against Ray Milland for 1945's Best Actor Oscar, you deserved to lose your money. 

The versatile Canadian actor had done light comedy, musicals, horror, spy thrillers - and that was just his 1944 slate!  With Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend, he took on the role of a writer who spends his days and nights getting boozed up, and when he isn't, he's scheming how to score the next drink. Not exactly the most commercial of plotlines, Paramount had insisted Wilder cast the reliable Milland to at least guarantee some butts in seats. From its first screenings in London, the seats were filled and the critical praise effusive; by the time it reached the United States, trade columns were already calling him the favorite for the Academy Award. And the year seemed to bear that out, as he won plaudits from the New York Critics, the National Board of Review, and the Hollywood Foreign Press. And yes, eventually, finally, the Oscar itself:

That wasn't even the end of his run, by the way. Six months later, The Lost Weekend was one of 44 films selected to compete at the 1st Cannes Film Festival. Not only was the film one of 11 to share the Grand Prix (this was before Palme d'Or), but Milland was named Best Actor - and didn't have to share at all.

But back to matters Oscar. These were the nominees for Best Actor:

Bing Crosby, The Bells of St. Mary's

Gene Kelly, Anchors Aweigh

Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend

Gregory Peck, The Keys of the Kingdom

Cornel Wilde, A Song to Remember

Bing Crosby was back in his Oscar-winning role of Father O'Malley in The Bells of St. Mary's, which, like its predecessor, was the highest-grossing film of the year. Gene Kelly made a surprise splash, and his only nomination, for Anchors Aweigh, a musical comedy about horny Navy men getting domesticated. There's Milland. Gregory Peck was only 28 when he played the Catholic missionary priest in The Keys of the Kingdom, which takes place over 50 years. And, finally, because Oscar law states someone has to be nominated for a biopic, there's Cornel Wilde as Chopin in A Song to Remember.

My rankings, from fifth to first:

Joan Gets Hers: Best Actress, 1945

Joan Crawford did not show up to collect her Academy Award in person. 

By 1945, Crawford had been in the industry for 20 years. She'd been a critical and box office darling since 1928's Our Dancing Daughters, was one of the "all-stars" in the 1931-32 Best Picture winner Grand Hotel, and was even dubbed Queen of the Movies by Life in 1937. But, as happens, her star waned, especially when she was listed among other notables as being "box office poison" in a Hollywood Reporter ad taken out by an independent exhibitor. Oh, she worked, yes, but to increasingly dismal results, and she parted ways with longtime home studio MGM. 

At Warner Bros., she begged Michael Curtiz for the lead role in Mildred Pierce, about a working woman who sweats and slaves to provide her children with perhaps more than they can afford, and who is rewarded with a booming business...and an ungrateful daughter and a scheming new husband. He wanted Barbara Stanwyck, and forced Crawford to audition. Which she did. And won the part. And the movie was a hit. And now, for the first time ever, she was nominated for an Academy Award.

But she did not show up. Blame those first-time jitters, perhaps, but Crawford begged off from appearing, claiming illness. Still, she had the show playing on the radio, and when she heard she won, she jumped into action. By the time the morning papers came out, there she was: in her sickbed, full face of makeup, clutching her Academy Award for the suddenly summoned photographers.

She had to face off against another first-timer and three previous winners. The nominees being:

Ingrid Bergman, The Bells of St. Mary's

Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce

Greer Garson, The Valley of Decision

Jennifer Jones, Love Letters

Gene Tierney, Leave Her to Heaven

Ingrid Bergman had just won last year, and here she was playing the leading lady in the sequel to last year's Best Picture winner, Going My Way: she plays a nun who occasionally butts heads with Bing Crosby's Father O'Malley. Greer Garson was nominated last year, too, and here she was for the fifth time in a row, having won once for 1942's Mrs. Miniver: she plays the daughter of an embittered former worker who works for, and falls in love with the son of, the man her father worked for and hates. Jennifer Jones was nominated for Supporting Actress last year, but this was her third nomination in a row, having won for 1943's The Song of Bernadette (she came back the next year, too): she plays an amnesiac who may have murdered her husband. Gene Tierney is the only nominee who got a one-and-done, but it's worth noting that her role in Leave Her to Heaven came about due to the success of last year's Laura, in which she played Laura: here she plays a woman so obsessed with her husband, she tries to isolate him by any means necessary.

My ranking, from fifth to first.

The Comeback: Best Supporting Actor, 1945

These are your nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the 18th Academy Awards:

Michael Chekhov, Spellbound

John Dall, The Corn is Green

James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Robert Mitchum, Story of GI Joe

J. Carrol Naish, A Medal for Benny

Let's go through them one by one.

Michael Chekhov was a Russian actor and director who studied under the legendary acting teacher Stanislavski; he was also the nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov. As an acting teacher, his work influenced Marilyn Monroe, Elia Kazan, Yul Brynner, Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, and more. Spellbound was his fourth Hollywood film, having come to America when "tensions" broke out in Europe. He plays Dr. Alexander Brulov, an old mentor of Ingrid Bergman’s heroine, who provides a safe haven and professional advice to help her.

John Dall was a young American stage actor who starred in both the touring and Broadway productions of The Eve of St. Mark, a performance that earned him a screen test with Warner Bros, which led to his film debut, The Corn is Green. He plays Morgan Evans, a young Welsh miner who seems consigned to a life of work and drink until he starts taking classes with the new schoolteacher Miss Moffat, who sees in him a preternatural gift for writing.

James Dunn was a born-and-bred Manhattanite who, as a child, cut classes to go to the movies; as an adult, he joined theatrical troupes and eventually landed the lead in Sweet Adeline on Broadway, which led to his contract with Fox. He made his debut as the leading man in Frank Borzage's Bad Girl, which was nominated for Best Picture and won Best Director and Best Adaptation. Despite this and a trio of hits with Shirley Temple, his star waned as he sank deeper into alcoholism. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was his comeback film, playing the loving patriarch of an impoverished family, a struggling actor who drinks too much. He won the Academy Award.

A boxer, a steelworker, a writer, a lyricist, and an actor, Robert Mitchum had already established himself with 25 films between 1943 and 1944, including Cry 'Havoc' (uncredited), When Strangers Marry (as Bob), and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Loaned by RKO to Lester Cowan, he was cast as Captain Bill Walker, a character inspired by Captain Henry T. Waskow, the subject of one of war correspondent Ernie Pyle’s more famous columns. It and many others were adapted to make up the  Story of GI Joe.

J. Carrol Naish was the definition of a character actor. Despite his purely Irish heritage, his dark, swarthy looks saw him cast as every ethnicity except Irish - Italians, Mexicans, Native Americans, Chinese, Arabs - which he portrayed in supporting parts and cameos, credited and uncredited, in a prolific career that spanned over 40 years and over 128 films! In A Medal for Benny, he plays a Paisano - "of mixed Indian and Spanish Blood" - whose ne'erdowell son is awarded a posthumous medal of bravery.

My ranking of these nominees, from fifth to first:

The Last of It: 1945, Part Nine

November and December 1945. By the end of the year, the Nuremberg Trials begin, revolution breaks out in Indonesia, and 51 nations join the United Nations. The year began with a world at war and ended with a world determined to find peace, even as some nations were still struggling to establish their independence from colonial rule (not just Indonesia; India was also trying to get the Brits out, while civil war continued in China).

Hollywood-wise, the heavy-hitters at the Oscars all came from the last two months of the year. Deliberately saved 'til the last minute by the studios, or just recency bias from weary voters momentarily looking up from post-War news? Whatever the reason, eleven of the twelve following films wound up nominated for Academy Awards:

Strike!: 1945, Part Eight

October 1945. Now that the war's officially over, there's some tidying up to do. Remaining Japanese troops in Taiwan surrender, the Nazi Party is officially dissolved, and 29 countries come together to establish the United Nations, making Woodrow Wilson's dream a reality; throughout the year, more will join. 

In Hollywood, a six-month strike by the Set Decorators' union came to a head as a fight broke out between scabs, police, Warner Bros. security, and 300 strikers. The fallout contributed to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1946, limiting the power of labor unions, and the slow dissolution of the Conference of Studio Unions, which spearheaded the strike.

Though the strike caused delays on films like Duel in the Sun, for the most part, studios had a backlog of films to release. The month Hollywood Black Friday occurred, here's what the output looked like:

Bangers, All: 1945, Part Seven

August and September 1945. This is the end of the War. In August, the atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Emperor Hirohito steps down in acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. That same month, the British government is lobbied by the Zionist World Congress regarding the creation of Israel, while in Vietnam, the Viet Minh takes over Hanoi, sparking the August Revolution. The French are driven to the South by September, dividing the country in two. September also sees this happening in Korea, where in the North, the Soviets begin trumpeting Kim Il Sung as a war hero, while in the South, an American Military Government is established. The stage is now set for the next century of conflicts. War, it never ends...

Stateside at the movies, meanwhile...: 

Wives and Lovers: 1945, Part Six

July 1945. Berlin is divided between East and West, a situation that will remain in place until 1990. The Philippines are officially liberated. The Japanese begin peace negotiations, and the Potsdam Conference avers that there will be no negotiations, but rather unconditional surrender. And the first atomic bomb is successfully tested in New Mexico, ushering in the atomic age.

And at the cinemas, we were celebrating Christmas in July:

Good and Bad Propaganda: 1945, Part Five

May and June 1945. The War in Europe is over. The enemies have surrendered, high-ranking Nazi officials have killed themselves, prisoners are taken...some, like the rocket scientists, are adopted, their skills being of use to the Allies. But the War in the Pacific is still going, though by June 21, the US scores a victory at Okinawa. It will take some time before the production of war films slows down, and they'll never really go away, not for this war. Still, you can sense that Hollywood saw the end was near, for even considering when things must have filmed before their release dates, only five of the thirteen films below deal with the war, even ephemerally...

Death of a Dictator: 1945, Part Four

April 1945. The Battle of Okinawa begins. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, and Harry S. Truman becomes President of the United States. Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen are liberated. Mussolini and his intimates are publicly executed. Hitler privately commits suicide in his bunker. That's one month: April 1st, Battle of Okinawa; April 30th, Hitler's suicide. 

And in this single month with all this history...here are the movies we got:

A Director's Debut: 1945, Part Three

February and March 1945. Overseas, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin meet for the Yalta Conference, where they plot not just peace but how to carve up the world to best satisfy their respective empires once the war ends. On his return, Roosevelt addresses Congress for what will be his last time. The Battle of Iwo Jima rages across five weeks, while the Battle of Manila lasts exactly one month and ends in liberation for the Philippines' capital. Secret negotiations between the SS and the CIA for the surrender of Axis areas begin. Tokyo is devastated in a two-day bombing raid that kills 100,000 citizens, the most destructive air attack of the War.

And back in Hollywood? Well, in March, the 17th Academy Awards are held, resulting in Going My Way winning Best Picture (and more, as you know). March also saw the feature film debut of Elia Kazan.

Kazan was no stranger to Hollywood, he already had at least two films under his belt, including Blues in the Night...but as an actor. That's what he studied at Yale, and that's what he pursued when he joined the Group Theatre in 1932 - he continued in that vocation even as he began his career as a stage director. After appearing in the film Blues in the Night in 1941, he directed the legendary original production of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, starring Tallulah Bankhead and Fredric March. So, he becomes a greater director than actor, and takes the Hollywood job that still keeps him close to the spirit of New York, even if it's filmed on the Fox soundstages: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. His first film, and it wins an Oscar. But we'll get into that later this month.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn came out amid a Disney anthology, a "prestige horror" production, and Universal programmers for Abbott & Costello and Holmes & Watson. See for yourself:

The Horse and His Girl: 1945, Part Two

January 1945. Seven months after Allied forces land on the beaches of Normandy, the War continues, but the end is nigh. The Nazis are running. France hasn't been overrun by the Vichy collaborators since the previous August. MacArthur's returned to the Phillippines. And halfway through the month, Hitler's in the bunker.

And Hollywood? The entertainment continued, as did the war films, as did the not-war-but-totally-wink-wink-The War films. As you can see:

The Burn-Off: 1945, Part One

These are films that qualified for the 1945 Academy Awards but for which I could only find 1944 release dates. Nine in all - consider this our last hurrah for '44 and our first bit of '45:

Right After That: 1945, An Intro

Our look at film years wherein Alfred Hitchcock was Oscar-nominated for Best Director continues with 1945. Just last week, we wrapped up 1944, a year in which Hitchcock lost to Leo McCarey for Going My Way, a juggernaut that took home seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. 

The 1944 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part Two

With my Top Ten decided, and Part One already posted, it's time to put 1944 to bed. Here are my winners and nominees for the 1944 Retro Hollmann Awards:

The 1944 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part One

With my Top Ten decided, it's time to put 1944 to bed. Here are my winners and nominees for the 1944 Retro Hollmann Awards: