The Winners - 1941 Retro Hollmann Awards

As the title says. Check out the Top Ten for more on my favorites of the year; look at the nominees to see the full...nominees.

We begin with an overture. Well, not really an overture, it's still an award, but we still begin with instrumentals to set the mood. Here is Best Score in order from #5 to the winner, setting the mood for the night ahead:

Best Score

5. That Night in Rio

Alfred Newman / David Buttolph / Harry Warren

4. Citizen Kane

Bernard Herrmann

3. Blood and Sand

Alfred Newman / David Buttolph / Vicente Gómez

2. All That Money Can Buy

Bernard Herrmann

1. The Wolf Man

Charles Previn / Hans J. Salter / Frank Skinner

And on with the show:

The 1941 Retro Hollmann Awards Nominees

After 82 films and my Top Ten, here are my nominees for the 1941 Retro Hollmann Awards - 34 films across 18 categories:

My Top Ten of 1941

I watched 82 movies for 1941:

All That Money Can Buy

All-American Co-Ed

Aloma of the South Seas

Appointment for Love

Back Street

Ball of Fire

The Big Store

Billy the Kid

Birth of the Blues

Blood and Sand

Blossoms in the Dust

Blues in the Night

Buck Privates

Cheers for Miss Bishop

The Chocolate Soldier

Citizen Kane

The Devil and Miss Jones

The Devil Pays Off

Dive Bomber

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Dumbo

Fantasia

The Flame of New Orleans

Flight Command

The Great Lie

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

High Sierra

Hold Back the Dawn

Hold That Ghost

How Green Was My Valley

Hudson's Bay

I Wanted Wings

Ice-Capades

The Invisible Woman

King of the Zombies

Ladies in Retirement

Lady Be Good

The Lady Eve

Las Vegas Nights

The Little Foxes

Louisiana Purchase

Lydia

Major Barbara

The Maltese Falcon

Man Hunt

Meet John Doe

The Men in Her Life

Mercy Island

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Moon Over Miami

Night Train to Munich

One Foot in Heaven

Penny Serenade

Pépé le Moko

The Reluctant Dragon

Ridin' on a Rainbow

The Sea Wolf

Sergeant York

Shadow of the Thin Man

Sis Hopkins

Skylark

Smilin' Through

So Ends Our Night

The Son of Monte Cristo

The Strawberry Blonde

Sun Valley Serenade

Sundown

Sunny

Suspicion

Swamp Water

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Tanks a Million

That Hamilton Woman

That Night in Rio

That Uncertain Feeling

This Woman is Mine

Tobacco Road

Topper Returns

When Ladies Meet

The Wolf Man

A Yank in the R.A.F.

You'll Never Get Rich

And now I finally give you a Top Ten. A hat tip to the movies that almost made this list: Blues in the Night, Dumbo, Fantasia, Major Barbara, and my #11, That Hamilton Woman.

In alphabetical order:

Oscars 1941: Best Director

Today, we look at Best Director of 1941, which John Ford won, accomplishing two rare feats: the three-time Oscar winner and the back-to-back Oscar winner:

Ford was not the first to pull off three: Frank Capra was when he won in 1938 for You Can't Take It with You, following his triumphs for It Happened One Night and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. He was, however, the first to get two of them back to back, a feat only accomplished by two other filmmakers: Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Ford of course deserved the Oscar for The Grapes of Wrath and The Informer - but what of How Green Was My Valley? My thoughts:

Oscars 1941: Best Actress

Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were sisters. They were also rivals. Things didn't get as bad as Cain and Abel, but they were notoriously prickly about each other, and by the time De Havilland won her first Oscar for 1946's To Each His Own, they were barely on speaking terms. Fontaine frequently blamed jealousy, especially since the two were nominated against each other in 1941, each for their second nomination...and Joan won:

Apparently, Olivia was less offended by that and more offended by an insulting (but pretty funny) remark Fontaine made about her sister's new husband ("He's had four wives and written one book. Too bad it isn't the other way around."). And one doubts Olivia could have been too shocked by her sister winning: Joan had just starred in the previous year's Best Picture winner and she had won the New York Film Critics' Circle prize. 

But then, who knows? Maybe De Havilland was rooting for Bette Davis or even someone else. It is, after all, a lineup full of rich performances:

Oscars 1941: Best Actor

Gary Cooper was the star of the biggest hit of the year, a heartthrob and a serious actor who had headlined the first Best Picture winner and many nominees in that category since. A previous nominee, is it any surprise that it was he who took home the prize?

Not really. But I do feel...well, let's talk.

Oscars 1941: Best Supporting Actor

The Supporting Acting categories began in 1936, making this the sixth ceremony to award them. This was also only the third time someone other than Walter Brennan won - in this case, Donald Crisp for How Green Was My Valley:

Two things you undoubtedly noticed. Both Crisp and presenter James Stewart are in their military uniforms - the War had finally come to the United States, and Hollywood stars were doing their part same as any American citizen (except John Wayne). The other thing: Crisp is holding a plaque with a miniature Oscar as part of it. Yes, though good enough for an award, the character actors nominated in Supporting did not initially receive Oscar statuettes, but rather this more cradleable honor. It wasn’t until two years later, at the ceremony honoring the films of 1943, that the Academy would put everyone on an equal winning field.

These were the performers competing for the plaque: