The Verdict -- Best Supporting Actress 1949

#5. Elsa Lanchester in Come to the Stable: I don't think any actress could have done much with the role of Amelia Potts, though few could have made her as weird and outlandish as Elsa Lanchester. Even though the part is nothing to write home about, I can't help feeling that Lanchester could have made her character a little less strange and more understandable. Well, at least the actress appeared to be having fun with this performance.

#4. Ethel Barrymore in Pinky:  If anything, Ethel Barrymore felt very comfortable in this role, playing a type that fit her well. Perhaps that is why she never decides to take her performance to another level, instead playing her role firmly but lacking in further depth or introspection. She's not by any means awful, but instead just solid in her characterization. Miss Em is crusty, rude, and just a little bit saucy and Barrymore never tries her hand at going past those parts. A solid supporting turn that didn't need the awards recognition.

#3. Celeste Holm in Come to the Stable: I have to admit that Celeste Holm's performance is by no means all that much better than Ethel Barrymore's, but the fact that I enjoyed Holm's weirdness gave her a slight edge. She's everything the slim role calls for--happy, adorable, and wields a perfectly respectable French accent to make her character as much of a joy as she's meant to be. Simply put, this is not Oscar level material Holm was given, so she doesn't get a chance to do anything with it. But man does she play a mean game of tennis.

#2. Mercedes McCambridge in All the King's Men: Without a doubt the most emotionally complex role of the bunch, and I can see why this performance would strike enough people's fancy that she would get the win, but McCambridge doesn't quite rise to the occasion for me, and instead finds herself trapped in a film that doesn't know what to do with her. Her performance has a very strong beginning, a weak middle (in part thanks to her lack of significant screentime with Broderick Crawford), and an nonexistent end. We don't see a strong character growth as the film progresses, and I wish we had one or two more scenes to flesh Sadie out further. Uneven work.

#1. Ethel Waters in Pinky: I had an easy choice in this very weak year for the Supporting Actress category, with Ethel Waters's soulful work as Dicey Johnson coming out victorious. She leaves a strong emotional impact that lasts much longer than I'd expected. Dicey Johnson is by no means a great character, but it's the simplicity and natural acting style of Waters that makes this a great performance, even if it lacks weight. Even though she's my weakest winner yet, there is still a lot to take from her performance and I'm pleased that she is my winner.

The Year in Review: This was such a weak, dismal year to review. I'm not a huge fan of any of the films, even if I found something to like in each of them. Ethel Waters was an easy choice, though I certainly understand those who enjoy McCambridge's work. Poor Mercedes couldn't quite catch a break with me, as both of her nominated performances did not perform well. Sorry, Mercedes! I can't imagine anybody truly loving the ladies of Come to the Stable, but I'm sure Ethel B. has her fans. This next year will be my 10th, which makes me realize how slow these have been coming along. As always, I'm hoping to pick up the pace but I'm suppose I'm pretty content with my slowness.

All Supporting Actress Nominees Ranking:

1. Patty Duke in "The Miracle Worker" (1962)
2. Dorothy Malone in "Written on the Wind" (1956)
3. Thelma Ritter in "Pickup on South Street" (1953)
4. Linda Hunt in "The Year of Living Dangerously" (1983)
5. Anna Paquin in "The Piano" (1993)
6. Cher in "Silkwood" (1983)
7. Eileen Heckart in "The Bad Seed" (1956)
8. Emma Thompson in "In the Name of the Father" (1993)
9. Julianne Moore in "Boogie Nights" (1997) 
10. Ellen Burstyn in "The Last Picture Show" (1971)
11. Patty McCormack in "The Bad Seed" (1956)
12. Claire Trevor in "Dead End" (1937)
13. May Whitty in "Night Must Fall" (1937)
14. Mildred Dunnock in "Baby Doll" (1956)
15. Angela Lansbury in "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962)
16. Ethel Waters in "Pinky" (1949)
17. Gloria Stuart in "Titanic" (1997)
18. Alfre Woodard in "Cross Creek" (1983)
19. Barbara Harris in "Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?" (1971)
20. Geraldine Page in "Hondo" (1953)
    
21. Anne Shirley in "Stella Dallas" (1937)
22. Amy Irving in "Yentl" (1983)
23. Kim Basinger in "L.A. Confidential" (1997)
24. Shirley Knight in "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962)
25. Cloris Leachman in "The Last Picture Show" (1971)
26. Margaret Leighton in "The Go-Between" (1971)
    
27. Rosie Perez in "Fearless" (1993)
28. Mercedes McCambridge in "All the King's Men" (1949)
29. Joan Cusack in "In & Out" (1997)
30. Ann-Margret in "Carnal Knowledge" (1971)
31. Donna Reed in "From Here to Eternity" (1953)
32. Glenn Close in "The Big Chill" (1983)
33. Alice Brady in "In Old Chicago" (1937)
34. Mary Badham in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962)
    
35. Holly Hunter in "The Firm" (1993)
36. Celeste Holm in "Come to the Stable" (1949)
37. Ethel Barrymore in "Pinky" (1949)
38. Minnie Driver in "Good Will Hunting" (1997)
39. Thelma Ritter in "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962)
    
40. Winona Ryder in "The Age of Innocence" (1993)
41. Grace Kelly in "Mogambo" (1953)
42. Mercedes McCambridge in "Giant" (1956)
43. Marjorie Rambeau in "Torch Song" (1953) 
44. Elsa Lanchester in "Come to the Stable" (1949)
45. Andrea Leeds in  "Stage Door" (1937)

Ethel Barrymore in Pinky

Ethel Barrymore received her fourth and final Oscar nomination for her performance as Miss Em in Elia Kazan's Pinky. This is such a strange movie in a lot of ways, but it also becomes very mundane and uninspiring by the time the credits roll. The film stars Jeanne Crain as Pinky, a light-skinned African-American woman who returns home after pretending to be a white woman in the big city and finds herself mixed up in some legal matters when Miss Em (Barrymore), a wealthy neighbor leaves her home to Pinky upon her death. The film almost collapses under the awfulness of Crain's performance (and the fact that she's white!), but manages to be a least mildly entertaining in an baity sort of way. Ethel Barrymore's performance is in many ways the centerpiece to the film as it is Miss Em's actions that dictate the plot, and she has a huge significance to Pinky and her mother, Ethel Water's Dicey Johnson.

I'm not at all familiar with Ethel Barrymore but just as with May Whitty in 1937 I imagine Miss Em is the type of character she plays frequently, so much so that by 1949 she could give a performance like this one without breaking a sweat. Miss Em is an affluent Southern woman living in huge mansion where Pinky's mother, Dicey has been taking care of her for very little pay for months. The two have developed a strong friendship through mutual hard times, though Pinky still resents Miss Em for being cruel to her when she was a young girl. Pinky is forced by her mother to become Miss Em's nurse in her final days and has to deal with an excess of complaints, orders, and general rudeness until Miss Em passes away. Barrymore handles the unpleasantness of her character with resolve and whip smart flippancy. Her frog-like voice bestows a crustiness that is perfect for the part, and in all actuality she isn't particularly likeable. Physically she never seems to be on the brink of death, but a majority of her scenes are her laying in bed so that is never quite on display.

So what's the problem? I guess the problem is that Barrymore needed to take this performance just a step farther in that at the end of the film we are expected to look back and say "Wasn't Miss Em just swell all along?", and I never felt she was all that swell. We never get anything more than a fleeting look at the heart that Miss Em supposedly has, and in fact Ethel Waters shows us more about her than Barrymore does through her discussions about their friendship. Barrymore doesn't fully show us any of the sides that apparently exist, and I suppose an argument could be made that the purpose of the performance was to show a woman who never let her emotions show but if that is the case then this is just a horribly one note performance. Barrymore's one shining moment was her scene with Evelyn Varden, her gold digging cousin where we see a sly sauciness that never peeks its head out again.

The pieces just don't come together to make Ethel Barrymore's performance special in any way, instead leaving us with a solid turn from an old pro. She's got the meanness of the role down pat, and that's obviously all that she worked towards evoking. She's just altogether a bitter bitch, but plays that part to the best of her ability. Whether the script or Elia Kazan or Barrymore herself is to blame is unknown but it's unimpressive all the same. A physically and emotionally stolid performance that is the definition of a solid supporting turn. I just have very little to say about it other than, what the role sounds like Barrymore is and nothing more. 2.5/5 Thelmas.

Best Supporting Actress 1949

And the nominees were...

 

• Ethel Barrymore as Miss Em in Pinky
• Celeste Holm as Sister Scholastica in Come to the Stable
• Elsa Lanchester as Amelia Potts in Come to the Stable
• Mercedes McCambridge as Sadie Burke in All the King's Men
• Ethel Waters as Dicey Johnson in Pinky

The Field: I have to admit that, even though I pick all my years randomly I was very pleased to see this one come up for two reasons: 1) It's in one of the decades I haven't done yet (only the 00s and 10s remain untouched now) and 2) I only have to watch 3 films. Yes, I still have to write five reviews but it makes it a lot easy when there is only 3 films to squeeze into my busy schedule. That being said, even though I haven't heard great things about this line-up I'm still excited to do it. Mercedes McCambridge will get a second chance with me, and her performance is the only one I've seen. Barrymore, Waters, and Lanchester might as well be new actresses to me, but I'm familiar with Celeste Holm on a basic level. It'll be fun even if they are all awful, heck, maybe even more fun.