The Verdict -- Best Supporting Actress 1962

#5. Thelma Ritter in Birdman of Alcatraz: A career recognition Oscar nomination if I've ever seen one. Ritter plays the character of Mrs. Stroud with a robotic proficiency that gives her character very little personality and and underwhelming sense of mediocrity. Yes, her final scene is a blockbuster and had she been allowed to expand on that, she just might have been able to deliver a better performance than this average one.

#4. Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird: Young Mary Badham just doesn't have the experience or acting talent to play the role of Scout in the American classic. She makes Scout loveable and relatable, but can't quite navigate the complex emotional journey that her character is supposed to go through in the course of the film. I can't fault the poor young actress too much, because she tries her best but just can't reach that deep. She's too happy and unlike the character.

#3. Shirley Knight in Sweet Bird of Youth: This rating was the most disappointing of all these five performances for me to give. It's because the potential in this performance following that first scene was just so great. In that first startling scene, she gives a completely different performance from the rest of the film. Heavenly goes from being intelligent, independent, and unexpectedly morbid to a simple minded prop that the rest of the characters manipulate with ease. It's not Shirley Knight's fault per se, but I can't reward her too amply.

#2. Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate: The most iconic performance in the bunch, but being iconic does not make the performance a great one. Lansbury does a great job at making Mrs. Iselin a memorable screen villain, but not one with a particular amount of depth. Instead, she just plays a really great caricature of a villain that can't rise about that status as a caricature. I don't want to sound too down on this performance, but I don't see what everybody else does. It's a one-note performance done quite well.

#1. Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker: Patty Duke's performance just could not be denied the win. This is a performance that just grabs a hold of you at the start of the film and continues to be startling and moving throughout the film. Duke doesn't just play Helen Keller, but channels her in every single way possible. Beautiful, haunting, and complex. None of the other nominees even comes close to touching her in terms of effectiveness. A one-note performance done brilliantly.

The Year in Review: By far the easiest verdict I've had to give to date. Patty is just heads above every other nominated lady. It wasn't a particularly fun year to do for me, as you can tell since it took me over two months to do it (Yikes!). I promise to speed the process up for my next year! Promise, promise, promise! Also, I choose all my years randomly, so as much as I love recommendations for years to do, I prefer to keeps this spontaneous and out of my own hands. But I may do a poll someday. =)

All Supporting Actress Nominee Ranking:

1. Patty Duke in "The Miracle Worker"
2. Anna Paquin in "The Piano"
3. Emma Thompson in "In the Name of the Father"
4. Claire Trevor in  "Dead End"
5. May Whitty in "Night Must Fall"
6. Angela Lansbury in "The Manchurian Candidate"
   
7. Anne Shirley in "Stella Dallas"
8. Shirley Knight in "Sweet Bird of Youth"
   
9. Rosie Perez in "Fearless"
10. Alice Brady in "In Old Chicago"
11. Mary Badham in "To Kill a Mockingbird"
    
12. Holly Hunter in "The Firm"
13. Thelma Ritter in "Birdman of Alcatraz"
    
14. Winona Ryder in "The Age of Innocence"
15. Andrea Leeds in  "Stage Door"

Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird

Mary Badham received her first and only Oscar nomination to date for her performance as "Scout" Finch in Robert Mulligan's To Kill a Mockingbird. When I first watched To Kill a Mockingbird it was almost five years ago in my freshman year of high school (yes, I'm a yungin), and I think everybody else in my class had the same reaction to the film as I did: BORING! I now realize that this was probably because we had spent more than a month laboriously going over the book, which wasn't all that bad, but quickly became tedious. We had all the metaphors and symbols and characters drilled into our heads, so the movie just seemed like something we'd seen thousands of times in the last month. So my knee jerk reaction to this movie has always been negative, but this time I came out of the movie having such a great appreciation for it. The film is a classic American movie, that delivers so many memorable and emotionally involving moments. And Mary Badham had something to do with that.

This is only the third year I've covered of the Best Supporting Actress category, and I've already seen a few child performances, and after going into each expecting the performances to be wooden and completely coached, Mary Badham is the first that I really felt the guiding hand of the director or an acting coach inserting themselves into the performance. Throughout the film it is just clear that Mary Badham wasn't a very natural actress, and couldn't really stand up to the high standards that the film demands. Instead, Mary only gets bits and pieces completely right with her overall performances. What she does great is get all the broad strokes correct. She nails the sweet side of scout, as well as the adventurous and rowdy side perfectly. You can tell she is having fun with the playing scenes, whether she is fighting a boy or being rolled down the road in a tire. She delivers her lines with a considerable amount of spunk and attitude, and seems to be having fun doing so. 

It's the facial expressions and the quieter moments where her performance completely falls apart. Her chemistry with Gregory Peck is fine enough, at least until they have to have a 'touching moment' and Badham utterly fails to show the complexities of Scout, instead making her a generic young child. Her facial expressions are constantly changing, and you can see Badham over-thinking things and failing to stay in character. She basically has only one facial expressions, where she scrunches up her noise and acts 'grumpy' or 'angry' or 'sad' or 'scared'. She just doesn't have the range or acting experience to make Scout seem like anything other than a normal kid, and not the complex character she was in the novel. She has one or two good moments where she pours on the sweetness and you forget about her limitations, one of them being the confrontation at the jail she manages to as cute as can be.

Then there is another glaring problem with this nomination that has absolutely nothing to do with Mary Badham--she is not at all a supporting character in this movie, and is more of a lead than even Atticus Finch is. Sadly, the Academy and the Oscar campaigners in general like to relegate child performances into the supporting category to get votes they clearly wouldn't have gotten in the lead category (after all, they are only children ;) ). But it just annoys me to no end, as it does many others. That being said, with a supposedly strong Best Actress race this year (Bancroft and Page were both quite good), little Mary Badham didn't quite belong in that category either. When it comes down to it, Mary Badham gives a performance that would be perfectly alright----were it not an Oscar nominated one. But since it is, I have to be critical and say that she fails in every way but in the most general sense. Badham is good as a rowdy youngster, but just not convincing as the central character in one of the most revered American novels of all-time. 3/5 Thelmas.

Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker

Patty Duke received her first and only Oscar nomination to date for her performance as Helen Keller in Arthur Penn's The Miracle Worker. It's been more than a week since I've seen The Miracle Worker, and the reason why I've waited so long before writing about it is because the film, and Patty Duke's performance in particular, is one that I think deserves some time for my mind to process. It's such a visceral and intimate film that left me in a state of awe. The film works on so many levels, it's an incredibly engaging and emotional experience, but not one that leaves you devastated or depressed afterwards. Bancroft and Duke work well together, giving almost completely opposite performances in terms of their focus (Bancroft's is emotional, Duke's physical). However, what really makes the film work is the way the two actresses work together well without really having complete chemistry, because there is supposed to be something of a barrier between Helen and everyone else in the movie that Annie is trying to break down.

The role of Helen Keller is one that is almost impossibly difficult on paper. How do you make a deaf and blind character convincing and not over the top or unrealistic? Somehow at the age of 16, Patty Duke makes her Helen Keller startlingly real. At the beginning of the film, Helen is treated by the rest of her family at times like a horror movie monster (particularly the shot where Annie pulls up on the carriage and Helen is sitting on the porch sticks out in my mind), and at times like a pet. However, no matter what the rest of the cast is doing, Duke does an amazing job at keeping Helen's actions consistent and never once breaking character. Every single time she thrashes around Duke looks as if she's a newborn chick trying to get it's bearings in a way that is endearing and natural. It's always like that, which is tough for an actress to maintain as flawlessly as Duke does.

An integral part of the film and this performance in general is the emotional distance that the character is supposed to have. Duke never really has to go difficult places emotionally, and instead handles two basic emotions: Happiness and Anger. It's not a criticism, part of the point of the film is getting Helen to realize the complexities of life. She's not a character who is quite at the emotional level she should be at for her age. Quite possibly the most fascinating and entertaining part of the film is the epic 8-minute fight scene between Annie and Helen over dinner that is more brutal than most modern day blockbuster action sequences (certainly more than any in Pirates 4). Patty Duke hits every single note in the film perfectly, diving into her performance wholly. She has an animalistic quality throughout the film mixed with the perfect amount of innocence to make a fascinating character.

When it comes down to it, Patty Duke's performance is one-note because in many ways that is the only thing it really can be. She nails every single aspect of the character without attempting to over complicate the performance or add any extra unneeded depth to Helen. She plays it straight and beautifully. It's a great performance that is in it's own league among other Oscar-winning roles. 5/5 Thelmas.

Shirley Knight in Sweet Bird of Youth

Shirley Knight received her second Oscar nomination for her performance as Heavenly Finley in Richard Brooks' Sweet Bird of Youth. The movie itself is more of an actor's showcase than a great film. Geraldine Page, Paul Newman, and Ed Begley (in his Oscar-winning role) are all very good, with Page being the clear standout of the film with her absolutely outstanding performance. Knight has the most thankless role in the entire film, as her character is the worst written and severely underutilized. The film is about the return of Chance Wayne (Newman) to his hometown, where he hopes to entice his ex-girlfriend Heavenly to return with him to Hollywood despite the resistance of her father (Begley), a local political boss. Knight doesn't have a single scene with Geraldine Page, however, which is a shame.

When we first see Heavenly Finley, Shirley Knight makes an incredibly good impression, giving a weary and hugely self-aware performance. From the start of the film we are told that Heavenly is under the control of her father, but the scene where we actually see her she proves to be much more hardened and clever than the rest of the characters give her credit. Knight imbues Heavenly with this defiant resentment towards her father, which is startling different than we as viewers would have expected. Her surprising intelligence mixed with her good looks creates a sort of alluring intelligence, and she is clearly knows all about and is not fooled by any of her father's tricks. This first scene gives you high hopes for the performance of Shirley Knight, who is absolutely startling and strong, far cry from the beautiful love interest she is intended to be.

Sadly, however that one scene is just about all that we really get to see from Shirley Knight. The rest of the film she never seems to get another chance to expand on that intelligence she showed in the first scene, but instead is dragged around by the other characters to keep her away from Newman. For a character that seemed so independent and clever on first glance, Heavenly is so weak and easily manipulated for the rest of the film and it's almost a slap in the face. Her one or two scenes with Newman show them to have a strange but stilted chemistry, and all the 'fire' in their relationship is mostly told rather than shown. All that she showed in her first scene is gone around him. The scene with the boat is strange and Knight isn't given enough to work with, and the rest of the film she might as well be a statue with the amount stone-faced stoicism she has.

When in comes down to it, Shirley Knight's performance hinges on a single scene, which quite frankly is enough to make her deserve the nomination. Had her performance been able to keep up with that high quality she would have been a formidable contender this year, but the script treats Heavenly more as a prize than a character. The rating I'm giving her might seem high considering the amount of negatives I threw at her in the rest of this review, but for that one scene she really is a wonder to behold. 3.5/5 Thelmas.

Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate

Angela Lansbury received her third and final Oscar nomination to date for her performance as Mrs. Iselin in John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate. The film is generally acknowledged as a classic, and while I did like it a good amount, I found that it also had a lot of flaws that bothered me. It's major weakness was definitely the acting ensemble, which is surprising. From the charisma lacking performance of Frank Sinatra, to the robotic delivery from Laurence Harvey, and the non-existent Janet Leigh, the main cast left a lot to be desired. Lansbury gave the best performance of the film, and one that has become a timeless classic for good reason. The plot concerns the son of a right-wing political family who has been brainwashed as an assassin for the Communist party. Lansbury plays his mother, the manipulative forced backing the entire film.

The best way to describe Angela Lansbury's performance in the film is 'iconic'. She has such an amazing presence throughout the film, and you're eyes almost gravitate towards her whenever she appears on screen. From that first moment in the film where she comes rushing on stage to greet her returning son only to turn the moment into a publicity opportunity you can tell that Mrs. Iselin is going to be a despicable character, though it is not until you see her sinisterly watching over her husband as he attacks a war general at a press conference that you can really tell exactly how evil she will turn out. By giving Mrs. Iselin a certain callous and deceptive presence mixed with one that almost seems chipper at times, it makes you fear her even more because Lansbury gives you a feeling something deeper is going on. She plays her part in a very straightforward manner, and really is just great at being evil. With her expressive eyes, and unassuming appearance, she is not the most obvious villain by any means, but makes herself into a great one.

The length in which it takes to fully unveil Mrs. Iselin's actual intentions gives Lansbury the time to build up the mysterious and intriguing nature of her character, but at the same time is limited by her slow build as well. That is because during the entire film she feels very one-note and lacking in personality. Yes, she is mysterious and intriguing, but you never really feel like those aspects of the character are ever explored, and her motivation and purpose never feels touched on. She's great at being all of those things, but her entire build-up climaxes in a single monologue at the end of the film that even still only hints at giving her character some added depth. That being said, this monologue is really her shining moment in the entire film, and Lansbury does a phenomenal job of giving a bracing, demented, and impactful moment that I'm sure will having me thinking it over for days. The best way I can think of describing her performance is that it is 90% one-note yet iconic, and 10% engaging beyond the surface.

This may seem like a bizarre comparison for some, but Angela Lansbury's performance in The Manchurian Candidate is in the same vein as a Darth Vader or a Sarumon, albeit on a less fantastical scale obviously. Her Mrs. Iselin is just pure evil, and she does a really great job at making her character as despicable and interesting as she can, but in the end she's just the villain meant to be beaten and never feels like a real, palpable character. I admire this performance a lot, and it's really iconic and memorable, but it's getting only  4/5 Thelmas from me. I hope this isn't too controversial, because I know how widely loved this performance is.

Thelma Ritter in Birdman of Alcatraz

Thelma Ritter received her sixth and final Oscar nomination for her performance as Elizabeth Stroud in John Frankenheimer's Birdman of Alcatraz. Thelma Ritter has a reputation for being one of the most deserving actresses not to win an Academy Awards (fellow nominee Lansbury does as well, I think), and it is so clear that this sixth nomination is a final 'We're Sorry' nomination if I've ever seen one. I'm not trying to take away from her other nominations and I'm sure this performance has it's fans, but it just isn't one that would normally be nominated had it been anyone other than Ritter. Basically, the Academy felt guilty and thus came Ritter's sixth nomination.

All that being said, I suppose I should go on to talk about the actual performance. Birdman of Alcatraz is an incredibly dull and emotionless film, with Burt Lancaster giving a stiff and uninspired central performance as Robert Stroud. I do enjoy Telly Savalas' Oscar nominated performance, however. The film is about Robert Stroud (Lancaster), a federal prison inmate whose love and care of birds earns him the nickname 'Birdman of Alcatraz', and all the troubles he goes through during his time in jail. Ritter plays his caring mother, who eventually turns on her son after he marries a woman she does not approve of. Her character really doesn't have much depth to her, only really getting significant characterization in her final scene or two. The rest of the performance is awkwardly stilted and mundane. She's very robotic and cold.

It is only in that final scene where the pain on Elizabeth Stroud's face is so evident and she feels betrayed after giving him everything for years and being the crux of his life and motivation. Yes, we as viewers are supposed to dislike her for turning on her son and help to keep him from getting bail, but for a moment you can't help but relate to the woman. Ritter's simple blank stare speaks volumes, and it's a scene that almost saves the entire performance, perhaps were Ritter allowed to expand on it with some subsequent scenes. According to further research I've done on Elizabeth Stroud's life, she fought hard to keep him from getting parole following this scene, but Frankenheimer obviously didn't feel like delving further into the legal aspects Stroud's life.

Thelma Ritter's performance in Birdman of Alcatraz is one that I don't have much to say about, as you can tell by this unusually short review. It's a nomination that reeks of guilt from the Academy, in a role too thin to really take off and go anywhere. The final scene is a blockbuster, and that alone will raise her performance's score by an extra .5 (much in the same way that Holly Hunter did in 1993), but the stiff, average nature of the performance keeps her from getting too high. 2.5/5 Thelmas.

Young vs. Overdue -- Best Supporting Actress 1962

And the nominees were....

• Mary Badham as Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
• Patty Duke as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (winner)
• Shirley Knight as Heavenly Finley in Sweet Bird of Youth
• Angela Lansbury as Eleanor Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate
• Thelma Ritter as Elizabeth Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz

The Field: This year is somewhat of a good look at the overall preferences that the Academy tends to have when it comes to Supporting Actresses. It has the caring mother role (Ritter), the precocious young child (Badham), the despicable villain (Lansbury), a character with disabilities (Duke), and the beautiful young woman (Knight). Some of those traits even overlap between the characters. The field also covers every single acting award won that year, so that alone makes me excited to watch all of these films. I've only seen To Kill a Mockingbird, because at most high schools the book is basically required reading, and the film was shown right after we finished. I'm not too familiar with the actresses, though I know this is Ritter's last of her six nominations even though it's the first I'll be watching. I'm hoping for a wide variety of performances that gives me my first truly great year, but either way it'll be fun.