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Most Surprising Oscar Win Ever?

In the days before online Oscar prognosticators and numerous, smaller awards leading up to the big event, Beatrice Straight came out of nowhere to win Supporting Actress for Network. She had some tough competition from Jodie Foster and Piper Laurie in what became iconic performances.

Will we ever see a surprise like this again?

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by Anonymousreply 262March 21, 2019 2:34 AM

I love Beatrice Straight's win. One of my favorites.

by Anonymousreply 1March 11, 2019 4:19 PM

I can think of three.

by Anonymousreply 2March 11, 2019 4:47 PM

I can’t recall a single surprising win or loss.

by Anonymousreply 3March 11, 2019 5:21 PM

They've complained about Louise Fletcher's win for Nurse Ratched in Cuckcoo's Nest forever. Who was her competition who was supposed to be so much more deserving?

by Anonymousreply 4March 11, 2019 5:26 PM

Network itself has grown to become one of the most iconic films of the '70's, and of the whole of American cinema, even, and Beatrice Straight's small but eviscerating performance was a richly deserved winner.

by Anonymousreply 5March 11, 2019 5:28 PM

THAT BITCH WHO WON FOR DANGEROUS AND JEZEBEL.

by Anonymousreply 6March 11, 2019 5:37 PM

I think Straight also benefitted from portraying the one character in Network who was recognizably human in the film. Everyone else is this kind of grotesque caricature of a person. Even William Holden's character eventually embraces himself as having played a "role" (in his case, he the male version of Anna Karenina or some other stock philanderer in a television MOW).

by Anonymousreply 7March 11, 2019 5:38 PM

THANK GOD WE WERE SPARED THE INDIGNITY. I WAS READY TO GO TO THE HOCK SHOP.

by Anonymousreply 8March 11, 2019 5:39 PM

Adrian Brody was probably the last one, although some would argue Alicia Vklander or whatever her fucking name is. Actually, by the time the ceremony came long, Olivia Coleman seemed out of the running so she, too, counts as a big surprise. (A welcome one).

Beatrice Straight may have been more human but she still talks like Paddy is behind her, pulling a string on her neck. Give me Piper "I LIKED IT!" Laurie and Jodie "You wanna make it like this?" Foster any day.

by Anonymousreply 9March 11, 2019 5:55 PM

I was rooting for Piper Laurie. Margaret White is such a fascinating character and it's interesting that not a single one of the incredibly talented women who have played the character since (Patricia Clarkson, Julianne Moore, Betty Buckley, Marin Mazzie) have been able to do what she did with that role. Talk about a brave, courageous performance. She's SO over the top and, yet, still seems so human and like someone you'd meet at one of those holy roller churches.

by Anonymousreply 10March 11, 2019 6:05 PM

And you can tell she had fun with the role. I love that she didn't do the method acting bullshit. She said they rolled with laughter every day they were shooting (just like Mo'nique says about working on "Precious"). Meanwhile, idiots on CW shows are working on memories and substitution bullshit. Such hooey.

by Anonymousreply 11March 11, 2019 8:41 PM

Marisa Tomei

by Anonymousreply 12March 11, 2019 8:43 PM

Chariots of Fire

by Anonymousreply 13March 11, 2019 8:45 PM

Mark Rylance.

by Anonymousreply 14March 11, 2019 8:54 PM

It’s always Supporting Actress. Anna Paquin. Geena Davis, Marcia Gay Harden.

by Anonymousreply 15March 11, 2019 11:08 PM

Did Monique really say she laughed every day after Precious like Piper Laurie did when she did Carrie? And see, those two performances, to me, are the two most powerful monster mother performances of all time. Maybe what one needs to possess to play a role like this is a sense of humor and not be going for Oscar gold every single moment. I'm sure Piper at least had no idea this little B-movie would garner any Oscar attention. That might have helped her cut loose a bit, too. Sometimes, as an actor, you get a role and you just KNOW it has that Oscar potential, so you get really serious and ruin it by trying to be pretentious about it.

by Anonymousreply 16March 12, 2019 1:36 AM

Glenn Close wearing that hideous gold dress and then being laughed into the parking lot when some no-name Brit won Best Actress

by Anonymousreply 17March 12, 2019 1:38 AM

Glenda Jackson's second Oscar, for "A Touch of Class". I think she deserved it, but there were some heavy-weight nominees in bigger movies that year. She herself said it never occurred to her that she might win.

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by Anonymousreply 18March 12, 2019 1:43 AM

R16, I think Mo'nique's quote was along the lines of "If people had come by the set, they'd have no idea what movie we were filming, we were laughing so hard." She and Gaby especially, apparently. I love that too, so many actors trying to be serious and the pros know how to make it work with no fuss. Bette Midler reads a book until they call her to set and then just does it. Shirley Maclaine says most of the time she is thinking about lunch, nothing else (like in Winger's death scene). I believe it too. There's no way to get caught up in it all when there are 100 crew members inches away.

by Anonymousreply 19March 12, 2019 2:03 AM

Let's face it, Streisand had the iconic performance the year Glenda won her second. That Oscar should have been hers.

by Anonymousreply 20March 12, 2019 2:04 AM

I love Beatrice Straight; she's a fine actress. But she was in Network for all of 45 seconds and didn't deserve an Oscar for it.

That Oscar was Laurie's. Hands down. She was robbed.

by Anonymousreply 21March 12, 2019 2:17 AM

people still quesstion the legitimacy of marisa cant act tomei and her odd win...

by Anonymousreply 22March 12, 2019 2:17 AM

Yeah, I thought Straight was pure soap opera. Can't say the same about Laurie's lunatic and Foster's 12 year old hooker. (Anyone know the other two nominees off top of their heads? I am drawing a blank but I do know folks say if Shire had been here in the right category, she'd have won easily for "Rocky").

by Anonymousreply 23March 12, 2019 2:19 AM

R3, Lee Grant (Voyage of the Damned) and Jane Alexander (All the President’s Men) were the other two.

by Anonymousreply 24March 12, 2019 2:22 AM

Patty Pussy, Best supporting actress for “Catch Her in The Rear”.....total shock.

by Anonymousreply 25March 12, 2019 2:22 AM

Thanks, I still need to see Grant in that film (with apparently a famous scene of her cutting her hair off in the mirror, right?) Never got Alexander's nominations until "Testament" maybe. Marie France-Pisier should have been up for "Cousin, Cousine" instead. Or Cybill for "Taxi Driver" and, no, I'm not kidding.

by Anonymousreply 26March 12, 2019 2:23 AM

Another vote for Piper

by Anonymousreply 27March 12, 2019 2:23 AM

La La Land

by Anonymousreply 28March 12, 2019 2:24 AM

Piper Laurie's performance went on to become iconic, which, in the long run, is probably the better end of the lollipop. I think those are the performances that really deserve the awards - they're the ones that hold up with time and become beloved. This is why I think much of the Oscars is a crock.

I also find it interesting that there have been any number of really talented actresses who have taken on Laurie's role in other versions of the story and all have, somehow, managed to make the character rather flat and boring. My guess is they're not ballsy enough to risk appearing campy or over the top. Laurie had guts to play that role the way she did, but she's totally supported by De Palma's operatic direction. If I recall, all other versions of Carrie I've seen are far less stylized and interesting from a visual perspective. Maybe an interpretation like Laurie's in those films wouldn't have worked. I don't know, but they should have done something.

by Anonymousreply 29March 12, 2019 2:25 AM

Beatrice Straight's performance was magnificent and just the kind of role that the Supporting Actor/Actress award was made for. Her win was richly deserved.

by Anonymousreply 30March 12, 2019 2:27 AM

Carrie's a weird case of pretty good material being turned into high art by a gifted filmmaker. Carrie was the perfect story for De Palma at that time. He turned high school heartbreak into grand opera as only he could do. Spacek and Laurie's performances reflect his direction beautifully. I think maybe it hasn't worked for other filmmakers and artists, because nothing can really be done to improve upon what De Palma and co. did. It was the perfect team at the perfect time and they made a film that, IMO, is even better than the source material.

Every other version I've seen (on stage and on screen) has tried to ground the material too much to some sort of gritty realism and they're all shot/staged like run of the mill dramas. They're mostly flat and colorless, whereas De Palma was bright and baroque and wild. The performances reflected that as well.

by Anonymousreply 31March 12, 2019 2:28 AM

Just found a cool DVD of "Voyage..." from Greece. Lots of Blu Ray combo packs available too but I preferred the cool artwork of the Greek one including Ms. Dunaway in all her glamour (does she really look like that in the film? I thought there were concentration camp survivors).

by Anonymousreply 32March 12, 2019 2:32 AM

here you go. see what I mean?

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by Anonymousreply 33March 12, 2019 2:33 AM

I don’t think they’re concentration camp survivors, I think they’re Jews who are trying to avoid becoming concentration camp victims by escaping Germany. Many of the characters are rich.

by Anonymousreply 34March 12, 2019 2:39 AM

Vikander won Supporting for the wrong role (The Danish Girl). She should have won for Ex Machina. Whatever, she was an unknown from Sweden and frauded her way to an Oscar, not the first to do that, not the last.

by Anonymousreply 35March 12, 2019 2:39 AM

R4, Isabelle Adjani was nominated alongside Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched that year. I maintain that Adjani should have won; her performance was exquisite, profoundly committed, and a true lead.

Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek were phenomenal in Carrie and would have made deserving Oscar winners, but I think genre bias worked against them. Spacek said she was surprised to even be nominated for a horror film.

The Mo’Nique-Piper Laurie comparison is a good one. Both actresses took roles that, if played by less imaginative actresses, could have been flat and cliche.

The idea to have Margaret White make those orgasm sounds while being crucified came from Piper Laurie. It was written as a straight, conventional death scene, but she found a new angle on it.

Mo’Nique also had some inspired comedic moments in ‘Precious’ that added dimension to her character. I loved her playing the role of doting grandmother during the social worker scene and her work in the ‘Two Women’ fantasy sequence—“Eat, you whore!” delivered in a soft, compassionate voice.

by Anonymousreply 36March 12, 2019 2:41 AM

Just grabbed a copy of "Ship of Fools" too which seems to be Oscar bait about a ship heading TO Germany. Two sides of the same coin/theme? I need to see both.

by Anonymousreply 37March 12, 2019 2:45 AM

Vikander won for the right role. She was brilliant in The Danish Girl. Makes me laugh when sone idiot moans about Oscar “fraud” as if it was some crucially important issue. It’s just an award show. Vikander wasn’t considered the star like Redmayne.

by Anonymousreply 38March 12, 2019 3:09 AM

Monique and Laurie's semi-comic takes on their monster mother roles were ingenious and managed to make both roles iconic. You see those two performances and all you can think is "I've never seen anything quite like this before." It's not camp or gritty realism, but some in between place that's hilarious, tragic, and incredibly scary - sorta like life I guess.

by Anonymousreply 39March 12, 2019 3:14 AM

Piper was in the zone. I think Bette's Davis' Baby Jane was a precursor, scary, funny, and sad.

by Anonymousreply 40March 12, 2019 3:17 AM

[quote]Vikander won for the right role. She was brilliant in The Danish Girl. Makes me laugh when sone idiot moans about Oscar “fraud” as if it was some crucially important issue. It’s just an award show. Vikander wasn’t considered the star like Redmayne.

The Danish Girl was forgettable, mediocre trash -- no one was "brilliant" in it, moron. Vikander has (rightly) fallen off the map entirely. I hope she enjoys her fraudulent Oscar win because she'll never be nominated again.

by Anonymousreply 41March 12, 2019 3:21 AM

Marisa Tomei deserved her Oscar. She has nominated several times after her win.

by Anonymousreply 42March 12, 2019 3:25 AM

I think Close's loss was the biggest shock in Leading Acting. I think Mark Rylance was a surprise (a pleasant one--I think people expected Stallone to win for sentiment (and he was very good, though not at Rylance's level). Much earlier, I think Judy Holiday was a big surprise--good as she was, I bet people assumed Davis or Swanson would win. And Rosalind Russell for Mourning Becomes Electra was such a foregone conclusion that Russell leap to her feat assuming she was a shoo-in. Russell was excellent, especially in comedy and could do good dramatic work as in Sister Kenny, but no one could make O'Neill's turgid dialogue work, including such luminaries as Michael Redgrave (who won one of the awards, though not the. Oscar) and Katina Pacinou, so good in For Whom the Bell Tolls (Supporting Oscar), but not good as a Civil War Clytemnestra. And Kirk Douglas is embarrassing in it.

by Anonymousreply 43March 12, 2019 3:38 AM

I remember being pleasantly surprised by Jodie Foster’s first win, for The Accused. I thought it would be Glenn Close for Dangerous Liaisons or Sigourney Weaver for Gorillas in the Mist.

by Anonymousreply 44March 12, 2019 3:41 AM

As always, "most.... ever" in a thread title for Dataloungers means "most... within my personal adult memory," and not really "ever."

Most film history scholars agree that the biggest surprise in Oscar history was in 1948 for the 20th Awards, when the Oscar for Best Actress went to Loretta Young for "The Farmer's Daughter." Rosalind Russell had been heavily favored to win for "Mourning Becomes Electra," and most oddsmakers had put Young dead last when ranking the chances of the five nominees (the other three were Joan Crawford for "Possessed," Dorothy McGuire for "Gentlemen's Agreement," and Susan Hayward for "Smash-Up--The Story of a Woman"). The other four were in serious dramas, while Young was in a sweet comedy. But somehow Young still won.

by Anonymousreply 45March 12, 2019 3:46 AM

I thought what Mo'Nique had really said was, "If people had come by the set, they'd have no idea what movie we were filming, Gaby and I were scarfing down so much cake and pie."

by Anonymousreply 46March 12, 2019 3:50 AM

I think Art Carney's win for "Harry and Tonto" was a shocker. Pacino, De Niro, Hoffman, and Finney provided some seriously stiff competition.

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by Anonymousreply 47March 12, 2019 3:56 AM

Wasn't Tilda Swinton's win a surprise? She even said herself in the press room right after that she thought Ruby Dee would be the winner.

by Anonymousreply 48March 12, 2019 4:11 AM

Actually one of the biggest surprises was at the 1952 ceremony. The audience was streaming out, believing the Best Picture would be A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE or (maybe) A PLACE IN THE SUN. The departing audience gasped when Danny Kaye announced AN AMERICAN IN PARIS.

by Anonymousreply 49March 12, 2019 4:18 AM

I hate when they put leading actors in supporting roles: Vikander, Rooney Mara, the list goes on. There should be rules for that. Since the Oscars are so subjective, there will always be debate as to who should have won.

by Anonymousreply 50March 12, 2019 5:06 AM

I think just about everyone thought Judy Garland had Best Actress in the bag in 1954 for "A Star is Born". The Academy even had Lauren Bacall with an Oscar in her hand standing by outside Judy's hospital room where she had given birth to her son a day or two before, to present to her on live television.

What an eternal downer that the flat semi-talent Grace Kelly won for "The Country Girl", in a role Judy would have also killed in.

by Anonymousreply 51March 12, 2019 5:08 AM

Maybe not the biggest surprise, but I was genuinely taken aback when Olivia Colman won. Not because she didn't deserve it (she did), but because I thought they would give it to Glenn since she was overdue.

by Anonymousreply 52March 12, 2019 1:08 PM

For me, it was Julia Roberts (Erin Brokovitch) winning instead of Ellen Burstyn (Requiem For A Dream). Burstyn was absolutely stupendous and heartbreaking and should have won by a longshot. That more or less served to turn me off to the point that I rarely even watch them anymore.

by Anonymousreply 53March 12, 2019 1:29 PM

I really thought Viola Davis would win for The Help (deservedly so) and was shocked that they gave Meryl a third one for the blah Iron Lady.

by Anonymousreply 54March 12, 2019 1:48 PM

[QUOTE]But [Straight] was in Network for all of 45 seconds and didn't deserve an Oscar for it.

No, she wasn't. The performance clocks in at just over five minutes and it's glorious.

by Anonymousreply 55March 12, 2019 1:55 PM

IDK, Bill Holden’s corresponding dressing down of Diana at the end is just as good and he didn’t get shit

I’ve always thought his amazing performance was overshadowed by all the scenery chewing around him

He was the earthy glue that grounded the whole circus and he doesn’t get his due

by Anonymousreply 56March 12, 2019 2:22 PM

r32, there's a scene in Voyage of the Damned where Faye steps into the grand dining room in a black dress and sporting a monocle. I can't find a full pic, but I swear I recall the dress having a slit that reveals she's also wearing knee-high boots.

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by Anonymousreply 57March 12, 2019 2:35 PM

Lee Marvin winning for Cat Ballou surprised everyone, including Lee.

He won over Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, Rod Steiger, and Oskar Werner, all in much more acclaimed movies.

by Anonymousreply 58March 12, 2019 2:37 PM

In my 30 years of watching the Oscars, here are the wins that totally shocked me:

Kathy Bates in Misery (1990) - the majority of critic's prizes had gone to Joanne Woodward in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, while Julia Roberts had a possibility of winning for Pretty Woman becoming the "it" star of the era, much like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) - everybody thought it would be Rosie Perez in Fearless.

Juliette Binoche for The English Patient (1996) - Lauren Bacall's withering face was priceless.

Shakespeare in Love for Best Picture (1998) - this was Saving Private Ryan's to lose, but when Harrison Ford announced Shakespeare as the winner, the people at my Oscar-watching party gasped, then cheered with joy (we were exhausted with the whole Saving Private Ryan is the most important picture ever made crap).

Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001) - it wasn't a complete shock, but I had thought Sissy Spacek would win for In The Bedroom, so I was a bit surprised.

Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002) - this was a genuine stunner, though it retrospect it seems logical.

Olivia Colman in The Favourite (2018) - I literally leapt out of my chair, as I thought Glenn's win was an inevitability.

by Anonymousreply 59March 12, 2019 2:45 PM

Lol at people picking Vikander when she also won the SAG and the Critics’ Choice prior to her win (and got BAFTA and Globe nods). She indeed should have won for Ex Machina but her win was hardly a shock.

Colman was probably the first time an acting winner genuinely shocked me since what’s her face beat Bacall.

by Anonymousreply 60March 12, 2019 3:04 PM

Sorry Bacall, but smoking 4 packs a day doesn’t win a statue

by Anonymousreply 61March 12, 2019 3:07 PM

I think everyone knew Julia Roberts would win, and Ellen Burstyn would have been much more surprising--and much more deserving.

by Anonymousreply 62March 12, 2019 3:19 PM

[quote] IDK, Bill Holden’s corresponding dressing down of Diana at the end is just as good and he didn’t get shit. I’ve always thought his amazing performance was overshadowed by all the scenery chewing around him He was the earthy glue that grounded the whole circus and he doesn’t get his due.

Agreed. Finch's role was really supporting, and had he been nominated there, he would have won leaving the door open for Holden to win his second Oscar. And Network could have claimed all four acting awards (though for my money, Marlene Warfield was much better and deserving of a nomination than Straight.)

And can we please stop canonizing Ellen Burstyn's dreadful, over the top, hammy performance in Requiem for a Dream? It was the epitome of self indulgent bullshit acting.

by Anonymousreply 63March 12, 2019 3:21 PM

1962. Ann Bancroft for The Miracle Worker when everyone knew I was the one who deserved it.

Bancroft wasn't the miracle worker, that title should have went to Crawford. Lucille managed to sabotage my win and throw the vote to old Annie. AND pranced onstage to accept the award for Bancroft, who didn't bother to show up, because she figured it was going home with me, because she and everyone knew I. WAS. THAT. DAMNED. GOOD.

What a bitch.

by Anonymousreply 64March 12, 2019 3:23 PM

They should have moved Burstyn to Supporting for "Requiem". Nobody would have beat her.

by Anonymousreply 65March 12, 2019 4:07 PM

I'm still bitter about Burstyn losing. But much like Piper Laurie, her performance has lived on and become iconic. Roberts' performance is...well, it's there. I guess she was awarded for being better than average. All joking aside, I thought she was, surprisingly, the best thing about the August: Osage County movie. If you'd told me that I would have thought Julia fucking Roberts would have come across the best in that movie before I saw it, I'd have told you that you were crazy. I was expecting her to be far out of her element, but she was borderline brilliant in the role.

by Anonymousreply 66March 12, 2019 6:12 PM

All this Julia Roberts vs. Ellen Burstyn stuff, while actually, it was Laura Linney, non flashy as they come, who gave the best performance that year

by Anonymousreply 67March 12, 2019 7:09 PM

I thought that Laura Linney should have beaten Cate Blanchett in Best Supporting in 2004 for her role in Kinsey. There was something so incandescent about her performance in that film and I loved her monologue about the gall wasps.

by Anonymousreply 68March 12, 2019 8:11 PM

What is the most surprising Best Picture win? "Casablanca"? Wasn't it considered #3 that year. I believe that it winning (along with all the awards for Walter Brennan) was what made them eliminate extras from the Academy.

by Anonymousreply 69March 12, 2019 8:26 PM

When you think about it, does it really matter who wins except to those nominated?

by Anonymousreply 70March 12, 2019 8:30 PM

For true Oscar fans, yeah, it matters (even when we disagree). It's still the Gold standard for film and film careers.

by Anonymousreply 71March 12, 2019 8:41 PM

r70, it also matters to filmmakers -- producers, directors, the studio -- if they can advertising "starring Academy Award winning Rami Malek," that will get more money to back the project, if not also get people into seats to see the movie.

by Anonymousreply 72March 12, 2019 8:46 PM

And, no matter what happens, you are in historic company and every reference, pretty much, including your obituary, is "Oscar winning" or "Oscar nominated". We don't see "Golden Globe nominated" much if at all, do we, because it means nothing. There are only Oscars -- which is why we don't want the New Academy and its big bag of bullshit to turn it into the Peoples Choice Awards. This year's winners was a good sign, actually, that all is still okay -- a perfect mix of hits and critical darlings. So I have hope.

by Anonymousreply 73March 12, 2019 8:52 PM

You people are just messing with me aren't you?

by Anonymousreply 74March 12, 2019 8:56 PM

It would be nice if a presenter preceded naming the nominees by saying: "the winners are..." followed by "the Oscar goes to..."

by Anonymousreply 75March 12, 2019 9:00 PM

Picture-Greatest Show On Earth and Shakespeare in Love. Two genuine shockers. Probably the biggest in this category.

Actor-Adrien Brody and Lee Marvin

Actress-the Hepburn Streisand tie. Loretta Young was huge too.

Supporting actor-Alan Arkin and Robert DeNiro and Red Buttons

Supporting actress-Marisa Tomei and Miyoshi Umeki

Director-Roman Polanski The absolute biggest shockers are the ones you never saw coming with the winners winning nothing before hand. Lee and Barbra won globes, but Cat Ballou was considered pretty lightweight to win over formidable dramatic performances. Burton probably shit when he heard he lost to Marvin.

No one could’ve predicted a tie in 1969 between two actresses. Shakespeare won a globe for comedy pic, but no one I think took it seriously to pull off a best pic Oscar win against Spielberg at his peak.

by Anonymousreply 76March 12, 2019 9:09 PM

Who was the favorite to win in the year Red Buttons won?

by Anonymousreply 77March 12, 2019 9:36 PM

I loved that year also because both screenwriting winners -- "The Pianist" and "Talk to Her" -- were non-WGA scripts that hadn't been in the running anywhere. One might be normal but both, really interesting (or to me anyway since I'm a writer).

by Anonymousreply 78March 12, 2019 9:44 PM

R77 r76 here. My bad. Buttons won a globe too. Arthur Kennedy was on his 4th nomination for Peyton Place. But Buttons had some momentum, so I’ll probably take him out. It was really Umeki who was the surprise for Sayonara, not both.

by Anonymousreply 79March 12, 2019 9:54 PM

Thanks, you just motivated me to order cool dvd of "Peyton Place". Which was up for, get this, 9 fucking Oscars. Nine! I am amazed.

by Anonymousreply 80March 13, 2019 12:55 AM

R53 it was a surprise to no one Julia beat Ellen Burstyn. It was her prom night and Hollywood honoring their current queen for all the money she made the industry. And Winona Ryder was actually the favorite the year Anna Paquin swooped in and stole the prize.

by Anonymousreply 81March 13, 2019 1:34 AM

[quote] Burton probably shit when he heard he lost to Marvin.

Then I feel very sorry for whoever sat next to him in the auditorium.

by Anonymousreply 82March 13, 2019 4:57 AM

R59, you are so spot on!

by Anonymousreply 83March 13, 2019 7:17 AM

All the gasping and leaping from chairs!

by Anonymousreply 84March 13, 2019 7:49 AM

Well I'll just say Moonlight and get it out of the way.

by Anonymousreply 85March 13, 2019 8:12 AM

Philip Seymour Hoffman should have been nominated for Before The Knows Your Dead.

by Anonymousreply 86March 13, 2019 9:07 AM

Geoffrey Rush was a silly win. He was okay, but he is hardly in it. If the main character hadn't been Jewish, I really don't think the movie would have got much attention in the US.

by Anonymousreply 87March 13, 2019 9:15 AM

For me the biggest surprise was Marisa Tomei and as a poster above pointed out it was deserved and she went on to two other very well deserved nominations. I was expecting Joan Plowright to win. Judy Davis was tinged by appeared in a Woody Allen film the year the Allen/Farrow scandal broke - the Academy was not going to have someone getting on stage thanking Woody Allen in 1993. Miranda Richardson was in a film few saw (Damage) and there is no way the Academy were going to let Vanessa Redgrave on the stage again. Actually it was one of the best supporting actress line-ups ever - all excellent performances;

Roman Polanski was a surprise - I expected Rob Marshall for Chicago but lets face it whatever one thinks of Polanski he was the most deserving of the nominees;

Olivia Colman - like many I expected Glenn Close to win based on sentiment. I've watched Olivia Colmans reaction so many times on You Tube and she is so shocked. She looked like she was going to pass out in shock - thank goodness her husband and Emma Stone were there to hold her up. Great speech too - you could tell she honestly did not expect to win. And a very worthy winner too - only Melissa McCarthy came close performance wise.

by Anonymousreply 88March 13, 2019 9:16 AM

R73 Golden Globe nomination doesn't mean anything? I'll hunt you down and kills you slowly.

by Anonymousreply 89March 13, 2019 9:18 AM

R87 Tammy deserved that Oscar. Though he is generally so-so at best, his work in Jerry Maguire is his very best and frankly the best of 1996. Rush was so hammy and thats pretty much what he has delivered since.

by Anonymousreply 90March 13, 2019 9:19 AM

[quote]there's a scene in Voyage of the Damned where Faye steps into the grand dining room in a black dress and sporting a monocle

It's a nod to a style very popular during the Weimar Republik era just a few years before. She's trying to recapture the libertine, free, accepting Germany that disappeared so quickly.

But for some reason everyone seems to think it's some kind of campy mistake.

by Anonymousreply 91March 13, 2019 10:38 AM

Wasn’t Woody Harrelson pissed Rush won?

by Anonymousreply 92March 13, 2019 12:11 PM

[quote]Philip Seymour Hoffman should have been nominated for Before The Knows Your Dead.

He was great in that film. That entire cast was full of talented individuals. Hoffman was nominated that year, but for Charlie Wilson's War.

by Anonymousreply 93March 13, 2019 12:25 PM

Doesn't it seem to most often be in the supporting actress races?

by Anonymousreply 94March 13, 2019 12:27 PM

[QUOTE]Philip Seymour Hoffman should have been nominated for Before The Devil Knows Your Dead.

I thought this film was such an underrated masterpiece and should've netted nominations for both Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. I'll always remember how the movie literally begins with a show of PSH fucking Marisa Tomei from behind.

I also remember being haunted by Rosemary Harris in a small role.

And in perhaps an eerie foreshadowing, Hoffman's characters massively overdoses at the end of the film.

by Anonymousreply 95March 13, 2019 1:55 PM

Thanks for the spoiler R95. Who is going to watch that “masterpiece” after you just ruined it?

by Anonymousreply 96March 13, 2019 2:28 PM

Why does the above Voyage of the Damned look like a sequel to The Poseidon Adventure with the well dressed people screaming on a listing ship? Talk about false advertising. No wonder the film bombed.

by Anonymousreply 97March 13, 2019 2:47 PM

^ And Faye Dunaway, freshly rescued in the scenic elevator from The Towering Inferno, featured most prominently among the panicked passengers!

by Anonymousreply 98March 13, 2019 3:12 PM

You're welcome, R96.

by Anonymousreply 99March 13, 2019 3:38 PM

Halle Berry winning for Monsters Ball, was a huge surprise. Her performance wasn’t all that. The Academy’s choosing her for Best Actress was a self-congratulatory move at best. Angela Bassett should have won a few years earlier for her amazing performance as Tina Turner.

by Anonymousreply 100March 13, 2019 3:56 PM

Marcia Gay Harden is a very accomplished actress, who is also a thespian and has been to good and very good drama departments for college and school; she really learned her craft, not typical for Hollywood at all; she only won for supporting actress, so not as big, she also got a Tony and several Emmy, Screen Actors and Oscar nominations, and has been in several critical darlings and successes in movies and theatre. At the beginning of her career she also got a Theatre World award. Bringing her as an example at the OP is probably not such a good choice.

by Anonymousreply 101March 13, 2019 4:11 PM

[QUOTE]Bringing her as an example at the OP is probably not such a good choice.

This thread is about "Most Surprising Oscar Wins Ever" and Marcia Gay Harden's victory over Kate Hudson was absolutely jaw-dropping at the time. Her very accomplished pedigree is not assailed by her being listed here.

What exactly are you going on about? Learn how to read.

by Anonymousreply 102March 13, 2019 4:18 PM

^ Yes, r101 doesn’t understand the thread.

Kate Hudson was predicted to win. Marcia Gay Harden won in an upset.

Another title for the thread could be Biggest Oscar Upsets.

I never knew Bacall blamed her loss on Harvey Weinstein. In 2019, we can probably guess she was right.

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by Anonymousreply 103March 13, 2019 4:40 PM

Weinstein got a lot of people underserved oscars.

by Anonymousreply 104March 13, 2019 4:46 PM

Meant to write undeserved but it changed.

by Anonymousreply 105March 13, 2019 4:48 PM

The most surprising of all was Lee Marvin's Oscar. So surprising that barely anyone even seems to remember.

by Anonymousreply 106March 13, 2019 5:36 PM

I thought Alicia Vikander was quite lovely in The Danish Girl. I don't mind her win all that much, but I think she was phenomenal in Ex Machina. I just sort of pretend she really won for the latter film that year.

I personally would have given the Oscar to Jennifer Jason-Leigh that year if for nothing else than her 11th hour, blood-splattered monologue at the end of The Hateful Eight.

by Anonymousreply 107March 13, 2019 5:40 PM

I'm kinda surprised Jennifer Jason Leigh hasn't won an Oscar yet. She's always been just about the best thing in everything she's in. You can never take your eyes off of her.

by Anonymousreply 108March 13, 2019 5:43 PM

R100 Berry won at SAG so she had momentum. Marcia Gay Harden is definitely a good choice. The biggest surprises are the ones who come out of left field who win NO precursors like critics awards or globe, SAG or bafta.

by Anonymousreply 109March 13, 2019 10:08 PM

Marcia Gay Harden was major category fraud too. Big time leading lady in that film.

by Anonymousreply 110March 13, 2019 10:16 PM

Speaking of Marcia Gay Harden, has anyone seen her latest Lifetime movie where she plays that crazy lady who faked her child's illness and then her kid ended up killing her? Patricia Arquette is playing the exact same role in a new Hulu movie based on the same case.

I loved her in The Mist. She was the best crazy religious nutcase I've seen since Piper Laurie in Carrie (yep, it all circles back). They should have tried to get her for one of those Carrie remakes. I bet she would have kept Margaret scary.

by Anonymousreply 111March 13, 2019 10:20 PM

Grace Kelly for The Country Girl. A dreary performance by a weak actress in an unremarkable film. Yet she beat Judy Garland in A Star is Born.

by Anonymousreply 112March 13, 2019 10:24 PM

R112 not a surprise. Kelly won national board of review, NY film critics and globe. ALL the precursors in 1955. Garland won the comedy musical globe, but the studio cut the hell out of the release of A Star Is Born. Plus Garland had a poor reputation in the industry in 1955. Whereas Kelly had studio support behind her. I still can’t believe people actually still think Garland had a snowballs chance in hell to win that year.

by Anonymousreply 113March 13, 2019 10:34 PM

OP, Beatrice Straight was surprising but nobody cared, or cares, for very much Supporting Actress.

For me it'll always be Glenda Jackson winning for a pleasant comedy A Touch of Class in 1974 - over dramatic performances by Barbra Streisand, Joanne Woodward, Marsha Mason and Ellen Burstyn. Everyone was SHOCKED. The money was on Streisand - big star, good performance, hit movie, just what Hollywood loves. Of course she was too chicken to sit in the audience with the others. I was depressed for a week.

by Anonymousreply 114March 13, 2019 10:41 PM

R114 interesting that Jackson won the comedy globe and AToC was nominated for best pic and people are still surprised she won. Everything she touched turned to gold in the early 70s. But I guess up against Streisand’s charisma and Burstyn being in a blockbuster it was still deemed a shocker.

by Anonymousreply 115March 13, 2019 11:21 PM

Sometime all it takes is a phone call.

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by Anonymousreply 116March 13, 2019 11:24 PM

Janet Gaynor

by Anonymousreply 117March 14, 2019 12:06 AM

I posted this before, but there's a rumor that the difference between 1st place and 5th place when Glenda Jackson won her second Oscar was four votes (Jackson beat the runner up by a vote, third place finisher by two etc...).

Talia Shire should've listened to the studio who wanted to submit her in the supporting actress category but she went for lead. She would've easily won for Rocky that year. Harden did win the NY Film Critic's Circle Award that year, but what I read benefited her the most was that the Pollack screener was one of the last released and going in watched on the momentum of Ed Harris' performance, but Harden's performance was "discovered" so to speak and it pushed her over the top.

Roberts was in a box office smash and that year was also the year of Steven Soderbergh who was nominated for two directing Oscars that year for Brokovich and Traffic for which he won for.

by Anonymousreply 118March 14, 2019 12:15 AM

The guy from The Killing Fields winning Supporting Actor. Tom Hulce should have frauded into that category instead of going lead, probably would have won (?)

by Anonymousreply 119March 14, 2019 12:19 AM

ugh, you want to cure a love for Tom Hulce, just meet him. But you might be right about his win, though Haing was a popular choice since he really survived Vietnam (and then, sadly, died in just another L.A. robbery).

by Anonymousreply 120March 14, 2019 12:23 AM

Olivia Coleman

by Anonymousreply 121March 14, 2019 12:25 AM

[quote] Haing was a popular choice since he really survived Vietnam

Oh, dear!

by Anonymousreply 122March 14, 2019 12:35 AM

Hulce was sooooo bad.

by Anonymousreply 123March 14, 2019 12:41 AM

Not really, R115, she just split the vote. Jackson worked a lot in the 1970s, but she was not Hollywood's darling. Nor movie goers darling. She was lucky, it wasn't what she touched turned to gold.

I will never understand why this little trifle of a film A Touch of Class was recognized for so many awards. There were very few romantic comedies at the time, that counted. Comedy Golden Globe, okay, but Oscar? Fucking ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 124March 14, 2019 12:44 AM

I love this GIF of Brody winning. The looks on everyone's faces are priceless. I love Michael Caine, who says "Oh, wonderful!"

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by Anonymousreply 125March 14, 2019 12:48 AM

Jackson was great in a cheesy movie. Liv Ullmann, who won both the National Society of Critics Award and the National Board of Review Award that year, was great in a great movie, "The New Land". She wasn't nominated for an Oscar, although she had been for "The Emigrants", in which she plays the same character, the previous year.

by Anonymousreply 126March 14, 2019 12:55 AM

R120 Haing survived the horrors of Pol Pot in Cambodia (in real life and in The Killing Fields) not Vietnam.

by Anonymousreply 127March 14, 2019 12:59 AM

Can I really be the first to question George Chakiris' win for West Side Story?? Especially against the utterly harrowing performance of Monty Clift in Judgment at Nuremberg?? Yes, George's dancing was great but great dancing never got Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly an Oscar.

And what about Ginger Rogers' win for Kitty Foyle over Kate Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, Bette Davis in The Letter and Joan Fontaine in Rebecca? Who can explain that one? Actually, I think DL threads have been devoted to this question.

by Anonymousreply 128March 14, 2019 1:19 AM

What this thread proves is that there have been just as many, if not more, undeserved wins than deserved wins.

It also proves how "of the moment" the Oscars are. With hindsight, we see all of the flaws of judgment very clearly.

by Anonymousreply 129March 14, 2019 1:22 AM

R125 Nicholson lobbied for Brody and The Pianist that year.

by Anonymousreply 130March 14, 2019 1:22 AM

R128: Chakiris' win for WWS can be attributed (in part) to the "tidal wave" effect, in which a hugely popular movie also wins all the awards, sweeping less deserving performers along. (See also: Hugh Griffith's win for "Ben Hur").

I would argue that Chakiris gave a smoldering, suppressed fury to his portrayal of Bernardo. And Monty Clift, like Judy had burned a lot of bridges with his behavior especially after his accident.

by Anonymousreply 131March 14, 2019 1:27 AM

[quote] But for some reason everyone seems to think it's some kind of campy mistake.

I think it was because Pauline Kael wrote, "Cast as a woman who doesn't excite her husband, Faye Dunaway must have decided she'd better give the public [italic]something,[/italic] and so at one point appears dressed to outdo the Nazis--she wears jackboots and a monocle."

Dataloungers love to bitch about Kael, but you have to admit, she had a very memorable and funny way with a sentence.

by Anonymousreply 132March 14, 2019 1:34 AM

Miss Dunaway ALWAYS gave her public something.

by Anonymousreply 133March 14, 2019 1:37 AM

R128, I would say why no Stanwyck in Sorry Wrong Number (they owed her), but since I wasn't around at the time, I can't offer any explanation. (Stany was not owned by a studio and there was no promotion, blah blah blah)

by Anonymousreply 134March 14, 2019 1:48 AM

"Especially against the utterly harrowing performance of Monty Clift in Judgment at Nuremberg?"

Judy and Clift's performances were overwrought. Lots of raw emoting with no composition are not great performances, darlings.

by Anonymousreply 135March 14, 2019 1:53 AM

I just don't think that's true, r135. Both performances have great integrity and honesty and build very gradually and believably in their solo scenes. They're truly actors you watch here on the edge of your seat.

by Anonymousreply 136March 14, 2019 1:56 AM

R124 Jackson was nominated four times and won Oscars twice between 1971-1976. Plus she won TWO Emmys for her Elizabeth miniseries in this time frame. If that’s not being Hollywood’s darling I don’t know what is. But she did it on her terms. It was more than luck. She was talented in spades.

ATOC wasn’t a huge awards winner either. It only won one other globe for George Segal. I think Jackson was a natural choice for a second Oscar. Streisand already had developed prima Donna reputation by 1974, Burstyn probably suffered from being in a horror movie which turned some voters off, and they were indifferent to Mason who was still a newcomer, despite winning the drama globe and Woodward who was critical of the Academy. They really didn’t care to reward Newman a first yet, so they weren’t going to give Joanne a second.

by Anonymousreply 137March 14, 2019 2:26 AM

R137, did you watch, were you alive at the time? Just wondering, it matters.

by Anonymousreply 138March 14, 2019 2:37 AM

I was 7 at the time Jackson won her second. And how does it matter? I’ve seen the clip multiple times. Woodward and Burstyn seem surprised. Mason I think was resigned to losing and didn’t expect it. Streisand was backstage and left the Dorothy Chandler after her category. The audience didn’t seem too surprised. In fact when Jack Lemmon won lead actor there seemed to be a little more activity. Probably because he was there.

I stand by my reasons why Glenda won. Jackson was on a roll during this time frame. It wasn’t like this year and the surprise of Colman beating a 7 time nominee and Hollywood vet.

by Anonymousreply 139March 14, 2019 2:53 AM

Marisa Tomei OWNS this thread.

by Anonymousreply 140March 14, 2019 5:57 AM

I'm reading Michael Caine's new book (not recommended, kind of fragmented, best to skim.)

Anyway he was sort of #metoo'd by Glenda Jackson. He is discussing nude scenes and says he did a film with Jackson and she made him uncomfortable since she seemed to enjoy being naked on film and walked around the set that way.

(see Lauer, Matt)

by Anonymousreply 141March 14, 2019 6:08 AM

R96 No one tell him the ship sinks in the end with Titanic.

by Anonymousreply 142March 14, 2019 6:50 AM

Woodward’s movie came and went and didn’t get attention until she won the NYFC award and she was snubbed a year before for her marvelous performance in the affect of gamma rays. Streisand wasn’t going to win oscar #2 so soon. Burstyn was hurt by a lot of memebers refusing to even see the exorcist.

Both the performance that won that year weren’t too heavy a touch of class is comedy and save the tiger is mild drama.

The acting awards the next year were light drama/comedy as well.

Louise fletcher wasn’t a shock she was expected to win. She benefitted from a cuckoos nest sweep, an inconic performance that is still as frightening today and perhaps what benefitted her the most was how weak the category was that year. So weak Ellen burstyn said they should cancel the category to which in her own way Louise fletcher told her to go fuck herself.

Jodie foster was a mild surprise, sigourney Weaver was expected to win the supporting actress trophy. Streep and Glenn gave the best performances but the category was pretty solid that year.

by Anonymousreply 143March 14, 2019 7:09 AM

I always thought Marcia Mason lost that year (and in subsequent years) because she was Neil Simon's wife. ("She doesn't have to audition, she got the role because she slept with the writer"!)

Unfair, but possibly true.

by Anonymousreply 144March 14, 2019 1:02 PM

r144, Neil Simon didn't write Cinderella Liberty, the movie for which Mason received her first nomination. He did write her next 3 nominated roles: The Goodbye Girl ('77), Chapter Two ('79) and Only When I Laugh ('81).

by Anonymousreply 145March 14, 2019 2:10 PM

R144 I don’t think it was any resentment or jealousy on Oscar voters parts. Like Amy Adams, never the front runner in her multiple noms. She probably came the closest to winning in 1978, but Keaton was unstoppable with the one two punch of AH and Goodbar.

by Anonymousreply 146March 14, 2019 3:41 PM

R139, perspective matters. Being 30 vs 7 makes a difference in how you perceive your surroundings and the world, something you cannot fully appreciate by reading a book or seeing a video clip. I was 18.

Way too many people posting here who got all of this info and their opinions from reading lists and watching Youtube clips.

by Anonymousreply 147March 14, 2019 3:42 PM

Katina Paxinou owns this thread.

by Anonymousreply 148March 14, 2019 6:20 PM

Who was expected to win in her category that year, R148? One of the Song of Bernadette women?

by Anonymousreply 149March 14, 2019 6:25 PM

You sound insufferable, R147

Are you really trying to say that watching the broadcast live on ABC is somehow different than watching the original ABC broadcast on YouTube?

by Anonymousreply 150March 14, 2019 6:28 PM

Mira Sorvino!!!!

by Anonymousreply 151March 14, 2019 6:29 PM

R147 well you’re around 62 now. Do you have the same perspective on life and the world around you did when you were 18? I get it. People were surprised when Glenda won. It’s probably in the top 10 of all Oscar surprises. All I’m saying is I’m not sure why they were. She won the globe and was in a best pic nominee. That always give you momentum to win. I made my reasons clear as to why she did upthread. Lemmon was more of a surprise winner in my book. Beating both Nicholson and Pacino. He didn’t win anything leading up to the show, and was mostly a makeup Oscar for losing his three best actor nominations previously.

by Anonymousreply 152March 14, 2019 6:52 PM

In the 1970s the Golden Globes was a syndicated drunk-fest and never taken seriously. Nothing like it is now.

by Anonymousreply 153March 14, 2019 7:19 PM

It's not taken seriously now, R153.

by Anonymousreply 154March 14, 2019 7:30 PM

LEE MARVIN, you idiots.

by Anonymousreply 155March 14, 2019 7:52 PM

[QUOTE]LEE MARVIN, you idiots.

Already mentioned above by several people, you complete retard.

by Anonymousreply 156March 14, 2019 7:57 PM

R154, if you think what they have now is ridiculous, it was 1,000 times worse when Glenda Jackson won it for Best Actress in a comedy/musical. So many site that "win" as why she was going to win the Oscar. NOT.

by Anonymousreply 157March 14, 2019 8:32 PM

Globes set the pace for the rest of the awards season like it or not. It’s always been that way from its inception in 1943. Ridiculous that close to mainly100 barely literate barely qualifying so called journalists decide what’s best for film. Look at this year. They got every Oscar winner right. Most years they do.

by Anonymousreply 158March 14, 2019 9:39 PM

Well, they didn't get the most important one right, r158.

by Anonymousreply 159March 14, 2019 10:30 PM

LA La Land!

by Anonymousreply 160March 15, 2019 12:36 AM

"GLAAAAADiator!"

by Anonymousreply 161March 15, 2019 12:44 AM

Robert Benigni, it should have been Edward Norton for American History X.

by Anonymousreply 162March 15, 2019 12:52 AM

R162 It should have been anyone but Benigni!

by Anonymousreply 163March 15, 2019 1:49 AM

That little bitch from The Piano

by Anonymousreply 164March 15, 2019 2:18 AM

Awww, look at the young Muhammed Ali and the even younger Sly Stallone in OP’s clip.

by Anonymousreply 165March 15, 2019 2:21 AM

Mr Day Lewis was quite the slut in those days. He was getting that big dick around even knocking up poor Adjani and tossing her aside before the poor dear could give birth.

by Anonymousreply 166March 15, 2019 2:26 AM

If we're going to talk about most surprising "ever", somebody needs to mention "It Happened One Night" sweeping the major categories way back in 1934. It's studio, Columbia, was considered Poverty Row before this movie. Claudette Colbert was supposedly so not expecting to win that they had to fetch her from the train station , where she was due to leave on a trip, to collect her Best Actress award.

by Anonymousreply 167March 15, 2019 4:10 AM

Crash?

by Anonymousreply 168March 15, 2019 5:05 AM

Roberto Benigni wasn't a surprise. He was heavily predicted. He belongs in a different thread of wins they now regret.

by Anonymousreply 169March 15, 2019 7:16 AM

Tilda was a huge surprise. I actually won an Oscar pool because I picked her and no one else did.

by Anonymousreply 170March 15, 2019 7:56 AM

Beatrice Straight obviously belonged on Broadway and TV rather than La-La Land.

She has a luminous presence in this surprisingly-good but little-known, humane movie—

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by Anonymousreply 171March 15, 2019 8:12 AM

I vote for the Barbra Streisand-Katharine Hepburn Best Actress tie. Look at the shock on Ingrid Bergman's face.

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by Anonymousreply 172March 15, 2019 10:20 AM

^Babs' dress belongs to a hooker!

by Anonymousreply 173March 15, 2019 11:07 AM

Interestingly, the acting wins for It Happened One Night started NO trend of awarding Oscars to comedic performances. When was the next time one won (or was even nominated)?

by Anonymousreply 174March 15, 2019 1:32 PM

[quote]When was the next time one won (or was even nominated)?

Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda is the last really comedic performance to win that I can recall. I’ve never seen Little Miss Sunshine so I don’t know if Alan Arkin’s performance is a comedic one.

by Anonymousreply 175March 15, 2019 3:24 PM

R175 It's quite comedic with some dramatic moments.

by Anonymousreply 176March 15, 2019 3:36 PM

Judy Holliday's in Born Yesterday is most surely one, R175.

by Anonymousreply 177March 15, 2019 3:58 PM

My response was for R174 as well as R175

by Anonymousreply 178March 15, 2019 3:58 PM

r175, performances that won Best Actress or Best Actor for comedy films after 1934 (It Happened One Night):

Best Actress: Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter ('47); Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday ('50); Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday ('53); Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class ('73); Diane Keaton in Annie Hall ('77); Cher in Moonstruck ('87); Frances McDormand in Fargo ('96); Helen Hunt in As Good as it Gets ('97); Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love ('98); Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook ('12); Olivia Colman in The Favourite ('18).

Best Actor: James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story ('40); Bing Crosby in Going My Way ('44); Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou ('65); Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl ('77); Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump ('94); Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets ('97); Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful ('98); Jean Dujardin in The Artist ('11).

There are a few that are debatable whether it's a dramatic-with-comedy elements or comedy-with-dramatic elements like Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment ('83) or Kevin Spacey in American Beauty ('99).

by Anonymousreply 179March 15, 2019 4:12 PM

Anna Paquin for "The Piano" - really?

by Anonymousreply 180March 15, 2019 4:15 PM

If you are including supporting wins, there are many comedic roles including the splash in the early 90s with Whoopi, Tomei, and Jack Palance

by Anonymousreply 181March 15, 2019 5:40 PM

R179 a lot of those a dramatic roles with slight comedy elements but true purely comedic roles dont get recognized often or just get noms. I still stand by my belief that a great comedic performance is more impressive than a dramatic one. It's fairly easy to make someone feel for you if you play a bereaved wife but making someone genuinely laugh as well as having a full dimensional character is hard.

by Anonymousreply 182March 15, 2019 5:54 PM

I always thought Mercedes Ruehl was robbed for a nomination for "Married to the Mob", though they made up for it later of course. Instead, they went for Stockwell's Tony the Tiger in the same film (so no issue with it being a light comedy).

I love Pfeiffer in it as well and I don't love her in everything.

by Anonymousreply 183March 15, 2019 6:01 PM

Good list of comedic wins, r179, though I might question some of them like Loretta Young, Audrey Hepburn, Helen Hunt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bing Crosby. While their films might be classified as comedies and their performances were certainly skilled, they didn't play characters with much opportunity to display any comic chops. Though maybe I'm being overly picky?

But it's interesting (and sad to me) that there are so few winners in the Golden Age of the 1930s/1940s when Howard Hawks, Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and others were making some of the wittiest and smartest comedies in Hollywood history.

by Anonymousreply 184March 15, 2019 7:45 PM

R170 actually Entertainment Weekly picked Tilda to win so I wasn’t shocked. There are too many people picking winners on here who won critics awards, globes and or SAG . How can it be a surprise if you’re winning significant precursors before Oscar? Roberto is one. He won SAG first.

by Anonymousreply 185March 15, 2019 7:49 PM

Tilda's win was one of the most satisfying actually. Great work in a great role in a great film. Odd that she has never been back since though, not even for "Kevin".

by Anonymousreply 186March 16, 2019 1:15 AM

Most Woody Allen actors except Blanchett were for comedies.

by Anonymousreply 187March 16, 2019 1:24 AM

Tilda offended people with her awards speeches. At both her Oscar and BAFTA wins she said she was going to give the award to her agents. It was like she was too cool for school and didn't want the award. I think that cost her votes for Kevin.

by Anonymousreply 188March 16, 2019 4:30 AM

^ This Matilda woman giving an Oscar away? What a snooty bitch!

by Anonymousreply 189March 16, 2019 5:37 AM

I guess the best supporting actress each year correctly. I knew Marissa Tomei should be nominated and win...and i saw my cousin vinny very early on, when no one wud expect that kind if film to be oscar nominated. And Mercedes ruehl...she was magnificent in The fisherking..Why did it not result in a career????

by Anonymousreply 190March 16, 2019 6:17 AM

By her own account Mercedes Ruehl get a very swelled head after the Oscar win. She thought (and said in interviews) that she felt she had now reached a certain level of award winning actresses like Meryl and Jessica Lange and expected lead roles like they got.

She was too odd a type for that. She held out for offers for leading roles and they didn't come and then people forgot about her.

by Anonymousreply 191March 16, 2019 6:22 AM

Juliette Binoche was a shocker. Everyone thought Bacall had that one in the bag.

by Anonymousreply 192March 16, 2019 6:36 AM

I got to vote one year when a close friend was given a ballot by her boss to fill out, and close friend knew I cared about this stuff, so my choices mattered the year of Gladiator; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Req for a Dream; Almost Famous; Traffic; Erin Brockovich, etc.

The day of the evening that we met for me to mark my choices, I went and saw Pollock to see Ed Harris strut his stuff. He was excellent. But, as a poster already opined earlier in this thread (and correctly), it was Marcia Gay Harden who really blew me away, and unexpectedly so.

Until that afternoon, I was Kate Hudson ALL THE WAY. I loved Almost Famous and loved her Penny Lane. But Pollock got me thinking, and I was on the fence till the last minute. What finally helped me make my decision (and these things are random from voters, of course) was how much I'd loved Harden as Harper in Angels in America on Broadway. Plus I thought Hudson would have many more nominations ahead of her. (Oops.) So Harden got my vote, but I was still sure Hudson was going to win. I was just as surprised as everyone else when Harden took the gold.

As for the other categories, I voted for Benecio Del Toro for Traffic (winner), Ellen Burstyn for Req for a Dream (should have won), Javier Bardem for Before Night Falls (lost, expectedly), Stephen Daldry for director (for Billy Elliot, though I knew he too would lose), Almost Famous and Traffic for the screenplay awards (and both won). Hilariously, I can't remember exactly which film I voted for for Best Pic. Would not have been Gladiator, though I did like that. It was probably Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, cause I'd loved Ang Lee for Wedding Banquet; Eat, Drink, Man, Woman; Sense and Sensibility and especially The Ice Storm.

by Anonymousreply 193March 16, 2019 6:54 AM

Daniel Day Lewis over Tom Cruise was a big deal. No one knew who DDL was

by Anonymousreply 194March 16, 2019 7:10 AM

One word: Crash

by Anonymousreply 195March 16, 2019 7:21 AM

Two words: Ginger Rogers

by Anonymousreply 196March 16, 2019 2:17 PM

What’s the point of respecting awards given out vas’s on something other than the nominated performance?

by Anonymousreply 197March 16, 2019 2:21 PM

Glenn losing to the gummy British TV actress was very surprising.

by Anonymousreply 198March 16, 2019 2:34 PM

I'm totally in agreement, r184; I got to see My Man Godfrey (1936) on the big screen a few weeks ago and the performances in that film are breathtakingly hilarious. I suppose it's to the Academy's credit that 4 of the stars of that film were nominated, but it's still maddening that William Powell's magnificent performance in Godfrey lost to Paul Muni's "serious" overacting in The Story of Louis Pasteur.

by Anonymousreply 199March 16, 2019 2:53 PM

R194 My Left Foot was in the public consciousness and got a best pic nom. DDL swept the critics awards but lost the globe. I was thrilled when he won the Oscar. Cruise could never accomplish what DDL did in MLF.

by Anonymousreply 200March 16, 2019 3:05 PM

Powell was indeed lovely in MMG, R199, but no one that year, including him, could be compared with Walter Huston in Dodsworth. I hate hyperbolic superlatives as the next guy, but this is perhaps the greatest performances given by an actor in a Hollywood film of the Golden Age.

by Anonymousreply 201March 16, 2019 3:08 PM

[quote]It wasn’t like this year and the surprise of Colman beating a 7 time nominee and Hollywood vet.

It was not surprising. Close was the frontrunner, but Colman was predicted to be the person to get it if Glenn would lose. And that's exactly what happened. It was shocking that Close lost, but it was not a surprise that Colman won. Now if Melissa McCarthy, Lady Gaga or Yalitza had won, that would have been a huge surprise.

by Anonymousreply 202March 16, 2019 3:10 PM

Helen Hunt, no contest.

Marisa Tomei was not a surprise and was completely deserved. It was exactly the kind of performance in a supporting role that, even if you dont care for the movie, if you come across it while flipping channels, you would wait for that trial testimony scene.

by Anonymousreply 203March 16, 2019 3:13 PM

R203 Helen Hunt was the front runner. She won SAG.

by Anonymousreply 204March 16, 2019 3:17 PM

My Man Godrey is so funny. And Gail Patrick, as Lombard's sister, is beautifully costumed and photographed.

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by Anonymousreply 205March 16, 2019 3:28 PM

Lady Gaga and that bad little pop song.

by Anonymousreply 206March 16, 2019 3:59 PM

I thought the little boy who took up the first half of "My Left Foot" was the real heartbreaker. But Tom Cruise was really obnoxious in the general obnoxious "Born on the 4th of July" -- which nobody ever mentions anymore. 'Penis! Penis! Penis!" I hated it (and I had loved the book).

by Anonymousreply 207March 16, 2019 4:00 PM

R202 you’re splitting hairs.

by Anonymousreply 208March 16, 2019 4:06 PM

My memory of the '97 Best Actress race (or '98, if you prefer) was that it was a two-way race between Judi Dench and Helen Hunt, with the latter having the benefit of appearing in a hit film, being a child actress who made good (see also Jodie Foster), concurrently starring on a top 10 TV show, and being the only American in her category (the other nominees were Julie Christie, Helena Bonham Carter and Kate Winslet).

Nevermind that Hunt's was the least impressive of the five nominated.

by Anonymousreply 209March 16, 2019 4:30 PM

r201, yes, Walter Huston is magnificent in Dodsworth, but I'm thinking with hindsight -- Huston has an Oscar for Treasure of the Sierra Madre, so let's give it to Powell for Godfrey, since he never won an Oscar and was as much an icon of the Golden Age as Huston.

by Anonymousreply 210March 16, 2019 4:33 PM

Was Jimmy Stewart's win for The Philadelphia Story considered a consolation prize for losing for Mr. Smith Comes to Washington?

How else can that one be explained? Wasn't he even more of a Featured Actor than Lead? I wonder if it was considered a surprise win in its time?

by Anonymousreply 211March 16, 2019 11:42 PM

It's a nice change discussing some of these perplexing Oscars that occurred pre-1970.

by Anonymousreply 212March 16, 2019 11:42 PM

R211 yes it was. Robert Donat won the year before beating Gable and Stewart. Interesting neither of them could pull off a win here. Gone With The Wind was of course a smash, but they might’ve thought it was Scarlett’s story and Rhett wasn’t much of a stretch. I have no idea how Stewart could lose, but they made it up to him the year after.

by Anonymousreply 213March 17, 2019 2:23 AM

R213. Yes, and Henry Fonda should have won for "The Grapes of Wrath" ( which means voters wouldn't have felt obliged to give it to him on his deathbed "On Golden Showers," and could have given it to Lancaster, who deserved it, and Best Actress would not have been the matched set with Shaky Kate).

Or, it could have gone to Chaplin for "The Great Dictator," a masterpiece of comic acting.

by Anonymousreply 214March 17, 2019 2:44 AM

R199 That Paul Muni was such a tedious SJW!

by Anonymousreply 215March 17, 2019 2:49 AM

Was Olivia de Haviland's first Oscar win for To Each His Own considered a shocker at the time? Has anyone here ever seen that film? Has anyone even heard of it??

by Anonymousreply 216March 17, 2019 3:01 AM

^ I couldn't watch it. Olivia was simpering all over the place.

And her leading man was a nobody called 'John Lund' who had "B-Picture" written all over his guilty-face.

by Anonymousreply 217March 17, 2019 3:17 AM

R216. I think it was expected--she played an unwed mother, different ages, wartime plots. But it should have gone to Celia Johnson for her exquisite work in "Brief Encounter." Ironically, O's win for TEHO may have kept her from winning two years later for "The Snake Pit" (she won the NYCC for it) followed by a win for "The Heiress" the next year.

by Anonymousreply 218March 17, 2019 3:22 AM

It comes across as a pretty standard melodrama today, but was a big hit in 1946, which probably helped her win. I thought her roles in "The Snake Pit" and "The Heiress" were more interesting.

by Anonymousreply 219March 17, 2019 3:23 AM

I agree, "The Snake Pit" and "The Heiress" were more interesting but the stupid Oscars are just a silly lottery of good luck and bad.

by Anonymousreply 220March 17, 2019 3:32 AM

OdH first win was for winning a groundbreaking case in court, which practically freed actors from the studios, resulting with the De Havilland Law. She was seen as a kind of Spartacus by her fellow actors, hence the win.

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by Anonymousreply 221March 17, 2019 11:46 AM

Barbara Stanwyck should have won a "we owe you" Oscar for Sorry Wrong Number (1948) - her fourth nomination, others were Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire and Double Indemnity. If not that, she should have been nominated and won that owed Oscar for any number of great performances after such as The Furies (1950). A good one was All I Desire (1953), how difficult would it have been to win an a owed Oscar over Audrey Hepburn, Leslie Caron and Ava Gardner? Not nominated!

Stanwyck later got one of those ridiculous lifetime achievement Oscars in 1982.

by Anonymousreply 222March 17, 2019 2:45 PM

The list of good actors and actresses that have never won is incredible.

by Anonymousreply 223March 17, 2019 4:06 PM

All I Desire is fantastic. Stanwyck’s work with Sirk is sublime. A very strange film, but There’s Always Tomorrow is absolutely fantastic as well. Love them both.

by Anonymousreply 224March 17, 2019 4:16 PM

"Bridge of Spies" is listed among my all-time favorite films, due primarily to the brilliant Mark Rylance. His Oscar win was deserved and worthy of a standing ovation. Mr. Rylance can convey more with his eyes and movements than any working actor today...stage or screen.

"Wolf Hall on Masterpiece" starring Mark Rylance and Damien Lewis is currently airing on PBS snd is well-worth your time.

Most surprising win was the cringe inducing "Crash," already forgotten while "Brokeback Mountain" is an icon.

by Anonymousreply 225March 17, 2019 5:01 PM

For those who cast doubt over Lee Marvin's "Cat Ballou" win, remember he performed dual roles there. Great performance!

by Anonymousreply 226March 17, 2019 5:18 PM

Just saw "Ship of Fools' and loved it, old Hollywood glamour and Stanley Kramer social commentary, flaws and all. Did not realize Oskar Werner was up against his co-star Lee Marvin (for a different film, of course)., Loved Werner and his shock of blond hair. And Signoret too.

I wish Oskar had gotten the Award for this and his double shot in "Man with the Golden Arm" (with yet another nominated co-star).

Also interesting to see the only (I assume?) "little person" ever nominated for an Oscar. Had never known this somehow.

by Anonymousreply 227March 17, 2019 5:28 PM

How can we forget Miss Hattie McDaniel's historic win over fellow nominees Olivia de Havilland and Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Now THAT was a surprise! The Academy got it right that night in bravely acknowledging and rewarding a flawless performance.

by Anonymousreply 228March 17, 2019 5:36 PM

Wasn’t brenda fricker a huge surprise as well?

by Anonymousreply 229March 17, 2019 5:39 PM

R229 Not to anyone who'd seen the film. She was a surprise for the British public as she was famous only for her role in the long-running television drama Casualty. In fact I think she still remains most famous for that in the UK as she ended up going back to it.

by Anonymousreply 230March 17, 2019 6:08 PM

Olivia would have won another Oscar if James Cameron had cast her as Old Rose in Titanic and not that god awful piece of wood, Gloria Stuart.

by Anonymousreply 231March 17, 2019 6:12 PM

The winners are not determined by committee, but by ballot R228 (and everybody).

by Anonymousreply 232March 17, 2019 6:56 PM

Michael Dunne in Ship of Fools may have been the first little person to be nominated for an Oscar but Linda Hunt was the first one to win an Oscar.

by Anonymousreply 233March 17, 2019 7:26 PM

Ship of Fools is a wonderful film ruined by bad hair and makeup design that looks nothing like the 1930s period it portrays.

by Anonymousreply 234March 17, 2019 7:29 PM

Will Tom Cruise be the second little person to win an Oscar?

by Anonymousreply 235March 17, 2019 7:32 PM

Lee Grant was in one of the best ever episodes of Colombo, I didn't realize she was a real actress, that won an Oscar of Shampoo and had been nominated for other awards. I mean she was brilliant in Colombo, but thought they only used no name actors and actresses.

by Anonymousreply 236March 17, 2019 7:33 PM

R236, I beg your pardon.

by Anonymousreply 237March 17, 2019 7:35 PM

R228 "brave"? ? ?

by Anonymousreply 238March 17, 2019 8:38 PM

[quote]I wish Oskar had gotten the Award for this and his double shot in "Man with the Golden Arm" (with yet another nominated co-star).

Werner was not in "The Man with the Golden Arm".

by Anonymousreply 239March 17, 2019 9:18 PM

Sorry, meant "Spy Who Came in from the Cold". Get all those '60s thrillers mixed up (and getting a bit spacey in my not so old age).

by Anonymousreply 240March 17, 2019 9:32 PM

Wasn't The Man with the Golden Arm a mid-1950s film starring Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak about drug addiction? No spies there.

by Anonymousreply 241March 17, 2019 10:06 PM

Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins. I mean, the character is rather flat when not singing and disappears for long stretches of time. She was much more engaging in The Sound Of Music but Hollywood had moved on.

And the winner is.....Julie......Christie!

by Anonymousreply 242March 17, 2019 10:48 PM

Andrews won because she had been denied the film of My Fair Lady and they wanted to punish Jack Warner for not giving her the role. They didn't realize she'd give an actual Oscar caliber performance the next year in Sound of Music.

by Anonymousreply 243March 18, 2019 4:10 AM

To the moron that talked about no-names on Columbo? You must be joking- Suzanne Pleshette, Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Dick Van Dyke, Anne Baxter!

by Anonymousreply 244March 18, 2019 5:28 AM

Streisand and Hepburn tying for first, with Streisand accepting with a plastered, cunty, resting Jew bitch face, Bab's doesn't like sharing.

by Anonymousreply 245March 18, 2019 8:04 AM

Exactly r19, it's called talent.

by Anonymousreply 246March 18, 2019 8:42 AM

r41 That stupid, silly smirk Redmayne displayed after delivering ever line was cheap and annoying.

by Anonymousreply 247March 18, 2019 9:00 AM

Yes La La Land , The Shape of Water, and Crash all sucked, do not get it.

by Anonymousreply 248March 19, 2019 1:22 AM

R248, La La Land didn’t win Best Picture.

by Anonymousreply 249March 19, 2019 1:25 AM

I loved La La Land.

by Anonymousreply 250March 19, 2019 1:32 AM

[quote] [R248], La La Land didn’t win Best Picture.

FUCK YOU, R249

by Anonymousreply 251March 19, 2019 2:32 AM

Yes r49 Streetcar not winning is shocking, one of the most brilliantly acted, written, illuminating yet tragic film ever.

by Anonymousreply 252March 19, 2019 6:43 PM

I keep trying but can't get through "American in Paris" either. Just awful.

by Anonymousreply 253March 20, 2019 7:00 PM

Hands down Rami Malek....

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by Anonymousreply 254March 20, 2019 7:23 PM

Get Out for best screenplay

by Anonymousreply 255March 20, 2019 7:43 PM

R253 AAIP is not awful. Go back to watching Transformers.

by Anonymousreply 256March 20, 2019 8:28 PM

Knock it off. My favorite film is "Nashville", my favorite director Fellini, my favorite current director Yorgos Lanthimos, I watch mostly Criterion Collection... and I STLL can't get through "An American in Paris".

by Anonymousreply 257March 20, 2019 9:29 PM

I also hate An American in Paris.

by Anonymousreply 258March 20, 2019 9:52 PM

NASHVILLE (1975). I DON'T GET IT.

by Anonymousreply 259March 21, 2019 12:30 AM

I also couldn't get past the hillbilly music in Nashville.

by Anonymousreply 260March 21, 2019 12:32 AM

Rami swept last awards season. His win wasn't surprising.

by Anonymousreply 261March 21, 2019 1:39 AM

Nashville is a movie you really have to sit thru the whole thing. It seems sort of fractured and rambling at first but if you hang in there the way everything comes together in the end is pretty thrilling.

(and the end is riveting stuff.)

by Anonymousreply 262March 21, 2019 2:34 AM
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