Was it a shock when Clark Gable didn't win the Oscar for Gone with the Wind?

I was crushed and disillusioned by Hollywood so I immediately left for South America.

Robert Donat’s performance is a classic. His Oscar was well-deserved.

Another vote for Donat. Classic, memorable (far more than Rooney or Stewart) and very deserving of all accolades.

They do say that since GWTW had garnered so many Oscar nominations that Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, threw his weight around Hollywood to ensure Goodbye Mr. Chips got a bit of something as well.

Robert Donat was a great actor who left this world far too soon.

Gable deserved it for delivering one of the most iconic performances in cinema history. However, he was under contract to MGM and Mr. Mayer would have been embarrassed for him to win for working at another studio, even though it was produced by his son-in-law. Still, I'll bet that Gable only lost by a few votes.

Donat totally deserved that Oscar, he's phenomenal in Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

I'd argue the least remembered performance among the nominees is Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms.

That happened my freshman year in college and our Drama Club was aghast the next morning at the news.

Robert Donat's performance reminded me so much of Tyrone Power's in "The Long Grey Line".

I remember how gobsmacked I was.

Clark Gable was perfect as Rhett Butler and the oscar should have been his.

Oh dear, r10 — “should OF been his”

I thought Viola was wonderful and very much deserved her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Gone With the Wind.

Clark should have gone supporting, he disappears for ages after Atlanta burns!

R11 I think you have that backwards. The correct form is "should have." or "should've." "Should of" is not grammatically correct.

Trash bitch!

Apparently, when he didn’t win Carole leaned over to console him and said, “Don’t worry honey, we’ll bring one home next year!” He pouted and shot back, “No we won’t, this was my last chance!” Indignantly, she retorted “I didn’t mean you, you self-centered bastard, I meant me!” I just read it in the new Academy Awards history book that came out last week, I posted about in the other thread.

Why would Clark think it was his last chance? He was the King Of Hollywood!

Carole should have won for My Man Godfrey

[quote]Clark Gable – Gone With the Wind as Rhett Butler

No, Clark Gable – Gone With the Wind as Clark Gable

R15 Makes you wonder if Clark knew any mechanics at TWA.

I thought it was a case of voters thinking “Gable being Gable.”

Gable didn't win because he had already won for "It Happened One Night". Few remember the man who beat Gable in the GWTW year, Robert Donat, but he was excellent in "Goodbye Mr. Chips".

Yes, it was a shock, OP. It was my generation's 9/11.

I don’t get this idea that because an actor sticks to a persona means they’re automatically bad or lesser than chameleon types. Gable often played similar types but managed to parlay that into multiple great performances - especially GWTW, It Happened One Night, and Mutiny on the Bounty.

Most stars were this way and that’s why they were better - they knew their appeal and their limits. Even ones with tremendous talent and range like Barbara Stanwyck played with their most popular persona in all their roles - did Missy ever play a weakling or pushover?

Subtlety of performance wasn't exactly s mark of that film, but to me Gable always stood out as 1930s hammy, not 1860s caddish.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Still laughing at Olivia:'s overreaction to losing the Oscar for GWTW. "I stopped believing in God!"

Most of us weren't born then, OP, so ... not sure?

Donat deserved the win, though Jimmy Stewart did as well. In fact, Stewart won the following year for a lesser performance as a make up for not getting it in '39. But really, 4 great performances (sorry Mickey!) in one year - all worthy.

Lois Kelly Miller in Meet Joe Black as Jamaican Woman

R4 R5 GWTW was produced by David O. Selznick Productions in tandem with MGM.

It's rough when a crop of great performances 'compete' in one year where any of them would have won in a less competitive year..

Donat may be forgotten because he didn't stick around in Hollywood, and he suffered from asthma very badly which made him miss out on some chances, over the years. And he died young. He was brilliant in Chips. Also he had to age from a young to an old man, which he did very believably and effectively. Goodbye, Mr. Chips was a hugely popular novel (as was GWTW, of course) and when Donat completely embodied the character (who is basically in every scene) it's no wonder he got the award.

I don't think people were as into Academy Awards when they were still relatively new as they are now. I don't think it was a shock, at all, when Gable didn't win. It was probably more like the Emmys. Nobody even remembers who won those.

Selznick was angry with his publicist for losing the Best Actor award but the Gable played a supporting role.

Weren't Jimmy Stewart's chances of winning also doomed because he was on loan out to Columbia for MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and didn't have home studio MGM's support? Though, obviously, that didn't seem to hurt Gable when he won his Oscar, also on loan out to Columbia.

In hindsight, two of the most curious Oscar wins were for Gable and Colbert in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT in 1934 Maybe it was because the Oscars were only a few years old and hadn't yet established any patterns by then, but the Academy rarely awarded comedic performances in leading roles again after that. And both actors were not working for their home studios (I believe Colbert was contracted to Paramount at the time). Not that they weren't deserving....

To think that Oscars weren't given for Best Costume Design until 1949. Not only was Walter Plunkett not rewarded for GWTW but MGM's Adrian had long retired as a costume designer by 1949 and was never even given an honorary Oscar.

R32 if you believe that exchange between Gable/Lombard, they seemed to care! I wish Carole had won one herself as it seemed important to her.

I think already by the late 30s the Oscar was seen as pretty prestigious; you read about actors choosing certain parts 'to win an Oscar' and be taken seriously, or to get better parts etc

Maybe it was Gable's halitosis that did him in.

R36 I meant they didn't have the same meaning to the public as they do now. OP asks "was it a shock" when Gable didn't win an Oscar. First, there was no TV in 1940. Millions around the world weren't watching. And even though there was radio, the Oscar broadcast was nothing like the phenomenon it is now. There wasn't the hype. About pop culture in general. And besides, the world was on the brink of war in 1939-40.

Can you imagine if, today, not a single book existed about the Academy Awards? Yet none did until Robert Osborne wrote the first one, in the '60s. And for several years, it was still the only one. Maybe gives an idea of how interest in the Oscars was not the same then.

Rep 14:

Doan yew goes after mah cuzin fer his grammer. He is dan on his luck an living in a te-yent in mah back yard.

R38 I take your point, I'd misunderstood what you meant! You're absolutely right about the public not being nearly as invested back then.

According to Inside Oscar book, Stewart was neck and neck with Donat and Bette Davis lost to Leigh by a small margin (this was rumor, but it sounds about right). Price Waterhouse let it slip to the LA Times who were the winners before the Academy dinner, but made them promise not to reveal it until after. The Times broke their promise, so everyone knew walking into the ceremony if they won or lost. The sealed envelopes started as a result the next year. I’m not too surprised Gable lost. He had won before, and voters probably could see that Donat and Stewart had the more substantial roles. GWTW was really the Vivien Leigh show, even though Hattie McDaniel was able to break through this with her win. I’ve heard a few voters were in tears when she’s walking with Melanie up the stairs, describing Rhett and Scarlett’s fighting after Bonnie’s death.

R41 you're not surprised Bette Davis almost won a third time in 5 years but it makes sense Gable wouldn't be given a second?

I think that's bullshit, no way was Leigh going to lose for that performance. Next they'll claim Olivia almost beat Hattie

They didn't vote for me instead of Hattie because they knew I was not a "supporting" actress! I was one of the leads. Not that I hold any grudge against her for winning. She was a credit to her race.

R43 LOL

Olivia is a great reminder of the extent people can go to in order to delude themselves!

It's amazing how phony both Olivia and her sister come across in interviews.

R42 the other nominees were Irene Dunne, Greta Garbo and Greer Garson. None of these three (even an Oscar less Garbo) had a chance of taking down Leigh that year. Davis was in her peak and hugely popular at this time. Her reviews were glowing. So no, I’m not surprised Davis was a close second. This was an era when they gave Walter Brennan three in four years, albeit supporting, for playing essentially the same role as an old coot. And Davis was 10 times the actor Brennan was.

Tastes certainly change, but "Babes in Arms" was a massive hit and Rooney was extremely popular. I wonder if he got a lot of votes, it really wouldn't surprise me if he did.

R47 I already had to refute this same statement on another thread, but the tree roles Brennan played were completely different.

Come And Get It (1936) (Swan Bostrom) Brennan plays a Scadinavian logger in the Pacific Northwest, who loves the same woman (Frances Farmer) as his friend, Barney (Edward Arnold). She marries Swan when Barney rejects her. Brennan ages from young logger to middle-aged widower.

Kentucky (1938) (Peter Goodwin) Large supporting role as a cantankerous, lovable, eccentic old (in his 80s) Southern horse breeder - the "old coot" role. He dies at the end and is eulogized in the film's final scene.

The Westerner (1940) (Judge Roy Bean) Brennan plays the historical character of Roy Bean, in his 50s - essentially a cold, mean, corrupt son of a bitch.

Brennan in Kentucky:

Brennan in The Westerner

R49 so two of them were old coot roles. It really doesn’t change the fact regarding Davis’s standing in 1940 Hollywood. She had massive success and multiple nominations, in this time frame. They had no reservations about giving Brennan three in a short duration, so why not Davis? The only thing that would’ve surprised me was her stemming the GWTW tide, not the quality of her work, picking her over Leigh’s Scarlett.

Video from the ceremony.

R52, No, you're deliberately being obtuse. I just said only one was an old coot (your term). Maybe if you saw the work you would understand why they gave him the Oscars. Otherwise your point is valid.

R52 (About Bette Davis).

If you go to the DL archives you can just pull up the Oscars thread from that night and you'll see what was said in real time.

How did they do the forum in those days, by postcards?

R54 I’ve seen all three of his wins. I’ve seen every Oscar winning performance in fact. (I was on an Oscar kick when I was in my twenties and worked in a video store when I saw these older wins.) Brennan only won three because he rose up in the ranks from extra to featured player and the extras that were stuck there voted for him out of loyalty that he did well (extras were able to vote on awards in this era). I remember nothing about his work, or it being special or unique to warrant three wins, unlike Davis, where in this era you got something totally different, and daring, with each role she played. Spare me the you would understand why they gave him Oscars speech. Just like nowadays, some actors work definitely deserves recognition and wins, others, like Brennans, are largely forgotten and no one cares. Not all Oscar wins are the same, but you probably knew that.

R58 You're so snide. If you saw the films then why the fuck are you saying he gave the same performance? Of the three, Judge Roy Bean was the best, it was almost the lead in the film and a great performance. My opinion.

If Brennan was so mediocre he would have been forgotten. Instead he continued to get cast in big films and do great work in To Have And Have Not, My Darling Clementine, Bad Day At Black Rock, Rio Bravo, etc. etc. And a TV series. Even Disney films. Somebody obviously thought he was pretty good.

I only knew Brennan from The Real McCoys and Disney films. So his performance in The Westerner a great forgotten film kind of stunned me.

R59 you must be a relative. Obviously he played different characters, but nothing distinctive enough to be that memorable. I stated the reasons why he won three. I’m glad he’s this great thespian in your eyes. Most people don’t know who the fuck he is. Go ask ten people on the street if they know these three time winners. Day Lewis, Bergman, McDormand, Nicholson, Streep and…Brennan. I think you know how it’ll turn out.

Walter Brennan turned in basically the same performance in 1930s Westerns as he did on "The Real McCoys".

That short about the 1939 Oscar night at r53 is pretty fabulous and I was surprised to see so much footage I hadn't seen before, including the arrivals of stars who lost that night as well as others who weren't even nominated. Is that Bette Davis on the dance floor at the bottom of the screen around the 5:45 mark, shading her eyes with her hand? She isn't identified but I think it's her, possibly looking a little blonder.

I was hoping the short would tell us about the Academy Award getting the nickname "Oscar" which the narrator uses and must have happened in fairly recent years. How is the origin of the nickname not been more substantiated?

Also, if that short was shown in movie theaters in 1939 (or would it have been in 1940?) in the weeks after the event, it was probably seen by a multitude of millions, so I'm not so sure the public wasn't very aware of the Oscars even back then.

Brennan was also an unrepentant racist, breaking into a dance when it was announced that Martin Luther King Jr had been assassinated. And the explanation that he won three times because all the extras voted for one of their own has been given many times. He could be a perfectly decent character actor as in “The Westerner,” but neither of his first two wins were anything special. And I’d argue that James Stephenson’s performance in “The Letter for which he received the National Board of Review’s award and for which he was one of three actors nominated for the NY Film Critics Award (Chaplin won and Thomas Mitchell was the third) was far more deserving.

R64 absolutely. Jack Oakie and James Stephenson were predicted to win in 1940, and Oakies wife burst into tears when Brennan won. The MLK story is horrible. I’m glad he’s largely forgotten except cinephiles.

R65 except for cinephiles.

I think Clark Gable’s performance as Rhett Butler was perfect. I can’t think of anyone who could have done a better job . GWTW is in my opinion the most perfectly cast movie in the history of the cinema.

They don't show Clark Gable in that short at r53 about the 1939 Oscars though surely he was there. I wonder if studios contracted their actors to appear in the short if they weren't actual winners? But then it's also odd that the short was made by Warner Bros. and yet features Hedy Lamarr and Norma Shearer as non-nominated guests even though they were MGM property. And then Vivien Leigh's acceptance speech is lovely but seems scripted and not very spontaneous.

MGM and Warner had the largest stables of contract players, so it seems likely that one or the other would make a short.

[quote]Still laughing at Olivia:'s overreaction to losing the Oscar for GWTW. "I stopped believing in God!"

I'm not one of her fans!

Larry should have won for sexy Heathcliff.

I shot my radio.

OP - It’s not 1939 anymore

OP - How old are you?

R67, Leslie Howard. Totally miscast.

You’re wrong.

Walter Brennan went to my high school in Massachusetts and his estate funded a small scholarship prize, which I won in '81! I think it was $300 which wasn't a bad piece of change decades ago. I had no idea he was such a miserable racist, I just took the money and funded my moving to NYC.

I'm not giving it back.

R62 You have no idea what you're talking about.

R68 The close-ups were recreations. Hattie McDaniel's, also. (The long shots are actual ceremony footage.) That's why they don't seem spontaneous.

R61

[quote]Go ask ten people on the street if they know these three time winners. Day Lewis, Bergman, McDormand, Nicholson, Streep and…Brennan. I think you know how it’ll turn out.

Most of those actors are still working. Of course people would know them better. Brennan died in 1974. You don't seem too bright.

I have to disagree about Leslie Howard. Yes, he was too old and kind of walked through it. But there were very few actors of his stature who would have worked in the part, and who had the weight to go against Gable. He balanced the picture. If not Howard, who else could have played it?

R68 because it wasn’t spontaneous—it was reshot or reproduced for the newsreels. Same with Hattie McDaniel: in the standard footage of her receiving the award from Fay Bainter, there’s an obvious cut to where she is repeating or redoing her own acceptance speech.

Fascinating, r80 and r77! It looks staged but still, I had no idea.

Look at YouTube footage from the early mid-40s, when the Oscars were on the radio and before they started filming the full awards show for posterity. Example: Ingrid Bergman is shown getting her Gaslight Oscar in front of a drab curtain…recreated for the newsreels. Compare that to a couple of years later (i.e., when Loretta Young won).

R78 Kindly fuck off bitch. This all happened because you were startled by the mere notion that I wasn’t surprised that Bette Davis was a close runner up to Vivien Leigh. And they would possibly give her a third one so soon. Something not even worthy of a response. So you’re the imbecile. And Ingrid Bergman was of that era. So don’t give me your shit. The whole point of that 10 people thing was the other winners were would be recognized by their body of work, not solely based on name recognition. I bet none of the ten could name a WB film. Is that clear enough for you, or is still going over your head?

Was it a shock when you turned 100 yrs old, op?

R83 People of my parents' and grandparents' generation knew who Walter Brennan was. He was one of the most famous character actors. Who cares who doesn't, nowadays? People wouldn't know Fay Bainter, Alice Brady, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut, or other winners from the 30s, either. Or a lot of other actors, even from the 60s, or 70s. So what?

Ingrid Bergman won her third Oscar after Brennan was already dead and gone. Make sense.

No one under 50 knows any of the great Hollywood Golden Age character actors - Thelma Ritter, William Demarest, Eve Arden, Bert Lahr, and on and on.....

R85 you still don’t get it. I’ll explain it one more time and then I’m not dealing with this anymore. My whole premise was they gave Brennan three Oscars in four years for work that is hardly remembered nowadays, and for playing an old coot in two of his three wins. Bette Davis was HUGE in this time frame and came in a close second to Leigh. You seemed shocked that I wasn’t surprised they would almost give her three in four years. They also gave more than one Oscar in the late 30s to Davis herself, Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer. Rainer was always a lesser actress than Davis. She’s lucky she won even one. So they clearly had no issue with multiple Oscars given then. I get it. You love Brennan. But he’s hardly remembered now. Everyone knows Davis. To compare the work of both and who was the biggest star and actor is ludicrous. I told you why he won three. You seem to think it’s based on his stellar output when it’s not. He’s the only three time winner few remember. Why? Because of his OUTPUT of forgettable films, as opposed to other three time winners. Most people would know them not because they’re on TMZ or social media. Their output of memorable work.

If Vivien hadn't won for playing Scarlett it would be viewed as one of the greatest mistakes in Oscar history. Her performance, while maybe not technically as impressive as some others, was unforgettable and stunning. Wish she'd done more great roles afterwards, like Brief Encounter for instance.

How the hell is Leigh's performance as Scarlett "maybe not technically as impressive as some others?"

It's a perfect realization of the character in every way, the gamut of emotions, truly unforgettable and irreplaceable. Iconic (and I don't use the word lightly). If you don't believe that, just watching some of those other screen tests again. No one came close. It's like Margaret Mitchell had her in mind when she created the character. Leigh's Scarlett was the most eagerly anticipated performance in the history of movies at the time, and she did not disappoint anyone.

And this talk here of Bette Davis almost edging her out for the Oscar is insane. For Dark Victory? No way! I love Bette and she may have been the runner-up, but I refuse to believe it was a close call.

If anyone remembers Walter Brennan, it's for "The Real McCoys" or a vague recollection of him giving the same "Luke, the barn" performance in some Western. William Demerest is remembered because of "My Three Sons" and many of us wish we could forget him--what an annoying actor.

R89 it seems Leigh would blow the other four nominees completely out of the water, but she was still new to Hollywood. Even with the massive success of GWTW, Davis was still a hometown Hollywood actress, and her output of film triumphs in the era is unparalleled. No actress could match her. I’m sure Davis had a lot of friends and connections, not to mention just plain fans of her work, in the Academy also for her to get as close to Leigh as she did.

Eve Arden was on a Maude repeat today on Pluto .

Eve Arden also appeared as principal McGee in Grease.

R89 I only meant in terms of there being some criticisms of her southern accent etc. I agree it's one of the most impressive and vivid performances of the ages.

Clark Gable's loss was so shocking that President Roosevelt felt compelled to do a special fireside chat on the subject in order to calm the nation down, then using Donat's win to remind everyone that the British were our allies, at least in spirit, since the U.S. had not entered the war at that point..

Judy Garland was at one point slotted to play Carreen O'Hara, Scarlett's youngest sister, but with "The Wizard of Oz" and "Babes in Arms" she was just too busy for this small role, but she would have been fun in it. Fellow "Andy Hardy" castmate Ann Rutherford played the role as she was less busy and also less of a rising star than Judy.

R87 If it were up to me Bette Davis would have won more times than she did. It's not far fetched at all, only in 1939, when, if she'd won the Oscar over Vivien Leigh, it would have been very hard for her to live down - especially where she already had two. I know that's not your point. Let's declare a truce. What I don't like is you keep comparing Walter Brennan to these big stars. He was a character actor and Ingrid Bergman was a huge star. Of course people remember her more. Give me a break.

Yeah, I'm a fan of Walter Brennan, he was an excellent actor. PS. I have also read that his former fellow extras voted him the Oscar. I didn't realize that could be proven beyond doubt. But -- all three times? (He was also nominated for Sergeant York, but lost). I don't think it matters if he's "remembered". People "remember" him from The Real McCoys because it happens to be on nostalgia TV now. In the only film Bette Davis executive produced, she cast him (A Stolen Life). He was cast by Howard Hawks, Frank Capra, King Vidor, Anthony Mann, John Ford, Fritz Lang, Henry Hathaway, William Wyler and Jean Renoir in their films. He didn't suck.

R54. Actually , you haven’t. The Way of All Flesh is considered a list film and unless you were going to movie theaters in 1928, there’s virtually no way you could have seen Emil Jannings’ performance in it, one of the two for which he received the first Best Actor Oscar. Your over-claiming of expertise makes your credibility suspect.

Isn’t it just as likely that Davis may have been the runner-up in major part because she was a Warner Bros star and both Garbo and Garson (who really should have been Supporting for Chops) were MGM, which would have been voting for Leigh, as GWTW was a co-production of MGM and Selznick. Dunne is charming in Live Affair, but that was an RKO film and I suspect voters thought that she’d get one eventually in a different year (like Stanwyck, Russell, Garbo, and Close, none of whom ever got a competitive one). Alas, Dunne was nominated only one more time, for her excellent work in I Remember Mama, but the gimmick of Wyman’s non-speaking performance as a deaf character in Johnny Belinda was unbeatable(Wyman’s performance does not hold up—the NY Film Critics gave it to de Havilland for The Snake Pit, but the Academy was not ready to give her a second one that year, though they would the following year).

Olivia should not have won in 1946, she's an example of someone The Academy wants to honour and it being "their time", then they give a great performance shortly afterwards and end up being a double winner. Same with Elizabeth Taylor, Jodie Foster and Sean Penn.

"Goodbye, Mr. Chips" is unwatchable. The smarmy datedness and Greer. Ugh. Nothing against Donat, but "The Citadel" and this thing are sorry offerings aimed at the audiences then.

"Goodbye Mr. Chips" does not hold up, mostly because of the script. Donat is very good and Garson is ever the lady but the dialogue and situations are overwhelmed with sentimentality, with twinges of sheer inappropriateness---going for a walk in the Austrian Alps in 1939?

I adore "Goodbye Mr Chips". I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen a few years ago.

Uh, it was a period piece, r101. It didn't take place in 1939... (And I think it holds up very well.)

Davis should have won the 1940 BA Oscar for her performance in THE LETTER instead of Ginger Rogers for her overrated turn in KITTY FOYLE. Or anyone else but Ginger the fuzz face.

Joan Fontaine should have won in 1940 for 'Rebecca'

Then Bette in 1941 for 'The Little Foxes'.

I wouldn't have awarded Bette for 'Bad', instead giving it to Hepburn for 'Alice Adams'. Hepburn deserved a second and final Oscar for 'The Lion In Winter'.

Bette should have had her third and final Oscar for 'All About Eve'

Laurence Olivier's Heathcliff was profoundly moving to me, much more so than Clark Gable's Rhett Butler performance. Rhett Butler is the most iconic character and the most memorable performance, though. Jimmy Steward deserved the nom but not the award.

Now I need to go watch Goodbye Mr. Chips.

33- May Robson-Lady for a Day

34-Bette Davis - Of Human Bondage

35- Katherine Hepburn-Alice Adams

36- Ruth Chatterton -Dodsworth

37-Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth

38- Bette Davis - Jezebel

39- Vivien Leigh - GWTW

40- Joan Fontaine - Rebecca

41- Teresa WRight - Pride of the Yankees

42- Bette Davis- Now Voyager

R96 you were the one who was surprised that Davis was a close second to Leigh, but cool with the fact they gave Brennan three in four years. Why is so hard for you to believe that Davis was that close to Leigh, but Brennans wins are all justified. Plus the fact Davis was doing all this memorable work in her heyday I don’t find it that far fetched. Ok truce.

R97 I’ve seen the Last Command not WOAF. LC was on VHS. So feel free to shave a point off for me. 99 percent I’ve seen. Happy?

Now Voyager is one of my faves

R98 you have a point. You remove Leigh from the race, and Garbo probably would’ve pulled it off with the block voting, since she hadn’t won. I think Dunne and Garson had no chance with or without Leigh. It might’ve been Bette being at Warner’s and her popularity at the time which made her the runner up.

You can't hike in the Austrian Alps? Not only did Julie hike she sang and twirled!

I wonder if Garbo would have won. While not unheard of, even then (think Colbert and Dressler, though the latter won for a blend of comedy and maternal tragedy), voters tend not to vote for comedy performances (Jackson for Touch of Class, Paltrow for SIL come to mind in modern era, but even those, along with Audrey in Roman Holiday, have moments of poignance). If they weren’t going to vote for Garbo in Camille (especially over Rainer a second time in a row and for yellow face, though that may have itself been what impressed the mostly white voters), I’m not sure they would have given it to her for her excellent, droll deadpan in Ninotchka, especially over Davis’ wonderfully melodramatic Judith Traherne). While Davis begins the film verging on camp (“Prognosis negative!”), she transforms the character and the dignity of her death sequence is almost unbearably moving. Any other year (and especially had she not had “Jezebel” the year before), she would have been the front runner. Margaret Sullivan won The NY Film Critics Award the year before for a similarly “fatal heroine” kind of role in “Three Comrades.”

I think Davis was the greatest actress in the history of American film (sorry Mrs. Hummer and Mrs. Coen—you’re both swell, but not as varied and epic as Ms. D). Davis could have justifiably won for so many of her nominated performances—Dark Victory, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Now, Voyager. Arguably, for both All About Eve and Baby Jane (both of those years were incredibly competitive—even if you think Holiday shouldn’t have won, though, again, it was that rare comedy performance the Academy selected, one could argue for Swanson that year and any of the nominees the year of Baby Jane). And certainly should have been nominated for Bondage (again, Colbert was deserving, but Grace Moore—really? and Shearer for Barretts—Laughton yes, and he wasn’t even nominated, but Shearer just did Grand Lady posturing).

R108 I'm the one who was shocked about Bette coming close to winning but I didn't factor in block voting based on studio, so I think your post on this makes more sense now! I have never seen a Walter Brennan movie so couldn't comment.

I just think Vivien's performance is one of the finest wins in history and was shocked that anyone (even peak-Davis) almost beat her!

Where is the evidence of Davis' votes being close to Leigh's?

When Luise Rainer won her 2nd Oscar for The Good Earth it wasn't considered "yellow face" and, of course, the concept (sadly) had never been considered or discussed in the 1930s, except perhaps by Asian actors.

Hollywood was astounded by this elfin Viennese actress' characterization of a homely Chinese peasant, which in its day was considered "brave" and "noble" and "real" in a way that leading star actresses just didn't deliver back then. And there's the fact that the novel was a HUGE bestseller that everyone knew and Irving Thalberg's final film. And then, especially after seeing her as the glamorous and lusty Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld just the year before, I think her Oscar was a lock.

Though I know a lot of DLers mock her performance now, I continue to find it quite touching and poignant, not at all mannered, in spite of my use of quotes over those descriptive words in my last paragraph. One wonders, had she been happier in Hollywood, what sort of roles she might have taken on.

R115 I would’ve given to her for GE, not GZ. I think she was underwhelming in that. It’s still amazing to me the Rainer has as many Oscars as Bette Davis. One of the Academy’s jokes on the industry and movie lovers.

I'll agree with you on Rainer and The Great Ziegfeld (an Anna Held as mannered as O-Lan was not) but I think the range she showed with The Good Earth follow-up was a brilliant career move. Even though she floundered after all that.

[quote] Wyman’s non-speaking performance as a deaf character in Johnny Belinda was unbeatable (Wyman’s performance does not hold up—the NY Film Critics gave it to de Havilland for The Snake Pit, but the Academy was not ready to give her a second one that year, though they would the following year).

Strongly disagree - it's de Havilland's performance that doesn't hold up, for me. Wyman was great.

Agree about Rainer. She dominated the film so much despite having a costar and the fact that there were two leads. Not that Muni wasn't good, but she got me, emotionally. People say "it should have been Anna May Wong." I never thought it should be (if you've ever seen her, she was not the type), and anyway, they tested her. And she wasn't what they were looking for. They were willing to go with a Chinese woman if they could have found the right one.

They tested Anna but no way were they going to let a Chinese American woman play opposite the white Paul Muni. A great disservice to Anna May.

Many of the supporting actors in The Good Earth are played by Asians.

R120 Why would they waste money/film testing her? She also tested for Lotus, the 2nd wife.

This wasn't the story of a white man and a Chinese woman, it was about two Chinese people. Not about mixing the races.

Anyway, if you've ever seen Anna May Wong in a sound film, let's just say she was no Luise Rainer.

Jimmy Stewart said he tested for the role of Wang-Lung's friend (which ended up being played by a Chinese-American actor). Had to walk in a ditch next to Muni . Hindsight is 20-20 but a lot of things in theater and film are just a crapshoot. They probably had no idea about how they were going to cast a lot of roles until they tested people, and remember the cast has to look good together and like they belong in the same film, the same family, country, whatever.

I thought this tread was about Clark Gable?🙄

Why limit ourselves, r123? I'm finding the posts here very interesting and informative.

Can't imagine any leading actresses of the 1930s, not even Bette Davis and certainly not Anna May Wong, who would have been willing to deglamorize themselves to the extent Luise Rainer did in The Good Earth. And even when O-Lan's family becomes wealthy, she wasn't tempted to prettify herself up, totally true to the character as written.

But Muni was white, so Anna would not have been allowed to be in love scenes with him.