Revisiting the 16th Academy Awards

In this episode, we discuss the 16th Academy Awards. We discuss the big three awards. Casablanca won Best Picture. Paul Lukas won Best Actor for his role in Watch on the Rhine. Jennifer Jones won Best Actress for The Song of Bernadette. Did the right candidates win? Who got snubbed? We have a hot take on one that we believe got snubbed. Let’s talk about it! 🎥🎥🎬🎬

Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Well hello and welcome to Cemetery with David Heath. And I am your host, David Heath. This is the podcast where we talk about movies from every era and just about every genre. And uh we are excited to have you listening today. And um I am very I'm very excited to bring you a new episode weekly, and I'm I'm really particularly excited about this episode that we're doing. Uh in a few minutes, we're going to talk about uh the 16th Academy Awards ceremony. And uh we have what we've been doing, uh well, I'll explain that in a second, but let me first ask everybody, please, if you have not liked or subscribed to the show, please do it. It helps the show trend and brings attraction to other people. Uh, the algorithms is what it's all about, man. That's what it's all about. Algorithms. Um, and that does help help uh the algorithm. And what would really help is if you uh did a review. I haven't seen a review for a little while. Uh for well, I did see one uh a couple weeks ago, but it was several months old, and um I don't know the name of the person who did it. It was anonymous, but anyway, uh I really appreciate all the reviews that I I do have. Um, but if you have not done it, uh I would really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I really do. I want the show to grow. We've been doing this since 2018. Uh so yeah, seven years of cinema chat. And uh we are chatting about it every week since. Uh, but this particular episode is going to be about the 16th Academy Awards. Uh, and uh what we've been doing, if you're new to the show or you listen out of sequence or or just out of the loop completely, uh, we have uh reviewed all of the Academy Awards going back to the first one in 19 uh twenty-nine. And we are now uh uh uh reviewing the films that were that came out in 1943. And um and basically what we're doing is we're kind of litigating uh the the big three awards, uh the the if you will, best big three, best picture, best actor, best actress. And I I will reiterate uh uh what I've said uh uh other times, which is uh I don't go over every category. Reason being is because um it it's very time consuming and it's very different it takes about three to four weeks to put an episode like this one together, and um, and I do a weekly show. So it makes it kind of difficult uh to do that. And um, and with having a full-time job, it is it is something that is just an impossible task. Um, so sometimes I put together an episode in 48 hours uh from conception of the idea to actually putting it in you know, recording and everything. Um, but other times I have an idea and it doesn't come to fruition for a long time. Uh, but we are going through these uh every few months. We're gonna do one or two, maybe we'll increase it to three or four uh at some point. But uh right now we are at 1943 and we're going to litigate the 16th Academy Awards. Uh now the rules are we go over every movie, and I uh I uh uh watch every film. Uh I uh even though I even if I just saw it a year ago, I'm still re-watching it. Uh so I am re-watching every uh Academy Award film. There are a couple that I have not seen um until I started doing the the the these episodes. Um you know uh but um and there's a few more recent ones that I have not seen. Most of the ones in the middle I've seen were kind of in that spot where most of them I've seen. Um I there were two that I was familiar that I were familiar with, but I um I hadn't seen them yet uh on uh in the um Oscars for this year. Again, it's the 16th Oscars. So we're gonna go over every nominated film, every nominated actor, every nominated actress in the big three categories. And then we decide which when we we figure out we obviously know who won. Um what we want to do is decide did the Academy make the right decision? Was it the right choice to make that number, make that the the winner, uh, or that person the winner? And we also determine if a movie maybe potentially got snubbed and didn't get an Oscar nomination at all. And of course, uh this happens every year. Uh sometimes people notice it right away, and sometimes people don't think about it till 20 years later, and they hey, man, how did that win the Oscar? And this one didn't even get nominated. It's it's tough. But uh we will kind of cover some of the other uh major awards like uh best supporting and the best director, um, but it is really difficult for me to analyze everything, um, you know, and I'm really paying attention to certain things when I'm watching a film for a review such as this. And uh when I'm looking at the best actor, I try to determine that, you know, and but a lot of times the best supporting actors and actresses are in totally different films that we didn't get any other nominations, and it just makes it uh bogs bogs me down with things to do. But so we we limit it to the three big three where we promise it, but we'll kind of brush over the other stuff. Um and uh well anyway, here we go. Um the 16th Academy Awards. Uh it was uh at uh the the ceremony was at Groman's Chin Groman's Chinese Theater, uh, and it was hosted by the great Jag Benny. And uh so uh I I have not come up with the determination if if that when you know the Oscars uh it's a tough thing, it's a tough gig to cover. Um as you notice, there's been about 10, maybe 12 uh hosts that have done several. And um, and it's probably a it's probably totally a a thankless role to to do it. You know, obviously Jimmy Kimmel's done a few, uh Johnny Carson did some back in the the back in the old days, um, and uh Jack Benny did uh uh host some. And um Bob Hope uh hosted uh several. But uh it is um probably a thankless task. Um so they should try to have funny guys do it, even back in these days. Um I haven't been able to find a lot of footage of the really early Oscars. There is some, uh, but it mostly is just silent. Uh so uh there's really not a lot of audio, and this is an audio show, so that that kind of sinks. But uh okay, well, so we're gonna do the best picture first, and then we'll do over the best actor and best actress. And uh here we go. The the best picture um is directed by Michael Curtiz. Uh, what is that film? I feel like I'm on a quiz show. Um, no, it is Casablanca. And we played a clip from it uh right before uh the show started. And uh, of course, uh you maybe have heard of this film. Uh a lot a lot of lists uh have it really high up in Best of All Time. But uh Casablanca, uh score stars, Somebody Bogart, Inger Bergman, uh Claude Reigns. Um it's just a fantastic film, and it depicts uh you know uh uh two people. And then we did another whole episode on this uh a few years back. Uh uh if you scroll back, you can listen to a very comprehensive uh episode where I talked with Carrie Specht, uh, who hasn't been on the show for a long time. Uh uh but uh love her as a guest so much. Uh and she offered a lot of perspective on Casablanca. And uh but uh in any case, uh they uh most of the people in Casablanca don't really want to be there. It's a a place where they wait uh before they go to the place they really want to go, and they wait and they wait and they wait. Um, you know, but uh the scene of course or the movie course has lots of really great scenes, uh including the one where I the clip from the clip I played uh where Bogie is tormented by the fact that uh his um well, for lack of a better way to say it, maybe former lover um in albeit short time, uh came back and he had to see her, and uh it was devastating to him because she basically left him uh before and uh with no real good reason. Um but uh the show uh has action, uh suspense, uh uh has some uh some some chemic lines, Peter Lorrie in a short uh short period uh place. So good. You know, it's just so fantastic. You don't like me, Rick, do you? Um that's my best Peter Lurie on the fly. I didn't think I was actually going to do that, didn't uh didn't anticipate doing that. Uh but it scores 8.5 on IMBD, or uh it it scores uh 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. Who's the 1% that didn't like it? Uh 4.3 uh on Letterboxd. So uh the movie has stood the test of time. I I've said before on the show, I don't like it when people say the word that the term that didn't age well. That movie didn't age well. You know, it's like, hey, you know, you know what, the movie didn't age. Um the times changed, but them they don't ever say that about paintings, do they? Uh that painting didn't age well, did it? And uh no, they don't ever say that. Uh, but uh of course uh we've got uh uh Conrad Vight uh and uh uh Sidney Greenstreet, uh, you know, uh the beloved uh S Zakal. Uh people love love that guy, and he's got a fun role in it. Um there's so many fantastic lines from this movie, uh, and uh we'll we'll come back to it uh so before I gush anymore. Uh one movie I'm not going to gush over is our next uh Oscar-nominated film. Um it's called uh For Who and the Bell Tolls. Uh it is an adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel, and it is uh uh stars Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman uh uh who are seen to be magnets uh to Oscar-nominated films. Um it has a uh a a pretty good cast, uh albeit uh mostly unknown. Uh it's directed by Sam Wood. And um we did an episode on we did the top ten Sam Wood movies, and um Sam Wood is an interesting director because some of his movies are really good and some are wood. And this one to me is wood. Um the movie isn't that bad, it's not terrible by any means. Um, but is it Oscar-worthy? Is it in that rarefied air, you know? Not really. Uh I don't know how anyone could say that it is. Uh, but um uh what's it about? I'll I'm gonna read the IMBD uh d description. During the Spanish Civil War, an American ally uh with the uh Republicans find romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge. Um and it it it feels a little tiny bit like uh Bridge or the Qui, which is just an absolutely fabulous movie. Uh for Henley Beltels. Not so much. I haven't read the Hermione Ernest Hingway book, uh so it may be absolutely fantastic. Obviously, he was a great writer, uh, but uh there's of course a love story attached to it. Um, and you already heard the names of who it is, uh Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. And uh we'll talk a little more about their performances in a bit. Uh the next one is a really interesting one, and I uh yeah, I've got a little bit to say about it. Um it's uh called Heaven Can Wait. And if you haven't seen it, it's uh basically uh it's described as a supernatural comedy uh because it begins with uh we've got uh Donamichi, who is our main character. Uh he is in uh a little bit of a holding place, and uh he's trying to talk himself out of going to Hades or Hell, however you want to put it. Um and he talks to the guy at the main desk and and uh and this is uh uh a role played by Laird Krieger, uh and his he's called his excellency, is that the devil? I don't know. He's kind of at the front desk. Uh it also stars the lovely Gene Tierney. And how could you not just absolutely just fall in love with Gene Tierney? She's just so so wonderful in everything, and she's fantastic. Here is no exception. Uh also Charles Coburn, another guy that seems a seems like a magnet to these uh best picture uh move you know nominees. Um but basically it's a film where uh they he tries to make sure and stay out of uh hell. And he's basically litigating his life. The way we're litigating these films, in a way. Um Heaven can Way is not related to the 1978 Warren Beatty film called Heaven can Way. Uh it's uh this is a film directed by Ernst Blubbitch. Um and um there are a couple of small ties to that, and also to Here Comes Mr. Jordan, who we talked about in the previous um uh Academy Award episode. Um but uh it it is not related to those movies at all. Uh well except for a couple of little ties. But um Ben Manckwence told me what they were, but I can't remember now. But uh there are a couple of ties to it, but um it's kind of funny that it's called Heaven Can Wait, complicated and weird, and probably would have been great if one of the titles could have been different, or and and you know, uh maybe Warren Beatty could have named his Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also. Who knows? But uh but this film is not uh directly related to those two at all. Um, but it does um it is directed by Ernst Lubic, who is an amazing director in a lot of ways. Um, you know, my favorite director is Billy Wilder, and the and Ernst Lubic was his hero. Um, and um I think uh Ernst Lubic is amazing in a lot of ways, but the best thing I can say about Ernst Lubic is that he was able to weave his way thro uh from international cinema to uh you know silent cinema, uh American cinema, and then pre-code American cinema, and now he's in the classic film era, which they didn't call it that at the time, but that's basically where we're at. The classic film era, uh the the Hollywood Golden Age era, and Ernst Lubic just kept directing these movies, and uh he doesn't have a bad one. Um if Ernst Lubitz doesn't have a bad movie that I've seen. I now I I'm guilty of not seeing all of his early stuff uh that's that's subtitled in German. Um I haven't necessarily seen all those. Um but well, I know I haven't seen all those, but uh he is able to uh I just think it's amazing how he's able and like Billy Wilder, able to weave his way through different uh gen genations of cinema. But Ernst Lubic is one of the absolute champions of this. I mean, uh going like I said, from international cinema to American silent cinema, you know, and it just goes on. Um and I think he probably could have kept going if he would have kept living. But uh what a director Ernst Lubic is. And they of course they when the people mention Lord Slubich, they say the Lubitsch touch all the time, and that's because he everything was perfect, his sets were perfect, uh, his dialogue was perfect, uh everything he did was perfect. Um, this movie is not really an exception. Um, I it's a little overly long. I I I'll I will grant. Um, you know, is it worth an Oscar nomination? Yes, I believe so. I think it is one of the best films of 1943. Uh, we'll decide in a minute if it was the best. Um uh The Human Comedy is the next one. Um, this is a little bit of an oddball of a film. It's directed by Clarence uh Brown, uh who uh has a long and really storied career uh as a a director. Um he directed uh uh Joan Crawford uh a few times, uh and uh director Greta Garbo, uh you know, Anna Christie, uh Letty Linton, um Sadie McKee, and Anna uh Karenina, and uh Idiots Delight, uh you know, and then of course at Leeds, and he was all the way into the 50s. Uh and uh he was nominated for best director the the following year, too, and we probably will go over that one with the next episode like this one. Uh the human comedy, though, is it stars Mickey Rooney in despite the name, it is not a comedy. Uh basically it is um a movie that shows how a family that's not involved in the war directly uh as people. Um you you've got uh Mickey Rooney playing uh young man that's not uh I believe he's not old enough to fight. Um, but you know, clearly he's not tall enough either. Um, but um um it also has uh Frank Morgan. Marsha Hunt and Donna Reed, who everybody knows. It's hard really to state in words how good the human comedy is, or or maybe not so good. I think it's really a good movie. I don't think it's a great movie. Mickey Rooney, for the first time that I've seen, plays somebody who's not obnoxious in any way. He has uh a he plays a character that you really can feel sympathy for a number of times. Um he has a huge crush on a girl in the movie, and uh this taller guy, better looking guy, and everything all the way around, cooler guy, whatever you want to say. Um he um kind of gets the girl in in the middle of the movie, and Mickey Rooney uh has a couple of devastating scenes. I'm not gonna give that away. Um but but basically it's about what people are doing uh during the the war, um, World War II, that is, obviously, uh, when they're not actually the ones out fighting, and how everybody had to pull together and do different roles and um as far as uh you know the home or the community. And um, you know, it shows how tight people were um in in the time of World War II. And um in a way it it it's a lot a lot of people will criticize and say um that it's propaganda and it's uh you know uh stuff like that, you know. But but I I I I think it's I think it's a warm film and I think it's bittersweet. Um it's never really fun. Um it's never really that fun. There are a couple very couple of very light moments that are that are that are funny, but um there are some off-putting moments as far as uh you know it's saccharine and in a mo in a few moments. Uh there's some saccharine moments. Um but overall I think the human comedy is a good film. I think I definitely wouldn't say, hey, this is one of the greatest films of all time. Um I doubt I would have it on my list if I had to list 10 movies from 1943 to nominate, um, but it is it is a good movie. Um, but um I don't think it's going to make the cut here. Um In Which We Serve is the next one we'll talk about. And this one is is sort of the inverse of the last one, the Human Comedy. In Which We Serve uh shows the people the people that are actually doing the fighting. Um and um it stars William Bendix, who has really probably more lines than everybody else I I had measured, but uh but it probably does. Uh and uh Noel Coward, John Mills, Richard, Richard Attenborough was in it. Uh uh. But this one is probably a little this one is not really uh this is not really drama or melodrama like like the human comedy. It's more of it's lighter in the beginning. A lot of you know, it's got William Bendix, of course. Everything's usually William Bendix uh delivers some light uh lines um and usually tries to be funny. Sometimes he's a lot funnier than others, uh if you know my meaning there. Um, you know, I have a mixed feeling about William Bendix. I at times I really like him, and there's other times where it's like, you know, uh I can just tell he's utterly incapable of doing certain types of roles. Um but um uh I thought I always watched the show Life O'Reilly when I was a kid. I not I would that I was old enough to watch at first run, because I'm not, but I did watch reruns uh when they ran them on um uh cable. I can't remember who ran them, but anyway, that was always kind of a fun show. But uh this is uh more of a drama with a little laced with a little bit of like comedy at the beginning. Um there's uh a little bit of testosterone in this, which the human comedy doesn't really possess a lot of. And um you know, has some good battle scenes. This one is propaganda, in my opinion, uh, which, you know, the word propaganda is a little bit uh I I believe it's uh it's torn down or torn up a little bit too much. Um propaganda during World War II, uh, you know, where that we almost universally hear, well, I hear, I'm listening to it in 108 countries, but if you're in America, um it was pretty much universally agreed upon that the we are fighting the good fight in World War II. Um so propaganda when you're fighting the good fight, not such a bad thing. Um and uh so to uh boost morale, that kind of thing. And uh but uh in which we serve, I'm not going to spoil the story uh because it does uh have an ending that that um is um is a little jarring, but uh it it it is a lot lighter than a lot of war films, and you know, but it just kind of shows yeah, we're fighting the good fight. Nameless, faceless people on the other side, and um, you know, there we go. But um yeah, it not Oscar-worthy stuff here. Yeah, it's just not. Uh, but uh we will get to another movie now, uh, which um you know is a lot closer to Oscar worthiness, uh, and that is uh uh Madame Curie. Um and that uh is another pairing of Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon, who just have tremendous chemistry uh between those two. I I I think it's amazing how much chemistry they have. Uh but uh of course it's a mostly true story. Uh also, by the way, has Henry Travers, um, who you would probably best know from uh his role in It's a Wonderful Life. Uh but uh the film tells uh the story of um uh uh Marie Curie uh and uh her her relationship with her husband uh Pierre Cur Curie. And um by the way, this is th I didn't know this. I did some uh but these two Girl Garsen, Walter Pigeon, eight films together. I I think I think I've seen five or six, but I I am I'm not sure, but it's kind of amazing. Yeah, eight films together, uh but uh in any case, uh Marie Curie is very reluctant to uh uh go on to or go on with her uh being a physicist uh because uh she wants to go home to Paris and and Walter Pigeon in his Walter Pigeon way uh tries to tell her, hey, you know what, science is more important than than than this. We're you know, the the the world is bigger than we are, is basically what he's trying to tell her. Um and she, of course, uh marries him very promptly and stays on as a physicist. Uh and uh they of course uh do some great things together. Um and particularly Marie uh Curie does some uh great things together. Uh but the film performed very well. The box office had a lot of good uh si it had a lot of good success with the critics. Um but uh the interesting thing about this movie is uh is that uh uh Joan Crawford was talked about, Greta Garbo was talked about doing this movie, uh but uh Garbo uh uh was just retired and didn't do any more movies. Uh but the fact that Joan Crawford didn't get this role is uh what she stated is the reason why she left uh MGM. And uh that's possibly true. Um I don't know. I love Joan Crawford, I've said it in many times in the show, uh, but sometimes people when they when they're when they're getting canned uh have a different story than than what the uh people that were going to can that person have. But I don't know what's true and what's not true, is all I'm saying. Um but needless to say, Greg, the role went to Grier Garson. Uh she's lovely in it, she's perfect in it. Uh the movie I think is worthy of an Oscar nomination. And on we move on to uh the next one, which is The More the Merrier. Uh The More the Merrier uh stars uh Gene Arthur, Joel McMah McCrae, and again we've got Charles Colburn. And uh it is uh another example of uh a wartime uh film. Uh there was uh a housing shortage uh uh during World War II, and Gene Arthur had uh a home and ended up uh uh ended up uh allowing uh very reluctantly uh Charles Coburn and eventually Joel McRae uh sharing space. And uh Gene Arthur is just absolutely incredible here. This is a comedy, it's sort of a farce. I I I don't know if you technically uh call it a farce uh or not. Um I don't know if there's a technical uh way to just to define what a farce is, but the the film does move rather fast. It's directed by George Stevens, uh, and um uh there's lots of extraordinarily funny lines in it. Uh it's um yeah, it's a little three's company-ish. Uh, you know, if you if you see sometimes uh three's company episodes, you're like, oh wow. Now you kind of know some of where they got their ideas from a movie like this one. Uh but uh the movie just shows all the different uh ways that uh it's problematic for three people uh to live in the same house that you know are not alike, and and uh of course it's problematic at the time because two of them were men, she was a woman. Um it it was only a minor issue in the movie, uh, which is is uh a little strange, but I think because Charles Coburn is quite a bit older, it it wasn't a major issue. Uh but uh Gene Arthur uh you know was 42 when this came out, which is uh really something, because uh she's somebody that uh looks like uh you know a lot younger. Let's just put it that way. So it's a lot younger, and um and she delivers a performance for the ages, a comedic performance for the ages, and she's her timing is so perfect. We're not gonna give away all the funny lines and anything, uh, but it was distributed by uh a Columbia Pictures. Uh Charles Coburn won Best Supporting Actor, and we'll get to that too. We're gonna touch on that anyway. But uh there's so much going on here uh that's funny stuff, and uh of course, uh like a lot of movies, uh there are there are a couple of a couple just a couple of slow slots, but the movie really picks up pretty well, uh the keeps up the pace for the most part. And Charles Colburn is just fantastic in this. But Gene Arthur, wow. Uh she I mean, and you and you should see the movie poster. It's like she's 25 years old. Um that's what it you know would make the what would make you you believe. So the movie poster itself, um, if you look it up, uh the more the merrier, it's really it's really fun to look at. It's just you see the two men um you know hanging on the door, and it's just funny. It's funny stuff. But Charles Coburn, so great, and so is uh I was gonna say Kirk Garson. So is Gene Arthur. Um, and uh of course Joel McRae uh is far, far, far from a slouch. He's great in this, he delivers lines absolutely great too. Um it's just uh this is just a really good film, and uh and I know that it probably pained some people that a comedy wouldn't would reach a height like this, uh, but it's worthy of the of the uh Oscar uh nomination. Uh now another movie that is worthy of the Oscar nomination, I'll already give that spoiler away, is the Oxpo incident, um, starring Henry Fonda and um uh Harry Morgan. Um it also has Dana Andrews, who Dana Andrews is one of the most underrated, underappreciated actors of that time. Dana Andrews always delivered a great performance every single time. Uh it also has a uh young Anthony Quinn uh in it. Uh you know, um uh Jane Darwell gives a a performance that that's just over the top, but but absolutely fantastic. It's kind of hysterical uh her performance in a movie that is this dramatic uh that a performance can be that that funny without actually belly laughing. It's something. Uh but basically the movie uh is kind of twelve angry men before um twelve angry men. I mean, the Oxwo incident, of course, has Friend Henry Fonda playing the same type of role. Uh he plays a man that sees these three men getting what he perceives to be railroaded. Uh, and they're called horse thieves and called murderers. And uh they and there's an angry mob that doesn't want to give them a free trial, doesn't want to wait for the sheriff to to come back uh into town and give these three men a fair trial. Henry Fonda plays uh role of a man who's just absolutely uh obsessively angry that that they're doing this. Um and and and I tell you, I can't stress enough the performance of Dane Andrews here is absolutely mind-blowingly good. Um and he's not the main character. That would be Henry Fawn's character. But uh The Oxfell Incident is a short, tight film, and uh there's not there's not me on this movie at all. Um uh it's just a really great movie directed by William Wellman, who we've talked about multiple times on the podcast. William Wellman is uh just a fabulous director. Uh you can scroll back on the feed and uh listen to my uh conversation with um uh anyway. We talk about the we talk about the um uh William Wellman uh pre-code films. Uh and uh that was a few episodes back. And uh this is of course not pre-code, um, but uh but it's pretty intense. And uh and it's just a really well constructed film, possibly William Wellman's best film. And um I would almost say probably, but uh of course he won an Oscar for Wings, um and which is also a big really excellent dramatic film. And oh I affirmed as the as the the the winner, albeit not that clear winner, but but uh uh you know because sunrise is so good too. Uh but I gave wings the the edge on that. Um but not by much, but this movie, Oxbow Incident, uh, is so underrated and so underappreciated and not talked about nearly enough. It's just an absolutely fantastic film. And if you haven't seen it, you need to see it. It's worthy of the uh Oscar. The next movie uh is a movie called The Song of Bernadette, uh, which stars Jennifer Jones, uh, who does an absolutely fantastic job in the um title role of Bernadette, St. Bernadette, um which you may have heard of her, and um this is one of the movies that I hadn't seen before, and uh, you know, it probably wasn't one that would have uh appealed to me, um, except for the fact that I'm doing this show. Um, but it's a very good film uh where uh Saint Bernadette, well she's not known as a saint, then, but uh Bernadette is uh a young lady who uh goes out to a grotto and she sees an image of another woman. Eventually it's determined that she is seeing uh Mary, uh Mother of Jesus. And um, you know, uh the town is just uh in in a little bit of an uproar uh in the beginning, and then a lot of the town uh people are supporting her, and but some are not, uh particularly uh Vincent Price's character, who says we gotta do something about this girl, you know, claiming she's seeing things uh like that she's seeing. And of course, this setting is uh the uh 1800s uh and so it is not a modern setting at all. Uh but these people are uh entranced by the thought that she is seeing Mary, Mother of Jesus. And um anyway, we're not going to spoil it, but that's basically the movie. Um the big problem is this is almost three hours long, and it's sort of unexplainable as to why it's that long. Um, you know, maybe uh maybe people just thought, well, it's a religious epic, so it's gotta be uh almost three hours long, right? That's what happened, you know. Uh but you know, it it's it's it's overly long, uh, but it's still very good. And um it is it worthy of an Oscar nomination. Um we'll get to that. Um the next uh film and the last one we're gonna talk about on this list for Best Picture uh is Watch on the Rhine. And I have some problems with this one. Um this movie is well intended. Uh it stars Betty Davis and Paul Lucas. Um it's well intended. They play a couple that uh are vehemently anti-Nazi, of course. Obviously, you know, that's a good thing. Um, but there's a lot of secrecy and unnecessary secrecy. Like, what do you do for a living? Oh, uh I'm uh I fight Nazis, you know, and and it's like um what do you exactly do you mean? You know, you know, you're not fighting in the war. What do you mean? And uh so there's a lot of uh that stuff going on. Um it it's an hour and 54 minutes, it feels like three hours and fifty-four minutes. Um it's an okay film. Uh it has a you know really good performance by Paul Lucas, which Which we'll get to, who won the Oscar for Best Actor. We'll get to that. And um, yeah, he's definitely not bad. Uh Benny Davis is the nice version of Betty Davis, and that's not always a good thing. Um, you kind of want her to be mean, right? Maybe. Uh, but yeah, Betty Davis uh always won that didn't care about making movies where she plays a bad girl. There are some exceptions where she plays a nice girl that I really like, Betty Davis. But um this one, she isn't really given the stage very much. She's in almost every scene, but she really doesn't say a lot. You know, she's rather quiet, and when she does have lines, they're not delivered in such a way where where it's super impactful. Paul Lucas gets most of the lines, and uh, a lot of his lines are kind of boring. Um doesn't mean his performance is bad, but the the dialogue in this, it's very word, very wordy, and um and it doesn't really say a lot, you know. So, no, I don't think this is worthy of the Oscar nomination. I it's definitely not the worst movie I ever saw. Certainly not the worst one that ever got nominated, but I don't think it really deserved the best picture nomination. Okay, so what does it boil down to? You know, is it really a is it really a thing that we're deciding who who wins this? Um, you know, I I'm I'm going to say uh the that out of all these, uh there are two that stand out, and then there's a third one that stands out that's right below them. The third one is Heaven Can Wait. I think that's a really absolutely fabulous film. Oh, and and let's go ahead and put number four, the more the merrier. It's just a really good film. And you could flip-flop these two, whichever. Matter of fact, I'd flip-flop them. Maybe make them more the merrier, number three, and and um heaven can wait number four. Doesn't really matter, but um, I think that those two are in a class by themselves, and I think there's other two other films that are in class by themselves, too. You can probably guess which ones I'm gonna say: the Oxbow Incident and Casablanca. And um ultimately uh, yeah, ultimately, there's no way I'm I'm taking away the Oscar from Casablanca. No, Casablanca is the best film made of that year. The Oxbow Incident, if it had been made um probably 70 or 75 other years, um, probably has a real legitimate shot of winning this from me. I don't know about from the Academy, but hey, it's great that it got nominated because it definitely was well deserving. It's one of the best movies I I've ever seen, The Oxbow Incident, but it doesn't eclipse Casablanca. Um, you know, in Casablanca, you've got uh the great performances uh by all the great actors. Uh, you have probably the best screenplay ever written, which is weird because it was written by a number of people, and sometimes too many clip cooks spoil the broth. This was not one of those cases. An absolutely fantastic uh script, and uh Casablanca is just a perfect movie, really great Max Steiner music. Uh the film is nice and tight, uh, you know, uh a little more than an hour and 40 minutes, and everything works. Everything works in Casablanca. The movie is paced well, you've got the scene uh where the the Nazi officers are drowned out, you know, singing their little little little stupid song, while you hear the French national anthem of uh you know drowning it out. And uh and one of the best scenes ever in film history, in my opinion, is right there. Um I cry every time I see that. I you see the passion of the of the uh actors in the film uh excited about about singing that French National Anthem. It means something to them, and um, you know, uh it's just what a fabulous film. Casablanca is definitely the uh the clear-cut winner, and I think it definitely deserves the best picture. I will admit I'm biased. It is my favorite movie ever. But how in the world can you take that Oscar away from them? How can you do it? You know, it's just a fantastic movie. And Michael Curtis, a guy that we don't talk about enough either, a guy that could deliver uh a movie from any genre and have it be good. Um, you know, he gets overshadowed by the great directors of more recent years, uh, since the 60s and 70s, because he was in the studio system. And, you know, he and William Wellman, I think, are two guys that really stand out during those studio system years, making really great films, uh, and sometimes delivering them like they're working in a factory, but they're just so good, you know. And Michael Curtis may not have been the nicest guy in the world, but he knew how to put a good film together. Uh what a great film Castle Blanca is. They didn't know it was going to be that great. Um, when they were making it, they thought it was just another just another picture, but uh they had no idea that they were working on uh what many consider to be the best film of all time, including myself. Now, uh there's a lot of people that will fight for five or six other movies, but almost every list can include Casablanca as one of the top ten, if not five, uh best movies of all time. You know, obviously people say The Godfather, Citizen Kane, uh those two uh top a lot of lists, Gone with the Wind tops out a few lists, but really it's it's those four, uh you know, add a couple more to the list. Um, but those those are the ones that people usually say are their the best films or their favorite films. Um I I do want to mention one one other uh film that I I I almost forgot to mention. Um Lady of Burlesque, uh starring Barbara Stanwick. Another really great film. I think it probably was better than six of the ones that were nominated that year. Uh Lady Burlesque, good movie starring John Barbara Stanwyck. But I would not have given it the Oscar, but I do think uh it was a great film nonetheless. Um let's talk about Best Actor. Okay, so next we are going to talk about the best actor. And of course, we've got uh five nominations, and we've got a sixth one that I'm going to throw in as somebody who got snubbed. Okay, so Paul Lucas. So we talked about him earlier, and uh Paul Lucas uh delivers uh what I think is a uh really good performance. Um I have no problem with his performance. I do have a problem with his lines. I don't think that this was a well formed script, and I I feel like Paul Lucas and Betty Davis for that matter, uh, but Paul Lucas suffers a lot in this movie. Now, he didn't suffer ultimately because he got the best actor award. Um, but uh let's move on to the next one. Um, Humphrey Bogart uh uh Casablanca, and um you know, was he worthy of the nomination? Absolutely. Why is he worthy of it? Well, because he delivers lines and so many of them, and the timing is so great in this movie. Humphrey Bogart, uh kind of uh we've talked about several times on the podcast where we've detailed his run and movies. Uh the the 1930s were not kind to him, but the 1940s were super kind, and I think part of it is he was developing a persona, and I think he worked on it for quite a while, and all of a sudden it just came out, and um, and then when he started getting good film roles, it just allowed him a chance to shine. And this is you know, potentially his best film role. Uh, but is it his best performance? Well, I don't know, but I'll I'll let other people judge that. But I I I think yeah that his performance here at Casablanca is top-notch, um timing impeccable. Um everything, you know, his face, uh his face suckers, and his facial gestures, and uh everything he does here is perfect. You know, I sound like a server at your table now. Perfect. Uh you wanted the girl chicken, perfect. Um, I always hate that when servers do that. It's like so patronizing. Um, but uh we're also going to talk about uh the next nominee, which is Gary Cooper. And Gary Cooper, of course, from who for Whom the Bell Tolls. Um uh Gary Cooper, I've said before on the podcast, I hope it doesn't get me in trouble, but I'm just telling you how I feel, honestly. Um Gary Cooper, great actor in in some some things. Um and but I think he's truly a great movie star. Uh he has a really good um he's obviously a good-looking man. Uh he's tall and just uh he delivered lines well. Um but there were times where he didn't carry a film, and I think for him the Bell Tolls is one of those times. And uh I I think Gary Cooper um is an interesting interesting guy. Sergeant York is such a great performance. He did what he needed to do with Sergeant York, and I think for him the Belt's he delivers a fine performance, but but it's not great, and it's really kind of wooden because again, the lines aren't that great for him. Um this is not a great film, but um Gary Cooper No, I'm not giving I'm not giving him the word. Walter Pigeon uh for Madame Curie, an excellent performance, really good performance. Um you know, I there are only a few people that that uh can deliver lines uh as I don't know how to say it. He's very debonair, let's just say that. He's very debonair and just knows how to deliver lines and does it so gracefully and probably in a way that looks like effortlessly, but obviously a very good actor, Walter Pigeon, um but I this isn't his best role, and and I I don't feel like that this is one that you know he's not even the main character, you know. So I'm not sure that um he really deserves uh the Oscar for this uh the or the nomination. Mickey Rooney is a uh plays a guy in the human comedy that you can I don't know about relate to, but you can sympathize with him. Um maybe you can relate to him, depending on who you are, but um, but you you can you can definitely sympathize with him. And for once he's in a movie where he's not obnoxious and and you know doesn't you know ham it up for the camera. And I I don't always resent people for hamming it up, but Mickey Rooney uh is always over the top, and you know, here he's not, and we got to give him credit for for uh doing this. And you know, let's face it, Mickey Rooney was a movie star for almost 80 years. It's kind of ridiculous. Um but um you know this is a really good performance, um, you know, but it is not as good as the what was one that didn't get nominated at all, which is Henry Fonda for the Oxwell Incident. The Oxwell Incident is a film that um just it does not get its just due. Um and Henry Fonda is uh an actor that um I think uh ultimately kind of gets the credit he he deserves. But this particular film is just so good. The Asswin's in it, and it and it's partially due to the script, and it's partially due to the supporting cast, and it's partially due to the uh the really great uh way that the move the movie moves along at a good pace, at the perfect pace. Um but ultimately Henry Fonda helps this movie work along with Dana Andrews uh with their performances. And um Henry Fonda is uh clearly you know 16 years later when he plays in in 12 Angry Men, he's kind of playing the same guy, only in a only in a jury room, as opposed to you know in the old west. But Henry Fonda delivers a great performance. So ultimately, we go back over this. Yeah, Paul Lucas, I'm gonna jerk it out of your hands. But who am I gonna give it to? Do I give it to Henry Vonda or do I give it to uh Humphrey Bogart? Ultimately, I decided to give it to Humphrey Bogart. Even though Bogart had uh a cast that that assisted here in such a ridiculously good way, uh, and also had uh a screenplay that was totally in his favor, I'm giving the award to Humphrey Bogart. Uh so Paul Lucas, sorry man, but I'm gonna uh Paul Simi, you must I can't say that word. After they're both deceased. I want to give it to uh Humphrey Bogart. By the way, we're approaching almost seven years uh since Bogart's death, and that is absolutely insane, especially when you consider that his beloved wife, Lauren McCall, um, you know, has only has been gone basically a decade. So it's a little strange. Uh, but there you have it. I am giving the Oscar to Humphrey Bogart. Uh and uh so you know, yeah. Uh Best Actress. Uh we've got uh Jennifer Jones over the Song of Bernadette, and I think she delivers a performance that is really fantastic. Um it's one note-ish, uh, but uh it's really fantastic. She's very believable as the uh sweet and uh unassuming and um uh innocent young Bernadette, and uh she is absolutely fabulous here. And she won the award. Uh, we have some others that we gotta look at. Uh Gene Arthur, uh the more the merrier. And Jean Arthur delivers comedy in this movie, uh, sometimes rapid fire, sometimes sarcastically. Um but she is uh uh you know just absolutely fabulous in this movie. Gene Arthur, uh she's wonderful here. Um she bounces off of Charles Coburn and Joel McCrae so perfectly. Uh that's not the term so perfectly. Perfectly. No, the word so doesn't belong there. She bounces off them perfectly. Uh I love her in this role. I just I I think this is Gene Arnold's best performance. Uh now we got uh Ingrid Bergman, uh not for Casablanca, but for whom the bell tolls. Thumbs down on that one. Okay. Uh Ingrid Bergman has very little to do as um uh with her character in front of the bell tolls. Um it was sort of a token, I think. I I don't know, maybe not. But you know, why not for Casablanca? I mean, really. Really? And um that's just insane. Um no, I'm not giving Tinger Bergman for whom the bell tolls. You know, for Casablanca, that's something to think about, though. Um and Joan Fontaine uh in The Constant Nymph, which is an interesting movie because she plays uh a 14-year-old that is in love with uh Charles Boyer's character, who is not 14. I I think Charles Boyer was born 30. I I I think he probably died 32. Let's get him. Um Charles Boyer always always uh was fantastic. Uh I say the word fantastic way too often I gotta say that a little less. But we've got um Joan Fontaine, who's just in love with him, trying to steal him away from Alexis Smith, who plays her cousin. Uh there's a lot of people that are today are again, this film didn't age well. Well, guess what? Um the film hasn't aged any more than a painting ages, it's the same film. Okay, uh, but it is problematic. There are some there's a scenario here that's that's really stinky. But uh Joan Fontaine can't complain about her performance in the Constant Nymph. Uh however, would I say that's her best performance, or would I say she deserves the Oscar? Probably not. Um Greer Garson, um, Madame Carey, uh, and uh there's some people who might say this is her signature role. And um I can't really argue with that if they say that. I think she is um she's always lovely. Um and she uh gives us a really good performance in this that is definitely worthy of of the uh Oscar nomination. Um however, somebody wasn't nominated that should have been, and that's Barbara Stanwyck for a Lady of Burlesque. Um she plays a uh two-faced before double indemnity, she plays a two-faced um woman that I was gonna say another word, but I'm not gonna say that word. Um she plays a two-faced woman that um I mean she's just very duplicitous in this movie, and she does it so well. Um basically she's a dancer, performer, and uh, but she also has some evil intentions. Um I think it's a I I I think it's really an absolutely incredible performance by Barbara Stanwick, who delivers a lot of incredible performances. Uh so then you know, this all boils down to well, it doesn't all boil down to we've only really eliminated Inger Bergman for for in the beltals. We haven't talked about Casablanca, she's really fantastic, and I said it again, fantastic, um, in Casablanca. But ultimately Casablanca is not really her movie. It really isn't. Um it's a really wonderful performance, but it's not really her movie. It's it's Boggy's movie. Uh Jennifer Jones, who won the award, um it's a little one notish. Jean Arthur is hilarious. And um and her timing is fabulous. Uh, and then we got Grier Garson who does everything so wonderfully, and she's so gorgeous too. And this and uh but ultimately, you know, this is this is a really hard one because I I really like most of the performances here. But I'm giving it to Gene Arthur because of the way she delivers her lines and Her facial gestures, when she's being sarcastic, when she's looking through looking around the corner, listening around the corner, uh doing things uh to show that she's very annoyed by her house guest, Charles Coburn. Uh ultimately, I just think I just think Gene Arthur deserves the that award. And uh I know we're supposed to shun comedies and not give it to comedies. But it it is a performance that I think really stands out. See, Gene Arthur's in uh a lot of movies um uh throughout her career where she does she does fine, she's great, but it's not her movie. Like she's overshadowed uh, you know, uh by Gary Cooper uh and and uh Jimmy Stewart and and the um Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Mr. Deeds. Uh uh those these you these are two movies uh that she's uh gives really good performances, but it's overshadowed by these titans. Uh but here Gene Arthur is performing as a Titan, and the fact that she pulled off this at age 42 um in 1943, that's special. Um, you know, they just didn't like giving actresses that were that age these kind of roles, and Gene Arthur hit a home run with it. Give the I give the the Oscar to Gene Arthur and I'm and I'm sorry to Jennifer Jones, who did a really good performance. Um, and it was a little one-no-ish, and it and it didn't move me quite the way. I know it it it's emotionally moving, and one of the reasons why comedies are shunned is because they don't move people emotionally so much. And I think that's really the main reason why comedies get ignored at the Oscar ceremonies. Um, but I think we ought to acknowledge that comedy is harder than drama most of the time. It's really hard to deliver lines uh at, you know, that are on point timing-wise. Comedic timing is probably harder than anything else uh that's done in movies or on stage. And uh I know emotions are are high uh in movies and we want people we want people to move us emotionally, but but ultimately comedy is hard, it's really hard. Um so when it's done perfectly, um like it's done in the more the merrier. Um, you know, it's done perfectly by all three of the leads. You know, uh so it's uh but of course uh Gene Arthur is the main character in it, and uh I I give her the nod as the best actress. So we so to recap, we we we affirmed that Casemanca, who won, was the best picture. Uh we changed the Paul Lucas Award and gave it to Bogey, who I think truly deserved the award. And uh we uh also took away the award from Jennifer Jones, who I do it reluctantly, but I I give it to Gene Arthur instead. Um and uh we don't want to don't want to snub Barbara Stanwick though, because I think uh honestly that's the second best performance. And and uh I know I'm you might feel like I'm slighting Greer Garson, and I'm not because she's also great, but I just uh feel like uh Gene Arthur's performance is just uh outstanding. Uh the best supporting actor uh Charles Colburn won for uh the uh The More the Merrier. However, uh his greatest performances comedically. I uh Claude Raines, probably the best supporting actor of all time. Okay Claude Raines deserved that award for for that particular year, in my opinion. And Charles Coburn, uh always great, always great. And maybe the Board of the Barriers is best performance, maybe it's most fun performance. Um, but how in the world can you take can you look at Claude Reigns and Casablanca and not say that's one of the best performances ever in a film? It's just delivered so perfectly. Again, so perfectly. That's not really a term. Um Best uh supporting actress, uh uh Casina Paxeno, I think I said that her name right. Uh, she won for um for whom the bell tolls. Um, and she probably was uh well deserving of that role of that of that uh award uh because she stands out in the movie uh as really the best character, the most fun to watch. Uh however, uh, you know, don't shortchange Jane Darwell, who you know didn't get nominated uh for the Oxfam incident. And uh she delivers a performance that is way over the top and almost comedic, even though the movie is a drama. It's comedic in the sense that um she's so aggressively mean uh you know to these three men that they believe were horse rustlers and murderers. Um but the comedy part is that she is completely unwilling to hear another side of the story. Um but oh and also I I want to mention uh that Dana Andrews uh was uh also deserving of an award for best supporting actor in the Oxfell incident. Um but I wouldn't take anything away from Claude Raines in especially in this movie. Claude Raines always perfect, but Casablanca, he was absolutely just the absolute perfect person for that role. Um can't imagine anybody else in the role. Obviously, you can say the same thing about Bogey, um, you know, but it's just what a what a marvelous performance by a marvelous actor, one of the best actors that ever lived, in my opinion, Claude Reigns. And here is I, you know, I don't know if it's his signature role or not. I guess it would be, but I think it's just a wonderful performance by him. And Michael Curtis, of course, won for Casablanca Best Director, and I think that's the one that should win. Um, so there you have it. The 16th Academy Awards. Uh we we did it, we reviewed it. And um, what do you think? If you think I'm crazy or uh out of line, hey, let me know if you have a comment section to comment on. But uh, but just make sure you leave me a good review.