Sidney Poitier & Denzel Washington: Oscar Legends

I was watching some old Oscar videos on YouTube and I wanted to share these three with you. The first is Sidney Poitier's win at the 1964 Oscars for his role in Lilies of the Field. I love presenter Anne Bancroft's reaction.

The second is Denzel Washington presenting Sidney Poitier with an Honorary Oscar at the 2002 Awards.

The third is Denzel Washington's second Oscar win, also at the 2002 Awards and his first Oscar in the Best Actor Category for Training Day. Why I'm sharing it? It has Sidney Poitier in it and Julia Robert's reaction is pretty much the same as Anne Bancroft's.

Best Costume Awards - for the years that didn't have it

 

Since the Award for Best Costume was not instituted until the 1949 Academy Awards, and since I am doing a Timeline of Award-Winning Costumes for the 31 Days of Oscar Blogathon, I thought it would be fun to finally give recognition (albeit in a small way) to all of the Costume Designers whose work went, certainly not unnoticed, but un-lauded from the years 1930 up to 1948 (films from 1947). But to do this as fairly as possible, I am going to need YOUR help.

First I need everyone to spread the word. You can use one of the banners below and/or write a short blog post (preferred) to get as many people to vote as possible.

Second you can nominate some films in the comments. Below I have nominated some films but they are, of course, restricted to films I have seen. And as it's impossible to see every film from every year, I need your help for the films I haven't seen. Comments will remain open until February 12th.

On February 13th, I will create a poll for each year and give everyone a chance to vote on which films should be nominated. Voting for nominations will end February 20th. The five films with the most votes for each year will then be the official nominated films.

Voting for the Academy Award winner will be held from February 21 - 27 with the winner announced on February 28 during this years Academy Awards ceremony.

Guidelines:

When nominating a film, keep in mind what was going on that year (mainly WWII), if the costumes progress the storyline, and what films WERE nominated that year, especially in the Best Picture and Best Art Direction categories, which you can view on the official Oscars website.

If you have written a post on any of the nominated films I would love to share the link so that those who haven't seen all of the films or are having trouble remembering the costumes can have something to look at to help them vote.

Dates to Remember:

• Comments open for nominations open until 2/12 at midnight EST.
• Voting for final five nominees open from 2/13 - 2/20 - Click here to vote
• Voting for Oscar-Winning Costume for the years 1929-1947 open from 2/21 - 2/27
• Winners Announced 2/28 at 8:30pm EST.

UPDATED - Films with Notable Costumes (Click on each year to view list of most notable films for each year) - the number at the end indicates the number of votes it received. Films crossed out were not nominated in the nomination poll.

1930 - these are the nominees
The Divorcee - Norma Shearer 5
Romance - Greta Garbo 2

1931 - these are the nominees
Mata Hari - Greta Garbo 2
Possessed - Joan Crawford & Clark Gable 4
The Smiling Lieutenant - Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins 0
Man of the World - Carole Lombard & William Powell 1

1932 - these are the nominees
Grand Hotel - John & Lionel Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford 5
Letty Lynton - Joan Crawford 3
Jewel Robbery - William Powell & Kay Francis 1

1933 - these are the nominees
Queen Christina - Greta Garbo & John Gilbert 1
Dinner at Eight - Jean Harlow, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler 5
Little Women - Katharine Hepburn 1
Bombshell - Jean Harlow 1

1934 - these are the nominees
Cleopatra - Claudette Colbert 3
The Thin Man - William Powell & Myrna Loy 4
Sadie McKee - Joan Crawford & Franchot Tone 2

1935
Captain Blood - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland 6
Anna Karenina - Greta Garbo
A Midsummer Night's Dream - James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Olivia de Havilland
China Seas - Clark Gable & Jean Harlow 1
The Littlest Rebel - Shirley Temple
Top Hat - Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire 4
Peter Ibbetson - Gary Cooper
Naughty Marietta - Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy
Barbary Coast - Miriam Hopkins & Joel McCrea

1936
The Great Ziegfeld - William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy 1
My Man Godfrey - William Powell & Carole Lombard 2
Camille - Greta Garbo & Robert Taylor 5
The Jungle Princess - Dorothy Lamour & Ray Milland
Romeo and Juliet - Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard
San Francisco - Clark Gable & Jeanette MacDonald 2
The Charge of the Light Brigade - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland
The Gorgeous Hussy - Joan Crawford & Robert Taylor
Rose-Marie - Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy

1937 - these are the nominees
Stella Dallas - Barbara Stanwyck 2
Fire Over England - Laurence Olivier & Vivien Leigh 1
The Prisoner of Zenda - Ronald Colman & Madeleine Carroll 2
Maytime - Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy 4

1938 - these are the nominees
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland 4
Marie Antoinette - Norma Shearer 3
Jezebel - Bette Davis & Henry Fonda 1
Suez - Tyrone Power & Loretta Young 1

1939 (we all know Gone With the Wind is going to win)
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex - Bette Davis & Errol Flynn 0
Gone With the Wind - Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh 7
The Wizard of Oz - Judy Garland 1
The Women - Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara
Stagecoach - John Wayne & Claire Trevor
Wuthering Heights - Merle Oberon & Laurence Olivier

1940 - these are the nominees
The Sea Hawk - Errol Flynn 0
Rebecca - Joan Fontaine & Laurence Olivier 2
Kitty Foyle - Ginger Rogers & Dennis Morgan 2
Pride and Prejudice - Greer Garson & Laurence Olivier 4
New Moon - Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy 0

1941
They Died With Their Boots On - Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland 0
The Lady Eve - Barbara Stanwyck & Henry Fonda 3
Ziegfeld Girl - Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Judy Garland 4
How Green Was My Valley - Maureen O'Hara
That Hamilton Woman - Laurence Olivier & Vivien Leigh 0
The Little Foxes - Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall
Moon Over Miami - Don Ameche & Bette Grable
That Night in Rio - Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda

1942 - these are the nominees
To Be or Not To Be - Jack Benny & Carole Lombard 0
The Palm Beach Story - Claudette Colbert & Joel McCrea 2
Now, Voyager - Bette Davis & Paul Henreid 4
Yankee Doodle Dandy - James Cagney 2
The Major and the Minor - Ginger Rogers 0

1943 - these are the nominees
The More the Merrier - Jean Arthur & Joel McCrea 1
Song of Bernadette - Jennifer Jones 1
The Gang's All Here - Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda 1
Sweet Rosie O'Grady - Bette Grable & Robert Young 1
Du Barry was a Lady - Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Gene Kelly 5

1944 - these are the nominees
Meet Me in St. Louis - Judy Garland 5
Gaslight - Ingrid Bergman & Charles Boyer 3
The Dolly Sisters - Betty Grable, John Payne, June Haver 0

1945 - these are the nominees
Christmas in Connecticut - Barbara Stanwyck & Dennis Morgan 0
Caesar and Cleopatra - Vivien Leigh & Claude Rains 1
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Hurd Hatfield, George Sanders, Donna Reed 1
Saratoga Trunk - Gary Cooper & Ingrid Bergman 3
Thrill of a Romance - Esther Williams & Van Johnson 2

1946 - these are the nominees
The Harvey Girls - Judy Garland 2
Notorious - Ingrid Bergman & Cary Grant 2
The Postman Always Rings Twice - Lana Turner & John Garfield 3
Gilda - Rita Hayworth & Glenn Ford 3
Anna and the King of Siam - Irene Dunne & Rex Harrison 0
So Goes My Love - Myrna Loy & Don Ameche 0

1947 - these are the nominees
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Danny Kaye & Virginia Mayo 1
My Favorite Brunette - Bob Hope & Dorothy Lamour 1
Life with Father - William Powell & Irene Dunne 5
Green Dolphin Street - Lana Turner, Donna Reed 1

Remembering Maureen O'Hara

Photograph by Erin Finn, Hollywood Glamour.

I was deeply saddened to learn that Maureen O'Hara passed away this morning in Idaho at the age of 95. I knew this day would come one day but I had hoped it wouldn't come for a few years more. Almost one year after receiving an honorary Oscar, that fiery red-haired Irish woman, the "Queen of Technicolor," has left this world forever. However, she will never be forgotten and will live on in her films, in the films she made with John Wayne, and in the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street.

With two of her sisters: Margot (left) and Florrie.

She was born Maureen FitzSimons in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland on 17 Aug 1920. She was the second child in a family of six. As a child she excelled at sports, which enabled her to perform the majority of her own stunts in her films. When she was 14 she was accepted to the Abbey Theater where she studied operatic singing in addition to acting.

With her brother, James. You may recognize him as Fr. Paul in The Quiet Man.

Her brother, Charles, was also in the film as the man who gives the toast at the wedding.

Her big debut into film, after playing in two small roles under her own name, and for the first time as Maureen O'Hara, was in Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn (1939) alongside Charles Laughton, who discovered her. The Irish beauty was only 19 years old. Her next film was also with Laughton, the famous Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). Maureen played the gypsy girl, Esmeralda.

After starring in three more films (A Bill of Divorcement; Dance Girl, Dance; and They Met in Argentina), Maureen began her long friendship with director John Ford in How Green Was My Valley (1941). She played the tragic character Angharad, the older sister of Roddy McDowell and daughter of Donald Crisp, who marries a man she doesn't love but who can afford to take her away from the horrors of a mining town.

Her next film, To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), was her first with actor John Payne, whom she would star again with in Sentimental Journey (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Sentimental Journey

That same year, Maureen took on the role of Lady Margaret Denby in the swashbuckling pirate film The Black Swan (1942). She took roles in several other historical films, including Against All Flags (1952) with Errol Flynn.

            

Miracle on 34th Street is probably the film most well known because of it's status of Christmas Classic (Maureen was the last cast member alive). Maureen plays Doris Walker, an employee of Macy's in charge of the famous annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. At the last minute she has to hire a new Santa Claus, who insists that he really is Kris Kringle. John Payne is the dashing young lawyer who takes Kris's case when Kris is sent to an institution. It's one of my favorite holiday movies and a "can't miss."

With Natalie Wood.

Rio Grande (1950) brought Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne together for the first time. This was followed by The Quiet Man (1952) - set and filmed in Maureen's beloved Ireland, The Wings of Eagles (1957), McLintock! (1963), and Big Jake (1971).

What girl doesn't want to be kissed like that?

Other well known films include The Parent Trap (1961) alongside Haley Mills and Brian Keith, Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) and The Rare Breed (1966) with James Stewart, and Spencer's Mountain (1963) with Henry Fonda.

With her daughter, Bronwyn. The other lady is clearly related as well (one of her sisters?).

Maureen retired from the movies in 1971 but returned from 1991 to 2000 making one film and three TV movies. (For a complete list of Maureen's films, click here.)

Maureen O'Hara singing on YouTube.

The thing Maureen O'Hara was the most proud of was being Irish and she loved that she was the most well known Irish woman in the world.

The Hollywood Reporter Article
Hail and Farewell to Maureen O'Hara - Cowboys & Indians Magazine
Maureen O'Hara's Secret to her Longevity
Funeral Held for Irish Actress Maureen O'Hara at Arlington National Cemetery

All images found via Pinterest

Countdown to the Oscars: 1939

 

1939 has always been remembered as a big year for movies. Everyone has at least heard of the classics Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz and if you are a classic movie fan you've probably also heard of Stagecoach and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Yes, 1939 certainly was a great year. The only problem was there wasn't enough awards to go around. All of them could not win Best Picture.

Gone With the Wind swept the awards like the fire swept Atlanta, setting a new record with 8 awards plus the Irving Thalberg award for producer David O. Selznick. It won Best Picture, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel), Best Director (Victor Fleming), Film Editing, Art Direction, Screenplay (the writer, Sidney Howard, had died during production and therefore became the first posthumous winner), and Color Cinematography (new classification). It was also nominated for Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Supporting Actress (Olivia de Havilland), Sound Recording, and Special Effects.

The Wizard of Oz won Best Song (Over the Rainbow), Best Original Score, and a Juvenile Award for Judy Garland. It had a total of 5 nominations (including Best Picture, Art Direction, and Special Effects).

You can never listen to this song too many times

Stagecoach, best known as being John Wayne's breakout role, was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (John Ford), Film Editing, Art Direction, and B&W Cinematography. It won for Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell) and Music-Scoring. Unfortunately Wayne was not nominated for his role as the Ringo Kid.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was nominated in nine categories for Best Picture, Best Actor (James Stewart), Best Supporting Actor (Harry Carey), Best Director (Frank Capra), Film Editing, Art Direction, Music-Scoring, Sound Recording, and Writing-Best Screenplay. It only won one of it's nominations: Writing-Best Original Story.

Other Best Picture nominees were Dark Victory starring Bette Davis, Goodbye Mr. Chips starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson (6 nominations, 1 award), Love Affair starring Irene Dunne (and Charles Boyer), Ninotchka starring Greta Garbo, Of Mice and Men (Lon Chaney Jr. and Burgess Meredith), and Wuthering Heights (starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon - 7 nominations, 1 award) - names not in parenthesis also nominated for Best Actor or Actress.

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The ceremony was held on Feb. 29, 1940 at the now famous Cocoanut Grove of the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel. Bob Hope was the Master of Ceremonies, his first of 19 times. The winners names were accidently printed in the 8:45pm edition of the Los Angeles Times, meaning there were no surprises. After this incident, the envelope reveal as we know it was instituted.

Here we see the stars arriving:

Best Picture: Gone With the Wind

Olivia de Havilland, David O. Selanick, Vivian Leigh, and Laurence Olivier

Best Actor: Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr. Chips (Mickey Rooney was nominated for his first 'real' Oscar for his performance in Babes in Arms)

Spencer Tracy accepted for the absent Donat

Donat

Best Actress: Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind

 

Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (he was also in Gone With the Wind and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as well as several other films that year - a very busy guy)

Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind - here is a great article about McDaniel's career and win.

Being presented with her award by Fay Bainter

Best Director: Victor Fleming for Gone With the Wind

Special Awards:

To Douglas Fairbanks, "recognizing the unique and outstanding contribution of Douglas Fairbanks, first president of the Academy, to the international development of the motion picture." Fairbanks had died two months before. His son, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., accepted the award on his behalf.

To Judy Garland for her "outstanding performance as a screen juvenile during the past year."

To Technicolor Company for its "contributions in successfully bringing three-color feature production to the screen." (There is a dvd special feature on the three-strip Technicolor process on The Adventures of Robin Hood - 1938.)

Other notable films of 1939: The Women, Gunga Din, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bachelor Mother, Golden Boy (William Holden's breakout role), Intermezzo (Ingrid Bergman's American film debut), Beau Geste.

Take a look at this very complete timeline of movie history in 1939 for more movies from this year.

Watch this fantastic 17 minute presentation,

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards. 

It shows the stars arriving and accepting their awards. I love how Bob Hope is sitting in the background in between presentations.

Countdown to the Oscars: 1934

1934 was a big year for the movies. William Powell and Myrna Loy hit the screen and became everyone's favorite married couple in the first of six 'Thin Man' films. Shirley Temple became America's little darling. It was also the year of It Happened One Night. Starring the King of Hollywood, Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert, this picture, which was filmed at Columbia, considered a 'Poverty Row' studio, was a runaway hit, winning all five of it's nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor - Clark Gable (unfortunately he beat out William Powell in The Thin Man), Best Actress - Claudette Colbert, Best Director - Frank Capra (his 2nd nomination, first win), and Best Writing Adaptation. You can watch Gable and Colbert accepting their awards here.

             

 

Frank Capra

Fun Facts:

• The script was turned down by Myrna Loy, Carole Lombard, Fredric March and Robert Montgomery, who said it was the worst thing he had ever read. Colbert accepted on a promise of a doubled salary and short shooting time.
• When Clark Gable took off his shirt and revealed that he wasn't wearing an undershirt, sales of that item plummeted.
• Gable was sent to Columbia to do this picture as a punishment.
• Gable gave his Oscar for It Happened One Night to a child who admired it, telling him it was the winning of the statue that had mattered, not owning it. The child returned the Oscar to the Gable family after Clark's death.

• Colbert did not think she had a chance of winning, as she considered the film the "worst picture I've ever made." In fact, she was boarding a train when her win was announced. The train was held for her while she was quickly brought back to accept her award.
• Held the honor of being the only film to win Best Picture, Actor, Actress, and Director for 41 years until 1975 (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).

My favorite scene is when Gable's character teaches Colbert's character how to hitch a ride.

The Academy Awards ceremony was held in February (as it is today) on the 27th, 1935, at the Biltmore Bowl of the Biltmore Hotel. The host-presenter was Irvin S. Cobb. New categories added that year were Film Editing and Music (song and music score). A special award in the form of a miniature statuette was given to Shirley Temple, in "grateful recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment during the year 1934" (she appeared in 9 films - quite a lot for a tot of six!).

When Santa Claus brought you down Creation's chimney, he brought the

loveliest Christmas present that has ever been giver to the world.

~ Cobb to Temple

1934 was also the first year there was a protest over the nominees (but certainly not the last!). Many believed that Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man should be added to the Best Actress category. It became so massive that the Academy announced they would allow write-ins. Of course, all the winners were actual nominees (though Bette Davis received the third most votes, the second being nominee Norma Shearer). There was also no radio broadcast of the event as there was in previous years. It is not known why (possibly so the newspapers would have the news first).

Check out this great post over at Movie Classics!

All images found via Pinterest.

Maureen O'Hara Recipient of Honorary Oscar

 

On August 28th,it was announced that Maureen O'Hara, who turned 94 on August 17th of this year, would receive an Honorary Oscar at the Governor's Awards. The ceremony was held Saturday, November 8th, in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood.

 

The presenters of this first Oscar of the season were Clint Eastwood and Liam Neeson.

Eastwood described her as the "ultimate Irish lass" and the first real movie star he ever met.

Neeson said she was "one of the true legends of cinema" and "one of the most adventurous women who ever lived" as she was a pioneer in doing her own stunts.

In her acceptance speech, O'Hara thanked the three men who made her career: actors Charles Laughton, John Wayne, and director John Ford.

"Happy we finally got an Oscar. I's also like to say thank you to all my fans who have been so kind to me over the years and truly made this night possible.

"Thank you with all my heart. I'll leave you with an old Irish saying. May the road rise to meet you. The wind be always at your back. And, may the sunshine warm thee on your face. Good night."

She also sang the Irish tune "Danny Boy."

She is the second actress, after Myrna Loy (in 1991), to receive and honorary Oscar without ever having been nominated previously - IMDb

CBS
Read more here!
On finding out about getting an Honorary Oscar.
Announcement of Honorary Oscar recipients.

Favorite Films:

The Quiet Man (1952) - John Wayne, Barry Fitzgerald, Victor McLaglen, Ward Bond

Typical reaction to seeing Maureen O'Hara for the first time

 

Rio Grande (1950) - John Wayne, Claude Jarman Jr., Victor McLaglen, the Sons of the Pioneers

 

 

McLintock! (1963) - John Wayne, Patrick Wayne, Stephanie Powers, Yvonne de Carlo, Chill Wills

 

 

 

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood

The Parent Trap (1961) - Hayley Mills, Brian Keith, Joanna Barnes, Una Merkel

Celebrating her birthday on set with co-star Haley Mill and director David Swift