dual personalities

Tag: Academy Awards

February 11, 2020

Hoopla and more

by chuckofish

Well, the Oscars hoopla is over. Thank goodness. Sunday night I watched The Sand Pebbles (1966)–a movie which should have won Best Picture but did not.

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It is such a good movie–and not just because Steve McQ is in it. Even though it veers from the original novel in strange ways, it still has a very strong and effective screenplay. It has great performances, great cinematography, great music. And Steve was never better. He gives a measured and sensitive performance. I really enjoyed it.

It is interesting to look back at the year 1966 and the movies that were popular:

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I have also seen some lists that include The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Blow Up in the top ten. I have never seen the Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. starring Dick Van Dyke, have you?

Interestingly, there is no John Wayne movie in the top 10 (or top 20). The only movie he made that year was Cast a Giant Shadow, which coincidentally I also watched this past weekend in memory of Kirk Douglas. It is about Col. Mickey Marcus (Douglas), a former U.S. Army officer, recruited by the Jews in Israel to reorganize the Haganah in 1947, following the U.N. decision to split British Palestine into separate Jewish and Palestinian states. Not a big hit, I guess. I enjoyed it and I learned a few things.

Here are the first 15 minutes of the 1967 Oscar show, which honored the movies of 1966, including the monologue by Bob Hope. Governor Reagan, who was in the audience,

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gets some good humored ribbing, but the political jokes are pretty mild. Take a look:

It was a different world, for sure. What would they have made of Joaquin Phoenix back then?

Not surprisingly the 2020 Oscar show brought in its lowest ratings ever–a decrease of 20% from last year’s show. Hollywood’s biggest night–not so much.

Well, since we are feeling a bit nostalgic, we will also note the passing of Robert Conrad, who starred on such television shows as ‘Hawaiian Eye’ and ‘ Wild Wild West’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ and on the miniseries ‘Centennial.’ Back in the day we were big fans of James T. West in his short jackets and tight pants…

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…and our father loved ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep.’ Conrad was also featured in those classic 1970s commercials for Eveready Batteries, with a battery on his shoulder, a menacing stare and the catchphrase, “I dare you to knock this off.”

Sunrise, sunset…

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4 Comments
March 28, 2018

Random thoughts

by chuckofish

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“A Robin said: The Spring will never come,
And I shall never care to build again.
A Rosebush said: These frosts are wearisome,
My sap will never stir for sun or rain.
The half Moon said: These nights are fogged and slow,
I neither care to wax nor care to wane.
The Ocean said: I thirst from long ago,
Because earth’s rivers cannot fill the main. —
When Springtime came, red Robin built a nest,
And trilled a lover’s song in sheer delight.
Grey hoarfrost vanished, and the Rose with might
Clothed her in leaves and buds of crimson core.
The dim Moon brightened. Ocean sunned his crest,
Dimpled his blue, yet thirsted evermore.”
―Christina Rossetti

Never fear: spring is on the way. How do I know?

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The start of baseball season is just around the corner! I am no die-hard fan, but I welcome the distraction of Redbird Nation…

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…although I don’t look forward to the inevitable snarkiness regarding Big Mike.

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To the haters I say, ‘Hate stirs up trouble, but love overlooks all offenses.’ (Proverbs 10:12)

On another note, I recently watched two movies that were coincidentally both nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor in the same year–1966. This, you will recall, is the same year that Steve McQueen was robbed. But also robbed was Richard Burton for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Alan Arkin for The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

That year there was a lot of solid competition for Best Actor:

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and, of course, the worst performance in the worst movie won. Ye gods! Alan Arkin gave a performance of comic genius–all that fake Russian and broken English:

Very clever little boy. Very, very clever, to see that my friend and I are foreigners here, but of course not Russian, naturally. What would the Russians be doing on United States of America island, with so many animosities and hatreds between these two countries? It is too funny an idea, is it not? No, we… we are of course… Norweegans.

And, oh gee whiz, how could you give the Best Actress to Elizabeth Taylor and not the Best Actor Oscar to Richard Burton? They were both at their dramatic best as the drunken married couple, George and Martha. She was no better than he, but her competition was nowhere near as stiff. This truly was a travesty of justice.

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I watched this movie because I had not seen it for a very long time and because I wanted to see how much of Smith College they actually show. (They filmed the outside scenes there in 1966, eight years before I was there.)

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The swing was still there in 1974. I wonder if it still is?

Well, anyway, Richard Burton was certainly at the top of his game. Once again, we are reminded that awards mean nothing.

I guess I should watch Alfie–I have no doubt that Michael Caine was robbed as well.

However, there was one Academy Award given that year that was highly deserved: an honorary Oscar to the peerless Yakima Canutt for achievements as a stunt man and for “developing safety devices to protect all stunt men everywhere”. He was an amazing guy! You can read about him here. I will toast him in a few days when we watch Ben-Hur (1959)!

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Horse trainer Glenn Randall, stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt (standing in chariot) & Charlton Heston on the set in Rome.

Well, just another reminder, as I said, that:

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(photo credit of MM, the Boston Globe; painted stones by rhunt60)

7 Comments
March 1, 2018

A hoot and a holler

by chuckofish

The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, but, as you know, I no longer watch them. Self-aggrandizing rich people–phooey!

Instead I will watch one of my five favorite films, four of which were nominated for Best Picture (but, of course, did not win.) These five films are, in my humble opinion, as close to perfect as movies get. They won’t surprise you. I list them in no particular order.

  1. Shane (1953): “Know what you want to stay for? Something that means more to you than anything else – your families – your wives and kids. Like you, Lewis, your girls. Shipstead with his boys. They’ve got a right to stay here and grow up and be happy. That’s up to you people to have – nerve enough to not give it up.”

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2. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938): “Why, you speak treason!”/”Fluently!”

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3. The Wizard of Oz (1939): “Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have.”

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4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): “You know what’s wrong with you, Miss Whoever-you-are? You’re chicken, you’ve got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out your chin and say, “Okay, life’s a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness.” You call yourself a free spirit, a “wild thing,” and you’re terrified somebody’s gonna stick you in a cage. Well baby, you’re already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it’s not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It’s wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.”

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5. Stagecoach (1939): “Now folks, if we push on we can be in Apache Wells by sundown. Soldiers there will give us an escort as far as the ferry. Then it’s only a hoot and a holler into Lordsburg. We got four men who can handle firearms – five with you, Ringo. Doc can shoot if sober.”  [or The Searchers (1956)/She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1947)/The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)–the best of the John Wayne/John Ford oeuvre.]

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In case you were wondering, Shane, The Wizard of Oz, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Stagecoach were nominated for Best Picture. It is interesting to look at the list of Oscar winners for Best Picture. It ranges from the (not quite) sublime to the (truly) ridiculous. Some of my favorite winners are: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Ben Hur (1959), Tom Jones (1963), The Sting (1974), Chariots of Fire (1981), and The Last Emperor (1987).

But you will find me watching one of these non-winners, one of these five great films on Sunday night.

4 Comments
February 29, 2016

Tell old pharoah

by chuckofish

Amaryllis

The Old Testament reading on Sunday was about God appearing to Moses in the form of a Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-15). I suppose that was why we sang Go Down, Moses as our communion hymn. We gave it our best shot tried, but Episcopalians plus negro spirituals equals truly awkward. We just can’t swing it, literally.

We had a lovely, balmy weekend and I tried to get out and about, but was still recovering from my cough/cold/whatever. I re-organized a large cupboard filled with an assortment of dishes, serving pieces, silver, holiday decorations, cleaning supplies, ephemera, etcetera. This turned into quite a job as you can imagine, but I got it all sorted out, cleaned and put away. I actually threw away very little (typical).

Since officially giving up on Humboldt’s Gift, I perused several bookshelves at home and picked out several possible books to read. I settled on The Proper Bostonian by Cleveland Amory, which I had picked up some time ago at an estate sale. It proved to be very enjoyable  and full of information. Published in 1947, it “is as humorous and entertaining as anything that could be written about the Boston Brahmins–the Cabots, Lodges, Lowells, Adamses and others that make Boston a synonym for staidness and sobriety.” (Chicago Tribune) Now there’s a qualified recommendation for you! I am learning all about Boston’s First Families and the foibles of the “Proper Boston lady” and the “Proper Boston gentleman.”

This is particularly interesting to me as our maternal grandmother was a Sargent  after all and lived on Clarendon Street in Back Bay for years. She was, indeed, a “Proper Boston lady.”

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When our parents gave their third child the middle name ‘Sargent,’ our grandmother’s response was  not, “Oh, how nice,” but “Well, finally.”

Well, more on this later, because it is Monday and the bell tolleth for me. Have a good week!

P.S. I watched part of the Oscars–why? Why did they keep playing Que Sera Sera? It was a strange show. But I didn’t watch the whole thing. I went to bed. Give me some credit.

(The OM took the photo of the amaryllis.)

3 Comments
February 19, 2015

He was robbed!

by chuckofish

As you know, the Oscar show is coming up on Sunday. Sad to say, I probably won’t watch. I can’t stand the host this year and it has become such a fashion show and aren’t-we-great orgy, that I think I’ll once again sit it out.

I’ll be rooting for Bradley Cooper, but he won’t win.

Thinking of Cooper put me in mind of all the other great actors and actresses who have never won or didn’t win when they should have. Earlier this week I watched the great war movie Twelve O’Clock High (1949).

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Gregory Peck was phenomenal and although he was nominated for Best Actor, he lost to Broderick Crawford in All the King’s Men. Please. John Wayne was also nominated that year for Sands of Iwo Jima, but I would have voted for Peck. He was just perfect.

I don’t have a lot of patience with this, “What are we fighting for?” stuff. We’re in a war, a shooting war. We’ve got to fight. And some of us have got to die. I’m not trying to tell you not to be afraid. Fear is normal. But stop worrying about it and about yourselves. Stop making plans. Forget about going home. Consider yourselves already dead. Once you accept that idea, it won’t be so tough. Now if any man here can’t buy that… if he rates himself as something special, with a special kind of hide to be saved… he’d better make up his mind about it right now. Because I don’t want him in this group…

Speaking of John Wayne, he should have won Best Actor for The Searchers (1956), but he wasn’t even nominated!

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Ludicrous! This film, frequently listed as the greatest of all westerns, was not nominated for one Academy Award. Not a one. It boggles the mind.  Yul Brynner won that year for The King and I–and I will grant that he was great–but the other nominees included Rock Hudson for Giant! And Laurence Olivier in probably his worst movie ever–Richard III.

I also think Paul Newman was robbed the year he didn’t win for Cool Hand Luke (1967).

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Paul Newman was never better.

Anybody here? Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute. It’s about time we had a little talk. I know I’m a pretty evil fellow… killed people in the war and got drunk… and chewed up municipal property and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much… but even so, You’ve got to admit You ain’t dealt me no cards in a long time. It’s beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can’t never win out. Inside, outside, all of them… rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in? Old Man, I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it’s beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now? Right. All right.

It was the year of southern crime dramas (Bonnie and Clyde as well as Cool Hand Luke) and the Academy voters went with the racially fraught In The Heat of the Night and Rod Steiger. Well, I guess we can be grateful that Spencer Tracy didn’t win for Guess Who’s Coming For Dinner.

Another heart-breaker for me was when Steve McQueen lost in 1966 for The Sand Pebbles. Nominated for eight Oscars, it took home none. This was Steve’s shot and he lost to Paul Schofield in A Man for All Seasons–a movie I loathe.

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I am also of the opinion that Doris Day should have won in 1959 for Pillow Talk. This was the year Ben Hur won everything except for Best Actress, which went to Simone Signoret in the forgettable Room at the Top.

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(Thelma Ritter also lost Best Supporting Actress.)

Don’t get me started on actresses. All they have to do to win an Oscar and be taken seriously is put on a fake nose or gain weight or look un-glamorous (see above, Simone Signoret). Actresses like Doris Day, Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Carol Lombard–even Audrey Hepburn after her first movie–never had a chance. Despite the fact that they were all comic geniuses, they never won.

Really, there is no understanding how Academy members vote and there are many, many other examples I could list, but I am a broken record, right?…Albert Finney in Tom Jones, Robert Di Niro in Awakenings, Alan Ladd in Shane, Robert Redford in The Natural, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity …

But for me those listed above are the main ones.

So take my advice and watch one of these great films instead of watching the award show.

 

6 Comments
March 6, 2013

Absent Friends

by chuckofish

Last week we mentioned how appalled we were with the Academy Award presentations’s handling of (among so many other things) its “In Memoriam” tribute. They left out so many people!

Here is the TCM annual video, which is much better, and as you can see, includes many worthy people left out of the Oscar version.

However, they also appear to have left out Harry Carey, Jr.

What gives? Was he a Republican? Since he died at the tail end of the year, perhaps they had already finished their review, but is that really an excuse?

He appeared in over 90 films, including several classics directed by John Ford. Shame on you. I hope they remember him next year.

6 Comments