Voting for best picture is pretty evenly divided between A Streetcar Named Desire and The African Queen. Gotta be honest with you, though, while I respect Streetcar, I've never enjoyed Streetcar. Just not what I'm looking to watch when I go to the movies.
The African Queen, on the other hand ...
Family story. My late mother was on a little-remembered game show in New York back in the late '50s called Haggis Baggis, the point of which was to answer trivia questions to light up a square on a board that would eventually reveal a photo of a famous person. My mom knew her trivia and her movie stars. Won for a week running until they brought in a ringer (an usher at the studio) to knock her out.
All of which is beside the point. As part of some preplanned banter with the show's host (either Jack Linkletter, Fred Robbins or Dennis James, I don't remember which), he said something to the effect that she looked like Kim Hunter, and my mom's response was "Oh, wasn't she in A Streetcar Named Desire?" in that syrupy Southern accent of hers ...
Still don't much care for A Streetcar Named Desire but we got a house full of high end furniture out of it, some of which is still in the family ...
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.
My favorite movie of 1951 is actually The Thing From Another World — Katie-Bar-The-Door and I have seen it a hundred times — closely followed by The African Queen. But apparently neither of those movies connects with modern audiences the way they used to. Pity.
So I went with the equally excellent Strangers on a Train, the first time I've recognized Alfred Hitchcock with top honors despite five previous nominations. He's overdue.
I'm sure most of you will go with Vivien Leigh for best actress, as did the Academy, but I prefer Katharine Hepburn here. The African Queen was the beginning of Hepburn's third act and one of the greatest performances of her extraordinary career. Plus she wrote a beloved behind-the-scenes memoir about the experience.
But that's just my take on it. You must do what you must do.
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that American lives have no second act, but Alec Guinness, being British, had three—first, as a comedic actor, then as a dramatic one, then as Obi Wan Kenobi.
PICTURE (Drama) winner:The African Queen (prod. Sam Spiegel) nominees:Ace In The Hole (prod. Billy Wilder); The Day The Earth Stood Still (prod. Julian Blaustein); Detective Story (prod. William Wyler); A Place In The Sun (prod. George Stevens); The River (prod. Jean Renoir and Kenneth McEldowney); Scrooge (prod. Brian Desmond Hurst); Strangers on a Train (prod. Alfred Hitchcock); A Streetcar Named Desire (prod. Charles K. Feldman); The Thing From Another World (prod. Howard Hawks)
PICTURE (Comedy/Musical) winner:The Lavender Hill Mob (prod. Michael Balcon) nominees:Alice In Wonderland (prod. Walt Disney); An American In Paris (prod. Arthur Freed); The Man In The White Suit (prod. Michael Balcon)
PICTURE (Foreign Language) winner:Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary Of A Country Priest) (prod. Union Générale Cinématographique) nominees:Bakushû (Early Summer) (prod. Takeshi Yamamoto)
ACTOR (Drama) winner: Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire) nominees: Humphrey Bogart (The African Queen); Montgomery Clift (A Place In The Sun); Kirk Douglas (Ace In The Hole and Detective Story); Michael Rennie (The Day The Earth Stood Still); Alastair Sim (Scrooge)
ACTOR (Comedy/Musical) winner: Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob and The Man In The White Suit) nominees: Fred Astaire (Royal Wedding); Cary Grant (People Will Talk); Gene Kelly (An American In Paris); Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (That's My Boy)
ACTRESS (Drama) winner: Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire) nominees: Anita Björk (Fröken Julie a.k.a. Miss Julie); Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen); Patricia Neal (The Day The Earth Stood Still); Eleanor Parker (Detective Story); Jan Sterling (Ace In The Hole)
ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical) winner: Joan Greenwood (The Man in the White Suit) nominees: Jeanne Crain (People Will Talk); Kathryn Grayson (Show Boat); Jane Powell (Royal Wedding)
DIRECTOR (Drama) winner: Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire) nominees: Robert Bresson (Journal d'un curé de campagne a.k.a. Diary Of A Country Priest); Alfred Hitchcock (Strangers on a Train); John Huston (The African Queen); George Stevens (A Place in The Sun); Billy Wilder (Ace In The Hole); Robert Wise (The Day The Earth Stood Still)
DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical) winner: Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob) nominees: Alexander Mackendrick (The Man In The White Suit); Vincente Minnelli (An American in Paris)
SUPPORTING ACTOR winner: Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train) nominees: Porter Hall (Ace In The Hole); Oscar Levant (An American In Paris); Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire); Vincent Price (His Kind of Woman); Peter Ustinov (Quo Vadis)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS winner: Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) nominees: Lee Grant (Detective Story); Thelma Ritter (The Mating Season); Elizabeth Taylor (A Place In The Sun); Shelley Winters (A Place In The Sun)
SCREENPLAY winner: James Agee and John Huston, from the novel by C.S. Forester (The African Queen) nominees: Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman (Ace In The Hole); Edmund H. North, from the story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates (The Day The Earth Stood Still); T.E.B. Clarke (The Lavender Hill Mob); Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde, adaptation by Whitfield Cook, from the novel by Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train); Tennessee Williams, adaptation by Oscar Saul, from the play by Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire); Charles Lederer, from the short story "Who Goes There" by John W. Campbell, Jr. (The Thing From Another World)
SPECIAL AWARDS Russell Harlan (The Thing From Another World) (Cinematography); Phil Brigandi and Clem Portman (The Thing From Another World) (Sound); Bernard Herrmann (The Day The Earth Stood Still) (Score)
We ran into a headwind on our flight down from the scientific outpost near the North Pole and arrived a little after dawn.
Our pilot, Captain Hendry, had smashed through the plane's landing gear again ("An unavoidable accident," he said) and Ned Scott had forgotten his toothbrush, but other than that, we made it safely.
The party had been going since midnight and we were eager to join the festivities. Couples were dancing to the sensuous rhythms of Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, with Valentino and Pola Negri wrapped around each other in a particularly provocative tango. Others sipped champagne by flickering candlelight or were locked in intimate embrace in the ballroom's deep shadows.
It must have been colder out than I thought for our entrance was greeted with shouts of "Close the door!"
Our own group looked fabulous, if I must say so myself. Nikki Nicholson was daringly dolled up in diamonds and little else, Dr. Carrington had dressed down in a double-breasted blazer and turtleneck, and the Air Force contingent was in crisp dress uniforms. Dipping back in time, Katie-Bar-The-Door had selected a curve-hugging Givenchy gown from the Audrey Hepburn collection while I had opted for a classic black tuxedo.
"No one can see you dance in cyberspace," Katie insisted as she dragged me onto the floor. "Not to mention [our hostess] Tess Kincaid said that at the Willow Manor Ball, everybody dances like Astaire and Rogers—whether they do or not."
"Yeah," I said, "but what if that just means we do the same dance over and over again until we bleed into our shoes?" But she wasn't listening.
Meanwhile, our companions, scientists and Air Force officers alike, attacked the buffet table with a vengeance, filling their plates with delicious hors d'oeuvres, pastries and savories before smashing the dishes and sideboards with machine guns and axes.
Not only was the moment publicly embarrassing—and privately expensive—but Crew Chief Dewey Martin (see photo above) finished off the last of the goat cheese bruschetta before I got so much as a taste, much to my chagrin.
"Dr. Carrington," complained Ned Scott, who had been at the end of the line when the assault started and wound up going hungry, "I'm not gonna stick my neck out and say you're stuffed absolutely clean full of wild blueberry muffins, but I promise my readers are gonna think so."
"Oh, but I am," Carrington said. "They were delicious," then added, "Their development was not handicapped by emotional or sexual factors."
"Huh?"
"Who wants some coffee?" chirped Nikki.
Despite the socially-awkward incident with the buffet, things were going swimmingly until the James Arness ice sculpture thawed out and leapt off the center table. No wallflower he, Arness was determined to set the dance floor on fire—literally. "I'm a disco inferno!" he yelled. "Gangway!"
Gangway, indeed.
Tess was a good sport, as all good hostesses are, but we knew it was time to leave and with the appropriate apologies, we hustled out of there.
It must have still been cold as we left, though, for all we heard ringing in our ears were shouts of "Close the door!"
On Wednesday, October 12, Tess Kincaid of Life at Willow Manor is hosting the fourth annual Willow Manor Ball, a swinging cocktail party held entirely in cyberspace. All you have to do is grab a date and your dance card and stop by the comments section of her blog any time on October 12 to become eligible for fabulous "door prizes."
Hey, I'm up for anything that doesn't require me to get off the couch.
I, of course, will be attending with Katie-Bar-The-Door, but we're crashing the party with the entire cast of The Thing From Another World, be they scientists, military men or the cute-as-a-button Margaret Sheridan as Nikki Nicholson, one of the all-time Hawksian babes.
We've even invited the Thing himself, James Arness—he's promised to stick to lemon drop martinis and keep the bloodletting to a minimum.
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
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