Nominees: Sullivan's Travels, Magnificent Ambersons, To Be or Not to Be, This Gun For Hire, Cat People, Talk of the Town, Bambi, The Glass Key
Oscars pick: Mrs. Miniver
Nominees: 49th Parallel, Kings Row, Magnificent Ambersons, The Pied Piper, The Pride of the Yankees, Random Harvest, Talk of the Town, Wake Island, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Okay, here’s where it gets weird. As mentioned The Oscars go by Hollywood rules, a Best Picture nominee has to play in Los Angeles for a week to be eligible. The Felix's go by international rules: If you had a substantial run somewhere in the world, you’re eligible. Because of this, there will be a few oddballs. And here’s a biggie.
Casablanca had showings (primarily) in NY in Nov 1942 and ran for 10 weeks, but didn't get to L.A. until it was reissued later in 1943. That’s why you'll see Casablanca on critic's top 10 lists for 1942, though it was not acknowledged by the Academy until 43. I'm sticking with its official release date of 1942.
So here we go. Even in acknowledging its plot holes, Casablanca was so clearly the best movie of the year, as well as one of the best of any year - though believe it or not, its win was seen as a bit of an Oscar upset over the dry Watch on the Rhine in 1943. Regardless, whether you put it in 1942 or 1943, no movie from either year offered the sublime craftsmanship of Casablanca.
Casablanca was a film that so captivated my 8 or 10-year-old mind (I was somewhere in that age bracket when I happened upon it) that instead of going out to play with my siblings and the neighborhood children, I stayed with the picture. It was a tough choice, those kids looked like they were having a blast - but I couldn’t tear myself away from this story, and that cool Bogart and that captivating Ingrid Bergman. I remember my parents and grandparents coming home and finding me watching TV (this was a day and age before computers and video games), “What in the world are you doing indoors?” my father asked, a bit amused that his son was watching some old black and white movie that was probably over his head -- But not so much. I got it and was enthralled by the melodrama, the wartime intrigue and the dialog that bubbled with wit, irony, and heartache. When an old flame walks back into Ric's life, the rush of longing, hurt and anger was palpable. It haunted me, and I point to that moment as the day I fell in love with motion pictures. Not simply as entertainment, but as an art form.
Among my nominees: Magnificent Ambersons. Orson Welles’ follow up to Citizen Kane lost back-story and richer characterizations due to a studio mandated butchering, done while Welles was overseas. They even filmed and added that extra happier scene at the end while his back was turned. Despite this asshattery, Ambersons still manages to be magnificent.
Ernst Lubitsch's controversial political comedy To Be or Not to Be. Which is about a troop of actors who foil a Nazi plot. It’s an odd mix of the serious and the silly and it really comes to life whenever Jack Benny and Carol Lombard are on screen.
Aside from those two I also nominated the moody Cat People, as well as Ladd and Lake's first pairing in the noir hit This Gun For Hire, Disney's Bambi, and Talk of the Town, which starred Cary Grant.
The Academy's best picture winner, Mrs. Miniver is a good, though dated propaganda film. I wonder how she would have fared against Casablanca during the awards?
Note: Sullivan's Travels was first screened exclusively for critics in 1941 and later had a showing in Jackson, TN on Dec 29, but wasn't given a wide release until Feb 1942 in Canada and the U.S. (it had a limited run in Jan), which is why I consider it a 1942 release. Veronica Lake's smart and likable performance in this film is one that is oft praised, but nobody (who does this thing we do) can quite bring themselves to take her. It's a tight race, but Veronica had a hell of a year. In addition to Sullivan's she teamed with Alan Ladd in twin noirs, This Gun For Hire and The Glass Key, and starred in the romantic comedy I Married a Witch. Yohana Desta, writing for Vanity Fair, called her performance in this picture, "Buoyant and effortless, with a deft ability to add just the right punctuation to all her punchlines.". I agree and have no qualms about giving her the Felix.
Honorable Mentions:
Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca * Carole Lombard, To Be or Not to Be * Ginger Rogers, The Major and the Minor * Simone Simon, Cat People * Ida Lupino, Moontide * Michèle Morgan, Joan of Paris * Ilse Werner, We Make Music * Greer Garson, Mrs. Miniver
Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca (pictured on top)
Honorable Mentions:
Monty Woolley, The Pied Piper & The Man Who Came to Dinner * James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy * Joel McCrea, Sullivan's Travels * Jean Gabin, Moontide * Ronald Colman, Random Harvest * Ichirô Sugai, Mother Never Dies
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Supporting Actor: Claude Rains, Casablanca (pictured above) also Moontide, Kings Row, and Now Voyager (he had a great year)
Honorable Mentions:
Monty Woolley, The Pied Piper & The Man Who Came to Dinner * James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy * Joel McCrea, Sullivan's Travels * Jean Gabin, Moontide * Ronald Colman, Random Harvest * Ichirô Sugai, Mother Never Dies
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Supporting Actress: Agnes Moorehead, The Magnificent Ambersons
