So stoked to be in the 60s finally and ready to start full steam ahead. I think it's become much easier to do these older years instead of the current ones simply because I haven't seen most of the films and it's all new to me and fun to see what kind of films they are. This category offers up a couple names I've already reviewed before and two that I don't know at all. I'm excited to dive in and see what they have to offer.
1969 Best Supporting Actress
Goldie Hawn - Cactus Flower
I don't think most people realize that Goldie was a two-time Oscar nominee, let alone that she actually won an Oscar. This was essentially her film debut, though she had a small part in another film before this. She was known from Laugh-In on TV, but this was her first big break in film and she won an Oscar for her efforts. Now is the Oscar actually deserved? Hard to say right now for me as this is the first one I'm reviewing for the group, but I'd probably lean towards no. The basic gist of the plot is Goldie plays a woman dating Walter Matthau, who is a dentist. He lies to her and says he's married so he can give himself an out if he wants to. But Goldie wants to meet his estranged "wife" who doesn't exist so Matthau gets his nurse, Ingrid Bergman, to play the role. Only Bergman is in love with Matthau and hijinks ensue. It's a comedy, though the funny moments are few and mostly dated. I didn't think it was rip roaring funny or anything. Goldie is almost really a lead actress in this as the whole film is focused on her. She's fine in the role, if not a little annoying and grating at times. She has that gee whiz charm and plays the naive, innocent young girl to a T. I'm sure her being a pretty young blonde woman has a lot to do with her win and nomination. She has good comedic instincts which is why she would play that role so often in her career. But it's a thin role with a flawed performance that only seems to get by on her utter charisma and infectious charm. If you're a fan of her, you'll probably love it. If you are a fan of strong performances, you're going to be left lacking and wishing the Academy wouldn't get swept away by pretty young women like Goldie so often.
Catherine Burns - Last Summer
It's funny how sometimes real life lines up with a nominee or film that you've never heard of before. There was an article online about Burns right around the Oscars earlier in 2020 and it was a fascinating piece talking about how Burns was nominated in her first film role but then after a few years disappeared from the public eye and Hollywood. She grew to hate the film that made her an Oscar nominee and briefly famous and hated Hollywood for focusing on how different she looked from most women and made her hate the whole process. She went on to do theater and then just local theater and became a writer and died in 2019 in complete obscurity. Just a reminder how shitty this business can be. But Burns is really striking in this indie film that definitely felt like it was from the 60s. It stars a young Barbara Hershey and two other young men who are all vacationing at a beach in the summer and sex and drugs and life all happen when they meet up and become friends. Burns is introduced later on as the fourth piece playing a much younger girl (though oldest in real life by a couple years). She wants to fit in with these teens who are all beautiful looking but who also relentlessly tease and deride her for being too serious and weird looking and too proper and intellectual. Burns plays this girl as super shy at times but also so lonely and desperate to fit in. She also has the most natural acting ability of the group and sticks out from the others because she brings real feeling to the performance. She has a monologue in the middle of the film where she tells how her mom died and the camera focuses on her for a good while as she goes through the scene. It's a lot of great realistic acting and very understated in contrast to the film itself. It's the highlight of the film because it's this flash of brilliance that leaves you wanting more from Burns. The rest of her performance is very good, too, but this was her peak. And it all leads to a heartbreaking, dark ending that makes you feel so bad for Burns' character. When you compare this work to Hawn's win, it just makes you want to give up on the Oscars. This is great acting that we sadly didn't get to see more of because Hollywood chewed her up and spit her out before she knew what was up.
Dyan Cannon - Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
This was the first of Cannon's three nominations and I honestly kinda forgot about her role in Heaven Can Wait from 1978. That wasn't much of a nomination and I wasn't really into it. She was also nominated in 1976 for writing and directing a Live Action Short film which is pretty cool for real. As for this first nomination, Cannon actually impressed me in such a very 60s film, which I know I've been saying a lot in this category so far. She is the Alice in the title and her husband is Ted, played by Elliot Gould. Their friends go on a retreat and have this revelation about their marriage and sex and all that and Cannon finds it weird at first and then alarming that they just admit to having affairs and then she kind of accepts it at the end after going to therapy for her own issues. It's quite the character arc for a supporting role and it's a really strong performance because of that. Cannon is the anchor for the audience and is what keeps the film from jumping off the deep end into its own ridiculousness. We see ourselves as Alice who finds her friends kinda funny at first but we follow along with her as she goes through the emotions of these people. It's a very 60s film in that respect of peace and love and share your feelings and let's be frank and open about sex. Cannon, though, is the sorta normal wife and mother. She has this great scene where she visits her therapist and it's that acting like with Burns above where she just kinda acts on her own for a few minutes, though the therapist does chime in a little bit. But it's that serious acting where the person gets to shine and show how real and raw they can be in touching all these different emotions in the span of a couple minutes. I enjoyed that scene a lot and felt it's probably why she was nominated. It reminded me a bit of Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story, albeit to a lesser degree. The rest of the film sees her completing the arc and she also has really great chemistry with Gould, even if it's isn't too sexy. Her ending is also fun to watch where she just decides to say screw it and takes her clothes off and we get their awkward attempt at an orgy of sorts. I think it's a good performance where the film only let's her truly shine once but that doesn't stop her from delivering a very satisfying arc for her character.
Sylvia Miles - Midnight Cowboy
This is quite the performance. And by that I should really be saying cameo. Miles is in this film for about 5 minutes, but what a few minutes they are! I enjoyed Miles in her other nomination for Farewell, My Lovely in which she had a brief performance as a boozy, flirty confidante to Robert Mitchum. There must be something about Miles in short performances (there's a joke in there somewhere). But back to this film. Miles shows up in the beginning of the film when Jon Voight gets to NYC. He flirts with her while her dog is using the bathroom on the sidewalk and we instantly get her New York personality when she tells Voight the Statue of Liberty is peeing in Central Park. They go up to her penthouse and start undressing while she talks on the phone with her husband as she moans Oh, baby! as they proceed to the bed. The deed is done and then we get the funny scene of Voight trying to get Miles to pay him and she gets wildly upset and throws a tantrum and he ends up paying her some cab fare money. And that's it. But Miles is like a whirling dervish just zipping through the scene and leaving as quickly as she entered. Now, did she really deserve a nomination for this super short performance? Probably not, but she is damn memorable in the role. I think it's the disgust as she screams when he asks her to pay as if the realization that he's only sleeping with her for money and not because she's attractive that sells the performance. But yeah, really probably shouldn't have been nominated and just came along for the ride with the film.
Susannah York - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
I was always intrigued by the name of this film since I always thought it was going to be a Western or something like that. But this is definitely not a Western. This is a film about a dance marathon in the Depression era which I guess was a thing back then. York plays Alice, an aspiring actress hoping to get noticed as this is taking place near Hollywood. She's blonde and pretty and British and her first scene is one in which she starts doing a part from a George Bernard Shaw play to show off. It's quite the introduction and lays the groundwork for how serious her role and performance will be. Eventually we see she is pretty disappointed that the audience isn't filled with stars and film people that will notice her for a big break. Then the dance marathon continues for days and days and days and the dancers are tired mentally and physically. That's when we start to see York look rather ragged and start to lose it mentally with how much the pressure of dancing and wanting to be discovered and the disappointment starts to take a toll on her. We see this gradual decline as she spirals further into a breakdown culminating in her standing wide eyed in her clothes under a running shower with Gig Young trying to get her to come out. Her stare is haunting as we see just how much all of this has broken her and it's great acting by York. There are other moments in between where we see her unstable personality at play, like when she loses it that someone stole one of her dresses. The whole film is an exercise in sanity for the dancers and York shows just how dangerous that instability can be for someone. I think it's pretty good work watching York spin the decline as she does and I fully see why she was nominated here.
I think it's safe to say that this group impressed me overall. I think Hawn is a terrible winner and she is really a lead in her film that is all about her. Plus, I'm just not a Goldie fan. Her shtick doesn't work for me and this win screams the Academy trying to crown the new hot young thing. It's a bad win, honestly. Especially because Burns gives an amazing performance that laps Hawn a hundred times over. She's got this innocence to her that's hard to act out, it's something within her. Her monologue is riveting acting and just sets her apart from the others. It's incredible work that should have been rewarded but Hawn is the pretty blonde the male voters want to fuck, so here we are. York is fourth simply because I enjoyed her little arc. It may not be the greatest performance but it did what it needed to do within the film. Miles is third because she explodes into her film, gets wild, and then is gone in a scream. It's memorable and fun and I'll take this over Hawn any day. Cannon is my runner up because she has a great scene almost like Burns but also has a satisfying arc and good chemistry with Gould. It's a full performance and one that may have won in a really down year. I mean, that kinda sounds like awful praise but you get what I mean. I just enjoyed her and the film. It sucks that the Academy made a poor choice with Hawn when a terrific choice was staring them in the face. Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of what's to come in the 60s for me.
Oscar Winner: Goldie Hawn - Cactus Flower
My Winner: Catherine Burns - Last Summer
Dyan Cannon
Sylvia Miles
Susannah York
Goldie Hawn
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