Supporting Actress 1967

I used to try and have a little discussion or some deep thought in my introductions but lately I've just been wanting to get to the films and just keep it moving. It's been a weird year and I'm excited to see a bunch of nominees that I haven't seen yet but that I've been waiting to see. Some classic films, so I'm hoping this is a great group this year.

1967 Best Supporting Actress

Estelle Parsons - Bonnie and Clyde

Sitting here after finally watching this film for the first time instead of just seeing clips, I am really let down by this performance from Parsons. I guess I have also been lead to believe it was something amazing and one that you just have to check out for yourself. But I'm sitting here scratching my head as to why exactly this won and I hate to seem like I'm putting Parsons down because I'm not. She plays the wife of Gene Hackman who is brother to Clyde played by Warren Beatty. She's a pastor's daughter so she is kinda quiet and meek and standoffish at first to Bonnie. What we mainly take away from her performance is the shrieks and shrill screams she is always doing when situations get hairy, which is quite often. I guess it's supposed to be comic relief but it's not funny at all and gets annoying very quickly. It just never hits the note it needs to to become anything more than a waste of a capable actress. Her relationship with Hackman feels a bit off as I can't see the two ever ending up together since he's so alpha and wild and carefree at times. And Parsons doesn't even get any stand out scene to work with, either. Maybe when she's in the hospital and all wrapped up in gauze, but even then she still shrieks and the scene is more about the Texas Ranger talking to her. I just can't quite figure out how this won or got any traction. Not a very strong performance by any means and one that ultimately detracts from the film for me.

Carol Channing - Thoroughly Modern Millie

Oof. This is a wild ass film! There are definitely people that will love this because it's so ridiculous and probably just as many that will hate it for the same reason. I found it to be mostly entertaining. It takes a weird dark turn at the end and there are some frankly racist characters and moments, but it ultimately has a lot of weird, crazy energy to it. Basically Millie, played by Julie Andrews, is trying to find a rich husband and lots of hi-jinks occur as she tries to find someone. There's a lot more to it but the film does kinda go off the rails at times, usually in a fun way. Channing plays a rich, carefree woman who is the step mother of the guy Millie ends up with. This is an over the top performance and it depends on how you feel about those as to which side you come down on in support or against. I gotta say that I didn't really like Channing in this. Her wide eyed, unblinking face with her scratchy voice and huge mouth was really off putting to me and didn't match up with her bouncy demeanor. I don't know if that was just Channing's shtick or if it was a choice specifically for the character but it took me out of the film when she was onscreen. And the sad part is that I actually enjoyed her musical numbers as basic as they were. The one with her playing different musical instruments was neat, if underwhelming. Her talent was definitely not in the singing and dancing parts at all. She is humorous in how out there she is and how she does whatever she wants but her look just kills for it me. A lot of people talk about how this is a scene stealing performance and how awesome and amazing she is but I'm just over here looking at it as a scene stopping performance. I also really liked all the other characters so maybe her ruining the moment is why I'm so sour on the performance because I was expecting to enjoy it based on what I've read. Especially since this is such a wild film that something like her character should really add to the experience. Channing just didn't do it for me.

Mildred Natwick - Barefoot in the Park

This is such a great little film! For some reason I was expecting a drama along the lines of like A Splendor in the Grass or something, I guess from the film title. But nope, this is a Neil Simon written film and is a lovely little comedic film. It stars a beautiful pair in Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, a newlywed couple who have just moved into a new apartment. Natwick plays Fonda's mother and she is quite hilarious yet understated at the same time. Fonda's character is a wild child opposite of Redford's straight man, but Natwick plays a good natured mother who has a lot of quips in her arsenal. Her performance is one that reminds me of a TV sitcom character but in a good way. Instead of waiting for the laugh track or saying one liners with a wink, wink and nudge, nudge she delivers her sometimes sarcastic remarks with a charm and hidden motherly worry. The example is when seeing the apartment for the first time trying to not let on how she feels about the place while still being chipper. Like mentioning if Fonda will paint the walls and Fonda says she already did and then Natwick quickly saying oh, what a beautiful color! It's that sort of humor that really does play unexpectedly well within the film. Natwick isn't just a TV trope, she is more sophisticated than the material and you can't help but just enjoy what she brings to the film. There's a lot of little comedic moments in her performance that she plays to perfection that might otherwise come off hokey or annoying or cloying. It's a genuine performance that has a lot of maternal warmth and some sass that shows she is still human. This performance for me just added so much to the film where I was hooked from the start. I like Redford and Fonda in this but Natwick is like the voice of reason and says it all with such great humor. You really want to get to know her and are thrilled with her arc, which to me is a sign of a pretty wonderful supporting performance.

Beah Richards - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

When doing research for films and performances I inevitably read some reviews I don't agree with and this is one. Richards was the fourth black actress nominated for Supporting Actress and it had happened about every 10 years. That's a feat in itself because this is 1967. She was helping pave the way for more representation and that's phenomenal. I read a lot of comments and reviews that called this boring and I can see that in a way, but it's not entirely true. Richards is very soft spoken in the role and just a very quiet actor overall. But it makes her seem like she is actually Sidney Poitier's mother disappointed by all the conversations about not supporting his relationship with a white woman. By the way, she plays Poitier's mother in this film but obviously isn't in real life. But she is so soft spoken and delicate that it makes the performance feel so real. Her disappointment is felt by the audience. We are just as bummed as she is that adults are behaving like idiots because two people want to get married. And her face is so not expressive that it adds to the feeling that she is just a real person. I renounce those comments that say she is boring. I feel like she has a reverse Viola Davis quality to her performance. Viola came in like a hurricane to Doubt and wrecked it, Richards is a rare sunny day in the rainy season that you look forward to. Hopefully that comparison made sense but Richards is good in her very limited role. Should she have been nominated? I think it got caught up in the love for the film overall, so maybe not. She was also in the Best Picture winner this year, so that probably helped, too. I would rather have her than some other boring white woman role though, honestly.

Katharine Ross - The Graduate

I think Katharine Ross's character can be whittled down to a horny boy/man's ideal woman. You already fucked her mom and now you move on to the younger, hotter version and woo her and actually connect with her. Then she realizes what you did and moves on to college. You pester her, but she has decided she is marrying someone else. You crash the wedding and she runs off with you on a bus. It's a neckbeard's orgasmic fantasy. Ross is beautiful and she plays the role as she should. In the beginning she is attracted to Dustin Hoffman but then finds out he slept with her mom. She then is grossed out and moves on. She then has to deal with him showing up to her college but is worn down by his persistence and they have a relationship. I like how she plays that dual character who liked him and then now is repulsed but then he wins her back over to go out with him yet she goes to the altar with another guy. I think she handles this roller coaster as she should and it doesn't feel weird in the scope of the film. It's natural and she is operating in that sphere. She is great at her sad looks and desperate longings because her character has some depth and clarity. But Ross is never able to make that really mean anything for the film. She's a thing for Hoffman to use and manipulate and while Ross is decent, her treatment is not.


What a damn letdown this group was! Holy crap. I was expecting a lot of great performances in some really classic and amazing films and we got such an underwhelming group of supporting actresses. This category strikes again and man do I wish this one would be better. Channing took me out of her film completely as I didn't like her little shtick and her appearance and she's not even that great at the musical part of the performance. Some people argue for this to be the winner but it did nothing for me at all. Parsons wasn't any better. All she does is shriek and scream and run around. It's annoying and detracts from the rest of the film and actors and even if it was supposed to be comedic relief, it wasn't. Ross was a letdown because I expected her to bring more to the performance and have more of an impact beyond just being a pretty woman. Just wanted a lot more from her. Richards is fine in a small, quiet role that some would argue shouldn't be nominated. I like it for the representation factor and because she seems pretty natural in the role and film. She offers up something different to the powerhouse actors around her. Natwick wins almost by default, though I greatly enjoy her performance. She is the only one I outright like and thought she had a great arc and brought a lot to the film. I'm sad that she didn't win in reality because it would have been a very good winner. Just an absolute letdown of a year and one I hope doesn't continue on.

Oscar Winner: Estelle Parsons - Bonnie and Clyde
My Winner:  Mildred Natwick - Barefoot in the Park
Beah Richards
Katharine Ross
Estelle Parsons
Carol Channing