Supporting Actress 1962

A lot of birds in this one.

1962 Best Supporting Actress

Patty Duke - The Miracle Worker

This is one of those winners that always gets talked about as being pretty strong and maybe one of the top winners in this category. It can also be a bit divisive as some people prefer Angela Lansbury in this year, but I think that has to do with the whole strange actressexual blogger communities. Not to get away from Duke's win, she plays Helen Keller who we all should know. Stricken deaf and blind due to an illness as a baby. This film shows how she was taught by Anne Bancroft's Anne Sullivan in how to communicate and unleash the person inside of her. Duke was fifteen at the time of filming and had played the role on stage for awhile. So it's impressive that at fifteen she was able to deliver such a great and physical performance, but it also makes sense seeing as she did this on stage over and over. With a role like this you have to strike a balance that doesn't devolve into some ham fisted display where you are rooting around like a monkey but also not being convincing enough. And Duke is beyond convincing as a deaf and blind girl. It's what struck me immediately is how her eyes stay fixated on nothing and she doesn't move like someone who is hearing able and can react. She stays in character the whole time and only some very few times does it ever feel a bit goofy. Mostly it just feels like she is the real deal and it honestly is impressive to me. Duke herself said that the role is what won the Oscar and I can understand that. I think in any capable hands like Duke, the actor would have probably won for this. But Duke is the one that did it on stage and on film and did it convincingly. So this is definitely more than just the role, even if Duke doesn't have to say words and can wildly thrash about, there is acting here and it's very good.

Mary Badham - To Kill a Mockingbird

If you have followed this blog to any degree, you will know that I detest child actors. They are usually either way too precocious or are being told what to do rather than acting. It's kind of ironic that this year had the youngest nominee ever in Badham and then the youngest winner in Patty Duke. But I happen to like both, though I would not call Duke a child actor. So yes, I thoroughly enjoyed Badham's performance. And I love that she represents all of Scout, Jem, and Dill. These are legitimately some of the best child actors I have ever seen. That is definitely not hyperbole coming from me. All three of them are so natural and convincing as small town southern children. They easily help elevate this film to its iconic status because if the kids are grating or annoying or just outright awful, the film would suffer and would not be thought of as highly if you ask me. But all three of them just have this great quality and I think it's due to their acting ability but also director Robert Mulligan's direction. He said that he only did a few takes with the kids or at least took from the first few takes because they would become less natural over time and stilted. And it shows that their acting is so light and fun and comes from a place of authenticity. Seriously this whole film is perfect and the kids' acting has a lot to do with that. Badham was never going to win the Oscar but I feel that she definitely deserves to be here representing the kids and the film.

Shirley Knight - Sweet Bird of Youth

For what could be just a wisp of a character, Knight does all she can to make her character relevant in the film. Caught in the middle of a tug of war between her overbearing political boss father (Ed Begley) and the man she loves who keeps coming in and out of her life (Paul Newman), the character can easily get lost as just a piece of property of two very different men. But Knight brings her character to life instead of moving through the film as some sort of rag doll. The character has a bit of independence to her that feels more of a choice by Knight rather than something Tennessee Williams wrote for this role. Unfortunately, the story really doesn't let Knight do all that much with the role, although she tries to wring more than just pretty young woman out of it. Most of the scenes she has are just running to Newman or away from her father. I wish she had a bit more to do because you can see that Knight would have done something great with it. This was her second and final nomination, so the Academy clearly loved her. I am hoping that her first nomination has her doing much more in her performance. Knight is good here, but the role just isn't all that meaty enough as the men dominate the film.

Angela Lansbury- The Manchurian Candidate

One of the cool things about this project is when you find someone unexpected that has an Oscar nomination. It's happened a few times where you look over the categories and go oh wow, I didn't know they were nominated before! This is one of those as everyone of a certain age probably knows her best as the lady from Murder, She Wrote. But she was an accomplished actress before that as evidenced here. This also goes against type for what I know her as, so it's a bit refreshing to see her play this subtly villainous role. And what I liked most about it is how we know something is up with her character the whole time but it slowly unravels just to how deep her treachery goes. Like peeling back an onion, there are so many layers to it. Lansbury doesn't play the character full tilt and I like that choice a lot. It's more mysterious in just who she is and what her plans are instead of getting some caricature or whatever the female equivalent of twirling your mustache is. And since I haven't mentioned it yet, she plays the mother of a "war hero" who in reality has been brainwashed after being captured in North Korea to become a sleeper agent in America. She manipulates her son and her husband and, well, you can watch the rest to see just how exactly Lansbury figures into it because I was trying to understand just what she was up to. It's really intriguing and makes me respect Lansbury more as an actress who took on a role such as this. I do wonder if I had seen her work prior to this, how would I react to this nomination? Would it subvert my expectations in the same way? I'll have two more nominations of hers to review in the 40s and I'm looking forward to those.

Thelma Ritter - Birdman of Alcatraz

This is my first Thelma Ritter nomination to review, though I have seen her in some other films for this project. This was Ritter's sixth and final nomination, all in Supporting Actress, making her the most nominated in this category without a win. And that's what this nomination feels like to me: an attempt to get her the win finally. Not to say she is bad, she is perfectly fine in the role as the mother of Burt Lancaster's character. But there just isn't much to the performance that will grab you at all. It's a thin role that anyone could have fulfilled in the same way Ritter did. It's just not enough for a nomination for me. She goes to bat fighting to keep her son from being hanged and when that is commuted to a life sentence, she plays the supportive mother until Lancaster marries a woman who kinda takes on that role. Nothing explosive in that outcome and nothing to point to as any kind of great moment. It's a dutiful performance that feels like Lancaster dragged her (and Telly Savalas) along with him. I understand that this role was a bit against type for Ritter, so I'm hoping that's why she was nominated and not an indictment on her acting ability. Really hoping Ritter doesn't become another Geraldine Page situation where I can't stand any of her many nominations. We will have plenty of opportunity to see coming up.


This is a pretty interesting group of nominees. I wonder how many times I have typed that sentence out? I think it's pretty clear that Duke is your winner and my winner. She has lived in that performance and has made it her own and is awesome in it. Ritter is my bottom because she just doesn't add anything and it feels more like the Academy trying to get her a win than her actually being Oscar worthy. Anyone can play that role to the same effectiveness. Knight took what could have been a nothing role and forced it to be noticed and I love that. It fails more from the writing and direction because she could have made it really good I feel. Badham is such a nice nominee here. Like I am so glad she got recognized for her work, which really probably represents all of the kids, because she is so natural and great. And I dislike child nominees, so that tells you something there. Lansbury was fun to see her be a villain and she gave a great performance. Would have won if not for Duke, but nothing wrong with that. A pretty decent group of women and I am excited to keep it going.

Oscar Winner: Patty Duke - The Miracle Worker
My Winner:  Patty Duke - The Miracle Worker
Angela Lansbury
Mary Badham
Shirley Knight
Thelma Ritter