Supporting Actress 1961

A name and winner I love and adore, plus an old legend and some other women who are unfamiliar. What is this category? Terrible jokes aside, I already know who wins, this is just deciding second place.

1961 Best Supporting Actress

 

Rita Moreno - West Side Story

 

Quite possibly the best win in this category of all time. Definitely up for debate, but it is easily one of the best and is one of those iconic, star making, powerhouse performances you never forget. The fact that this same character won this same category 50 years later has me intrigued about Ariana DeBose, but I doubt it matches the fire that Moreno exudes as Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend. She has more performance in just throwing her purple skirt around than some actors do in a lifetime. It's so sure of a performance that every word used to describe the film is essentially describing Moreno's performance, too. Sexy, fiery, witty, funny, sympathetic, exquisite: all taken from reviews about the film. I loved one review that said that Moreno doesn't quite walk off with the film, it chases after her trying to catch up. She is the sole reason to watch this film, but you may also stay for the story and choreography and production design and the songs. Just one of those performances that hits you over the head not because it was trying too hard, but because you were in her way. I've had the pleasure of meeting Moreno a couple years ago at a film festival I worked and she was as delightful and charming as ever and even gave us all a little dance at around 90 years old. An amazing woman and an even more amazing performance. She was one of the first EGOT winners (third ever) and her body of work and cultural impact since then is almost unrivaled. After this win, she didn't make another film for seven years because all she was offered was stereotypical Latina roles and she wanted more. Takes courage to demand more at the height of your star power, or at least one of the heights, and not give in. I think she is one of the best actresses, not in like a Meryl Streep vein, but in just making an impact and blazing a trail. Wonderful woman, great actress.

Fay Bainter - The Children's Hour

OK, so I actually enjoyed this film a lot. I don't know what was in the water at the time but this film added to a group of really progressive early 60s films. There's a few films nominated this year that surprise in the subject matter they are about. This film, based on a popular play, is about two women, played by Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, who run an all girls school together. One of the girls is a spoiled brat who gets in trouble one day and repeats what another girl thought she heard about the two women having an unnatural relationship. Bainter, a previous Oscar winner who was the first person nominated in the same year for both Lead and Supporting for two different films/roles and in her final film role of her career, is the little brat's grandmother. Hepburn is engaged to a man that is related to Bainter, I think a nephew. Anyway, Bainter at first just kinda plays along with her granddaughter, Mary, but then slowly begins to believe her. Eventually, alarmed, Bainter begins letting other families know and eventually all the girls leave the school. The two women then sue for libel and slander, but lose. The months later, Mary's mom finds out some things which leads to Mary confessing that she lied. Bainter is great, because as another reviewer said of her it's like she's a different person from scene to scene. That's a good thing because she slowly grows as the lie develops and becomes more and more concerned and tries to do what she thinks is right to protect the kids. It's a tough role handled extremely well by Bainter who does a lot of heavy lifting with just looks and glances and she doesn't immediately start off beating the war drum or anything. Her granddaughter is emphatic about what she heard and so Bainter goes all in because how could you not believe a family member who swears she is telling the truth? Once she realizes how badly she has been duped, the look of shock and horror and embarrassment or written all over her aghast facial expressions. Bainter does a lot with this role by not doing a lot of grandiose things that would seem apropos for the character. I just enjoyed how many different instances of belief and disbelief that Bainter had to go through. There were times I wanted to slap both her and the granddaughter for pushing these lies, but that's the mark of a convincing performance. Really good stuff from Bainter that makes me excited to see her double nomination in 1938 even more now. Definitely recommend this one.

Judy Garland - Judgment at Nuremberg

OK, let's not pretend this nomination isn't because this was her first film since A Star Is Born about 7 years prior. This is a two scene cameo where the first scene doesn't really matter or do much of anything besides introduce her. It's the second scene where Maximilian Schell grills her and is the Oscar defining moment. Apparently Garland wanted to lose a lot of weight as she thought she was too fat, but look at her in the film and she is just average. Garland goes against her usual type as she tries to play a sympathetic figure. I don't think she's fat really, but it would fit (no pun intended) the part of an adult German woman. I'm mentioning this to establish that this wasn't a glamorous role for Garland, this is a story about prosecuting Nazis for their crimes against humanity. The scene with Schell is what you would expect from such a venerable actress. He is deep into his Oscar win and is coming hard at the witness to help his case and Garland is just as game, running through all kinds of different emotions in this one scene. She's annoyed, angry, sadness, and utter contempt for being in this situation. Her accent is okay at best, but I like that she tried and didn't just speak normally. It's a great cameo and a good supporting performance, but this is mostly the Academy saying hey, let's reward this lady we love for her newest thing after a long time off. Good performance, but never should have won and thankfully didn't.

Lotte Lenya - The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

 

A minor Tennessee Williams film based on one of his works, yet he liked this one the most of all his adaptations which seems a bit skeptical considering the classics he generated but whatever. It's a mildly interesting story of a successful Broadway actress, Vivien Leigh, who is getting old and goes on holiday to Rome but her older husband dies during the flight. After arriving she stays and starts seeing an Italian gigolo, Warren Beatty with a not so great accent. Leigh basically sleepwalks through the film while Beatty struts and preens around the film, and Lotte Lenya plays the villain-like madame and sneers at every chance in the film. Not the best performance because it is so nakedly one note. She's a spider woman trying to trap these wealthy foreign women into her web so she can take half of her gigolo's earnings. Even her actual interactions with Leigh feel pointless for dramatic sake as she tries to convince Leigh to spend her money and not just fall in love. I never felt as if she had ulterior motives because they were out there in the open from the start. The character wasn't good at being subtle or coy and Lenya just played it one specific way. This was Lenya's second film ever, and first in 30 years, so maybe that was the reason. I guess I always hope that an actress whose name I don't recognize will wow me or at least have a reason to be nominated like she was the queen of world cinema or something, but not quite sure for Lenya. She's just always sinister and doesn't really break from that so it wears you down expecting more from her. A minor performance in a minor story.

Una Merkel - Summer and Smoke

 

Oh hey, look, another Tennessee Williams adaptation. Honestly didn't realize he had two films get nominated in this category, but I guess it means he wrote some pretty interesting female characters. Except, Merkel is not one them. Or at least isn't in this film version. This is a classic older actress getting a nomination most likely because she was respected by the Academy. She had won a Tony Award a few years earlier and was in film and television since the 30s, that's truly the only reason. This role is almost nothing and I actually forgot about her character because she disappeared for most of the film. When she was onscreen, she plays Geraldine Page's crazy old mother who seems to have dementia or something. She basically just acts like a little child screaming to get her way or to signify she isn't happy and that's really the extent of her very brief performance. Never should have been nominated and I really can't stand these career achievement nominations because somebody more deserving could have been in this spot. Instead we get a small, silly, stupid performance you will never think about again five seconds after the film ends.

Rita is the unequivocal no-brainer. Probably the best winner in this category, everyone else is an after thought. Bainter already won an Oscar, so I ain't even sad about this. She is right where she belongs. Garland makes her comeback and gets rewarded with a decent performance that is elevated above what it actually is because she is making a comeback. If she wasn't a tragic figure, she wouldn't be here. Lenya is okay. Not anything memorable and just sticks out as a name. Merkel maybe even more so. Merkel does nothing and doesn't deserve the nomination and I wish we cold figure out who was sixth and bump them up on my blog orders. Anyway, greatest category performance sets it apart no matter what. I will always love this category for giving some fun nominees.

Oscar Winner: Rita Moreno - West Side Story

My Winner: Rita Moreno - West Side Story

Fay Bainter

Judy Garland

Lotte Lenya

Una Merkel