OVP: Test Pilot (1938)

Film: Test Pilot (1938)

Stars: Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Marjorie Main

Director: Victor Fleming

Oscar History: 3 nominations (Best Picture, Story, Film Editing)

(Not So) Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

MGM circa 1938 boasted of having "more stars than there are in heaven," and surely this was the case for the studio with a movie like Test Pilot.  The film features three of the biggest headliners of the era (Gable, Loy, & Tracy...plus Lionel Barrymore to boot!), and truly stunning aerial photography, and was cited for Oscar's top prize based on these stars & the film's significant profit.  However, I had seen Test Pilot maybe 10 years ago, and I had poor memories of it.  I didn't really care for the film initially, though it was so forgettable I honestly was curious as to why it had left a bitter taste in my mouth, particularly considering my passion for some of the actors.  Upon revisit, I was struck by a few things I didn't remember (we'll get there), but I feel like I was right-this movie doesn't really work despite having such magnetism on the call sheet.  Let's talk about why.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about Jim Lane (Gable), an ace test pilot who recklessly jumps from dangerous plane to plane (and from woman to woman), much to the chagrin of his buddy Gunner (Tracy) and boss Drake (Barrymore).  One day, he crash lands in Kansas, and there he meets the beautiful Ann Barton (Loy), a country girl who is engaged to another man but who is clearly destined for Jim.  They end up together, marrying, but this isn't happily-ever-after (it's only about 30 minutes into the movie).  Instead, we get a dose of what this marriage is like, with Jim clearly an adrenaline junkie who can't give up his day job (and doesn't want to), and both Gunner & Ann on the ground, holding their breath as Jim nears death repeatedly (including one sequence where he barely lives, but one of his fellow pilots dies, a moment that is so telegraphed when they randomly introduce his wife & three kids that the set directors might as well have put a gigantic neon sign above the actor's death saying "destined for the morgue").  The climax of the film has Jim crash landing, and in the process he lives but it's Gunner who dies, which is enough to push Jim to give up this life for good, allowing him to have a grounded life with Ann & their family.

There are things to like in Test Pilot, and I don't want to push those aside.  For starters, it's interesting to watch a film from 1938 about a troubled marriage.  This isn't something we're used to in romances of this era, where "I do" is almost certainly followed by an end card, and it's interesting to see how Hollywood approaches a troubled domesticity between two of its biggest leading players.  I'll also point out right now that the aerial stunts & photography, particularly the landing in Kansas, are impressive for 1938 & this is the kind of film that would've surely gotten a VFX nomination (deservedly) had that category existed in 1938.

But the movie suffers as it goes on because it almost has whiplash it oscillates so frequently across genres.  The movie casts Loy & Gable, two of the era's most charming figures, and occasionally lets them play off of each other (which is a blast), but more often-than-not their courtship veers into sanctimonious, expositional melodrama, with Loy repeatedly underlining the pains she has of being in love with a man who is wrecklessly putting his life in danger.  This isn't necessarily a bad idea for a film, but it's so oft-repeated, with it being clear how it will end (it's not like Gable's going to pick his job over his wife), but it doesn't find a way to modulate its tone-every five minutes we're laughing then so shuddered with dramatics you almost feel guilty for being charmed by the two leads.  It doesn't know what to do with its story, and as a result it becomes a bit of a slog to get through.

The leads aren't able to bolster the movie either.  Loy & Gable clearly want this to be a spry romantic comedy-their acting styles are well-suited for one another, but when it's dramatic they can't pull it off, particularly Loy, who is the actor I like best in this movie generally, but she can't make her contradictory Ann make sense.  Weirdly, it's Spencer Tracy who is by-far the best person in this film.  I am not a Spencer Tracy cheerleader (hence the weirdly), and I'd pick Gable or Loy over him any day of the week, but Tracy is quite good as Gunner, giving him a wearied gruffness that I liked.  Two years removed from San Francisco (for which Tracy won an Oscar nomination but Gable didn't), this is another case where Tracy is taking the film wholesale away from Gable, who was the better movie star but not the thespian that Tracy was.  It's worth noting that Tracy's Gunner does have something of a queer sensibility (he doesn't seem to have any real romantic entanglements other than fretting about Clark Gable), which is perhaps too generous of a reading of Test Pilot, but I did see those shades as the movie continued.  Without this interpretation, Test Pilot doesn't have much to lend to it-for a movie that feels long, it's just the same story over-and-over again...to use the vernacular of the film, a movie that's not so much turbulent as merely routine.

OVP: Libeled Lady (1936)

Film: Libeled Lady (1936)
Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connolly
Director: Jack Conway
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Picture)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2020 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different actress known as an iconic "film sex symbol."  This month, our focus is on Jean Harlow-click here to learn more about Ms. Harlow (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

By the mid-1930's, Jean Harlow was one of the biggest stars in America.  On the MGM lot, she was worth more to the studio by the time that Libeled Lady came out than Joan Crawford or Norma Shearer, the two women who had basically bankrolled the company for years.  She had managed to float her way through two husbands since the last time we had discussed her in Red Dust, and was at the time madly in love with William Powell, who would be her costar in the film.  The movie would be a gargantuan hit for MGM, making nearly $3 million at the Box Office during the height of the Depression, and further cementing Harlow as the most valuable asset on the MGM lot.  As we're about to see, though, that distinction would be (to pardon the expression) short-lived.  But first, Libeled Lady.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is basically one of those madcap screwball comedies that went extinct the second Cary Grant met Alfred Hitchcock, but it's a pip.  Jean Harlow plays Gladys, a frequently jilted bride whose fiancé Warren (Tracy) is constantly putting his newspaper's needs ahead of hers.  In the opening scenes, we find out that his paper has printed a libelous lawsuit about Connie Allenbury (Loy), the daughter of his rival newspaper's chief James Allenbury (Connolly).  Connie sues Warren's paper for $5 million, but he can't afford to pay this kind of money, so he enlists the help of famed lothario Bill Chandler (Powell) to woo Connie after marrying Gladys in a sham marriage, so it looks like Connie has been romancing another woman's husband.  The problems ensue when both Connie AND Gladys fall for Bill's line, while Bill only loves Connie.  The film's final moments are a series of coincidences and one ups-manship, with ultimately Gladys ending up back with Warren and Connie & Bill reunited despite their differences.

Libeled Lady is marvelous.  It's hard to judge because when you put Powell & Loy together you expect The Thin Man (though they actually made 14 movies together in their time in the spotlight), and this isn't quite as sparkling as that, but it's hard to compare any movie to The Thin Man.  The film is hilarious, with some great physical comedy and some ace comedic work.  It's a testament to Harlow that put against an acting titan like Tracy, and two Grade-A comedians such as Loy & Powell that she pretty much steals the picture as the "dumb blonde who isn't so dumb."  As a result, I kind of loved Libeled Lady in a way I wasn't expecting-this is the sort of film I'd probably give a 4.5 star rating to (but we don't do halves here), but as there are parts where the one-liners could have popped a little bit more, I'm going to lean to four stars, though I reserve the right to change my mind about that in the future.

The movie would, sadly, be one of the last high-water marks of Harlow's career.  She would make just two more pictures, Personal Property and Saratoga, both big hits, before she died in 1937 from kidney failure at the age of only 26.  Because of her youth and beauty, and how we never got to see her grow old, urban legends still persist about Harlow (chiefly that she died as a result of the hair dye that created the platinum blonde look she'd make iconic, though this has been proven to be false).  As we've found this month, though, there was a really good comedienne and actress beyond those famous locks, and it's a pity for us all that we didn't get to see what her growing power at MGM might have meant for her future career-perhaps some of the star turns that still awaited her fellow MGM players Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo could have been hers?  We will never know.  Next month, we'll spring ahead into the 1940's to take a look at a different starlet, one who was just as blonde as Harlow, but it was two other assets that insured her immortal status in Classical Hollywood.

12 Best Actors Without an Oscar Nomination

Okay, here we go!  This isn't going to mean much to you, probably, since it's just another article, but this is the first day of NaNoWriMo for me!  Right now I am probably, frantically, wondering how on earth I am going to write 50,000 words in a month, and fretting about my writerly process, or perhaps (I can occasionally be an optimist) I'm knee-deep in my book, writing to my heart's content because I've spent the past month heartily preparing and am ready for this adventure (I'm writing this on October 7th, so who knows what's happened in the world in the past few weeks).

As a result of this being NaNoWriMo, you're going to be noticing some things might be a little unusual on the blog, namely that I'm not going to be reacting to the events of the day as often as I usually do, and the focus is going to be more on timeless issues (like movies, reviews, OVP, and history) than the events of the day.  Hopefully you don't mind, as this is me trying to do something new and exciting in my life, while also maintaining TMROJ to the best of my abilities.  If there's something truly groundbreaking in the news (something I feel I would be remiss to comment on like a major political/entertainment announcement or where I need to write an obituary), I might come back from my sabbatical early, but otherwise the only current event I'm allowing myself time to discuss on the blog is the election (you'll get a recap of what happened in Virginia, New Jersey, and across the country).  Otherwise, all of these articles will have been written in advance for the next thirty days.

One of the fun things about doing this is that I get to create a lot of lists, as those are the easiest to package in advance, and we're going to start out with a doozy, one that I've been sitting on for a while-the actors that I most think deserve an Academy Award nomination, but for some reason never received one.  This is, bizarrely, a list I've never actually put together on this blog before despite my obsession with the Oscars, and I can't exactly explain why (I've done write-ups about people most "owed" an Oscar, but never my personal tastes).  Perhaps it's because, as I've documented in the past, I don't think there's a lot of actors who really cry out in a major way "why haven't they ever been nominated?!?"  I'm sure there are performers who are giving me side eye right now (if somehow one of them came across this blog), but while it's easy to list actors who have never won an Oscar who should deserved one, most of the major, critically-acclaimed actors at some point in their careers have won at least a nomination.  Even actors who are principally known for commercial work like Doris Day and Harrison Ford wound up in Oscar's good graces during their careers.

It's also because most long lists of actor's who deserved an Oscar nomination in the past end up being written as if there are an unlimited number of nominations in a year-there aren't.  Yes, it's very, very easy to come up with occasional nominations that were undeserved, but those aren't always in the right year to warrant a nomination.  If you're going to call someone out as a "snub," you need to also be willing to get rid of some of the nominees that made it instead, and most writers won't do that.  Frequently on lists like this I see a name like John Cusack, a major movie star who probably, collectively, deserved a nomination at some point, but for what, exactly?  Was John Cusack ever actually one of the five best nominees in a year?  The people below I include because I think they had careers that were/are huge in the motion pictures AND because they have given at least one performance that I'd argue was one of the five best of that year (if not higher), that they would have displaced one of the nominees in my book.  It's genuinely hard for me to find people who fit both of those criteria, but the below twelve are the actors who most make my blood boil when I think about them not having been cited at some point in their careers.  Without further adieu...

12. Jeanne Moreau

Why She Was Never Nominated: With this sole exception, I largely stuck to actors who worked primarily in English-language films, as those are overwhelmingly the ones favored by Oscar.  This list could entirely have been made up just of brilliant actors who didn't work in English-language films that have been amongst the year's bests in the past (Lu Chen, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Toshiro Mifune...).  But considering that Isabelle Huppert finally broke the mold this past year, it seems a shame that Jeanne Moreau, the great French actress, never joined those who had similar crossover appeal and insane talent (Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Anouk Aimee, Isabelle Adjani) in winning just one dance with Oscar.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Moreau won the BAFTA Award for Viva Villa!, and was nominated for Jules and Jim.  She also took Best Actress at Cannes for Seven Days...Seven Nights, and grabbed the Cesar for The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: I certainly would buy an argument for La Notte or Bay of Angels, but honestly-how did she not make it for Jules and Jim?  I get that 1962 was a tough year for Best Actress, but I'd probably be willing to displace pretty much anyone for what Moreau accomplishes as Catherine, a careless, cruel, intensely beautiful and magnetic presence in Francois Truffaut's greatest masterpiece (and one of my personal favorite pictures).
Chances in the Future: Moreau died earlier this year, meaning that we'll never get to hear her name while an envelope is announced (and somehow she never took the Governor's Award).

11. Ann Miller

Why She Was Never Nominated: Ann Miller's career has always perplexed me.  Despite talent, beauty, and tap dancing skills that were pretty much unrivaled in Hollywood, she was never really a leading lady.  In fact, I couldn't find a single movie that she was ever the headliner of, which is strange because she wasn't your typical "character actress."  This is perhaps why she was never cited-she didn't play the doting mother or wife in a drama all that often (denying her the ability to be someone like Thelma Ritter or Claire Trevor), instead providing the comic relief in musicals and insane dancing ability.  Perhaps her career was too comical, and she was too shapely, to be taken seriously?
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Other than a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Miller's only reward was a long tenure in Hollywood.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: Some may go with Miller's most serious role, and the one that she is most well-known for to modern audiences as Coco in Mulholland Drive (she, is, indeed a strange link to the failed dreams of Hollywood in that film), but I'd go with something flat-out marvelous like her work in Kiss Me Kate.  Miller steals the entire movie away from Kathryn Grayson, and is, well, spectacular.
Chances in the Future: Miller passed away in 2004, so we'll never have the opportunity.  Perhaps the best reward is that she is still seen regularly on Turner Classic Movies nearly every month, something some of her leading lady costars can't even claim.  #Revenge?

10. Jim Carrey

Why He Was Never Nominated: Carrey is that classic conundrum of the comedian who has talent, and yet can't make it work with Oscar.  Similarly to others like Danny Kaye or Bob Hope, Carrey went from being a comedic leading man to showing that he had real ability in the late 1990's and early 2000's, but Oscar never seemed interested.  As a result, he's actually the most Golden Globe-nominated film actor EVER to never land an Oscar nomination.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Carrey has been cited for six Golden Globes, winning two back-to-back trophies (he made the wisecrack that he was now "the Tom Hanks of the Golden Globes,"), as well as a BAFTA nomination and a Grammy nomination.  Plus, he had one of the best "Loser Moments" ever when he showed up at the 1998 Oscars after just missing.
When He Should Have Been Nominated: Carrey deserved two nominations (I've never seen Man on the Moon, so quite frankly he might be the most overdue actor, period, if you look at just actual nominations and their collective careers): The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  1998 was admittedly a very good year, and someone worthy was bound to miss, but 2004 wasn't, and there's really no excuse for his losing as Joel Barish-he should have won the damn thing.
Chances in the Future: Probably not.  Carrey isn't an actor that does this sort of work anymore-quite frankly.  He kind of stopped working in major movies after he bad-mouthed Kick-Ass 2 publicly (he did have a hit the following year, but that was already in the can at that point, and was a sequel to one of his biggest pictures).  His interviews have grown increasingly erratic in recent years, as has his off-screen behavior, and at this point even an Honorary Oscar would be a surprise.

9. Meg Ryan

Why She Was Never Nominated: Ryan never had quite the luck that her fellow 90's "America's Sweethearts" did with Oscar (Julia Roberts & Sandra Bullock both of course have their own statues). This is a pity as Ryan is a superb actress and arguably starred in the best actual films during her heyday as a Rom-Com queen.  That said, she couldn't land it for her dramatic turn in Courage Under Fire, and her career got destroyed after she was caught cheating on Dennis Quaid with Russell Crowe (sexism of course rears its ugly head here, as Crowe went on to become a major movie star and an Oscar-winner in the wake of such publicity).  Since then, she's never really landed a major role and has largely disappeared from Hollywood, particularly after The Women was universally-panned (though it did better than you remember at the Box Office).
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Ryan picked up a trio of Golden Globe nominations for her rom-com triumvirate When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: The critic in me wants to say When Harry Met Sally, perhaps her breeziest performance, but the ardent fan in me will stick to one of my all-time favorite movies Sleepless in Seattle.  Her Annie is wonderfully-felt, charming, lived-in, lonely, heartbreaking, relatable, and layered-it's one of my favorite romantic performances, and I literally watch it every year at Christmas.  That she couldn't make it for either is a crime.
Chances in the Future: Doubtful-she's not famous enough anymore to get an Honorary Oscar, and she hardly works at all.  She seems to want to move into direction-maybe she'll have a knack for that?  It is how Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, and Mel Gibson finally started getting nominated after being skipped over for commercial acting fare.

8. Joseph Cotten

Why He Was Never Nominated: Cotten was that leading man who never really caught on as an icon, despite starring in some of the biggest films of all-time, and being a favorite of two of Hollywood's best directors (Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock).  This wasn't for a lack of talent, though, as Cotten always delivered with his characters, bringing forward complicated men who blurred the line between righteous & sinister.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Like Ann Miller, he got a spot on the Walk of Fame, but really that was it for this leading man, whose greatest trophy might be the place that Citizen Kane ended up taking in the history of the movies (not many people get to have second billing on the "greatest film of all-time").
When He Should Have Been Nominated: Citizen Kane is a perfect movie, truly one of the cinema's greatest, but Cotten's performance there isn't why he should have been nominated.  Instead, he should have been cited for his work in The Third Man, an achievement also over-shadowed by Welles (who should have made Supporting Actor that year), but Cotten himself is marvelous as the complicated, slow-march-into-hell man at the center of Harry Lime's plot.
Chances in the Future: Cotten passed away in 1994, leaving behind a laundry list of great film credits but no Oscar.

7. Oscar Isaac

Why He Was Never Nominated: His performances have so far been the right kind, wrong picture.  Isaac is emerging onto the stage of superstardom with the Star Wars franchise giving him the kind of exposure that turned Harrison Ford from a player in low-budget movies decades ago into an action superstar.  Isaac, though, seems to care a lot more about arthouse fare than Ford ever appeared to, starring in complicated movies like Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, and Ex Machina.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Picked up a Golden Globe for Show Me a Hero, as well as a second nomination for Llewyn Davis.  He's also won the position as my future husband, truly the greatest prize of all.
When He Should Have Been Nominated: I genuinely would have nominated him for all three of those performances.  Honestly-Isaac is such a good and exciting actor it's staggering to me he hasn't gotten more traction yet; the only reason he's not higher on this list is that he's so new to the public consciousness & that I'm sure he'll make it eventually, so I'm less perturbed than I am for the next six.  I think his best performance may well have been Ex Machina, a movie that seems destined to gain stature as the years go by, it's like a cross between Elon Musk and John Huston in Chinatown.
Chances in the Future: Solid.  Isaac is too good of an actor and working too often to stay off of Oscar's shortlist for a long.  The better question is, though, whether he is cited for work as good as what he's done before now (ala Michael Fassbender) or is eventually cited for a performance that's not nearly as fascinating (ala Andrew Garfield).

6. Peter Lorre

Why He Was Never Nominated: Lorre's that strange supporting player who never really took off in the supporting categories.  His best shot may have arguably been for his work with Humphrey Bogart in classics like The Maltese Falcon, but for some reason noir was very hit-or-miss when it came to actual acting nominations (Bogart himself was never even nominated for his work in one of these films), and his star in the 1930's wasn't strong enough to grab the Academy's attention during its formative years.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Aside from his Walk of Fame star (a gimme for major actors of his generation), Lorre's only other public honor was being nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice, but this was a director, not an actor.
When He Should Have Been Nominated: I would have cited Lorre for The Maltese Falcon, as his work as Joel Cairo was spectacular, and considering the film's Best Picture nomination, he should have joined costar Sydney Greenstreet as a nominee.  But Lorre's best performance was one of his first, as a child killer in M, a seismic achievement in acting and one of the most powerful performances of the 1930's.
Chances in the Future: Lorre died in 1964, leaving behind several film classics, the largest of being his small role as Ugarte in Casablanca.

5. Scarlett Johansson

Why She Was Never Nominated: Some of the actors on this list I'm postulating as to why they were never nominated, and would invite those who are more associated with these actors' past Oscar campaigns to weigh in, but here's a case where I'm old enough to remember why Johansson missed, and it was greed.  In 2003, ScarJo had two major roles competing for Best Actress (Girl with a Pearl Earring and Lost in Translation), and while it seemed probable that the surging LiT was the better shot at a nomination, the studios didn't want to get into each other's way and so they commit massive category fraud moving her to supporting in LiT, likely killing her traction in the race and leaving room for surprise nominees Samantha Morton and Keisha Castle-Hughes instead.  Had they just stuck with a lead campaign, I think her work for Sofia Coppola probably would have snuck her in in one of the most bizarre Best Actress fields I remember seeing.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Johansson has yet to score with Oscar, but she's a favorite of the HFPA, boasting four nominations at the Golden Globes.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: Her work in Lost in Translation remains, in my opinion, her best, and better than most of the nominees that year (and I'd even argue, the winner).  I also would have cited her for Under the Skin, a film that was never going to catch on with Oscar but was proof that a decade of lounging in bad rom-com's and action flicks didn't dim her star when it came to acting talent.
Chances in the Future: If she's going to get it, it's going to have to be soon.  She's a major star, obviously, but she's 33 now and while that's not an acting death knell for Oscar, it is a time when you need to start making your move on a trophy.  I still think she makes it at some point though-she feels too famous not to land at least once.

4. Myrna Loy

Why She Was Never Nominated: Loy's best performances were always light comedy, and she made them look incredibly easy.  While the early Academy wasn't nearly as allergic to comedy as later generations of voters, they still had a propensity to favor melodrama, which wasn't Loy's strong suit (even her best dramatic performance, in The Best Years of Our Lives, is arguably the 4th or 5th best performance in that movie).  Even so, it's a pity that one of the finest performers of the 1930's never joined women like Carole Lombard or Jean Arthur with at least one nomination.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Loy actually does have an Oscar even if she never won a nomination, due to an Honorary trophy she won at the 63rd Academy Awards.  Her victory was actually a result over an uproar when Sophia Loren, who already had a trophy, picked up a statue despite numerous longtime performers like Myrna Loy who had never won an Oscar.  The Academy agreed with those complaining and gave them both statues.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: It seems truly bizarre to me, even in a year where Best Actress was pretty competitive (just ask Bette Davis!) that Loy couldn't get in for her pitch-perfect work in The Thin Man while her leading man William Powell was included.  This would have been the perfect moment to cite her gifts.
Chances in the Future: Thankfully Loy won as a result of that petition, as she would die just two years later.

3. Edward G. Robinson

Why He Was Never Nominated: For the most part, Robinson's career as a leading man wasn't in the sorts of films that won Oscars, but instead just made oodles of money.  Though longtime player as a tough-guy gangster in pictures like Little Caesar and Kid Galahad, he was apparently a kind and sensitive man off-screen (who fell victim to the McCarthy-era political climate when he was forced to name names before HUAC), his tough guy exterior and the public demand for it meant that he only occasionally did the sort of movies that AMPAS loves, even though he was always a deeply-talented actor.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Robinson won an Honorary Oscar in 1973 for his lifetime of movie-making, as well as the SAG Life Achievement Award in 1970.  He also won the Best Actor prize from both the National Board of Review (for Tales of Manhattan) and the Cannes Best Actor prize (for House of Strangers).
When She Should Have Been Nominated: Robinson not being nominated for his spectacular work in Double Indemnity is, in my opinion, one of the biggest snubs in Supporting Actor Oscar history.  It would have been such a fine time to honor a man who had made most of Hollywood rich, and it's easily his best performance.  A crime.
Chances in the Future: Robinson sadly died in 1973, two months before he was able to win his Academy Award.

2. Mia Farrow

Why She Was Never Nominated: Mia Farrow's lack of a nomination is more perplexing than literally any other person on this list.  It's hard to understand right now (Farrow has become synonymous with her ex-partner Woody Allen and their decades-long public feud more than her actual career as a performer at this point), but Farrow was a major star in Hollywood for decades, and starred in a number of classic pictures.  Plus, Allen has a gift for getting actresses nominated for an Oscar like few others, and Farrow has starred in more of Woody's movies than literally any other actor (and she was the lead in most of them).  All-in-all, I have no explanation other than bad luck.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Farrow won the Golden Globe for Best Newcomer in 1965, and during her career would win 9 nominations from the HFPA, five of which were for individual film performances.  She was also nominated for the BAFTA three times.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: This is where I have to admit that I'm not as familiar with Allen's filmography during the Mia Years as I am pre and post that time period (it's an issue I'm hoping to rectify), though I've heard The Purple Rose of Cairo and Broadway Danny Rose are the standouts.  What I CAN vouch for is that Farrow surely deserved a nomination for her brilliant work in Rosemary's Baby, which even in the standout 1968 lineup deserved mention.
Chances in the Future: Doubtful.  Farrow would make a worthy recipient of the Honorary Oscar or the Jean Hersholt, but Hollywood seems to want to forget the entire Woody/Mia feud, and unlike Woody, Mia would probably show up to grab her Oscar and remind them of it.

1. Rita Hayworth

Why She Was Never Nominated: How do you pick the most Oscar-worthy actor ever who's never won a nomination?  Simple-you pick a woman who deserved two trophies and yet wasn't nominated for any.  Hayworth was insanely beautiful and took on glam-doll roles, but Oscar has proven in the past to be fine with giving beautiful women Academy Awards without issue.  Why it was that Hayworth, a box office star who regularly worked with serious directors, couldn't get this nomination is beyond me.
Award-Worthy in Other Ways: Hayworth would be named one of the 25 Greatest Actresses of All-Time by the American Film Institute (a posthumous honor, but still), and would be nominated for the Golden Globe one time, for the dramatic western Circus World with John Wayne & Claudia Cardinale.
When She Should Have Been Nominated: 1946 and 1947.  I admittedly still have a few performances before I say this officially (and YEARS until we tackle these in the OVP, unfortunately), but I feel absolutely confident that Hayworth would have gotten nominations from me for Gilda and The Lady from Shanghai, polar opposite roles that bring out her best traits as an actress.  Give or take Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter and Gloria Grahame in Crossfire, they may well be the best performances given by a woman in either of those years, regardless of category. That she missed for both-I just can't stand it.
Chances in the Future: Hayworth died in 1987 at the sadly young age of 67.

Those are my list-how about yours?  I know you have quibbles or people you can throw "but what about..." at me, so let's have it.  And which of these do you think was the biggest snub or has the best shot in the future (my money's on Oscar Isaac)?  Share below!

OVP: The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)

Film: The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)
Stars: Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Walter Huston, Otto Kruger
Director: W.S. van Dyke
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Story)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Oscar has always loved a boxer.  Sports films at the Oscars come and go-really, considering how much athletics is perched into our national psyche, it's kind of staggering that Oscar doesn't focus more on the field, but boxing has always been the exception to that rule.  I could name you ten boxing films that have been nominated for Oscars before I could name you five in all the rest of the Olympic fields.  So it was of no surprise to me when I discovered that this love has extended almost since the beginning of the Oscars.  This past week I caught The Prizefighter and the Lady, languidly perched in my DVR, which featured several real-life boxers at the time alongside MGM leading lady Myrna Loy.

(Spoilers Ahead) Prizefighter is the story of Steve (Baer), a barroom bouncer who is discovered by the Professor (Huston, because of course Walter Huston plays a character named the Professor), a retired boxing manager who sees Steve's potential.  Soon Steve is working his way up the rings of the boxing world, as well as romantically as he falls for the girlfriend of a mobster, Belle (Loy).  However, Steve has a wandering eye, and that gets him into trouble as the film progresses, as he regularly cheats on Belle even as he's on the top of the world in boxing, getting a chance at the belt and starting to become a vaudeville headliner in the process.  The film, like most of this ilk, ends with a gigantic fight, though weirdly here we get a tie rather than the expected knockout for Steve, and with him realizing that Belle was the girl for him all-along, we also get the cliched MGM happy ending.

It's always weird to judge the screenplays of early cinema, because at this point it was still a relatively recent phenomenon to have sound in the pictures, and you can tell that here.  The film's dialogue is kind of clunky, except perhaps that delivered by Loy, though with her glittering laugh and delivery she can make bon mots out of anything.  As a result, I'm surprised it was sighted for screenplay, though really there weren't a lot of options at the time (that being said, this came out the same year as King Kong, so there were certainly better options).  The film feels relatively basic, and even if it was inventing a story that everyone from Rocky to Million Dollar Baby would fall into the shadow of, it's not that interesting of a story to begin with.

However, the point of boxing films isn't necessarily the writing, but instead what happens in the ring, and here we've got a slight improvement.  Seeing Baer fight against Carnera is fascinating, particularly considering this bout would be a precursor to when Baer would defeat Carnera the following year in real-life and actually take the title (rumor has it he used what he picked up about their fight in Prizefighter to defeat Carnera in real-life).  Additionally, you have Jack Dempsey, another champion, in the same ring as the referee.  If for no other reason that the sheer curiosity factor of seeing actual, real-life boxers act and play a part in a movie, this is probably worth seeing even if the story surrounding it isn't very good.  Additionally, Myrna Loy, one of my favorites (it's still smarting that I couldn't include her in this rundown) is wonderful and the best part about the actual cinematic aspects of the film, even if this isn't one of her "great" roles like Nora Charles.

There you have it-it's 2/5 because I can't properly recommend the film as it's pretty bland, but there are enough curiosities of history and for Loy fans to make it worthwhile to a point.  Don't seek it out, but if it's on TCM you don't need to change the channel.  At least those are my thoughts-what are yours?  Share what you think of boxing movies, Myrna Loy, and Oscar's weird fascination with one (but unfortunately not the other) in the comments.

OVP: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)

Film: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
Stars: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee, Ray Collins
Director: Irving Reis
Oscar History: 1 nomination/1 win (Best Original Screenplay*)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

It's always a little bit strange to see child stars as they grow up, especially if they aren't well-known as adult actors (the likes of Patty Duke or Jodie Foster aren't nearly as jarring as someone who largely is ingrained in our memories as a young performer).  Considering that Shirley Temple is the most iconic child star of all time, perhaps no person quite personifies this shock more than she does.  While I had seen one other of Temple's films as an adult (1948's classic Fort Apache), it's still a bit of a "whoa" moment to see her not as the little girl that saved Hollywood during the Depression but instead as a young woman not necessarily playing "Shirley Temple."  That was the case with this now largely forgotten film from 1947, which in its day managed to be a big hit and won a surprise Academy Award for best screenplay.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is rather a trifle, especially in its plot.  The movie follows Richard (Grant) a charming, boozing ladies' man (when is Cary Grant not playing this role is probably a better question?) who ends up in court in front of Judge Margaret Turner (Loy), whom he immediately takes a fancy toward but she pays him no mind as he seems like a playboy and she's a no-nonsense type that wants someone serious.  As the film progresses and through happenstance, Richard meets Margaret's younger sister Susan (Temple), who immediately swoons for him and finds him irresistible despite their age difference.  Through logic that can only be found in a movie, Margaret's Uncle Matt (Collins) convinces everyone that the best way for Susan to get over her infatuation with Richard is to let them date each other, despite the protestations of both Richard and Margaret.

As one might expect, the film falls into place in the same way that you'd anticipate.  Richard eventually wears Margaret's dislike of him down by proving to be a pretty good guy, and he wins her heart over the "more proper" ADA Tommy (Vallee), while Susan eventually wears out her crush on Richard and gets back together with her high school beau.  The film ends with Margaret and Richard randomly meeting at an airport, and suddenly we have the happy ending that a Golden Age Rom-Com demands.

The film would hardly be remembered today (it's fine, and Grant and Loy are such wonderful performers that putting them together works even if it's not nearly as funny as you'd hope), but it did receive a rather startling Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.  Considering the film was up against both the far more dramatic A Double Life and Body and Soul (not to mention the classic Monsieur Verdoux and Shoeshine) it's perplexing to wonder how a random romantic comedy managed to snag such a nomination in 1947, let alone that it took the win.  The screenplay is fine, but it's incredibly predictable and Temple doesn't really have the comedic timing that her costars do (and occasionally even Loy doesn't know how to make herself frosty enough), so this feels like a bit of a miss in terms of the Oscars actually giving out the trophy.  "Fine" is hardly what you'd consider worthy of an Oscar.  Weirdly enough, the film is written by none other than bestselling novelist Sidney Sheldon, who had a rather bizarre career starting as an Oscar-winning screenwriter (this was his first script!), then going on to writing several classic musicals (Easter Parade and Annie Get Your Gun), followed by a stint working in sitcoms (The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie), and then finally ending his career as a massively successful novelist, writing Number One bestsellers like The Other Side of Midnight, the latter of which he is most remembered for today.  It's strange enough to think of Sheldon, a suspense novelist of the 1970's/80's, having an Oscar-it's even odder to think it happened for a Cary Grant romantic comedy.

Those are my thoughts on this picture-what are yours?  I'm positive that there are some fans out there (it's not a bad movie, just not a great one)-want to share your defense in the comments?  What phase of Sidney Sheldon's career do you most enjoy?  And what is Shirley Temple's greatest film, period?

AFI's 25 Greatest Actresses, Part 4

We have now counted through the women on the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Actresses list (click here and here and here and then return to us so that you're all caught up with the actress love-in that has sprung up this week in celebration of the life of Lauren Bacall).  You may be asking what's next?  What else could you possibly have to say about a 15-year-old list?  The answer is, well, plenty.

Since the internet was in its toddler stage fifteen years ago and because this blog didn't exist yet, I wasn't able to discuss that most critical of questions-who just missed the cut?  The requirements at the time were that it had to be a woman that had made her film debut in or before 1950, or had completed their body of work (had died).  With only 25 women listed, certainly a number of the overall nominated women (250 actresses were contenders, all listed here) just barely missed the cut, and Ava, Mary, and Carole probably had some stiff competition.

The question is-who was in 26th place just waiting to be given this honor (it's worth noting that every single one of these 25 women have the "greatest star" title listed on their Wikipedia page, so clearly some of these women probably would have wanted the citation, even posthumously).  Looking at the list, you find that the AFI isn't just weighing the 25 greatest actors of the era, but also those that had significant cultural impact and longevity within the public consciousness.  Someone like Grace Kelly, for example, didn't have a particularly robust filmography, but her position in Hollywood was astronomical.  Therefore, in choosing the ten women below, I didn't just go for strong actors, but also for people that have permeated modern movie consciousness and some who were more celebrities or stars than they were thespians.  I have listed the ten below in alphabetical order, as well as my postulation as to why they missed the cut.  In the comments, if you're feeling inclined, take a guess at which of these women were the closest to making the list and which one I'm insane for assuming could be so close to the AFI's greatest.

(Side note before we get in-I get a teensy bit negative in the "Why She Missed" sections, so keep in mind that this isn't my opinion that they should have missed (I'll save my favorite actresses of this era list for a different (very distant) day), but simply why I think they were skipped by the collective AFI voting committee; conversely, the "Why She Was Close to the List" section is arguing why they would have voted for these women, not whey they should have)

Jean Arthur (1900-1991)

Oscar Nominations: One nomination, for The More the Merrier (she lost to Jennifer Jones)

Why She Was Close to the List: Like Carole Lombard, she was one of the leading ladies of the 1930's in comedies, and in particular starred in three major motion pictures from Frank Capra: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  She was a major star of the screwball comedy and a significant box office draw in her day (she even starred late in her career in the classic western Shane).

Why She Missed: Arthur had a short reign in Hollywood, but unlike some of the other short reigns, hers was self-designed.  Arthur was an intensely private person and loathed interviews, and so as a result her public persona is almost entirely based on what she brought to the screen, unlike most of the other women that made the list.  I mean, she spent a good chunk of her late career as a teacher rather than a performer (she actually taught a young Meryl Streep at Vassar).

My Favorite Performance: Surely her bubble gum snap in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is the quintessential Jean Arthur performance (though Shane is by far my favorite of all of her films...and one of my favorite films, period).

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: Probably the George Stevens' classic The Talk of the Town with Ronald Colman and Cary Grant, which would go on to win a Best Picture nomination.

Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968)

Oscar Nominations: Ms. Bankhead never received an Oscar nomination or win.

Why She Was Close to the List: If you're going for iconic stars whose work still stands (Theda Bara isn't on this list because almost none of her films still exist to perpetuate her legend), you cannot get much better than deliciously scandalous Tallulah.  The daughter of Speaker of the House William Bankhead, she was a sensation both internationally and in the United States for her daring private life and fluid sexuality (almost every major star of the era has been rumored to an affair with her).  She also had an extremely iconic role in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.

Why She Missed: While Mae West was also more known for her bawdy behavior and celebrity, she did manage to make a film or two.  Bankhead was more noted for her stage work, and in particular for originating roles that would go on to be played onscreen by Bette Davis (Dark Victory and The Little Foxes).

My Favorite Performance: I mean, isn't everyone's favorite performance by Tallulah in Lifeboat?  You'd be hard-pressed to find a more significant film in her oeuvre.  

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: It'd have to be Devil and the Deep, an early film in her career where she managed to get top billing over Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, and Charles Laughton (quite the combination).

Doris Day (1922-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Despite a dazzling career and being a major public draw for fifteen years, she only received one nomination in 1959 for Pillow Talk (she would lose to Simone Signoret).  Every year, though, like clockwork, the rumors spread that she'll win an Honorary Award.

Why She Was Close to the List: Probably the most surprising exclusion from the list, Day was at one point the most financially successful actress in Hollywood.  A Box Office superstar, she was all the public could demand from the mid-1950's to the mid-1960's and starred in a string of romantic comedy hits.  Even today her name is extremely well-known with audiences (even if her movies aren't necessarily) and everyone knows her as one of America's Sweethearts.

Why She Missed: It may be that her role and persona could be too dated?  Most of the other women toward the bottom of the initial list had either more artistic (such as Gardner or Lombard) or pioneering (Pickford) credit that Day, who was merely a titan of her industry.  Still, this is definitely the most surprising exclusion and was (my hunch) 26th place.

My Favorite Performance: I've seen many Doris Day films through the years (my mom was a big fan of hers), so I'm going to go with a childhood favorite right now in Calamity Jane.  It doesn't age particularly well (some of the songs are pretty sexist), but the music and sets and in particular Day are incredibly game and "Secret Love" is heavenly (and an oddly resonant coming out song for anyone who reads between the lines).

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: There's a few options here, but since I've seen some of the biggest pictures of her career, I'm going to go with one that intrigues me most: Move Over, Darling, where Day is united with James Garner and Polly Bergen.  The film was a huge hit and kept the lights on at 20th Century FOX after Cleopatra (not to mention I want to see how Day does in a role that was originally intended for Marilyn Monroe).

Olivia de Havilland (1916-Present)

Oscar Nominations: De Havilland would receive five Oscar nominations during her career, winning twice in 1946 and 1949 for To Each His Own and The Heiress, respectively.

Why She Was Close to the List: Both Olivia and her sister Joan Fontaine could arguably have made this list without much fuss, but despite Joan being Hitchcock's great muse in Rebecca and winning the Oscar first, it was Olivia who enjoyed the more enduring star.  The second female lead in the great Gone with the Wind, she was a major movie star in the 1930's with her wildly successful string of eight pictures with Errol Flynn (the most critically-celebrated of these being The Adventures of Robin Hood) and had a long line of highly successful dramatic pictures in the 1940's and early 1950's.  Plus, considering that the AFI collected film scholars and actors, most of them would be aware of her landmark 1943 legal victory which gave greater control to performers in their contracts with studios.

Why She Missed: De Havilland was always seemingly sharing the spotlight with someone, and frequently another actress.  Whether it was playing second place to Vivien Leigh (it doesn't help that on a list of actresses where all 25 were leading ladies, de Havilland's most famous role was a supporting one) or her longtime feud with her sister, she never seemed to take the spotlight entirely onto herself.  Her name endures more today with casual film fans for Gone with the Wind and her longstanding rivalry with Joan rather than her initial celebrity.

My Favorite Performance: I'm going to go cliche with her bravura work as Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind, though I've always had a soft spot for her work as Catherine Sloper in The Heiress.

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: I have never seen The Adventures of Robin Hood, which is one of the few classic films of that era that I haven't caught yet that I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing, and I believe that it's actually toward the top of my Netflix queue, so we'll be getting there pretty quickly.

Greer Garson (1904-1996)

Oscar Nominations: A staggering number of them in her career, she received seven nominations, including five of them consecutively, and won as the titular Mrs. Miniver in 1942's Best Picture.

Why She Was Close to the List: Seven Oscar nominations is a spectacular number for lead actress, and Garson was one of the most significant stars in the MGM lot throughout the 1940's when she was amassing that collection.  She starred in a number of iconic roles during this period, particularly Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (had she been Oscar-nominated for that role, which very well could have happened considering the critical acclaim, she would have been nominated seven years in a row).  The only other actress with a five-in-a-row streak was Bette Davis, and she landed in slot number two.

Why She Missed: For some reason there are actresses from every era that seem to slip into the background of history (think Garbo, Crawford, and then Norma Shearer), and Garson's luster never was quite as iconic as Davis's and Hepburn's following this time period.  It probably doesn't help that her frequent collaborator (all of the women of this era seemed to have one) was Walter Pidgeon, a name that is far less known than Garson's today (whereas Hepburn got someone like Spencer Tracy).  Garson also was almost exclusively a dramatic actress during her years at the top, and most of the women on this list either have a comic off-screen persona (Davis) or frequently starred in comedies onscreen (the Hepburns).

My Favorite Performance: Probably Mrs. Miniver, which was the exact right moment to give a major motion picture star her Oscar, as she totally nailed that role (and managed to carry it to a Best Picture win).

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: I have long thought that if I ever actually saw it Random Harvest would be the sort of Waterloo Bridge-style picture that I would latch onto pretty quickly, so I'll say that.

Lena Horne (1917-2010)

Oscar Nominations: Ms. Horne never won an Academy Award nomination or trophy during her long career, though one could have argued pretty validly that she deserved an Honorary Oscar toward the end there.

Why She Was Close to the List: I may get an eyebrow raise here as Lena Horne wasn't particularly well-known outside of the 1940's and even then had only a handful of film roles, but A) Grace Kelly had less roles in the movies and she made the list and B) as we've seen with a few women on the list, it's not just about the size of their filmography, but also their historical importance.  Horne was a pioneer during her era, the first African-American performer to sign a long-term contract with a Hollywood studio, and likely the most important black actress of her generation.  She starred in a couple of major MGM musicals, including Stormy Weather and The Cabin in the Sky.

Why She Missed: Her filmography, as I illustrated above, is pretty light when you throw out those two movies, and she didn't seem as smitten with Hollywood in the years after her heyday, instead preferring music and the stage.

My Favorite Performance: I'll admit right now, I have never seen a Lena Horne movie, though I've seen her perform many times in television specials and will sing her version of "Stormy Weather" in the shower at least once a week.

Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: Either Stormy Weather or The Cabin in the Sky would seem appropriate, though considering that shower comment I'll probably select the former.

Deborah Kerr (1921-2007)

Oscar Nominations: Six nominations for Best Actress, never winning.  Only Thelma Ritter and Glenn Close have been nominated as an actress as many times and never won (and Kerr is the only person to have done so exclusively in the lead category).  She won an Honorary Academy Award in 1993 "in recognition for a full career's worth of elegant and beautifully crafted performances."
Why She Was Close to the List: Like Greer Garson, Kerr has a long history with the Academy Awards and is widely recognized as an actress of great talent and poise from this era.  Unlike Garson, though, Kerr has some films that have actually survived in the modern popular culture.  Films like The King and I, An Affair to Remember, and of course From Here to Eternity are frequently referenced today, and her wave-soaked make-out session with Burt Lancaster in the latter film in particular has been lampooned as frequently as Janet Leigh's shower and Darth Vader's paternal confession.  Kerr was also a frequent collaborator with Robert Mitchum, who did make the cut on the men's side (most of the famous cinematic "pairs" made it on both sides of this list-Kerr/Mitchum is one of the few that didn't).
Why She Missed: Like Garson, she isn't quite the iconic figure that some of these other women were, particularly offscreen where she had a relatively stable marriage for the latter half of her career to Peter Viertel (and she was never married to a movie star, which helps in boosting your legend).  It also has to be said that Kerr was always a bridesmaid with Oscar, and winning an Oscar does tend to help the immortal ones have an extra aura.
My Favorite Performance: I could and probably should go with Anna, but An Affair to Remember is one of my all-time guilty pleasure movies, and I love the way that only Kerr can sell some of the clunky and yet terribly romantic dialogue.
Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, much like Random Harvest, is one of those movies I'm near certain that I will love, and probably will as soon as I get to it, so I'll go with that.

Myrna Loy (1905-1993)

Oscar Nominations: Loy is one of the most famous cases of the Oscars completely missing a major star (she's frequently toward the top of the list of actors who were never nominated).  Loy never received a competitive Oscar nomination, but the Academy made up for it in 1991 when she received an Honorary Academy Award for career achievement.
Why She Was Close to the List: Wildly popular in her day, she is survived today by her indelible Nora Charles, the drunken half of one of the cinema's best-known detective teams.  Even if it weren't for The Thin Man, she would have a pretty solid filmography with The Best Years of Our Lives and Cheaper by the Dozen amongst them, and was one of the most significant leading ladies of the 1930's and 1940's.  She was also insanely well-liked in Hollywood (something not all actresses can claim), and was noted for her work with the United Nations.
Why She Missed: She never had that "star turn" moment that seems to transcend all decades.  While very beautiful, she wasn't a glamour doll like Marilyn and she lived a fairly conventional life, even if she went through husbands and lovers with Liz Taylor-like regularity.  I guess she's the sort of actress that everyone slaps their forehead and says "of course, include her on a greatest list," but not necessarily when they aren't prodded to do so.
My Favorite Performance: Of course it would be Nora Charles in The Thin Man, one of the funniest movies I've ever seen-her chemistry with William Powell in these films was electric.
Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: I have seen Myrna Loy with Gable and Powell, but never with Cary Grant, so I'd be interested in seeing her in the classic comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, which was cited by AFI for the Best Comedies list the year after the stars list was made.

Maureen O'Hara (1920-Present)

Oscar Nominations: Despite starring in a host of Oscar-nominated films (including the lead in a Best Picture winner, making her the extremely rare actress to not get nominated despite leading a Best Picture winner), O'Hara herself has never won or been nominated for an Oscar.  Like Doris Day, every year cinephiles complain that she should get one, but unlike Day I think she'd actually show up to receive it so I don't know what the hold-up is here.
Why She Was Close to the List: Iconic for her red hair and fiery onscreen personality, O'Hara has starred in a number of classic films through the years.  How Green Was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, and The Quiet Man are toward the top of the list, but like several women on both the official list and this "runners-up" list, she's starred with almost every major leading man in Hollywood.  Also, like Bacall, Kate Hepburn, and Ginger Rogers, she had a frequent onscreen collaborator in John Wayne (who did make the male list), making her a likely candidate to make it (if Wayne made your ballot...).
Why She Missed: For some reason I've never been entirely certain of, O'Hara hasn't ever had the sort of respect with cinephiles or awards bodies that she seems to have deserved.  I don't know if it's because she gave up her career for stay-at-home-momdom (unlike someone like Bette Davis or Ingrid Bergman who kept working right up until the end) or if it simply was that her skills were too comedic, but she's never quite landed compared to some of her dramatic counterparts.
My Favorite Performance: Sure, everyone's going to pick The Quiet Man, which is a great movie, but I grew up watching McLintock! at every family get-together, so if I'm going to go with a personal film, it would have to be this one.
Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: Most assuredly it would be The Hunchback of Notre Dame (seriously, another classic-get on this AMPAS!), uniting her with her pre-John Wayne frequent collaborator, Charles Laughton.

Natalie Wood (1938-1981)

Oscar Nominations: Wood received three Oscar nominations in her career, though she lost for all three.
Why She Was Close to the List: Iconic actress still referenced today.  Check.  Critically-acclaimed.  Check.  Incredible beauty.  Check.  Tragic demise.  Sad check.  Wood manages to hit all of the things that the AFI was going for, and was a star in three absolute classics of American cinema (Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel without a Cause, and West Side Story).
Why She Missed: Perhaps she was too young?  While she technically qualified under the rules, she'd have one of the smaller filmographies of any of the actors on the list and would be easily the youngest.  Plus, she had most of her impact in 1960's cinema, toward the end of Classical Hollywood, and Sophia Loren was really the only person on the list who could boast that.
My Favorite Performance: I mean, can you really top the sexual frustration of Splendor in the Grass?  Completely mesmerizing work, with Wood going through all of the stages of youth (and being driven insane by the prospect of losing a 1961-era Warren Beatty...which is surely understandable).
Glaring Miss in Her Filmography: I've honestly seen all of the major pieces of Wood's filmography, so I'm going to go with Gypsy, which she has a supporting part in if only for the curiosity of how Rosalind Russell handles one of the most iconic roles in the American theater.

And there you have it-my guesses as to the ten runners-up for the AFI list.  We've got one more quick addendum to this series, but before we go-which of these women do you think was the closest to AFI's list?  Which do you think I'm off my rocker for assuming was close?  And what other women do you think may have been in strong contention that I don't check-point?  Share in the comments!

OVP: Emma (1932)

Film: Emma (1932)
Stars: Marie Dressler, Richard Cromwell, Jean Hersholt, Myrna Loy
Director: Clarence Brown
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Actress-Marie Dressler)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

I swear I didn't plan this, but we're going to take time to combine the last two films reviewed here and take the director of Romance and one of the stars of The Hollywood Revue, and combine them into this short, sweet (or saccharine, depending on the scene) movie from 1932.

Emma tells the tale of a housekeeper who looks after four children for the bulk of their entire lives.  Being as this is Marie Dressler, the housekeeper is an "all bark, no bite" sort of character who may scold and scold the children but the second their backs are are turned, she's praising and forgiving them to high heavens.  The film unfolds in three parts, the first establishing the death of the children's mother, the second with Emma going on a vacation and (SPOILER ALERT) being proposed to and married to the children's father, played by Jean Hersholt.  The last third is about Emma, who has inherited the entire state of Hersholt's suddenly dead father, fighting for her life as she is accused of murdering him by the three older ungrateful children (including a woefully underused Myrna Loy).  Only Richard Cromwell's youngest child Ronnie believes her, and tragically dies in a plane crash trying to save her.  Dressler of course gives the inheritance then to the three remaining children (but not before being fully exonerated) and joins a new family with five young children.

If it sounds like your typical melodrama, it is, but you can't help but love Dressler even if her performance is a bit "paint-by-numbers."  Dressler, who is largely unknown to today's audiences, was an enormous star of the early Sound Era.  Even though she was in her late 50's and was overweight, she still won the exhibitor's poll three years in a row (the sign of the "most popular" actress in Hollywood) over the likes of Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, and Jean Harlow.  Dressler was known for her comic mannerisms, and they are on full display here.  It's hard not to be charmed by her, even when you're cringing occasionally at the "broad-as-a-barn" comic and sentimental tropes she relies upon (an actress of the stage for many, many years, it's evident that she's relying on some vaudeville tricks for the film's most famous flight simulator sequence).  It's a tough call between her and ultimate Oscar-winner Helen Hayes in the same year, though I think I'd give the tip of my hat toward Hayes just because her character has more emotional range.  I'm looking most forward to the remaining nominee, Lynn Fontanne, the great, great stage star (though probably not quite as great as Helen Hayes-you can debate that one), whom I've heard is the best of the three.

Like he did with Garbo in Romance, Brown fixates his camera on his leading lady (she's in all but two of the scenes in the movie), and has little time for the remaining players.  Even so, the rest of the cast is serviceable.  I believe this may be my first introduction to Jean Hersholt as an actor, though his charitable work is far more well-known today.  He is indeed the man that the annual Academy Award for do-gooders is named after, and here he is a sweet if bumbling inventor who struck it big and now wants to retire with the woman who has raised his children.  Myrna Loy is probably the most well-known member of the cast, but clearly wasn't at the time, as she is relegated to the role of snooty villainous instead of being able to exercise her considerable comic chops alongside Dressler.  Rounding out the cast is Richard Cromwell, who plays the typical youngest child with a strong sense of fun and aw-shucks appeal.  Not much is there to be said of his acting ability, though he was a ridiculously beautiful man, particularly in this film, and would go on to briefly be married to Angela Lansbury and (allegedly) become a favorite lover of Howard Hughes.

What about you?  Are you a fan of Marie Dressler and her hambone antics, or do you lean more toward the Crawford/Garbo end of the Sound Era?  Do you have a favorite in Clarence Brown's filmography? And do you also find yourself developing crushes on movie stars from the Thirties?