by Allan Fish
OK, straight into the results…
Best Picture The Grapes of Wrath, US (9 votes)
Best Director John Ford, The Grapes of Wrath (11 votes)
Best Short A-Plumbing We Will Go, US, Del Lord (8 votes)
Best Actor Henry Fonda, The Grapes of Wrath (15 votes)
Best Actress Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday (7 votes)
Best Supp Actor Frank Morgan, The Shop Around the Corner (8 votes)
Best Supp Actress Judith Anderson, Rebecca (12 votes)
Best Score Franz Waxman, Rebecca (8 votes)
and my own choices…
Best Short LONDON CAN TAKE IT, UK, Harry Watt, Humphrey Jennings
Best Director George Cukor, The Philadelphia Story
Best Actor Cary Grant, The Philadelphia Story
Best Actress Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday
Best Supporting Actor Frank Morgan, The Shop Around the Corner
Best Supporting Actress Judith Anderson, Rebecca
Best Musical Score Miklós Rózsa, The Thief of Bagdad
—
Now the nominations for 1941…
—
Best Picture/Director
—
All That Money Can Buy (US…William Dieterle)
Ball of Fire (US…Howard Hawks)
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (Japan…Yasujiro Ozu)
Citizen Kane (US…Orson Welles)
The Common Touch (UK…John Baxter)
The Devil and Miss Jones (US…Sam Wood)
Dumbo (US…Ben Sharpsteen)
49th Parallel (UK…Michael Powell)
The 47 Ronin: Parts I & II (Japan…Kenji Mizoguchi)
The Ghost of St Michael’s (UK…Marcel Varnel)
The Great Lie (US…Edmund Goulding)
H.M.Pulham, Esq. (US…King Vidor)
Hellzapoppin (US…H.C.Potter)
Here Comes Mr Jordan (US…Alexander Hall)
Hideko the Bus Conductress (Japan…Mikio Naruse)
High Sierra (US…Raoul Walsh)
Hold Back the Dawn (US…Mitchell Leisen)
Homeless Angel (Korea…Choi in-kyu)
How Green Was My Valley (US…John Ford)
I Wake up Screaming (US…H.Bruce Humberstone)
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (UK…Walter Forde)
Introspection Tower (Japan…Hiroshi Shimizu)
The Iron Crown (Italy…Alessandro Blasetti)
It Started With Eve (US…Henry Koster)
Kipps (UK…Carol Reed)
Ladies in Retirement (US…Charles Vidor)
The Lady Eve (US…Preston Sturges)
The Little Foxes (US…William Wyler)
Love on the Dole (UK…John Baxter)
Major Barbara (UK…Gabriel Pascal, Harold French, David Lean)
The Maltese Falcon (US…John Huston)
Man Hunt (US…Fritz Lang)
The Man Who Came to Dinner (US…William Keighley)
Meet John Doe (US…Frank Capra)
Never Give a Sucker An Even Break (US…Eddie Cline)
Nocni Motyl (Czechoslovakia…Frantisek Cap)
Ornamental Hairpin (Japan…Hiroshi Shimizu)
Quiet Wedding (UK…Anthony Asquith)
Remorques (France…Jean Grémillon)
Sergeant York (US…Howard Hawks)
The Shanghai Gesture (US…Josef Von Sternberg)
Skylark (US…Mark Sandrich)
The Spirit and the Flesh (Italy…Mario Camerini)
Sullivan’s Travels (US…Preston Sturges)
Suspicion (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
Target for Tonight (UK…Harry Watt)
That Hamilton Woman (UK/US…Alexander Korda)
They Died With Their Boots On (US…Raoul Walsh)
Tobacco Road (US…John Ford)
Topper Returns (US…Roy del Ruth)
The Wolf Man (US…George Waggner)
—
Best Short
—
An Ache in Every Stake (US…Del Lord)
Christmas Under Fire (UK…Harry Watt, Charles Hasse)
Contrathemis (US…Dwinnel Grant)
Five and Under (UK…Donald Alexander)
The Heart of Britain (UK…Humphrey Jennings)
I’ll Never Heil Again (US…Jules White)
In the Sweet Pie and Pie (US…Jules White)
Superman (US…Dave Fleischer)
Tortoise Beats Hare (US…Tex Avery)
Wabbit Twouble (US…Bob Clampett)
Words for Battle (UK…Humphrey Jennings)
—
Best Actor
—
Jack Benny Charley’s Aunt
Humphrey Bogart High Sierra
Humphrey Bogart The Maltese Falcon
James Cagney The Strawberry Blonde
Gino Cervi The Iron Crown
Lon Chaney Jnr The Wolf Man
Gary Cooper Sergeant York
Gary Cooper Meet John Doe
Errol Flynn They Died With Their Boots On
Henry Fonda The Lady Eve
Jean Gabin Remorques
John Gielgud The Prime Minister
Cary Grant Penny Serenade
Charley Grapewin Tobacco Road
Rex Harrison Major Barbara
Walter Huston All That Money Can Buy
Charles Laughton It Started With Eve
Peter Lorre The Face Behind the Mask
Joel McCrea Sullivan’s Travels
Laurence Olivier That Hamilton Woman
Walter Pidgeon Man Hunt
Eric Portman Forty-Ninth Parallel
Raimu Les Inconnu dans le Maison
Michael Redgrave Kipps
Orson Welles Citizen Kane
Monty Woolley The Man Who Came to Dinner
Robert Young H.M.Pulham, Esq
—
Best Actress
—
Jean Arthur The Devil and Miss Jones
Mary Astor The Maltese Falcon
Bette Davis The Great Lie
Bette Davis The Little Foxes
Olivia de Havilland Hold Back the Dawn
Deanna Durbin It Started With Eve
Joan Fontaine Suspicion
Wendy Hiller Major Barbara
Deborah Kerr Love on the Dole
Hedy Lamarr H.M.Pulham, Esq
Vivien Leigh That Hamilton Woman
Margaret Lockwood Quiet Wedding
Ida Lupino Ladies in Retirement
Barbara Mullen Jeannie
Ona Munson The Shanghai Gesture
Ginger Rogers Tom Dick & Harry
Barbara Stanwyck Ball of Fire
Barbara Stanwyck The Lady Eve
Barbara Stanwyck Meet John Doe
Margaret Sullavan Back Street
—
Best Supp Actor
—
Walter Abel Hold Back the Dawn
Edward Arnold All That Money Can Buy
Edward Arnold Meet John Doe
Don Beddoe The Face Behind the Mask
George Carney Love on the Dole
Charles Coburn The Devil and Miss Jones
Charles Coburn The Lady Eve
Elisha Cook Jnr The Maltese Falcon
Joseph Cotten Citizen Kane
Laird Cregar Blood and Sand
Laird Cregar Charley’s Aunt
Laird Cregar I Wake up Screaming
Donald Crisp How Green Was My Valley
Roland Culver Quiet Wedding
Reginald Gardiner The Man Who Came to Dinner
James Gleason Here Comes Mr Jordan
Sydney Greenstreet The Maltese Falcon
Alan Hale The Strawberry Blonde
Louis Hayward Ladies in Retirement
Peter Lorre The Maltese Falcon
Donald MacBride Topper Returns
Roddy McDowall How Green Was My Valley
Raymond Massey Forty-Ninth Parallel
A.E.Matthews Quiet Wedding
Victor Mature The Shanghai Gesture
John Mills Cottage to Let
Robert Morley Major Barbara
Claude Rains Here Comes Mr Jordan
Arthur Riscoe Kipps
George Sanders Man Hunt
Phil Silvers Tom, Dick & Harry
Everett Sloane Citizen Kane
Robert Warwick Sullivan’s Travels
—
Best Supp Actress
—
Sara Allgood How Green Was My Valley
Peggy Ashcroft Quiet Wedding
Mary Astor The Great Lie
Edith Barrett Ladies in Retirement
Constance Bennett Two-Faced Woman
Patricia Collinge The Little Foxes
Dorothy Comingore Citizen Kane
Gladys Cooper That Hamilton Woman
Bette Davis The Man Who Came to Dinner
Marjorie Fielding Quiet Wedding
Mary Merrall Love on the Dole
Maria Ouspenskaya The Wolf Man
Marjorie Rambeau Tobacco Road
Madeleine Renaud Remorques
Marjorie Rhodes Love on the Dole
Simone Simon All That Money Can Buy
Mary Wickes The Man Who Came to Dinner
Teresa Wright The Little Foxes
Margaret Wycherley Sergeant York
—
Best Score
—
Richard Addinsell Love on the Dole
Adolph Deutsch The Maltese Falcon
Louis Gruenberg So Ends Our Night
Bernard Herrmann All That Money Can Buy
Bernard Herrmann Citizen Kane
Erich Wolfgang Korngold The Sea Wolf
Alfred Newman Ball of Fire
Alfred Newman How Green Was My Valley
Miklós Rózsa Lydia
Miklós Rózsa Sundown
Frank Skinner Back Street
Max Steiner Sergeant York
Morris Stoloff, Ernst Toch Ladies in Retirement
Franz Waxman Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Franz Waxman Suspicion
Meredith Willson The Little Foxes
Victor Young Hold Back the Dawn
Dave Fleischer’s Superman isn’t a Short?
Pic – The Maltese Falcon (US…John Huston)
Director – Citizen Kane (US…Orson Welles)
Actor – Humphrey Bogart The Maltese Falcon
Actress – Joan Fontaine Suspicion
Sup Actor – Peter Lorre The Maltese Falcon
Sup Actress – Teresa Wright The Little Foxes
Score – Franz Waxman Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
I vote “Superman” of Dave Fleischer for Best Short
Yay for “Grapes of Wrath” winning best picture and best director for John Ford.
I vote “Citizen Kane” for best movie in 1941.
I vote Orson Welles for best director (“Citizen Kane”) in 1941.
I vote Orson Welles for best actor in “Citizen Kane” in 1941.
I vote Mary Astor for best actress in “The Maltese Falcon” in 1941.
I vote Peter Lorre for best supporting actor in “The Maltese Falcon” in 1941.
I vote Maria Ouspenkaya for best supporting actress in “The Wolfman” in 1941.
I vote “Citizen Kane” for best score.
Best Picture: Citizen Kane
Best Director: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actor: Walter Huston (All That Money Can Buy a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
Best Supporting Actor: Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley)
Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Comingore (Citizen Kane)
Best Short: The Heart of Britain (Jennings)
Best Score: Bernard Herrmann (All That Money Can Buy a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster)
This is Barbara Stanwyck’s year with great performances in three films.
It was lamentable that some great films couldn’t make the final top spot: Sullivan’s Travels, How Green Was My Valley, The Maltese Falcon, Love on the Dole, All That Money Can Buy, The 47 Ronin, The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family, The Lady Eve, Kipps and a few others.
Some tremendous scores too by Alfred Newman, Richard Addinsell, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and Hermmann again for CITIZEN KANE.
Beyond:
Best Screenplay (original): Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels)
Best Screenplay (adapted): John Huston (The Maltese Falcon)
Best Cinematography: Greg Toland (Citizen Kane)
Best Editing: Robert Wise (Citizen Kane)
Best Art Direction: Richard Day, Nathan H. Duran (How Green Was My Valley)
I wonder if this is going to be unanimous, but I’m not going to stop it. There are films from 1941 that I like better than Kane, but I can’t really call them greater films. So:
Best Picture: Citizen Kane (2. Meet John Doe 3. High Sierra 4.Maltese Falcon 5. I Wake Up Screaming)
Best Director: Welles (runner-up: Capra)
Best Actor: Bogart, High Sierra (runner-up: Bogart, Falcon)
Best Actress: Stanwyck, Meet John Doe (runner-up: Stanwyck, Ball of Fire)
Supporting Actor: you could just as easily tap Walter Brennan (pioneer cinema paranoid) or James Gleason (brilliant drunk scene) from Meet John Doe but restricting myself to Allan’s list I have to go with Edward Arnold for the year’s best performance as a megalomaniacal newspaper publisher. Apart from Doe, the best in a mighty field is Cregar from I Wake Up Screaming.
Supporting Actress: Shouldn’t Ida Lupino be here for High Sierra, if not on the Best Actress list? Since I can’t tell which category Allan might have considered her for, I’ll cast a provisional vote in this category for Ouspenskaya.
Best Score: Herrmann, Citizen Kane.
Best Short: Fleischer’s Superman is misplaced on the features list and in any event the other release from 1941, The Mechanical Monsters, is a better cartoon and a rightful if narrow winner over Tortoise Beats Hare.
I was writing while sirrefevas was posting, so I return to salute the poster’s heterodoxy.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best Picture: Citizen Kane
Best Director: Orson Welles
Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon)
Best Actress: Mary Astor
Best Supp Actor: ((tie)) Joseph Cotten and Peter Lorre (I simply can’t decide)
Best Supp Actress: Dorothy Comingore
Top Five: 1. Citizen Kane 2. The Maltese Falcon 3. Sullivan’s Travels 4. How Green Was My Valley 5. The Wolfman
I would love to vote for the first truly great American film noir in The Maltese Falcon, but Citizen Kane cannot be bypassed for 1941.
First great American noir, Maurizio? I’d put You Only Live Once four years ahead of it.
Picture: Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles, Citizen Kane
Actor: Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon
Actress: Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon
Sup. Actor: Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon
Sup Actress: Dorothy Comingore, Citizen Kane
“A Plumbing We Will Go” is playing on the IFC cable channel next Sat., June 2.
Thanks much for that heads-up R.D.!
Wow, this one has a slew of great films within its short 12 months and all of them are overshadowed by one undisputed masterwork… I felt a pain in my stomach knowing that I had to slight favorites like SUSPICION, THE LADY EVE (my favorite of all the Sturges films) and the simple but sublime DUMBO…
But, I must…
Here goes:
BEST PICTURE: CITIZEN KANE
BEST SHORT: SUPERMAN (Max and Dave Fleischer-YES, IT IS A SHORT!)
BEST DIRECTOR: Orson Welles (CITIZEN KANE)
BEST LEAD ACTOR: Orson Welles (CITIZEN KANE)
BEST LEAD ACTRESS: Barbara Stanwyck (THE LADY EVE)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Joseph Cotten (CITIZEN KANE)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Dorothy Comingore (CITIZEN KANE)
BEST SCORE: Bernard Herrman (ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY)
Can you believe? Even with all this KANE love, Schmulee and I still haven’t taken the plunge and purchased CITIZEN KANE on Blu Ray yet?????? We’re losing our touch…
Schmulee is too busy getting his priorities right in getting DVDRs of shit movies he likes the scores to.
Well Dennis, I thought the original price was daunting, and waited, similar to the way many wait for the Barnes & Noble sales to negotiate the latest Criterions. As much as I revere CITIZEN KANE for all sorts of reasons, it’s not a film I watch constantly. I’m sure before the summer is out we will both own the blu-ray. But that’s the least of our problems. There are so many others out there to secure.
Best Picture: Citizen Kane
Best Director: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon)
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Lorre (The Maltese Falcon)
Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Comingore (Citizen Kane)
Best Score: Bernard Herrmann (Citizen Kane)
Kane of course rules from this year, but I wish I could honor Sullivan’s Travels, The Lady Eve, and The Maltese Falcon more. Still, nothing beats Kane here.
Pic- Citizen Kane
Dir- Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Actor- Bogart (The Maltese Falcon)
Actress- Wendy Hiller (Major Barbara)- I don’t care that the film has some sluggish spots. She simply OWNS this film in one of her best roles.
Supp. Actor- Write-in for Anton Walbrook!!! (49th Parallel)- Yes he’s only in the film for about less than 10 minutes, but his anti-Nazi speech in the commune hall is worth the award by itself.
Supp. Actress- Dorothy Comingore (Citizen Kane)
Score- Herrman (Citizen Kane)
It’s not a patch on the speech in Blimp two years hence.
Yes and he should win again for that one. He still blows everyone away in this category in this year.
While I can certainly understand why anyone would go with Kane, the idea that it’s self-evidently the greatest film of ’41 is pretty absurd, considering that one of the greatest American directors released two of his greatest films that year…
Picture / Sullivan’s Travels
Director / Preston Sturges / Sullivan’s Travels
Actor / Cary Grant / Suspicion (not nominated, but one of Grant’s greatest, most unsettling performances)
Actress / Barbara Stanwyck / The Lady Eve
Supporting Actor / Peter Lorre / The Maltese Falcon
Supporting Actress / Ingrid Bergman / Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (again, not nominated, but really incredible, full-blooded work by Bergman here)
Nothing wrong with picking Sullivan’s Travels over Kane. Both are surly great films by any estimation. In fact I was tempted to choose The Maltese Falcon as my overall choice for 1941 (so I can admire your spunk). Still I have to wonder how Sturges’ direction is greater than Welles here besides you deciding to play the contrarian for the sake of.
Define directing.
That’s a joke, but not really. Sturges made a series of decisions during the production of his movie that lead to the Sullivan’s Travels we have today. So did Welles. I prefer the choices Sturges made. I don’t think that’s particularly difficult to understand, and I can’t say I’m too thrilled to have you assigning me motives for my choices.
I don’t want to start a war here–both Sturges and Welles are real artisits–one gets a sense of a total moral and spiritual vision at work when watching their films, but I think that vision is expressed (directed) in a more effective way in Sullivan’s Travels (or, for that matter, in later Welles masterworks like Touch of Evil and Chimes at Midnight).
I went for Sullivan’s Travels ahead of Kane for picture. It was a toss up, both as good as each other, but if ST didn’t win it would win nothing, which woul dbe criminal. Kane wins for director, original script, score, editing, etc.,
Allan, isn’t the best picture, ipso facto, directed by the best director? Don’t understand how you can vote for ‘Sullivan’ (best picture) and “Kane’ (best director), it’s either ‘Sullivan’-Sturges or ‘Kane’-Welles, isn’t it?
Grant and Bergman? Really. Bergman was terribly miscast, Grant wasted.
I love Sullivan’s Travels as much as anyone and think it’s a masterwork. But “love” isn’t what we’re talking about here. Kane is a tour-de-force. I don’t have as much affection for Kane as I do Touch of Evil but I still wouldn’t find an argument for Sullivan’s Travels to trump Kane here. Help me out Peter?
Nothing wrong with Peter finding Sullivan’s Travels better than Citizen Kane Jon. I also love Touch Of Evil equally to Welles’ debut (which you both echo as well). The direction choice is what I questioned. Welles changed cinema forever with Kane in that respect. It certainly is a tour-de-force on a technical, aesthetic, and structural level. The deep focus, storytelling style, soundtrack layout, layered script etc seemed to advance the medium permanently.
No of course there’s nothing wrong with anyone’s opinion….I just wanted to elaborate on it and find out what Peter was thinking about when he put one ahead of the other. I’m with you….all those things you mentioned are too much on the scale in favor of Kane over ST. Certainly ST has other things…..social commentary, an incredible script, Veronica Lake
.
I would like to participate in this at some point, one thing I wasn’t sure of though is whether or not it was kosher to select an option not listed in Allan’s formal nominations? I’ve noticed Peter has done that here, so I guess obviously it’s cool, but that’s been one thing to hold me back a little until now, that sometimes my favorite was maybe not listed as an option, and I wouldn’t have an honest-to-goodness favorite from those listed. Sorry if this has been clarified before now, I always browse these posts but don’t read them terribly close.
I won’t speak for anyone else Drew, but it seems to me Write-In votes are completely fine. I’ve done a few for better or worse. Not that “your favorite” has a chance of winning, but it might bring up some interesting dialogue.
Thrilled to hear you’ve been following Drew, and greatly look forward to your participation! Yes, votes can and have been cast that were not offered on the nominees list.
Best Pic: Kane
Runner-ups: 47 Ronin, How Green Was My Valley, Little Foxes, Maltese Falcon
Best Dir: Welles–Kane
Best Actors: Welles(Kane); Bette Davis (Little Foxes)
Best Scr: Welles & Mankiewicz–Kane
Best Ph: Toland–Kane
Best Ed: Robert Wise–Kane
Thanks for the answer, Jon. I’m not interested in my answers necessarily being of the majority (nor would I look to throw out obscurities just for the sake of it); I just want to list my favorites like everyone else, and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be out of protocol to go outside of the listed nominees if the occasion arises. I guess it’s fairly obvious that that wouldn’t be a problem, I just wanted to clarify. I’ve been following along with this project for awhile now as a tool in an effort to comprise a master list of my most flagrant blind spots, but haven’t participated yet for whatever reason.
Drew, I just responded to your original comment above.
Looks like the wrong picture is winning… what can you do…
PICTURE: The Maltese Falcon
DIRECTOR: Mizoguchi, 47 Ronin
LEAD ACTOR: Welles, Kane
LEAD ACTRESS: Stanwyck, The Lady Eve
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sydney Greenstreet
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: this is harder than it should be; I don’t have the resources with me to refresh my memory, so… I don’t know. I’ll say Margaret Wycherly…
SHORT: In the Sweet Pie and Pie
SCORE: Herrmann, Kane
Plus bonus picks:
Cinematography: Toland, Kane
Script: Huston, Maltese Falcon
Music/Sound: Kane – nice use of radio techniques, in a modern sound picture
FILM: Citizen Kane (2nd: Sullivan’s Travels)
DIRECTOR: Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (2nd: Preston Sturges, Sullivan’s Travels)
ACTOR: Joel McCrea, Sullivan’s Travels (2nd: Orson Welles, Citizen Kane)
ACTRESS: Barbara Stanwyck, Ball of Fire (2nd: Barbara Stanwyck, The Lady Eve)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon (2nd: Joseph Cotton, Citizen Kane)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Veronica Lake, Sullivan’s Travels (2nd: Maria Ouspenskaya, The Wolf Man)
SHORT: Superman Vs. The Mechanical Monsters (2nd: Tortoise Beats Hare)
SCORE: Bernard Herrmann, Citizen Kane (2nd: The Sea Wolf, E.W. Korngold)
Further:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Preston Sturges, Sullivan’s Travels (2nd: Orson Welles and Herman J. Manckiewicz, Citizen Kane)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Huston, The Maltese Falcon (2nd: Lillian Hellman, The Little Foxes)
B&W CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gregg Toland, Citizen Kane
COLOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene, Blossoms in the Dust
B&W ART DIRECTION: How Green Was My Valley
COLOR ART DIRECTION: Blood and Sand
B&W COSTUME DESIGN: That Hamilton Woman
COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: Blood and Sand
SONG: “Baby Mine” from Dumbo
SCORE OF A MUSICAL: Dumbo
FILM EDITING: Citizen Kane
SOUND: Citizen Kane
VISUAL EFFECTS: The Sea Wolf
MAKEUP: The Wolf Man
LIVE-ACTION SHORT: In the Sweet Pie and Pie
ANIMATED FEATURE: Dumbo
Much confusion over the shorts here; SUPERMAN is great but THE MECHANICAL MONSTERS is even better. It should be listed.
As great as this year is, how could you not give just about everything to CITIZEN KANE? I had to break its run in the screenplay department, just so I could recognize Sturges’ masterful work this year. (Oh, and is there a reason that Veronica Lake’s sly supporting turn in SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS wasn’t short-listed?) Now my big fear is that Barbara Stanwyck’s three terrific performances will cancel each other out (I think she’s funnier in BALL OF FIRE, but she’s a little sexier in THE LADY EVE). Anyway, a terrific year.
Stupendous response here from Dean, though this is the norm for him!
Thanks, Sam!
Best Picture: Sullivan’s Travels
Best Director: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actor: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
Best Supporting Actor: Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley)
Best Supporting Actress: Veronica Lake (Sullivan’s Travels)
Best Score: The Sea Hawk
The Sea Hawk was 1940. Ah well.
I don’t usually participate here – and this post won’t be an exception – a certain conceit is required.
This alternate Oscars series arises from the view – expressed previously by many here – that the Academy rarely honors great film-making and panders to ‘favorites’ and box-office success. True.
So how a serious film critic could not vote Citizen Kane as best film of 1941 has me bemused. Sturgess had talent and ST was a good movie, but what sets it apart as a work of cinematic audacity and invention that it matches let alone surpasses Citizen Kane? Nothing.
Tony, while I must stop short of suggesting anything here that might begrudge anyone artistic license, I will say that your sentiments are firmly implanted in my consciousness, though I won’t say them in public.
Wait a minute, I have now, haven’t I? LOL!
You’re absolutely right, Tony. Anyone voting against it simply has a problem with seeing Welles’ film being repeatedly regarded as the masterpiece it is, and for some murky reason, wants to see it unseated. I say to them: Face it: it ain’t gonna happen.
So not voting Citizen Kane, a great film, the best of ’41 is some kind of sin, but calling Rules of the Game, an equally great film, overrated and boring isn’t? Give me a fuggin break.
Peter, who in this thread mentioned Rules of the Game? Je ne comprend pas.
Citizen Kane is a magnificent ‘disjunction’ – it disconnected all cinema before it and reconnected a new cinema. End of story.
Tony, I was referring to Dean’s comments that the Renoir is “the most overrated film of all time” and that he “can’t believe how boring it is” in the ’38 thread.
Film: Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles
Actor: Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon
Actress: Barbara Stanwyck, Ball of Fire
Sup. Actor: Sidney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon
Sup. Actress: Dorothy Comingore, Citizen Kane
Short: An Ache in Every Stake
Score: Herrmann, The Devil and Daniel Webster
Best Picture: Citizen Kane
Best Director: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actor: Joel McCrae (Sullivan’s Travels)
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Arnold (All That Money Can Buy)
Best Supporting Actress: Dorothy Comingore (Citizen Kane)
Best Score: Alfred Newman (How Green Was My Valley)
Best Short: Rabbit Twouble
Cinematography: Greg Toland (Citizen Kane)
I hate to be obvious, but Kane is going to get a clean sweep in all the non-acting categories; it deserves it…
*Please note, I haven’t chosen a short yet. I want to see some more of your selections first. Hopefully I’ll vote by Thursday; stay tuned.
Feature: Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles, Citizen Kane
Actor: Walter Huston, The Devil and Daniel Webster (call it what you will…)
Supp. Actor: Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon
Supp. Actress: Simone Simon, The Devil and Daniel Webster
Screenplay, Cinematography, and Editing: Citizen Kane
Score: Citizen Kane
honorable mention: Dumbo
Oops – what happened to actress?
Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve) – though Lake is tempting.
I didn’t get to watch most of the shorts, but I’ll vote for Christmas Under Fire – a nifty bit of propaganda with some very nice photography.
To briefly throw my 2 cents into the directing debate, about whether Welles should be a shoo-in, I’d say – for myself – when I look at the directing category I try to think of composition, shot selection, camera movement (or lack thereof), and movement or staging within the frame – and more subtly (because it’s hard to tease out where actor ends and direction begins) the performances. Obviously, a director’s role varies film-to-film. Some (like Woody Allen) will let the D.P. determine almost all of the visual decisions, while others (like Stanley Kubrick) will control everything, handing the cinematographer the lens they want used, and setting up the lighting themselves. But I find these four categories are generally where the director assumes the most responsibility. As for “best film” of the year I treat it generally more like a favorites category, since it’s such a catch-all, going with the film that most pleases me on a consistent basis. With direction, I try (well, at least in the minute or two I spend composing these ballots, haha) to focus a bit more objectively on what the French might call the “mise en scene” though perhaps my definition is a bit narrower than theirs.
1939 gets all the attention, but 1941 is, for me, an equally landmark year.
Picture: Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles
Actor: Walter Huston, All that Money Can Buy
Actress: Bette Davis, The Little Foxes
Supporting Actor: James Gleason, Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Supporting Actress: Patricia Collinge, The Little Foxes
Score: Bernard Herrmann, All that Money Can But
Short: An Ache In Every Stake (one of the greatest shorts from anyone, anywhere).
Film – Citizen Kane
Director – Welles
Actor – Bogart
Actress – Stanwyck – Meet John Doe
Supp. Actor – Greenstreet
Supp. Actress – Comingore
Score – Herrmann – Daniel Webster
Short – no choice
Film: ‘Citizen Kane’
Director: Welles
Actor: Harrison (‘Major Barbara’)
Actress: Stanwyck (‘The Lady Eve’ & ‘Ball of Fire’ & ‘Meet John Doe’; I can’t decide, so I defer to Allan’s good taste to choose the best of the three)
S. Actor: Cotten (‘Citizen Kane’)
S. Actress: Cooper (‘That Hamilton Woman’)
Welles’s cinematic braggadocio in ‘Kane’ can leave you laughing and gasping almost at the same time. It happened to me again last night when I rewatched the film’s ‘March of Time’ newsreel sequence for the umpteenth time. The announcer’s stentorian narration, that line from Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’, the shot of the elephant hoisted in midair and the fake octopus, the paparazzi shots of the reclusive Kane being wheeled around the lawn by a black servant, Kane with Teddy Roosevelt and Hitler (40 years before ‘Zelig’), the montage of polyglot newspaper headlines announcing Kane’s death around the world, and then the camera’s famous descent into Susan Alexander Kane’s nightclub through the skylight. All these tropes are dazzling and dazzlingly funny, too, because the ‘March of Time’ segment is a monument to egomania, both Kane’s and Welles’s — and because the egomania is justified. A genius of film has made (or is about to make) a film of genius and he knows it, even while he’s in the process of making it. Is it the greatest film ever made? I don’t know, but ‘Kane’ is certainly one of my four or five favorites of all time.
Mark, I’ve just re-watched ‘Kane’ and really enjoyed your thoughts on the ‘March of Time’ section – great mini-review here.
Thanks, Judy. ‘Kane’ is one of those rare films I never tire of. This film really MOVES, there isn’t a single wasted shot or longueur in the entire spectacle (though I see you passed it over in favor of ‘Sullivan’s Travels’ grrrrrrr lol. ‘Sullivan’ is wonderful, too).
Sam, think I’ll join in on the voting.
Best Picture: Citizen Kane
Best Director: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane)
Best Actor: Humphrey Bogart (Maltese Falcon)
Best Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
Best Supporting Actor: James Gleason (Here Comes Mr Jordan)
Best Supporting Actress: Maria Ouspenkaya (The Wolfman)
Best Score: Alfred Newman (How Green Was My Valley)
Picture: Sullivan’s Travels (on another day I might go for Citizen Kane or The Maltese Falcon, but I’ve just watched the Sturges and am full of excitement about it… and I didn’t think I’d better go for a three-way tie!)
Director: Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels)
Actor: Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon) (I also like Cary Grant in Suspicion – shame about the film’s ending, but that isn’t his fault)
Actress: Barbara Stanwyck (Ball of Fire)
Supporting actor: Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane) (I also like John Garfield’s performance as a chilling thug in ‘Out of the Fog’, though he wasn’t nominated – he is officially the lead in that, but he doesn’t have all that much screen time.)
Supporting actress: Mary Astor (The Great Lie)
Sorry I couldn’t vote for ‘The Strawberry Blonde’ anywhere as I love it.
In another year, either “Sullivan’s Travels” (I just watched it again a week or so ago myself) or “The Maltese Falcon” would be a worthy winner. But with “Kane” consistently topping polls for the greatest film of all time, there’s not much room for an alternative this year, and that seems to be the consensus here. That’s the pitfall of an annual poll. Sometimes the also-rans are as good as, or even better than, the winners of other years!
in regards to the debate on citizen kane whilst clearly kane is a great work and will forever be immortalized as a landmark in cinema history it is surely going too far to forbid debate and give no credence to alternative choices . for instance vertigo has recently supplanted kane as sight and sounds greatest film so does that mean that no other film from 1958 should be considered such as touch of evil, man of the west ,the music room or ashes and diamonds and whilst kane is a riveting experience I must admit that I have greater fondness for touch of evil and the magnificent ambersons .on balance I would plump for kane as film of the year thou my heart would tempt me towards ball of fire ,dumbo or even the brothers and sisters of the toda family in homage to my choice as cinema’s greatest ever director the sublime ozu.