So we're finally into the ten ceremonies that took place in the 1940s,
in other words films that were released between 1939 and 1948, the first
five ceremonies still had ten nominees but at the 1945 ceremony it
retreated back to the original format of five nominees something that
stayed the same until this year's ceremony where we went back to ten
nominations. Anyway that's way in the future but what's quite exciting
is that I own four DVDs of films nominated in this decade so that's
where I'm going to start.
And first up is a classic that most of
us have seen at one time or another yes it's The Wizard of Oz. I won't
really go into the plot that much because if you don't know the story
then you've lead a very sheltered life and your childhood was obviously
very severe if no-one ever sat down with you and watched the film. What I
will do is talk about some of the bits I'd forgotten and some of the
segments that make it impressive at least from a filmic point of view. Obviously the first thing
to say is the transformation between the sepia beginnings when Dorothy
is still in Kansas and then the brilliant Technicolor scenes in Oz. In
particular when Dorothy arrives in Oz the colours are so stark and it is
so well filmed that at the time audiences must have been stunned. What
I'd forgotten about is
how good those pre-Oz scenes where and how well Judy Garland portrays a
girl who really wants to escape the life she has. The other
misconception I'd had was that this was a strong musical film however
the second half of the film, from the first meeting with the Wizard
onwards, contains no singing whatsoever. For a film released in 1939 the
effects are really well done, the twister scene in which Dorothy's
house flies through the air and encounters all the other characters is
very well executed and later the scenes where the gang encounter the
Wizard for the first time is also very well done. From the costumes, to
the make-up and the acting the film is just excellent. Which makes it
very odd that it was shown very little love at the 1940 Oscar Ceremony.
Although it was included in the list of ten films that was nominated for
Best Picture, it only got another four noms. From the 1940s some films
were shot in colour while a lot remained in black and white, because of
this the cinematography category was split into how the pictures were
filmed and Wizard of Oz was nominated for colour cinematography as well
as special effects both of which it should have won and didn't. There
was success for the film in the Original Score and Song categories, the
latter was for Over the Rainbow but that's it and that's a shame because
there should've been at least a couple of acting nods. In particular
Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of The West deserves a mention,
from her opening scenes as the evil Miss Gulch to her terrifying
presence after she dons the green make-up she steals the show from
everyone else. One scene that still scares me to this day is the one in
which Dorothy sees Aunt Em through the witch's crystal ball and as she
is shouting her aunt's name the witch appears and taunts her, Hamilton
should've got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and I would've
also but The Wizard himself Frank Morgan in there as Supporting Actor.
However director Victor Fleming wasn't that upset as his other picture
released that year went onto win, you may have heard of it as it was a
little film called Gone with The Wind.
Talking of winners the
next year's ceremony saw the only Alfred Hitchcock film to win the award
and it was Hitch's first major Hollywood picture - Rebecca. I will
forgive anyone who doesn't know the plot of this film but basically it
sees Joan Fontaine's character, who is never named, meet Laurence
Olivier's widower Maxim De Winter while in Monte Carlo. After a
whirlwind romance the two get married and return to Maxim's large
stately home Manderlay. Soon the new Mrs DeWinter is told tales of the
eponymous Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, who supposedly drowned during a
boating accident. In particular Fontaine has many run-ins with
Manderlay's housekeeper the chilling Mrs Danvers who starts by making
subtle
digs at her and soon is blatantly taunting her. Maxim also seems to be
haunted by memories of his first wife and when his new wife appears in
one of Rebecca's old dresses he becomes enraged and forces her to change
into a new dress. The final third of the film discovers the mysterious
circumstances in which Rebecca died but to talk about those would be to
reveal the plot. What I will say is that Rebecca is an excellent film
and in particular the filming of both the exterior and interior of
Manderlay is what makes it particularly chilling. The film did win Best
Cinematography, its only win apart from Best Picture, which is more than
justified as the camerawork makes Manderlay another character in and of
itself and evokes memories of Rebecca in all of the other characters.
The nominated score also deserves a mention as a lot of the scenes
feature Fontaine creeping around the large house trying to discover
Rebecca's memories for herself. Olivier and Fontaine were both nominated
for their lead performances but lost ot James Stewart and Ginger Rogers
respectively. However the best performance in the film belongs to
Judith Anderson as the cold, distant and ultimately wicked Mr. Danvers
who has to be one of the best screen villains of all time. Anderson was
nominated also nominated, as Supporting Actress, but also lost out. In
all Rebecca got eleven nominations but only two wins, it was also the
first of five nominations for Hitch who famously never won an Oscar for
directing. This has to be one of the biggest snubs of all time and it's a
damn shame that one of the finest directors of all time was never
rewarded with accolades that he deserved.
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