1944 

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ...

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Bette Davis in Mr SKEFFINGTON

" Despite the terrible writing, the role itself is really meaty but Bette fails to create it on screen."

★★★★★

Ingrid Bergman in GASLIGHT

" Her performance is not effective, she doesn't make the right choices in her way to act."

★★★★★

 Greer Garson in Mrs PARKINGTON

"[Greer] manages to bring some soul and life to her character, and it was not an easy thing to do."

★★★★★

Claudette Colbert in SINCE YOU WENT AWAY

"[Claudette] is the heart and soul of the movie. She is superb and is hands down the best performance of the movie."

★★★★★

Barbara Stanwyck in DOUBLE INDEMNITY

"Barbara Stanwyck is the archetype of the femme fatal: seductive, manipulative, cold [and] plays wonderfully with all these sides."

★★★★★

                                             THE CONCLUSION                                                

1944 is not the great year that I thought it would be. Barbara Stanwyck is hands down my winner, she gave the best performance, and she is in the best film. From good to bad, the other four are not really mesmerizing and they are not in memorable films.

                                   THE ACADEMY AWARDS and ME                                      

    NEXT YEAR: 1997

INGRID BERGMAN 

as Paula Alquist Anton in GASLIGHT (1944)
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In London, Alice Alquist is strangled and her famous jewels miss. Her young niece Paula is sent to Italy. Ten years later, Paula decides to get married with the pianist Gregory Anton, who convinces her to move back to the old address in London. When they arrive, Paula finds a letter from a mysterious Sergis Bauer, making Gregory upset. He psychologically begins to torture Paula and she has a nervous breakdown and memory problems. When the policeman Brian Cameron sees Anton, he recognizes him and decides to investigate and find evidences to connect Gregory with the murder... 

"If I were not mad, I could have helped you. Whatever you had done, I could have pitied and protected you. But because I am mad, I hate you. Because I am mad, I have betrayed you. And because I'm mad, I'm rejoicing in my heart, without a shred of pity, without a shred of regret, watching you go with glory in my heart!"

                                         - Paula Alquist Anton

Ingrid Bergman received her first Academy Award, playing Paula, an orphaned whose opera-singer aunt is murdered. She moves to Italy to follow in her aunt's footsteps as a diva, but falls in love and returns to London with her new husband to live in her aunt's empty house. There, she becomes the victim of a carefully-orchestrated campaign to drive her
insane. The main issue in Ingrid Bergman’s performance is that she is always overacting: always doing big movements, looking in the emptiness with her eyes wide open, touching her face - there is nothing subtle in her performance, and sometimes it's grotesque. She never becomes suspicious or a bit rebellious. When her husband manipulates her, tells her she’s forgetful, that she loses things, that she is sick. I would have liked seeing that she is torn apart between her sense and what her husband tells her. She always takes what he says for granted. 
I would have preferred more nuances in her acting, she’s is supposed to be haunted and tormented. I would have preferred more contradictions, more challenges in her acting. When the truth is about to be revealed, she’s at first in denial, and this scene is really well-executed and overwhelming. She can’t imagine that the husband she loves is the one who tormented her. The final confrontation scene, between Paula and her husband is really terrific. It’s the highlight in Bergman’s performance.  All through the film, the relation Husband/wife is really interesting, showing how he abused her, how he lets her hopeless, and how he managed to drive her crazy.

"Ingrid Berman, who won the first of her three Oscars for this film, is terrific as the fragile bride terrorized by her husband's dirty tricks. The Oscar cemented Bergman's reputation as Hollywood's most popular actress."

                                                                                               - Emmanuel Levy

Her performance in « Gaslight » doesn’t allow Ingrid Bergman to show all her range of emotions. Her performance is not subtle enough, her acting is too much mannered, overall she's always overacting.  Her performance is not effective, she doesn't make the right choices in her way to act. 

★★★★★

GREER GARSON 

as Susie Parkington in Mrs. PARKINGTON (1944)
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In this family saga, Mrs. Parkington recounts the story of her life, beginning as a hotel maid in frontier Nevada where she is swept off her feet by mine owner and financier Augustus Parkington. He moves them to New York, tries to remake her into a society woman, and establishes their home among the wealthiest of New York's high society. Family and social life is not always peaceful, however, and she guides us, in flashbacks, through the rises and falls of the Parkington family fortune... 

"Gus will never give up what he owns, and he owns me"

                                         - Susie Parkington

Greer Garson received her fifth Oscar nomination, for her performance as Susie Parkington, a chambermaid who following her mother's death marries the wealthy Major Augustus Parkington. Susie (Greer Garson is not really believable as a young woman) is a strong minded girl with a lot of dreams. When her mother is killed in an explosion at Augustus's mine, she is overcome with grief. Feeling responsible for her, Augustus convinces her to marry him and takes her back to New York City. Susie discovers a new world with wealthy people. Greer Garson shows rightly the way Susie is overwhelmed by everything around her. She is attracted by the beautiful things and she really wants to fit in this new world. She has to be educated, she has to learn to wear beautiful dresses. Greer Garson manages to shine being vulnerable and a bit naïve – We really understand that she is bewitched by this new world. 

On their third wedding anniversary, Susie surprises Augustus by announcing she is pregnant. Thrilled by the news, Gus decides to host a ball but only a few guests show up. Susie suffers a miscarriage, and Gus blames the guests who stayed away from the ball for the loss and vows revenge. Later, Susie finally learns about Augustus's plot and moves out. Greer Garson here is perfect, from the tamed and understanding woman, she turns herself into this rebellious and angry Susie, and manages to add to her interpretation some intensity and gravity. The break up scene between Susie and Augustus is really well written and interpreted. Later, overwhelmed with grief over the accidental death of her only son, Susie has become a recluse. She’s not enough effective in this scene and when she learns her husband is courted by a woman suddenly she is better and wants to get him back. The screenplay is really bad here, but she manages to add a jealous and bitter side to her character, and the confrontation scene with “the other woman” is really enjoying and pleasurable. However, in all those scenes, she is supposed to have aged a bit, but we don’t see a difference in her acting: She doesn’t change her way to speak or move. I would have preferred more nuances. 


[The real highlight and the sweetest moments are the scenes between Mrs Parkington and the Baronesse Aspasia Conti, played by the talented Agnes Moorehead. It’s a very complex situation at first, but the friendship grows between them through the film. They take care of each other and the relationship became deeper and more touching.]

"Garson though holds the film together, convincing in her transformation to rich matriarch, right down to a pretty good make up job when she’s all old and wrinkly."

                                                                                               - MonsterHunter

Greer Garson doesn’t get a very challenging and demanding role, and surely not enough substantial to allow her to give a deep and interesting performance. It’s all script's fault. However, she manages to bring some soul and life to her character, and it was not an easy thing to do. 

★★★★★

CLAUDETTE COLBERT 

as Anne Hilton in SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944)
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While husband Tim is away during World War II, Anne Hilton copes with problems on the homefront. Taking in a lodger, Colonel Smollett, to help make ends meet and dealing with shortages and rationing are minor inconveniences compared to the love affair daughter Jane and the Colonel's grandson conduct... The movie is set in a mid-sized American town, where people with loved ones in the military try to cope with their changed circumstances and make their own contributions to the war effort. 

"Cry, darling. Cry your heart out. I won't try to tell you that you'll get over it soon, because it will take time - maybe a long time."

                                         - Anne Hilton

Claudette Colbert received her third and last Oscar nomination, playing Annie Hilton, a mother and a wife who struggles to cope while her husband is off serving in War World II. Claudette Colbert is clearly the emotional center of the film. Even if the material isn’t enough substantial, Claudette finds a way to portray a very affected but strong
minded woman. She shows perfectly how the somber and realistic carnage of War, and the pain of separation, affect not only the person who is sent to war, but also the people who are waiting his return. It’s very interesting to see the background of such a story for once, and not as usual the battlefields. Claudette Colbert is very well cast. She portrays beautifully a devoted mother hurt by the absence of her husband. In a very subtle way, she manages to give a very ravaged and affected performance when she is all by herself, and stays strong and dignified when she is surrounding by her two daughters. She doesn’t fail to show this side, she has to fulfill the responsibilities. Even when the life is hard, she manages to illuminate the life of her daughters. The turning point of her performance is the moment when her husband is declared “Missing”. Claudette Colbert gives a very melancholic performance and full of nostalgia, it's very heartbreaking. She  makes us feel so empathic about what is happening in her life. She gives a brave interpretation. Her best scene is probably the one when she is sitting next to the Christmas tree, she is very emotional and lonely. She doesn’t have to cry or yell to bring any emotions, she makes us feel her sorrow, and everything is palpable. She is so moving, touching and effective.  


[Watching the film, I found the younger sister quite irritating, after some research, I found out it was Shirley Temple. It’s the first time I saw her on screen, and Well, I’m not a fan. Jennifer Jones is quite good in her role.] 

"As the mother and center of the family, Claudette Colbert gives an excellent show of gallantly self-contained emotion."

                                                                                               - Bosley Crowther

Claudette Colbert holds the movie together just as her character holds together her family during the family-rending crises that is World War II. She is the heart and soul of the movie. She is superb and is hands down the best performance of the movie. 

★★★★★

BETTE DAVIS 

as Fanny Trellis in Mr. SKEFFINGTON (1944)
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In 1914, in New York, Fanny Trellis is a shallow futile selfish woman surrounded by suitors and without any other preoccupation but her beauty. Her brother Trippy Trellis embezzles commission from the Skeffington Bank, the wealthy Job Skeffington goes to Trellis' house to charge the amount back. He falls in love for Fanny and she marries him to save Trippy. Fanny gets pregnant, but her selfishness destroys their marriage. Years later, when Fanny loses her beauty, she realizes that a woman is beautiful only when she is loved.

"Nonsense. A woman is beautiful when she has eight hours' sleep and goes to the beauty parlor every day. And bone structure has a lot to do with it too."

                                         - Fanny Trellis

Bette Davis received her eighth Oscar nomination, playing the renowned beauty Fanny Trellis, who still puts on the façade of the outside that she has money. The beautiful and vain Fanny can have any man that she wants to marry. Bette Davis puts together a detailed characterization of a vain, selfish, coquette, a calculated portrayal of a calculating woman.

All those aspects are well-executed by Miss Davis. Otherwise her performance is empty and flat. She doesn’t manage to give the depth the character needs to really shine. Even the superficiality of her character is not well shown. There is no progression in her acting: her voice is unusually always high, her eyes always wide open, she is very mannered, and she is always overacting. Even when she learns her brother has passed away, there's nothing, she's still just a bit over the top. For someone who loved unconditionally her brother, she fails to give any real emotions. In this film, Bette Davis is overexposed. Even when her character is getting old and her beauty fades, she’s the same Fanny since the beginning, of course always selfish, but she doesn’t show rightly her inner struggles. She keeps doing the same things in the entire film, whereas we have already understood that she vainly lives for her beauty. She always exaggerates and gives a very implausible performance. She often caricatures herself. Despite the great versatility of Bette Davis, her performance in this film doesn’t worth her talent. She fails to express the struggle of her character when her beauty fades. Her performance is empty. She is in almost the entire movie, but nothing is really worthy or exciting. We're not used to see Bette Davis that way. 


[As Fanny's long-suffering husband, Claude Rains is wonderful. The finest scene in the movie is his, and Davis is not in it: It’s the scene, at the restaurant where he expresses her deep love to his daughter. He is very open and raw expressing his feelings. It's the only touching moment in the film.]

"This is a star vehicle in extremis. There's no movie here, really, just Davis and her Role."

                                                                                               - Slant Magazine

Despite the terrible writing, the role itself is really meaty but Bette fails to create it on screen. She’s always on the same note whereas the character is actually very complex. She never makes us understand her character, the way she react or her obsession for youth and beauty. Bette Davis as great as she is, never makes us feel the character believable or authentic. It is a one woman show, at the expense of the film.

★★★★★

BARBARA STANWYCK  

as Phyllis Dietrichson in DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
____________________________________________________________________

In 1938, Walter Neff, salesman, meets the seductive wife of one of his clients, Phyllis Dietrichson, and they have an affair. Phyllis proposes to kill her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr. Dietrichson is found dead on a train-track, the police accept the determination of accidental death. However, the insurance analyst and Walter's best friend Barton Keyes does not buy the story... 

It sounds wonderful. Just strangers beside you. You don't know them and you don't hate them. You don't have to sit across the table and smile at him and that daughter of his every morning of your life...He thinks a lot more of her than he does of me.

"

                                         - Phyllis Dietrchson

Barbara Stanwyck received her third (out of 4) Academy Award nomination, playing a manipulative, seductive, icy blonde bombshell who wants to murder her husband, with the help of a salesman, in order to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy with a double indemnity clause. Barbara Stanwick portrays a sort of femme fatale quite
stunningly, and gives to her character every sides and complexity it deserves : she’s a seductive, manipulative, reserved and composed woman, who knows how to take advantage of every man, in every situation. This is what she does when she convinces a salesman who has a crush on her to plan the murder of her husband to receive the life insurance money. But their fraudulent, almost perfect crime leads to guilt, suspicion, betrayal, and when Phyllis feels that her world may fall apart, she reveals herself being more evil than the devil. The last scene at the supermarket is a pure exciting moment of acting: her mask drops and she becomes more diabolical in her purpose.  It’s a great piece of acting. Until the end of the film, Barbara Stanwyck hides very well her intention and the destination of her character, and it’s a real surprise to learn that behind her respectable appearance, she’s a mean, twisted and nasty woman. Barbara Stanwyck is finally not that much in the movie, but  she gives a multi-layered performance, with a lot of complexity and determination. It’s an unforgettable performance from one of our most ravishing and most gifted actresses. 

"Edward G. Robinson stars as MacMurray's associate, but it's Barbara Stanwyck that rules the roost as one of cinema's most diabolical femme fatals."

                                                                                               - Cole Smithey

Barbara Stanwyck is the archetype of the femme fatal: seductive, manipulative, cold. Barbara plays wonderfully with all these sides and portrays one of the most famous villainous character in the history of movies. A very well executed performance in a tremendous classic movie.

★★★★★

1944 

AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE ARE ...

• Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight
• Claudette Colbert in Since You went Away
• Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington
• Greer Garson in Mrs. Parkington
• Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. 

What do you think  ?  Your Prediction  ?  Your Ranking  ?