Nun vs Monster! Give our '65 conversation a listen.
Monday, October 12, 2020 at 11:00AM by Nathaniel R
Who do you suppose was in second place for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1965? We suspect Shelley Winters won in a landslide for her monster mom but perhaps Peggy Wood's Mother Superior was the runner up since The Sound of Music was so massive. What'cha think? We've noticed on the Smackdown posts that y'all don't really comment about the conversation of the podcast itself but just the write-up / blurb portion. We hope you're listening. The panelists (mwah) were super fun and lively. Here is the podcast again embedded below for your pleasure.
Podcast: 1 hour and 15 minutes
00.01 - Introductions: Spencer Garrett, Kayleigh Donaldson, Baby Clyde, Kevin Jacobsen, and Terence Johnson
06:30 - Othello , Laurence Olivier's "blackface", minstrelsy in that era, Dame Maggie Smith in her youth and today, and the documentary Tea with the Dames
27:00 - Shelley Winters in A Patch of Blue -- some people hate the performance, some love it. The movie is more complex than you've heard and an example of the shifting of the 1960s towards more adult themes
38:30 - Natalie Wood's failed Oscar bid for Inside Daisy Clover. A trainwreck of a movie or a fascinating timepiece or both? But it really needed to be a musical. More new Hollywood vs Old Hollywood issues
54:00 - The Sound of Music. Supremely rewatchable. We talk about musical dubbing, our favourite musical numbers, and Julie Andrews Oscar run. Why didn't they nominate Eleanor Parker?
1:10:00 - Goodbyes and the re-casting game!
listen on iTunes or download right here
Reader Comments (15)
The Smackdown :
Shelley Winters
Joyce Redman
Maggie Smith
Ruth Gordon
Peggy Wood
The only Smackdown podcasts I’ve listened to were 1957 and 1991, because those nominees really interested me and/or I already loved them, AND I had time to watch the films. But I usually don’t have the time and just read the article. Which I always love, even in a weak year. I can’t wait for 1987 (Olympia 😍).
I suppose she was too young back in '65, but can't everyone see Maggie Smith as Mother Abbess?
I almost always listen to the smackdown BUT it can take a long time because I usually have to listen to ten minutes here and there. By the time I've done, The Film Experience has move on!
I listened to the podcast mostly for Shelley and Natalie discussions,Nat your a Nat champion I know.
Underwhelming list of nominees. I think Eleanor Parker would have won in a landslide.
I love the podcasts, but listen to 6-8 hours of pod a week so usually a day or 2 behind, by which time it's dropped off to the second page on comments.
Was a great talk, especially interesting to hear in the A Patch of Blue discussion how it was an example of the changing tastes in film style. Always fascinating to hear how the specific set of films is representative of a moment in history.
I always listen to the podcast afterwards but it usually with take a day or two for me to be able to carve out the time to be able to. If it hasn't been too long I try and go back and comment on them on the blog. But I always enjoy them! It's fun to hear everyone's take and how some of them arrived at their decisions on the performances.
Peggy Wood as runner-up? That makes Parker’s snub even sadder...
I just started listening on my way in this morning.
I listened to the podcast today. I know some commenters said that it is hard to take time out to listen to all of them, but I always wish the podcasts were longer. It seems like you all have to wrap up in a hurry and especially this year it seemed like the panel had a lot more to say then the time allotted. Do they have to have time restrictions?
Tom G -- unfortunately there are time restrictions due to the size of the files that Squarespace permits. This (1 hour and 15 minutes) is about as long as it can go.
Love it! Winters aside, though, I consider this a kinda lousy lineup. Too bad prior nominee Geraldine Fitzgerald didn't muster traction for THE PAWNBROKER.
Finally had the time to listen to the podcast.
Wonderful as always!! A terrific and lively discussion, wish it could have gone on longer. Everyone had so much to say about this odd slate of nominees. Justice for Eleanor Parker!! So glad to hear everyone felt as I did that she was outright robbed of a slot!
I finally got around to listening to this. Personally, I think that A Patch of Blue and the performances in it (from tough Shelley Winters, stoic (as always) Sidney Poitier, and fragile Elizabeth Hartman) still hold up. And with regard to The Sound of Music, I think it was goodwill towards the actress Peggy Wood (who has already received two Emmy nominations for Mama, the CBS adaptation of I Remember Mama) and the character Mother Abbess (Patricia Neway had won the featured actress Tony for the part on stage over all of the children, including the two boys!) rather than Academy love for the performance itself that got her nominated. The character of the Baroness has appeared to have gotten better received over time, so, with awards recognition being snapshots in time, I don't think it was anything against Eleanor Parker's performance but just that the Mother Abbess was where attention was focused for supporting actresses at that time.