Moreno & Chakiris winning for WEST SIDE STORYby Nathaniel R
Only 8 times in the 92 year history of the Academy Awards have both Supporting trophies gone to the same movie. We were thinking about this factoid recently given that 1957 is the topic of next week's Smackdown (get those votes in). 1957's Sayonara wins for Miyoki Umeshi and Red Buttons (who played newlyweds) marked the third instance of both supporting trophies going to the same movie in just a seven year span. Given that that specific type of Oscar pairing has only happened five times more in the next sixty-two years of history, it's clear that "his & hers" was definitely more of a 1950s voter mindset than it is now.
[Tangent: Lead 'His & Hers' statues happen with about the same frequency but are mostly bunched up in the late 70s for some reason]
Let's rank what came before with double supporting wins in a highly unscientific fusion of the performances...
So, if one person is excellent and the other was solid, they might not rank as high as two very good performances. Listen, it's not an exact science, hee, and we kept changing the order, but let's do this anyway. Your own rankings are naturally required in the comments...
08. Miyoshi Umeki & Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957)
Relationship to each other in the film: ROMANTIC COUPLE
They're adorable together as newlyweds who are up against it with the military and both of their cultures frowning on their interracial union. That said the movie doesn't ask them to do much beyond selling their happiness as a unit and their sadness as individuals who don't see a way to keep being happy.
07. Donna Reed & Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity (1953)
Relationship to each other in the film: TANGENTIAL
Of all the winning pairs, this is the one we have the foggiest memories of. A rewatch is in order but at least the first time through this movie the fine ensemble was overshadowed by a truly dynamic trio of headliners: Clift, Kerr, and Lancaster.
Robards and Redgrave drinking champagne together a decade before their Oscar wins in the same movie
06. Vanessa Redgrave & Jason Robards in Julia (1977)
Relationship to each other in the film: NONE
A lopsided double. Vanessa gives one of the all time great supporting performances as the enigmatic title character but Jason Robards, playing the playwright Dashiell Hammet is barely in the movie and the scenes he's in don't justify a win let alone a nomination. This remains one of the all-time Oscar mysteries since he'd also won the year before so there wouldn't have even been a 'momentum' factor. Robards was a fine actor and his other Oscar moments make total sense but he's the very least of the supporting actor nominees from 1977; wins for Firth, Schell, Baryshnikov or Guinness would have all made more narrative and "deserving" sense.
05. Rita Moreno & George Chakiris in West Side Story (1961)
Relationship to each other in the film: ROMANTIC COUPLE
West Side Story demanded a lot of its actors and Moreno and Chakiris came ready to deliver with physically impassioned performances. Moreno of course is an all-timer, her Anita is one of the most electric performances ever captured on film.
Dianne plays the only sister Michael *isn't* sleeping with in "Hannah and Her Sisters"
04. Dianne Wiest & Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Relationship to each other in the film: IN-LAWS
Wiest is miraculously three dimensional and funny and sad and alive in this Woody Allen picture. Even her thoughts in narration are brilliantly performed. The win was more than warranted. We're slightly less fond of Michael Caine's work but it's a memorable dramedic turn nonetheless.
Hunter, Madsen, and Brandon on the set of "Streetcar"
03. Kim Hunter & Karl Malden in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Relationship to each other in the film: TANGENTIAL
It remains an oddity of history that the only actor that didn't win for A Streetcar Named Desire was male lead Marlon Brando. The quartet at the center is impeccable.
02. Melissa Leo & Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
Relationship to each other in the film: PARENT/CHILD
Would it be too soon to do a Supporting Actress Smackdown for 2010? There were three win-worthy turns, plus a category fraudster, and a BP coaster. As far as Supporting Actors go, I maintain that Bale was one of two male leads of The Fighter. Regardless of wrong category issues, Bale and Leo were both veritably on fire in this muscular actor's drama. The entire ensemble is on point as if they're all in the ring and ready to go toe to toe in each scene and deliver their own knockouts.
Cloris Leachman, Ben Johnson, and Gene Hackman (fresh Oscar winners all) visiting Charlie Chaplin's table at a post Oscar party
01. Cloris Leachman & Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971)
Relationship to each other in the film: NONE
Double genius. Even crazier is the fact that the film's other performances are almost as good. Jeff Bridges and Ellen Burstyn were deserving nominees from the rich ensemble as well. Timothy Bottoms, Eileen Brennan, and Cybil Shepherd weren't nominated (As hard as it can be to remember while screening this classic, 1971 did have other movies) but they're quite also terrific. Crazier still: Somehow The Last Picture Show isn't even Bogdanovich's best movie! His early triple The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973) rivals any director's best consecutive triple. It's really too bad that his subsequent efforts couldn't measure up or he'd be regarded as one of the all time greats.