Smackdown '38: You can't take the great waltz with you, Jezebel!
Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 10:00PM In the Supporting Actress Smackdown series we take a particular Oscar vintage and explore it with a panel of artists and journalists. This episode goes way back to 1938.
THE ACTRESSES & CHARACTERS
In 1938 the Academy was still evolving and the "Best Supporting Actress" category was just three years old. Still, their all time favourite type (the long-suffering wife/mom) was already showing its strength (Beulah Bondi in Of Human Hearts, noticeably that film's only nomination). Other then-popular character types like 'the vamp' (Milja Korjus in The Great Waltz) and ditzy/funny moms (Billie Burke in Merrily We Live! and Spring Byington in You Can't Take It With You) didn't stay in vogue with the Academy for as long. In 1938 we also got an historic first: Fay Bainter was the first actor to be double-nominated, competing in both Lead (White Banners) and Supporting (Jezebel) categories simultaneously, winning the latter. Will our panel agree?
THE PANELISTS
Here to talk about these performances and movies are the actors Steven Weber and Britney Young, Joanna Robinson from Vanity Fair, and TFE's busiest duo, Cláudio Alves and your host Nathaniel R. Let's begin.
1938
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...
