THE MONTIES: 1941 - BETTE DAVIS and OLIVIA de HAVILLAND win their first Monties...and PENNY SERENADE wins a few as well...

1941 was another strong year in film and some notable first timers who landed their first Monties.

BEST FILM:

THE LADY EVE
THE LITTLE FOXES
MR. AND MRS. SMITH
THE MALTESE FALCON
PENNY SERENADE - WINNER
ZIEGFELD GIRL

Penny Serenade is one of the all time great tear-jerkers that mixed comedy and drama magnificently well. Throw in another pairing with my favorite screen team of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, and it easily is my favorite film of 1941.

BEST DIRECTOR:

ALFRED HITCHCOCK - MR. AND MRS. SMITH
GEORGE STEVENS - PENNY SERENADE (WINNER)
ROBERT Z. LEONARD - ZIEGFELD GIRL
JOHN HUSTON - THE MALTESE FALCON
WILLIAM WYLER - THE LITTLE FOXES

Veteran director George Stevens superb direction of Penny Serenade gives him his first Montie. I expect to see George back up here again with potential winners in A Place in The Sun, Shane and Giant.

BEST ACTOR:

HUMPHREY BOGART - THE MALTESE FALCON
HENRY FONDA - THE LADY EVE
CARY GRANT - PENNY SERENADE (WINNER)
ROBERT MONTGOMERY - MR. AND MRS. SMITH
GARY COOPER - SERGEANT YORK

My guy Cary gives a marvelous performance as the devoted father and husband in Penny Serenade. This is the performance that showed Cary could do more than just comedy. And he was amazing. If you don't believe me, just check out that one scene where he has to to plead with the judge not to take away his adopted child. How Cary lost out an Oscar for this performance remains a mystery. Well he picks up his 3rd Montie from me, so congratulations Cary.


BEST ACTRESS:

BARBARA STANWYCK - THE LADY EVE
BETTE DAVIS - THE LITTLE FOXES (WINNER)
IRENE DUNNE - PENNY SERENADE
CAROLE LOMBARD - MR. AND MRS. SMITH
LANA TURNER - ZIEGFELD GIRL

The grand diva of film, Bette Davis picks up her first Montie with her performance as the wicked Regina Gidden, who is the type of character you just love to hate. And Bette gets to put on quite the show. One of her very best performances ever. And what should be the first of many Monties.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

CHARLES DINGLE - THE LITTLE FOXES
PETER LORRE - THE MALTESE FALCON (WINNER)
WALTER BRENNAN - SERGEANT YORK
SYDNEY GREENSTREET - THE MALTESE FALCON (WINNER)
EDGAR BUCHANAN - PENNY SERENADE

I couldn't decide who deserved a Montie more between Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, as they were both memorable as Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman, respectively. Nefarious and shady, they are perfect foils to Bogart's Sam Spade. So they both get Monties.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

TERESA WRIGHT - THE LITTLE FOXES
MARY ASTOR - THE MALTESE FALCON
CAROLE  LANDIS - MOON OVER MIAMI
OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND - THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE (WINNER)
JOAN LESLIE - SERGEANT YORK

One of my favorite actresses, Olivia de Havilland picks up her first Montie for her engaing turn as Amy Lind, the outspoken and brash suffragette who butts heads with James Cagney. You could argue hers is the main performance even though Rita Hayworth portrays the title character. But that's schematics, and I'm here to award Olivia a Montie.


So the final tally is PENNY SERENADE wins 3 Monties (Film, Director, and Actor); THE MALTESE FALCON picks up 2 Monties for Supporting Actor. And first time Montie winners inlcuded Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. Congratulations to all the winners and I will be back soon for my favorites of 1942.

Penny Serenade (1941) - a rediscovered classic

A friend of mine from work was recently telling me that her VHS copy of Penny Serenade (1941) the Cary Grant/Irene Dunne tearjerker is on its last legs. I told her I thought I had an extra DVD copy of because I record so many movies on TCM, I sometimes lose track of which ones I've recorded. Lo and behold I had two copies of Penny Serenade. Well its been a few years since I seen it, so I decided to watch it again and it's better than I remember. The story has Cary as dashing news reporter Roger Adams, who meets and falls in love with record store clerk Julie (Irene Dunne). They get married and travel to Japan for Grant's assignment. It's there where an earthquake hits and Julie who is pregnant loses the baby and the ability to conceive again. The couple are able to adopt a little girl later on but tragedy strikes again. Expertly directed by George Stevens who is able to mix light comedy with the heavy drama with ease. Grant and Dunne are superb together and it proves my point that Irene was Cary's best co-star. Look for Edgar Buchanan in a scene stealing role as Uncle Applejack, who helps the couple out from time to time. And for those who say Cary can't really act outside of screwball comedies, just take a look at the scene where he pleads with the judge to not take his adopted child away from him. That 5 minute sequence is one of Cary's or anyone else for that matter, best film performances ever. Penny Serenade is a great movie. One of those timeless classics and I'm glad I'm able to give a copy to one of my friends so she can have it forever now.
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