The MONTIES (1948) - Olivia de Havilland makes history!

As promised, here I am with another edition of my Monties..and it's only been 4 weeks. The year is 1948 and a certain actress won yet another Montie to set her apart from her colleagues. Let's get to it shall we.

Add one more Montie for Livvy!

BEST FILM: 
Winner: The Snake Pit
Nominees: Easter Parade, Good Sam, The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, The Red Shoes, State Of The Union, I Remember Mama, Johnny Belinda
Thoughts: I remember watching The Snake Pit during my teen years and was immediately captivated by this stirring drama with a knock-out performance by Olivia de Havilland. It's one of those films that is so good you're enthralled with it from the time the screen lights up with the opening credits. One of the best films ever made!

BEST DIRECTOR:
Winner: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes)
Nominees: John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre); Anatole Litvak (The Snake Pit); Frank Capra (State Of The Union); George Stevens (I Remember Mama)
Thoughts: The combination of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in directing the fantastic film The Red Shoes edges out Anatole Litvak's The Snake Pit. They are terrific in crafting this dreamlike film that manages to take filmgoers to a wonderful place in terms of entertainment. 

BEST WRITER: 
Winner: Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett (A Foreign Affair)
Nominees: Frank Datros/Millen Brand (The Snake Pit); John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre); Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes); Irmgard Van Cobel/Allen Vincent (Johnny Belinda)
Thoughts: The team of Wilder and Brackett grabbed their 2nd Montie for writing. The duo previously won for 1945's The Lost Weekend, which also netted a Best Director Montie for Wilder. 

A dream pairing of Marlene and Jean had some wonderful dialogue 

courtesy of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett

BEST ACTOR: 
Winner: Spencer Tracy (State Of The Union)
Nominees: Gary Cooper (Good Sam); Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure of The Sierra Madre); John Wayne (Red River); Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda)
Thoughts: Believe it or not, this is the first win for Spencer Tracy. Some would argue he gave better performances but I thought he was really quite good here as Presidential candidate Grant Matthews who entire life is put under the microscope. Co-starring Katharine Hepburn, they once again deliver the goods as expected.

First step..win a Montie..next win the Presidency!

BEST ACTRESS:
Winner: Olivia de Havilland (The Snake Pit)
Nominees: Vivien Leigh (Anna Karenina); Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama); Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda); Katharine Hepburn (State Of  The Union); Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes); Judy Garland (Easter Parade)
Thoughts: Olivia picks up her 3rd Montie in the space of 8 years reaffirming her dominance of the 40's. She won previously for The Strawberry Blonde (1941) and The Dark Mirror (1946). And her performance here as Virginia Stuart Cunningham, a woman who winds up in a mental institution is another magnificent triumph. Just edging out Irene Dunne's equally amazing performance in I Remember Mama. This also makes Olivia the first actress to win three Monties and she ties Cary Grant, who has that distinction for the men.

This is starting to seem like old hat for Olivia..

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Winner: Barbara Bel Geddes/Ellen Corby (I Remember Mama) - tie
Nominees: Agnes Moorehead (Johnny Belinda); Marlene Dietrich (A Foreign Affair); Claire Trevor (Key Largo)
Thoughts: The fact that Bel Geddes and Corby were both nominated for Oscars shows how strong their performances were. I really couldn't pick one over the other so I decided to go with a split decision. They were both terrific as Katrin and Aunt Trina respectively.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Winner: Walter Huston (The Treasure of The Sierra Madre)
Nominees: Montgomery Clift (Red River); Melvyn Douglas (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House); Edward G. Robinson (Key Largo); Jose Ferrer (Joan Of Arc)
Thoughts: I love Walter's performance here in Sierra Madre..as the wild and woolly old prospector Howard who has seen it all and done it all and still wants to just enjoy doing some more.  He's awesome!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Winner: THE RED SHOES
Nominees: The Naked City, Joan Of Arc, A Foreign Affair
Thoughts: Jack Cardiff provided one of the best looking films ever in The Red Shoes and wins a Montie for his effort.

BEST FILM SCORE:
Winner: EASTER PARADE (Johnny Green/Roger Edens)
Nominees: Max Steiner (Johnny Belinda); Alfred Newman (The Snake Pit); Hugo Friedhofer (Joan Of Arc)
Thoughts: Easter Parade just dances off the screen thanks to the singing of Judy Garland, the dancing of Fred Astaire and Ann Miller and the great music score done by Johnny Green and Roger Edens.

There you have it..another edition of the Monties. Quite the mixed bag too. The Snake Pit, The red Shoes and I Remember Mama each won 2 Monties. Spencer Tracy finally broke through to win his first Montie while Olivia de Havilland picked up her 3rd one, tying Cary Grant as the star with most Monties. I'll be back next month with the 1949 edition.

Fun Summer Movies: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955)

Summer Release Date: 3 June 1955. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Marguerite Chapman, Oskar Homolka, Carolyn Jones.Written by Billy Wilder and George Axelrod. Directed by Billy Wilder.


The Seven Year Itch is my favorite Marilyn Monroe movie. Mind you not my favorite role of hers. That would be Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. But here in The Seven Year Itch, she is just as good, giving the classic Marilyn performance...breathy voice, the bemused facial expressions, the child like mannerisms..all done to perfection. It helps she has such a great co-star in Tom Ewell as the hapless Richard Sherman, a married man who fancies himself the object of desire by every woman he meets. He constantly daydreams about having secret rendezvous with all kinds of women. So when Marilyn, simply known as The Girl, and who lives above him in the same apartment building, meets him, let the fun begin.

Richard and The Girl trying to keep cool

Budgeted at $1.8 million and filmed on location in New York City, The Seven Year Itch proved to be a massive hit, one of Monroe's biggest. It made over $12 million in the United States alone. Filled with iconic moments such as Marilyn in the perfect white summer dress standing over a subway grate with the wind gusting up to blow her dress, much to her and Richard's delight. Directed by ace Billy Wilder, The Seven Year Itch is a perfect fun summer movie. And check out the great quotes..particularly by Marilyn. Notice her fondness of the word "elegant".

A stairway to nowhere! I think that's just elegant.

I think it's wonderful that you're married! I think it's just elegant! 

 I think it's just elegant to have an imagination. I just have no imagination at all. I have lots of other things, but I have no imagination.

When it gets hot like this, you know what I do? I keep my undies in the icebox! 

I wonder......

Notable Facts:


After seeing Walter Matthau's screen-test performance in the part of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder believed he had found his lead man. However, 20th Century-Fox was unwilling to take the risk on a newcomer. That's when Wilder next turned his sights on the actor who had originated the role on Broadway, Tom Ewell.

Amazingly, Marilyn Monroe's very narrow spike heels don't get stuck or break in the subway grating that she stands on it in the movie's most famous scene, although this was a universal problem, at the time, for the countless women wearing that very popular style heel in New York City in that era. 

 The iconic scene

 The movie premiere was on June 1st, 1955 which happened to be Marilyn's 29th birthday.

 Marilyn's iconic white dress set a record when it was auctioned for $4.6 million in June 2011 (rising to $5.5 million after taxes and fees were included), quintupling the previous record for a movie costume ($923,000 for Audrey Hepburn's "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's). 

 My love of classic movies is beyond measure

Monty