I feel like Ethel Waters' Oscar snub is one of the few such instances where someone not getting nominated is truly both frustrating and outrageous. On the one hand, I can understand why she deserved to be nominated in the lead category, and she probably deserved Bette Davis' slot tbh. But logically if she was really set on a win it would make much more sense to go for Supporting. While she and Julie Harris were co-leads, its very clear that the movie's focus is on Frankie's narrative rather than Berenice's. And while being nominated for Supporting while basically being a co-lead is probably an unfair advantage actresses HAVE won under these circumstances, most recently Viola Davis in Fences. It's even more frustrating when you know that Gloria Grahame's performance in Bad and the Beautiful is insanely weak and her win perplexing (its almost like they nominated her for the wrong film - as she was brilliant in Sudden Fear) and that Grahame's closest competitor Jean Hagen as Lena Lamont in Singin in the Rain - while alot of fun - would have been a lightweight compared to Waters' tour de force. And unlike either actress Waters would have built up alot of goodwill up to this point - both from her nomination for Pinky in 1949 and from her by this point decades on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood running the gamut as an actress, singer, and dancer. In short HAD she been nominated for Supporting its very likely she would have won. Such a waste tbh
In The Member of the Wedding Ethel Waters was top billed over Julie Harris & while it is regrettable that Ethel was not nominated for Best Actress, the reason given was that Columbia (studio) made no effort to campaign for her & put all their efforts into promoting Julie as the star of the film. I agree that Grahame's Best Supporting Actress performance was not in the same league as Ethel's & that if Ethel had been nominated in that category (as she had been in Pinky in 1949) she probably would have won.
It probably didn't help that Ethel was known for being notoriously difficult to work with even by modern standards. Seems like she got on well enough on the set of Member of the Wedding but she had famously driven John Ford off of Pinky and apparently only got on a little better with Elia Kazan and this was coming off of her getting quasi blacklisted over her behavior on the set of Cabin in the Sky specifically a rant she went on over Lena Horne getting preferential treatment by Vincente Minelli where she "might" have gone on about Hollywood being controlled by a certain group of people (I'm being grossly generalistic but you get where I'm headed). I'm not even saying this is fair but I think she'd burned too many bridges by this point that even with the phenomenal performance she gave it wasn't enough for an already racist (quiet as kept) industry to at least hold their nose and give her a nomination (Hattie McDaniel was almost insanely cooperative to the point where her "I'd rather play a maid than be one" retort is now legendary and this likely helped her become the first black woman so honored by the Academy)
I've heard some of these before... no idea how true they are, but they might have impacted her chances true or untrue. Seems like she mellowed out in her later years and even admitted to having been difficult if I remember correctly@@abrahamaytemo
Shirley Booth owned that category. That phone call scene when Lola is pleading with her mom to “come home” only to be rejected always makes me tear up.
For Shirley’s performance, my favorite scene from the film is Lola’s sheer terror when she screams “He’s got a knife!” while she’s on the phone and Doc is chasing her. It felt very genuine and natural especially for that time in film. In that one scene alone, I can understand completely how she won the Oscar. Awesome video essay series as usual Fritz, I can probably already tell how you would rank each of these performances. In the future, I would love your take on the Best Actress race of 1963, and maybe the Best Actor race of 1957
I agree it was a very terrifying scream but her entire performance is jaw dropping.Another stellar moment is on the porch when she calls for Sheba! Lola is also calling for past youth to come back!!! Makes me tear up
The scene I loved best was when she and Doc were in separate beds at bedtime. Lola tells Doc her dream of the night before, when Sheba had gotten old. Doc: "Some things are never meant to grow old." The look on Lola's face! She knew he was talking about her, not Sheba.
Fritz nails it again for a wonderful video. As usual I was hanging on his every word. My pick that year was Shirley Booth in what I believe is often forgotten by cinema historians who never name her as one of the most deserving Oscar worthy performances. Julie Harris was a close second, imo. She remained close friends with Burt Lancaster who co-starred with her in ‘Sheba’. It was he, in fact, who tried to discourage her years later from committing to the ‘Hazel’ role, saying it was beneath her. She ultimately accepted the tv role based on a largely circulated cartoon character. She said her decision was purely based on the money, an offer she couldn’t refuse. As Fritz noted, Shirley went on to win two best actress Emmy awards and making more money and recognition (outside of New York) than she ever had previously. After the 5 season ‘Hazel’ run, she returned full time to her true love, the theater. Thank you Fritz!!!!!
SUPERB WORK! 'From the outside', so to speak, you delve as deeply into America's acting realm as any US reviewer could - if not more so. I'm in awe of your brilliance.
I adore both of these actresses and I loved their performances. I wish both women had won, which would have been possible with a tie. Miss Harris was such a good actress, she deserved an academy award too. I cannot deny that Shirley Booth as Lola was brilliant. But so was Julie. What a hard choice. I loved both of these films and portrayals. These actresses, as well as the likes of Geraldine Page, were stellar actresses. Thankfully Miss Page would win an Academy award herself late in her career. But I wish Julie had been honored as well. I was fortunate to see Julie in Driving Miss Daisy on the stage in the late 1980s. I will always be grateful for that.
I know more about movies than most people. I grew up in Movieland, have read more than my share of books about Hollywood and to this day follow the results of film festivals, movie projects in the pipeline and careers of celebrated acting talents. What amazes me is what I learn in your videos. It has astonished me more than a few times at what you know on the subject and I did not. And how many people nowadays can toss a reference of Marie Dressler? You're amazing.
Oh, thank you so much for your kind words! I don't think I know more than other people on those subjects but I'm always very happy to learn that I can provide a bit more insight! Thanks so much for watching!
@@FritzandtheOscars When it comes to compliments on your work your tendency is to demur, I have noticed. They are super well-written. The insights are gifted. The clips you use are unearthed from God knows where. The time it must take not only for the research but the execution is more like a calling than anything else. For your benefit (underlined), I will quote from one of Bette Davis' most famous roles: "You underestimate yourself, Eve. You always do."
Excellent observation - mr bunker acts like a drunk and calls his wife dingbat for which like Boothes character largely ignores . Norman Lear had to be influenced by Come back little Sheba .
The way the looked down on television back in the day. If only they were alive today to see what television has turned into. So many exciting roles in television today, everybody is doing television from meryl streep to Nicole kidman to Emma stone to brie larson to Jessica lange to Kate Winslet. Every leading lady today has a TV show on a streaming service
Hazel as Shirley Booth's main cultural resonance nowadays - same with similarly-great Agnes Moorehead, her immense and varied body of work subsumed under Endora the mother in Bewitched.
I watched Member of the Wedding last evening. Julie Harris was obviously a gifted actress, but despite her formidable technique nothing about her performance as a 24 year old woman makes her credible as a twelve year old girl. Her performance doubtlessly worked in the theater, but in the more realistic medium that is film it is borderline grotesque.
I enjoyed Shirley Booth as an actress, but she was wrong about training, it always makes for better actors. Especially Method acting, which I can vouch for. And as good as Shirley Booth was, Joanne Woodward was a much better actress, both in depth of emotion, and in range of characters
1:13:21... the amount of time that Fritz needs 2 'trash' Ms. Booth's inimitable, stellar performance vs. that of Ms. Harris?! Fritz, seriously, u NEED 2 get: a REAL job, a friend, a psychiatrist & a LIFE...!! & NOT necessarily in that ORDER!! 🥴
20th...Great Movie with SB and BL... Come back little Sheeba ..... are you saying they didn't go together well? I know they had to AGE BL... The character Lola was a Needy woman, Codependent that she couldn't be happy if her husband wasn't happy..
Shirley Booth's performance was one of THE most deserving in Oscar history.
I feel like Ethel Waters' Oscar snub is one of the few such instances where someone not getting nominated is truly both frustrating and outrageous. On the one hand, I can understand why she deserved to be nominated in the lead category, and she probably deserved Bette Davis' slot tbh. But logically if she was really set on a win it would make much more sense to go for Supporting. While she and Julie Harris were co-leads, its very clear that the movie's focus is on Frankie's narrative rather than Berenice's. And while being nominated for Supporting while basically being a co-lead is probably an unfair advantage actresses HAVE won under these circumstances, most recently Viola Davis in Fences. It's even more frustrating when you know that Gloria Grahame's performance in Bad and the Beautiful is insanely weak and her win perplexing (its almost like they nominated her for the wrong film - as she was brilliant in Sudden Fear) and that Grahame's closest competitor Jean Hagen as Lena Lamont in Singin in the Rain - while alot of fun - would have been a lightweight compared to Waters' tour de force. And unlike either actress Waters would have built up alot of goodwill up to this point - both from her nomination for Pinky in 1949 and from her by this point decades on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood running the gamut as an actress, singer, and dancer. In short HAD she been nominated for Supporting its very likely she would have won. Such a waste tbh
In The Member of the Wedding Ethel Waters was top billed over Julie Harris & while it is regrettable that Ethel was not nominated for Best Actress, the reason given was that Columbia (studio) made no effort to campaign for her & put all their efforts into promoting Julie as the star of the film. I agree that Grahame's Best Supporting Actress performance was not in the same league as Ethel's & that if Ethel had been nominated in that category (as she had been in Pinky in 1949) she probably would have won.
It probably didn't help that Ethel was known for being notoriously difficult to work with even by modern standards. Seems like she got on well enough on the set of Member of the Wedding but she had famously driven John Ford off of Pinky and apparently only got on a little better with Elia Kazan and this was coming off of her getting quasi blacklisted over her behavior on the set of Cabin in the Sky specifically a rant she went on over Lena Horne getting preferential treatment by Vincente Minelli where she "might" have gone on about Hollywood being controlled by a certain group of people (I'm being grossly generalistic but you get where I'm headed). I'm not even saying this is fair but I think she'd burned too many bridges by this point that even with the phenomenal performance she gave it wasn't enough for an already racist (quiet as kept) industry to at least hold their nose and give her a nomination (Hattie McDaniel was almost insanely cooperative to the point where her "I'd rather play a maid than be one" retort is now legendary and this likely helped her become the first black woman so honored by the Academy)
I've heard some of these before... no idea how true they are, but they might have impacted her chances true or untrue. Seems like she mellowed out in her later years and even admitted to having been difficult if I remember correctly@@abrahamaytemo
Shirley Booth owned that category. That phone call scene when Lola is pleading with her mom to “come home” only to be rejected always makes me tear up.
For Shirley’s performance, my favorite scene from the film is Lola’s sheer terror when she screams “He’s got a knife!” while she’s on the phone and Doc is chasing her. It felt very genuine and natural especially for that time in film. In that one scene alone, I can understand completely how she won the Oscar. Awesome video essay series as usual Fritz, I can probably already tell how you would rank each of these performances. In the future, I would love your take on the Best Actress race of 1963, and maybe the Best Actor race of 1957
I actually did Best Actress 1963 already. The videos are here: ruclips.net/video/qdbrmiksPPY/видео.html
@@FritzandtheOscars oh wait I think I meant 1962😂😅 I also saw that series and it was awesome! Really loved Patricia Neal in Hud!!
I agree it was a very terrifying scream but her entire performance is jaw dropping.Another stellar moment is on the porch when she calls for Sheba! Lola is also calling for past youth to come back!!! Makes me tear up
The scene I loved best was when she and Doc were in separate beds at bedtime. Lola tells Doc her dream of the night before, when Sheba had gotten old. Doc: "Some things are never meant to grow old." The look on Lola's face! She knew he was talking about her, not Sheba.
Shirley and Julie Harris were perhaps a bit ahead of their time. I mean Julie Harris looks like she belonged in the 90s back in the 50s
I’m really enjoying the format of these in-depth looks into Oscar years being split up across several parts! So looking forward to the next.
Fritz and The Oscars
Excellent Video Again 💯👍🏼
Thank you!
Fritz nails it again for a wonderful video. As usual I was hanging on his every word. My pick that year was Shirley Booth in what I believe is often forgotten by cinema historians who never name her as one of the most deserving Oscar worthy performances. Julie Harris was a close second, imo. She remained close friends with Burt Lancaster who co-starred with her in ‘Sheba’. It was he, in fact, who tried to discourage her years later from committing to the ‘Hazel’ role, saying it was beneath her. She ultimately accepted the tv role based on a largely circulated cartoon character. She said her decision was purely based on the money, an offer she couldn’t refuse. As Fritz noted, Shirley went on to win two best actress Emmy awards and making more money and recognition (outside of New York) than she ever had previously. After the 5 season ‘Hazel’ run, she returned full time to her true love, the theater. Thank you Fritz!!!!!
Thanks so much for your comment!
@@FritzandtheOscars I thank you as well.
SUPERB WORK! 'From the outside', so to speak, you delve as deeply into America's acting realm as any US reviewer could - if not more so. I'm in awe of your brilliance.
Thank you so much for your kind words, this means a lot to me!
@@FritzandtheOscars- I agree. Your perception and articulateness and respect for your subjects are unmatched.
ph, thank you so much!!!@@timothysullivan6790
A very entertaining look at two of my favorite actors. I learned something new about both. I will look for more of your episodes.
I adore both of these actresses and I loved their performances. I wish both women had won, which would have been possible with a tie. Miss Harris was such a good actress, she deserved an academy award too. I cannot deny that Shirley Booth as Lola was brilliant. But so was Julie. What a hard choice. I loved both of these films and portrayals. These actresses, as well as the likes of Geraldine Page, were stellar actresses. Thankfully Miss Page would win an Academy award herself late in her career. But I wish Julie had been honored as well. I was fortunate to see Julie in Driving Miss Daisy on the stage in the late 1980s. I will always be grateful for that.
I would have loved to see Julie on stage
I know more about movies than most people. I grew up in Movieland, have read more than my share of books about Hollywood and to this day follow the results of film festivals, movie projects in the pipeline and careers of celebrated acting talents. What amazes me is what I learn in your videos. It has astonished me more than a few times at what you know on the subject and I did not. And how many people nowadays can toss a reference of Marie Dressler? You're amazing.
Oh, thank you so much for your kind words! I don't think I know more than other people on those subjects but I'm always very happy to learn that I can provide a bit more insight! Thanks so much for watching!
@@FritzandtheOscars When it comes to compliments on your work your tendency is to demur, I have noticed. They are super well-written. The insights are gifted. The clips you use are unearthed from God knows where. The time it must take not only for the research but the execution is more like a calling than anything else. For your benefit (underlined), I will quote from one of Bette Davis' most famous roles: "You underestimate yourself, Eve. You always do."
Thank you so much for these super kind words! That's really very encouraging to continue to do these little videos! :)
This is awesome! Thank you so much for your hard work. I always thought Shirley booth’s come back Little Sheba was the original Edith Bunker.
Excellent observation - mr bunker acts like a drunk and calls his wife dingbat for which like Boothes character largely ignores . Norman Lear had to be influenced by Come back little Sheba .
That All About Eve reference!
Is it bad I got it almost immediately?
I hope everyone does!
Omg judy holiday as Lola??!! You cannot be serious!!😂
Amazing video, thank you so much for this!
Excellent in every way, thank you.
Thank you !
Wonderful, but that was Betty Hutton in The Greatest Show on Earth not Betty Grable!
Of course, you are so right! Sigh, what an annoying mistake! Just shows that you can proof-read a thousand times and still miss someting
@@FritzandtheOscars I love these videos and watch them over and over! Your analysis of Sudden Fear was magnificent!
Thank you so much!
Great use of film clips and interviews. Superb job!
Thanks so much!
Another wonderful video.
Thanks so much!
Ethel Waters's performance was THE best of 1952 & deserved the Oscar though Julie Harris & Shirley Booth came very very close
Ethel was certainly fantastic and if she had been nominated, the decision would have been much more difficult
Your You Tube work on the Oscars is wonderful. So glad I have discovered it. Keep it up! @@FritzandtheOscars
The way the looked down on television back in the day.
If only they were alive today to see what television has turned into.
So many exciting roles in television today, everybody is doing television from meryl streep to Nicole kidman to Emma stone to brie larson to Jessica lange to Kate Winslet.
Every leading lady today has a TV show on a streaming service
Hazel as Shirley Booth's main cultural resonance nowadays - same with similarly-great Agnes Moorehead, her immense and varied body of work subsumed under Endora the mother in Bewitched.
Çrying shame, both of them were great.
By the way, it is Betty HUTTON in "The Greatest Show on Earth" not Betty GRABLE
That's totally true, that was a mistake on my part
Easy mistake and does not take away from highly interesting and enjoyable video and very fun and interesting channel !@@FritzandtheOscars
@charleswtriplett thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it
I watched Member of the Wedding last evening. Julie Harris was obviously a gifted actress, but despite her formidable technique nothing about her performance as a 24 year old woman makes her credible as a twelve year old girl. Her performance doubtlessly worked in the theater, but in the more realistic medium that is film it is borderline grotesque.
Julie Harris brought Emily Dickinson back from eternity! Im a scholar of Dickinson and feel very qualified to humbly say this❤
Freddie Mercury 😂😂😂
HAZEL !
I enjoyed Shirley Booth as an actress, but she was wrong about training, it always makes for better actors. Especially Method acting, which I can vouch for. And as good as Shirley Booth was, Joanne Woodward was a much better actress, both in depth of emotion, and in range of characters
1:13:21...
the amount of time that Fritz needs 2 'trash' Ms. Booth's inimitable, stellar performance vs. that of Ms. Harris?!
Fritz, seriously, u NEED 2 get:
a REAL job,
a friend,
a psychiatrist &
a LIFE...!!
& NOT necessarily in that ORDER!! 🥴
Thanks for watching! Unfortunately I already have a job, otherwise I could do much more of these videos!
20th...Great Movie with SB and BL... Come back little Sheeba ..... are you saying they didn't go together well? I know they had to AGE BL... The character Lola was a Needy woman, Codependent that she couldn't be happy if her husband wasn't happy..
I think they don't have any on-screen chemistry and never feel believable as a couple with a long past togethter, but that's more on him
@@FritzandtheOscars agreed....like if an Older guy was playing his part..it would be more believable as well