The 14th Academy Awards ceremony took a somber tone, coming a couple of months after the United States officially entered World War II. Formal attire was banned, the banquet became just a "dinner," and there were no towering lights oscillating through the hills of Hollywood that night. But the show must go on. As for the actual films, the year may be remembered as that time Citizen Kane (1941) didn't win Best Picture. What did win was How Green Was My Valley (1941), which took home the most awards of the night with five. One of those awards was John Ford's record-tying third Best Director win. He would go on to set the still-existing record with his fourth win eleven years later. Out of these four wins, this is the only time his film would also win Best Picture. The most nominations of the night went to Sergeant York (1941), but it won only two. Still, two for eleven is better than zero for nine, which is what The Little Foxes (1941) did to set the record for most nominations without a win. In the Best Actress race, we had two real-life siblings going head-to-head for the first time in a category. Joan Fontaine would win the Oscar for her role in Suspicion (1941) but some say this was a make-up award for her performance in Rebecca (1940) the year prior. Her sister Olivia de Havilland cheered on the sidelines along with three other actresses in a very strong year for the award. This year marks the first time documentaries are specifically honored with a Best Documentary Oscar. It would take a couple of years for the Academy to split the documentaries into features and shorts but as the War raged on in Europe, it was important to honor these types of nonfiction films. 1941 was also the year of Walt Disney. He had one of his features win the Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Oscar (Dumbo (1941)) and one of his shorts win for Best Short Subjects - Cartoons (Lend a Paw (1941)). If awards of merit aren't enough, Fantasia (1940) would be specified for not one but two Honorary Academy Awards and Walt Disney himself would receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. I'm not sure if one person has ever dominated a single ceremony like this. And the results are:
Best Picture nominees:
Blossoms in the Dust
Citizen Kane
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Hold Back the Dawn
How Green Was My Valley
The Little Foxes
The Maltese Falcon
One Foot in Heaven
Sergeant York
Suspicion
What won: How Green Was My Valley
The big winner of the night was John Ford's down-to-earth portrait of a working class coal mining family. Featuring an ensemble cast, two performances were nominated in the Supporting categories, with Donald Crisp winning his only Oscar. In addition to Best Picture and Best Director, it also won the Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography awards over Citizen Kane. Indeed, the Art Direction was well deserved as the entire late Victorian era coal mining village was constructed after deeming it dangerous to film on location in Wales during the War. This set makes for gorgeous black-and-white photography but winning over Gregg Toland just isn't right.
What should have won: Citizen Kane
You knew this was coming. In perhaps the most predictable decision I will have in the Project, Citizen Kane just has to win my Best Picture. Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe took the cinema by storm with one of the most pivotal films in cinematic history. A fictional biopic that seems to reference William Randolph Hearst, only one Oscar was awarded to it - that of its original screenplay. There is some conflicting information on who is more responsible, Welles or Herman J. Mankiewicz but what impresses me the most about the screenplay is how it's constructed. The nonlinear nature allows the film to never grow stale. You can throw on the movie at any time and, unless you've seen it hundreds of times, it would be difficult to predict which scene comes next; the way the characters are blocked in the frame does make it easy to manage who's perspective we are watching though. The editing somehow manages to craft a highly entertaining narrative by piecing these moments in time together, but the most impressive editing comes during a couple of montage sequences, most notably the breakfast sequence. The picture is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to all these technical aspects but the deep focus cinematography is its most lasting achievement. Gregg Toland did so much of the heavy lifting and his loss in the Best Cinematography race has to be among the most egregious of the Academy's history. I didn't mention this in my review, but the story is also evergreen. There will always be ambitious people who let greed and money soil their character and end up on the wrong side of history after starting on the right side. Mr. Welles' performance on both sides of this line holds up and his picture is appropriately considered a masterpiece.
My Best Picture nominee rankings:
1. Citizen Kane (10/10)
2. The Maltese Falcon (9/10)
3. The Little Foxes (8/10)
4. How Green Was My Valley (7/10)
5. Sergeant York (7/10)
6. Suspicion (7/10)
7. Blossoms in the Dust (7/10)
8. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (7/10)
9. Hold Back the Dawn (7/10)
10. One Foot in Heaven (5/10)
Best Picture nominees:
Blossoms in the Dust
Citizen Kane
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Hold Back the Dawn
How Green Was My Valley
The Little Foxes
The Maltese Falcon
One Foot in Heaven
Sergeant York
Suspicion
What won: How Green Was My Valley
The big winner of the night was John Ford's down-to-earth portrait of a working class coal mining family. Featuring an ensemble cast, two performances were nominated in the Supporting categories, with Donald Crisp winning his only Oscar. In addition to Best Picture and Best Director, it also won the Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography awards over Citizen Kane. Indeed, the Art Direction was well deserved as the entire late Victorian era coal mining village was constructed after deeming it dangerous to film on location in Wales during the War. This set makes for gorgeous black-and-white photography but winning over Gregg Toland just isn't right.
What should have won: Citizen Kane
You knew this was coming. In perhaps the most predictable decision I will have in the Project, Citizen Kane just has to win my Best Picture. Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe took the cinema by storm with one of the most pivotal films in cinematic history. A fictional biopic that seems to reference William Randolph Hearst, only one Oscar was awarded to it - that of its original screenplay. There is some conflicting information on who is more responsible, Welles or Herman J. Mankiewicz but what impresses me the most about the screenplay is how it's constructed. The nonlinear nature allows the film to never grow stale. You can throw on the movie at any time and, unless you've seen it hundreds of times, it would be difficult to predict which scene comes next; the way the characters are blocked in the frame does make it easy to manage who's perspective we are watching though. The editing somehow manages to craft a highly entertaining narrative by piecing these moments in time together, but the most impressive editing comes during a couple of montage sequences, most notably the breakfast sequence. The picture is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to all these technical aspects but the deep focus cinematography is its most lasting achievement. Gregg Toland did so much of the heavy lifting and his loss in the Best Cinematography race has to be among the most egregious of the Academy's history. I didn't mention this in my review, but the story is also evergreen. There will always be ambitious people who let greed and money soil their character and end up on the wrong side of history after starting on the right side. Mr. Welles' performance on both sides of this line holds up and his picture is appropriately considered a masterpiece.
My Best Picture nominee rankings:
1. Citizen Kane (10/10)
2. The Maltese Falcon (9/10)
3. The Little Foxes (8/10)
4. How Green Was My Valley (7/10)
5. Sergeant York (7/10)
6. Suspicion (7/10)
7. Blossoms in the Dust (7/10)
8. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (7/10)
9. Hold Back the Dawn (7/10)
10. One Foot in Heaven (5/10)