Your Favourite Performances from 1929 to present are...

[Princess of Tap]

Tom--

 

Metro had groomed Cyd Charisse for dancing stardom in the 1940s. She was well-trained ballet dancer.

 

Arthur Freed and Gene Kelly had slated her to be the co-star in An American in Paris. When it was discovered that she was pregnant, she and her husband, singer Tony Martin, considered abortion; but they later reconsidered.

 

As disappointing as this was for her and Gene Kelly, she later got her chance in Singin' in the Rain.

 

Gene Kelly and his two talented dance assistants-- Carol Haney and Jeanne Coyne had to work extensively with Cyd to teach her jazz dancing.

 

Gene said that she was shy and reticent--he had to get that out of her.

 

Her ballet technique certainly gave Cyd a great deal of control and ability-- the foundation to be a great jazz dancer--but the jazz style is an entity unto itself and requires separate training with numerous dance classes.

 

Just because she was an accomplished ballet dancer there was no assurance that she would become an accomplished, much less, a great jazz dancer. But, she did.

 

It's ironic that for Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly and his assistants had to teach Debbie Reynolds how to tap dance, while at the same time they had to teach Cyd Charisse the jazz dance technique and style.

 

Considering everything they had to do, it's amazing what they accomplished.

 

And years later Gene was always fond of saying that Cyd was very delicate and could only work in the mornings--she got exhausted easily, despite that Great ballet background. But he chortled-- you can work Little Debbie Reynolds all day long-- she was just a little Workhorse. LOL In fact, for years Debbie was very bitter about Gene's tough love treatment of her on this movie. But eventually she came to admit that Gene gave her the discipline and dance technique that furthered her career.

 

 

It shocked me to learn decades later that after having worked with two of the greatest tap dancers of all time - - Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly - - Cyd never bothered to learn to tap dance.

 

In the 1970s when Cyd wanted a job tap dancing, she had to take tap dance lessons to be able to qualify as the lead in No, No Nanette.

 

The show on Broadway had become a big hit as a Revival starring movie tap dancer Ruby Keeler. Ironically Ruby Keeler would often State quite unapologetically that she had never studied ballet and that you were just going to get a straight buck and Wing hoofer when you saw her tap dance.

 

Only a dancer could see the irony in Cyd - - the train ballet dancer being forced to take tap lessons in order to work as a dancer.

 

FYI-- in the hierarchy of Dance, ballet dancers are at the top and tap dancers are at the bottom-- unless of course you'Re Fred Astaire.

 

I grew up watching Silk Stockings -- Fred Astaire's last MGM Musical, co-starring with Cyd. I always thought that Cyd was his favorite movie partner and that he enjoyed working with her the most because she was so well trained in ballet and looked so good in jazz technique as well.

They certainly look very comfortable together in Dancing in the Dark.

 

Cyd was an investment that paid off for MGM. She certainly held up her side of the bargain for the last Great era of MGM musicals.

[skimpole]

Actor

Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain
Takashi Shimura, Ikiru
Carlo Battisti, Umberto D
Gary Cooper, High Noon
Charles Chaplin, Limelight

Runner-ups:  Georges Poujouly (Forbidden Games), Michael MacLiammoir, Orson Welles (Othello), Burt Lancaster (The Crimson Pirate), Robert Walker (My Son John), Robert Mitchum, (The Lusty Men), Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob), Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful), John Wayne (The Quiet Man), Spencer Tracy (Pat and Mike)  

Actress

Simone Signoret, Casque D'Or
Kinuyo Tanaka, The Life of Oharu
Debbie Reynolds, Singin' in the Rain

Ingrid Bergman, Europa 51

Helen Hayes, My Son John

Runner-ups:  Susan Hayward (The Lusty Men), Judy Holliday (The Marrying Kind), Brigitte Fossey (Forbidden Games), Claire Bloom (Limelight), Katherine Hepburn (Pat and Mike), Anna Magnani (The Golden Coach)


Supporting Actor

Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain
1951 movie nominated in 1952:  Stanley Holloway, The Lavender Hill Mob
Arthur Kennedy, The Lusty Men
Victor McLagen, The Quiet Man
Dick Powell, The Bad and the Beautiful

Substitute for Holloway:

Buster Keaton, Limelight

Supporting Actress

Maria Pia-Casillo, Umberto D

Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain
Madeleine Renaud, Le Plaisir
Danielle Darrieux, Le Plaisir
Gloria Grahame, The Bad and the Beautiful

Runner-up:  Cyd Charisse (Singin' in the Rain), Marie Windsor, (The Narrow Margin)  


Not seen:  Ivanhoe, Five Fingers, Come Back Little Sheba, Sudden Fear, The Star, The Member of the Wedding, With a Song in My Heart, My Cousin Rachel 

A rather weak year for best supporting actor.  It says something that after O'Connor my four  choices come from movies that I couldn't quite give a nomination for Best Actor.

[Princess of Tap]

Previously I had some difficult years, but this may have been one of the hardest. I don't know why because there are some very good films here.

 

Favorite Acting Performances of 1952

 

Actress

 

1)* Shirley Booth *- - Come Back, Little Sheba

 

2) Susan Hayward - - With a Song in my Heart

3) Bette Davis - - The Star

4) Marilyn Monroe - - Don't Bother to Knock

5) Barbara Stanwyck - - Clash by Night

 

 

Actor

 

1)* Takashi Shimura*--Ikiru

 

2) Gary Cooper - - High Noon

3) Burt Lancaster - - Come Back, Little Sheba

4) Cary Grant - - Monkey Business

5) Richard Widmark - - Don't Bother to Knock

[CoraSmith]

 

ACTOR:

1. Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain

2. Charlie Chaplin - Limelight

3. Michael Redgrave - The Importance of Being Earnest

4. Carlo Battisti - Umberto D.

5. Takashi Shimura - Ikiru

6. Gary Cooper - High Noon

7. Kirk Douglas - The Bad and the Beautiful

8. Fernandel - The Little World of Don Camillo

9. Cary Grant - Monkey Business

10. James Mason - 5 Fingers

 

ACTRESS:

1. Debbie Reynolds - Singin' in the Rain

2. Barbara Stanwyck - Clash by Night

3. Lana Turner - The Bad and the Beautiful

4. Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba

5. Ginger Rogers - Monkey Business

6. Betty Hutton - The Greatest Show on Earth

7. Claire Bloom - Limelight

8. Grace Kelly - High Noon

9. Marilyn Monroe - Don't Bother to Knock

10. Jean Simmons - Angel Face

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1. Donald O'Connor - Singin' in the Rain

2. Michael Denison - The Importance of Being Earnest

3. Buster Keaton - Limelight

4. Walter Pidgeon - The Bad and the Beautiful

5. James Stewart - The Greatest Show on Earth

6. Miles Malleson - The Importance of Being Earnest

7. Gino Cervi - The Little World of Don Camillo

8. Heinrich Gretler - Heidi

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1. Joan Greenwood - The Importance of Being Earnest

2. Maria-Pia Casilio  - Umberto D.

3. Edith Evans - The Importance of Being Earnest

4. Katy Jurado - High Noon

5. Marilyn Monroe - Monkey Business

6. Anne Bancroft - Don't Bother to Knock

7. Jean Hagen - Singin' in the Rain

8. Zsa Zsa Gabor - Moulin Rouge 

BEST JUVENILE PERFORMANCE: 

1. Brigitte Fossey - Forbidden Games

2. Georges Poujouly - Forbidden Games

3. Elsbeth Sigmund - Heidi

 

BEST EXTRA: 

1. Bess Flowers - The Bad and the Beautiful

2. Bob Hope - The Greatest Show on Earth

3. Geraldine Chaplin - Limelight

 

BEST ANIMAL PERFORMANCE: Napoleone (dog Flike in Umberto D.)

BEST CASTING AGAINST TYPE: Christopher Lee as Georges Seurat in Moulin Rouge

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: We're Not Married

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Limelight (Charlie Chaplin)
BEST MORE OR LESS ORIGINAL SONG: Make 'Em Laugh (Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain)

BEST NON-ORIGINAL SONG: Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain)

BEST ORIGINAL QUOTE: "You're a pretty nice guy - for a girl." (Angel Face) 

BEST NON-ORIGINAL QUOTE: "Thirty-five is an attractive age. London is full of women of the highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years." (The Importance of Being Earnest)

 

[Princess of Tap]

And the supporting roles seem to be a little easier in the selection and a lot more competitive.

 

Favorite Supporting Acting Performances of 1952

 

Actress

 

1)* Jean Hagen *- - Singin' in the Rain

 

2) Katy Jurado - - High Noon

3) Thelma Ritter - - With a Song in my Heart

4) Marie Windsor - - The Narrow Margin

5) Terry Moore - - Come Back, Little Sheba

 

 

Actor

 

1)* Robert Ryan*- - Clash by Night

 

2) Donald O'Connor - - Singin' in the Rain

3) Dick Powell - - The Bad and The Beautiful

4) Jack Palance--Sudden Fear

5) Sterling Hayden - - The Star

[Bogie56]

The New York Film Critics Circle Awards for 1952 were:

 

Best Actor

Ralph Richardson, Breaking the Sound Barrier*

Charles Chaplin, Limelight

 

Best Actress

Shirley Booth, Come Back, Little Sheba*

Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

The National Board of Review Awards for 1952 were…

 

Best Actor

Ralph Richardson, Breaking the Sound Barrier*

 

Best Actress

Shirley Booth, Come Back, Little Sheba*

[TomJH]

The following is a review I wrote a while ago about of a little 1952 crime drama that occasionally comes on TCM:

 

For lovers of crime dramas, with film noir elements, I highly recommend The Steel Trap. While no classic, the film is a surprisingly satisfactory "will he get away with it or not" crime drama, which also deserves mention in the category of good little films that you've (probably) never heard of.

This is a medium budgeted, tight little drama starring Joseph Cotten in one of the favorite roles of film noir culture, that of a respectable member of society who is discontented and bored, leading him to trouble. In this case he’s a long time employee of a bank who day dreams of how easy it would be to embezzle one million dollars from his bank over a weekend.

Cotten has a likable everyman quality about him, so as he decides one day to make his day dream become a reality it’s easy for the audience to identify with him. Yes, he’s breaking the law and by all the moral codes of society he is wrong to do so. Yet we can’t help but root for him because of the intelligence, audacity and, well, balls that his character displays.

 

This film is quite suspenseful at times and tightly paced by director Andrew Stone. It’s a short little 85 minute feature and doesn’t waste any time in telling it’s simple but involving tale, with all the unexpected complications that arise threatening to scuttle Cotten and his plans for a new life with all that loot.

Since The Steel Trap was made in the ‘50s when the Hollywood production code dictated that no film character can attempt such a plan without paying a price for it, I was pleasantly surprised at the film’s resolution, which I found to be both unexpected and satisfying.

 

One more thing for film noir buffs. Visually The Steel Trap has none of the chiaroscuro lighting effects that we so love about ‘40s noirs. In fact, the visuals of this film are the least of its virtues. The emphasis is upon plot development and, increasingly as the film progresses, its pacing. The film also reunites Cotten with his Shadow of a Doubt co-star, Teresa Wright. Wright gives a lovely performance (the moral conscience of the film) as Cotten’s wife who initially hadn’t got a clue as to her husband’s plans. Her character eventually turns out to play an important role in the flow of the narrative.

*A final warning:* Do *NOT* read either the TCM website plot summary of this film or Leonard Maltin’s review before seeing The Steel Trap! Both give away an unexpected twist in the story. I was glad that I saw this film without having read either because they would have partially spoiled the film for me.

Joseph Cotten was a fine actor, capable of playing a smooth talking charming psychopath (Shadow of a Doubt) as well as personifying an everyman, as an earnest, slightly awkward leading man (The Third Man). While The Steel Trap hardly rates among Cotten’s best films, it does have something in common with the actor, that of being good, largely neglected and underrated.

 

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 86 films I've seen from 1952 for…

 

Best Supporting Actress of 1952

 

1.  COLETTE MARCHAND (Marie Charlet), Moulin Rouge

2.  FAY COMPTON (Emilia), The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

3.  MIKI ODAGIRI (Toyo Odagiri, Public Affairs Employee), Ikiru

4.  ETHEL WATERS (Bernice Sadie Brown), The Member of the Wedding

5.  JEAN HAGEN (Lina Lamont), Singin' In the Rain 

 

6.  MIRIAM HOPKINS (Julie Hurstwood) , Carrie

7.  GLORIA GRAHAME (Rosemary Bartlow), The Bad an the Beautiful

8.  JOAN GREENWOOD (Gwendolyn Fairfax), The Importance of Being Earnest

9.  TERRY MOORE (Marie Buckholder), Come Back, Little Sheba

10. JEAN PETERS (Josefa Espejo Zapata), Viva Zapata!

 

and ...

 

MARGARET LEIGHTON (Margaret Gregory), The Holly and the Ivy

MARGARET RUTHERFORD (Miss Letitia Prism), The Importance of Being Earnest

MARILYN MONROE (Peggy), Clash by Night

KATHERINE KATH (La Goulue), Moulin Rouge

DOROTHY TUTIN (Cecily Cardew), The Importance of Being Earnest

MILDRED NATWICK (‘the widow’, Mrs. Sarah Tillane), The Quiet Man

THELMA RITTER (Clancy), With a Song In My Heart

MARILYN MONROE (Miss Lois Laurel), Monkey Business

SUZANNE FLON (Myriamme Hayem), Moulin Rouge

LINA GENNARI (Antonia Belloni), Umberto D.

MARIA PIA CASILIO (Maria), Umberto D.

[Kay]

1952 - Not the most exceptional year for me (save Dreamboat and esp. Earnest), except the Supporting Actress category which was practically a toss-up between the first three. I'm afraid I became dissatisfied with my honorable mentions in either Actor category and took it down to the bare-bones.
 

Actor

Clifton Webb - Dreamboat***

 

Actress

Joan Greenwood - The Importance of Being Earnest*** [wins in either and any category]
Dorothy Tutin - The Importance of Being Earnest
Kinuyo Tanaka - The Life of Oharu

Bette Davis - The Star
Marilyn Monroe - Don't Bother to Knock [her performance makes me see this more as a dark comedy]

 

Supporting Actor
 

Alberto Sordi - The White Sheik***

 

Supporting Actress
 

Edith Evans - The Importance of Being Earnest***

Elsa Lanchester - Dreamboat
Jean Hagen - Singin' in the Rain

Margaret Rutherford - The Importance of Being Earnest

Giulietta Masina - The White Sheik

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 86 films I've seen from 1952 for…

 

Best Supporting Actor of 1952

 

1.  VICTOR MCLAGLEN (Squire "Red" Will Danaher), The Quiet Man

2.  ANTHONY QUINN (Eufemio Zapata), Viva Zapata!

3.  EDDIE ALBERT (Charles Drouet), Carrie

4.  BARRY FITZGERALD (Michaeleen Oge Flynn), The Quiet Man

5.  ARTHUR HUNNICUTT (Zeb Calloway), The Big Sky

 

6.  JAMES MASON (Count Rupert of Hentzau), The Prisoner of Zenda

7.  WALTER PIDGEON (Harry Pebbel), The Bad and the Beautiful

8.  DONALD O'CONNOR (Cosmo Brown), Singin' In the Rain

9.  GILBERT ROLAND (Victor "Gaucho" Ribera), The Bad and the Beautiful

10. CHARLES LAUGHTON (Soapy - ‘The Cop and the Anthem’), O. Henry’s Full House

 

and...

 

BARRY SULLIVAN (Fred Amiel), The Bad and the Beautiful

ROBERT COOTE (Roderigo), The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

RICHARD JAECKEL (Turk Fisher), Come Back, Little Sheba

RAYMOND BUSSIERES (Raymond), Casque d’or

BRANDON DE WILDE (John Henry), The Member of the Wedding

ARTHUR HUNNICUTT (Booker Davis), The Lusty Men

GUILIO STIVAL (“il sindaco - the mayor”), The Overcoat

DON BEDDOE (Gus Forbes), The Narrow Margin

OTTO KRUGER (Judge Percy Mettrick), High Noon

CHARLES COBURN (Mr. Oxley), Monkey Business

CLAUDE DAUPHIN (Felix Leca), Casque d’or

ETTORE MATTIA (“il segretario generale - the secretary general”), The Overcoat

RONALD SQUIRE (Nicolas ‘Nick’ Kendall), My Cousin Rachel

[TomJH]

Here's a review I wrote a few months ago about a little known 1952 drama:

 

THE MAN WHO WATCHED TRAINS GO BY (aka The Paris Express) is an intriguing 1952 crime drama filmed in Europe about a meek little clerk working for a respectable Dutch company who, by happenstance, finds himself with a suitcase full of stolen funds on a train to Paris.

 

He abandons his wife and children (the latter laughing at him behind his conservative, respectable back) to indulge in a life of excitement and adventure such as he had never dared dream. Yet, beneath it all, once he gets to Paris, he is still a mouse in many ways ready to be laughed at and exploited by those of the underworld that he encounters. But, as these people will also find out, the mouse can turn.

 

The clerk who goes on a spree is played by Claude Rains in, shockingly, one of only six motion pictures in which he appeared during the '50s. A woman of questionable morals that he meets and with whom he becomes obsessed is played by Marta Toren, a dark haired beauty whose appearance always reminded me of the gorgeous Alida (The Third Man) Valli.

 

 

Also in the cast are Marius Goring as a police inspector who wants to catch up with Rains before he really gets himself into even more serious trouble, and Herbert Lom, as his employer of the company for whom the clerk has been the perfect accountant for 18 years. All four actors give solid interpretations of their roles. Watching Rains and Lom together made me think of a former Phantom of the Opera working with a future one.

 

But it's Rains who is the primary source of interest in this drama, and it's his performance that brings many of the small pleasures to be found in this film which, at times, is also noteworthy for its lovely Technicolor. Rains plays a man who, by circumstances, stumbles into crime after a life of total boring respectability, and there are unsettling scenes in which an inner demon suddenly springs upon the face of an otherwise docile little man. There's a wickedness, suppressed for years, that bubbles to the surface, only to suddenly disappear again.

 

The change in character might be a little too sudden for complete conviction, at times, but it's such a pleasure to watch a seasoned professional like Rains at work here that I'm ready to forgive this little film for its weaknesses.

 

 

In the final analysis, The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (the title is explained by the film's opening scene, which shows Rains on his bicycle day dreaming about the exotic destinations of a train passing by him) is a minor drama. However, it is distinguished by the strong work of its cast and, in particular, the performance of the silken haired, elegant Claude Rains.

 

One of the great character actors of the studio system days, Rains's best work was behind him after leaving Warner Brothers in 1947. Here, however, he is given an opportunity to bring his subtle art to the screen once again in this independently produced European production.

[Bogie56]

The British Academy Awards, or what are now known as the BAFTA’s began in 1947 but it wasn’t until 1952 that they handed out acting awards.  Here are their choices for 1952:

 

Best Actor (British)

Ralph Richardson, Breaking the Sound Barrier

Laurence Olivier, Carrie

Alastair Sim, Folly to be Wise

Jack Hawkins, Mandy/Crash of Silence

James Hayter, The Pickwick Papers

Nigel Patrick, Breaking the Sound Barrier

 

Best Actor (Foreign)

Marlon Brando, Viva Zapata!

Pierre Fresnay, God Needs Men (50)

Francesco Golisano, Miracle In Milan (51)

Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen (51)

Fredric March, Death of a Salesman (51)

 

Best Actress (British)

Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire  (51)

Celie Johnson, I Believe In You

Phyllis Calvert, Mandy/Crash of Silence

Ann Todd, Breaking the Sound Barrier

 

Best Actress (Foreign)

Simone Signoret, Casque d’Or

Judy Holliday, The Marrying Kind

Edwige Feuilere, Olivia (51)

Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen (51)

Nicole Stephane, Les Enfants Terribles (50)

[Bogie56]

Here are Danny Peary’s Alternate Oscar choices for 1952.  Winners in bold.  

 

1952 Best Actor

John Wayne, The Quiet Man*

Charles Chaplin, Limelight

Kirk Douglas, The Bad and the Beautiful

Cary Grant, Monkey Business

Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob  X (51)

Gene Kelly, Singin’ In the Rain

 

1952 Best Actress

Judy Holliday, The Marrying Kind*

Julie Harris, The Member of the Wedding

Jennifer Jones, Ruby Gentry

Maureen O’Hara, The Quiet Man

Debbie Reynolds, Singin’ In the Rain

Ginger Rogers, Monkey Business

 

 

And here are Michael Gerbert’s Golden Armchair choices for 1952:

 

Best Actor

Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob*  X (51)

 

Best Actress

Jean Hagen, Singin’ In the Rain*

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 86 films I've seen from 1952 for…

 

Best Actress of 1952

 

1.  SHIRLEY BOOTH (Lola Delaney), Come Back, Little Sheba

2.  MAUREEN O'HARA (Mary Kate Danaher), The Quiet Man

3.  LANA TURNER (Georgia Lorrison), The Bad and the Beautiful

4.  JUDY HOLLIDAY (Florence Keefer), The Marrying Kind

5.  JENNIFER JONES (Carrie Meeber), Carrie

 

6.  KATHARINE HEPBURN (Pat Pemberton), Pat and Mike

7.  OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND (Rachel Coryn Ashley/“the Countess Sangaletti”), My Cousin Rachel

8.  JULIE HARRIS (Frances “Frankie” Jasmine Addams), The Member of the Wedding

9.  BETTE DAVIS (Margaret Elliot/”Margaret Morgan”/”Mary Lester”), The Star

10. IDA LUPINO (Helen Gordon), Beware, My Lovely

 

and ...

 

SUSAN HAYWARD (Jane Froman), With a Song In My Heart

DEBBIE REYNOLDS (Kathy Selden), Singin' In the Rain

GLYNIS JOHNS (Ruth Earp), The Promoter

JOAN CRAWFORD (Myra Hudson Blaine), Sudden Fear

SUSAN HAYWARD (Helen), The Snows of Kilimanjaro

JENNIFER JONES (Ruby Carey Gentry), Ruby Gentry

SUSAN HAYWARD (Louise Merritt), The Lusty Men

KINUYO TANAKA (Oharu Okui), The Life of Oharu

INGRID BERGMAN (Irene Girard), Europa ‘51

CLAIRE BLOOM (Thereza “Terry” Ambrose), Limelight

SIMONE SIGNORET (“Golden” Marie), Casque d’or

[Bogie56]

The 1952 Cannes Film Festival winners were…

 

Best Actor

Marlon Brando, Viva Zapata! 

 

Best Actress

Lee Grant, Detective Story (51)

 

—————————————————————————————

 

The 1952 Venice Film Festival winners were:

 

Best Actor

Fredric March, Death of a Salesman (51)

 

Best Actress

Ingrid Bergman, Europa 51

 

[Bogie56]

Here are my choices of the 86 films I've seen from 1952 for…

 

Best Actor of 1952

 

1.  JOHN WAYNE (Sean Thornton/"Trooper Thorn"), The Quiet Man

2.  GARY COOPER (Marshal Will Kane), High Noon

3.  CHARLES CHAPLIN (Calvero), Limelight

4.  SPENCER TRACY (Mike Conovan), Pat and Mike

5.  ORSON WELLES (Othello), The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

 

6.  TAKASHI SHIMURA (Kanji Watanabe, Public Affairs Section Chief), Ikiru

7.  MARLON BRANDO (Emiliano Zapata), Viva Zapata!

8.  LAURENCE OLIVIER (George Hurstwood), Carrie

9.  JOSE FERRER (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec/The Comte de Toulouse-Lautrec), Moulin Rouge

10. RALPH RICHARDSON (John Ridgefield), Breaking the Sound Barrier

 

and ...

 

KIRK DOUGLAS (Jonathan Shields), The Bad and the Beautiful

RICHARD BURTON (Philip Ashley), My Cousin Rachel

GENE KELLY (Donald "Don" Lockwood), Singin' In the Rain

JAMES MASON (Ulysses Diello/“Cicero”), 5 Fingers

MICHAEL REDGRAVE (John “Jack” Worthing/”Ernest Worthing"/"Ernest John Maqueth"), The Importance of Being Earnest

RENATO RASCEL (Carmine De Carmine), The Overcoat

MICHAEL MACLIAMMOIR (Iago), The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

ALEC GUINNESS (Edward Henry “Denry” Machin), The Promoter

ALBERTO SORDI (Fernando Rivoli/”Nando”/”the White Sheik”), The White Sheik

BURT LANCASTER (“Doc” Delaney/”Daddy”), Come Back, Little Sheba

[LawrenceA]

Bogie, of your top 20 Best Actor choices, I haven't seen 8 of them. Maybe that's why I think 1952 is a weaker year: I just haven't seen the right ones yet.

[Bogie56]

Bogie, of your top 20 Best Actor choices, i haven't seen 8 of them. Maybe that's why I think 1952 is a weaker year: I just haven't seen the right ones yet.

 

While I think all of these were good noteworthy performances you still may be right about it being a slightly weaker year for lead actor performances.  On my lists John Wayne would have come #7 if The Quiet Man had been 1951 or 1953.  Cooper and Chaplin would have rounded out the top ten had High Noon and Limelight been 1951 and that would have been it.

[TomJH]

Even though I admit that I had a difficult time in selecting the top performances of the year (with the actress categories particularly tough for me) I don't regard 1952 as one of the weaker years of the decade. (Memory tells me that 1955 might qualify as such).

 

Any year that produces the following films simply can't be called a weak year in my opinion:

 

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, nominated by many as the best musical ever made. Wonderful songs and performances, this clever satire on the early Hollywood talkies is also one of the funniest movies ever made, in my opinion.

 

 

THE QUIET MAN, John Ford's affectionate valentine to an Ireland that never existed, chockfull of blarney charm, with a marvelous cast. And, without doubt, the performance of Maureen O'Hara's career in the film for which she and John Wayne are best remembered as a screen team. 

 

 

FIVE FINGERS, one of the most intelligent spy dramas, with witty dialogue as part of its strong Joseph L. Mankiewicz written screenplay. James Mason is perfectly cast as the British Embassy valet selling secrets to the Germans in neutral Turkey during WW2. Mason brings a sly sardonic quality to his cynical, calculating role, as well as a sense of "coolness" and class. Little seems to ruffle him.

 

Perhaps my favourite line of dialogue is spoken by Danielle Darrieux as a Countess, politically ready to blow with the wind, used to an affluent lifestyle no matter who may be supporting her in her moneyed existence. When she catches sight of a German bureaucrat eyeing her admiringly, she dryly chatises him by saying, "Please do you look at me as if you have a source of income other than your salary."

 

This is a Mankiewicz film that deserves to be better known.

 

 

SCARAMOUCHE, one of the best swashbucklers ever made, a joy for the eye and ear, climaxed by a seven minute duel that ranks as a classic, with no sign of doubling with either of its participants (Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer).

 

 

VIVA ZAPATA, with John Steinbeck's passionate, intelligent screenplay anchoring this Elia Kazan drama with outstanding performances by both Brando and Quinn.

 

[LawrenceA]

Tom, I have 4 of those 5 on my Top Ten Films of the year list (I haven't seen Scaramouche).

 

And you didn't even mention High Noon, Moulin Rouge, or my top two choices of the year, Umberto D.  and Ikiru (but those are foreigners). 

 

So there were good movies in 1952, but not like some other years that we have done recently. !955 is weak, too, but it does contain one of my all-time favorites. 1958 was the weakest year of the decade, imo. But that, as they say, is a tale for another day. 

[Bogie56]

 

THE QUIET MAN, John Ford's affectionate valentine to an Ireland that never existed, chockfull of blarney charm, with a marvelous cast. And, without doubt, the performance of Maureen O'Hara's career in the film for which she and John Wayne are best remembered as a screen team. 

 

 

 

I'm stealing your photo from The Quiet Man, Tom for my little post about my number one pick for Best Actor of 1952, John Wayne.

I think if we hadn't been so used to the Duke and his persona but the time he made this film and if by some magic it had been a debut film people really would have stood up and taken more notice of his marvellous performance.  And O'Hara was great too.

[TomJH]

Tom, I have 4 of those 5 on my Top Ten Films of the year list (I haven't seen Scaramouche).

 

And you didn't even mention High Noon, Moulin Rouge, or my top two choices of the year, Umberto D.  and Ikiru (but those are foreigners). 

 

So there were good movies in 1952, but not like some other years that we have done recently. !955 is weak, too, but it does contain one of my all-time favorites. 1958 was the weakest year of the decade, imo. But that, as they say, is a tale for another day. 

 

I haven't seen your two foreign entries, Lawrence. But certainly High Noon deserves to be mentioned as well. Truth is, I enjoy The Greatest Show on Earth, hokey as it may be. There's also The Crimson Pirate.

 

I agree that 1958 was a weak year, along with '55.

[TomJH]

I'm stealing your photo from The Quiet Man, Tom for my little post about my number one pick for Best Actor of 1952, John Wayne.

I think if we hadn't been so used to the Duke and his persona but the time he made this film and if by some magic it had been a debut film people really would have stood up and taken more notice of his marvellous performance.  And O'Hara was great too.

 

The interesting thing about Sean Thornton is that Wayne plays him as a long suffering, gentle man for 90% of The Quiet Man. Truth is, O'Hara's Mary Kate would be a heck of a test of the patience of any man.

 

Yes, the film ends on a decidedly chauvinistic note that must have pleased Ford and Wayne, but I think this is definitely one of the Duke's best performances, certainly as likable a character as he would ever play.

[kingrat]

So there were good movies in 1952, but not like some other years that we have done recently. !955 is weak, too, but it does contain one of my all-time favorites. 1958 was the weakest year of the decade, imo. But that, as they say, is a tale for another day. 

I love 1958, which has three of my absolute favorites! Granted, not one of my top 14 got a Best Picture nod, and only one of the 14 got an acting nomination in any category. To be continued.

[kingrat]

Moulin Rouge was a pleasant surprise. I'd always had the impression it was supposed to be one of John Huston's misfires, despite the best picture nomination. Oswald Morris' color cinematography is great, controlling the color palette without the absurd overuse of filters which is standard procedure these days. I'd love to see this on the big screen for full enjoyment of Morris' work. He is one of my favorite cinematographers.

 

Moulin Rouge actually has more in common with some of the later films in Huston's career, beginning with The Kremlin Letter. These color films seem to foreground the cinematography much more than is the case with Huston's classic black and white films, in which story and character are brought more to the front.

 

Several of us mentioned various performances by French actresses in Moulin Rouge. Colette Marchand, as the woman who broke Toulouse-Lautrec's heart, has the showiest role and got the Oscar nomination. Suzanne Flon has the quiet role of the woman who truly loves him. Her reactions are always on point and are deeply moving. Claude Nollier does well as Toulouse-Lautrec's mother. Katherine Kath as La Goulue has one big dramatic scene toward the end of the film where she recalls how things were before Toulouse-Lautrec's posters made the Moulin Rouge so popular. I wonder if the singer Jane Avril was really the birdbrain Zsa Zsa Gabor makes her out to be (it's probably insulting to our avian friends to make the comparison).