The Oscar nominations have been announced, and there’s quite a hullabaloo about who’s been slighted. Well, guess that happens every year.
Hello, everybody. Mrs. Norman Maine won her Oscar, but Mr. Joe Morella and Mr. Frank Segers, your classic movie guys, are here to discuss some of the biggest stars who never even got nominated.
That’s right. Some of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age were never even picked to compete. That list includes Alan Ladd, Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy, Rita Hayworth, Ida Lupino, Errol Flynn, Joseph Cotten and Edward G. Robinson.
Surely Power’s performances in The Razor’s Edge and Nightmare Alley were worthy of consideration. Joseph Cotten was superb in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, one of the master’s very favorite pictures.
Ida Lupino was great in every role she undertook. But especially convincing in the two film noirs with Robert Ryan, On Dangerous Ground and Beware My Lovely.
Perhaps people such as McCrea, Ford and Loy were just so natural that the Academy members thought they weren’t “acting.” And Ladd and Hayworth were just movie stars.
The greatest slight in our opinion is the lack of even a nomination for Edward G. Robinson. There were so many roles, both as a leading man (Little Caesar, Woman in the Window, etc.) and as a supporting actor (Double Indemnity, The Stranger, Key Largo, All My Sons) when he should have been considered.
Well, a lot of it is politics, as we all know. And perhaps he wasn’t glamorous enough for an Oscar.
Has the Academy injudiciously snubbed any of your favorite actors? Please let us know.
Eddie G. is definitely the big one. It’s not just a mystery as to his continual snubs, but a shame.
I agree Edward G. Robinson is the single worst omission for never having been nominated. Ridiculous. Another egregious snub of no nominations is Boris Karloff, especially in 1945 for The Body Thief. But anytime someone mentions Oscar snubs the one that really irritates me is Deborah Kerr for not winning once in spite of 6 nominations. That’s just inexplicable.
At least EGR was given an honorary Oscar – apparently he knew he had been voted the award but died before that year’s Academy Awards ceremony (hopefully the shock that he was finally being recognized didn’t contribute to his demise). That the Academy overlooked ever nominating him or Tyrone Power, Joel McCrea, Myrna Loy, Ida Lupino and Joseph Cotten is mind-boggling. Myrna luckily managed to live long enough to receive an honorary Oscar.
Irene Dunne was nominated five times and amazingly won not one Oscar. Judy Garland was honored with a juvenile award but certainly deserved the Best Actress for her turn as Mrs. Norman Maine…etc.
EGR is a particular favorite of mine, he truly was an honest and noble guy. I think he put his heart and soul into his roles and even though he’s remembered most for his gangster roles, I liked him in real world parts too like “Our Vines Make Tender Grapes”… I think Kay Francis was deserving also. She was “Miss Warner Bros” in 1935 earning more than $100,000, as compared to Bette Davis at $18000.