Why Judy Holliday won the Oscar over Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson

[@tiffanywitherspoon8722]

Thank you so much for this series, it was brilliant. We can’t imagine how long it must have taken you to edit and add commentary.

[@FritzandtheOscars]

This was a big one because the year is so special. I hope the next one will be shorter 🤣

[@darylchin53]

A brilliant summation of one of your most considered, detailed, and incredibly well-researched series! Lost in admiration for your dedication and incisive analysis. (It's hard to see how you can top this, but then, felt the same way about your series about the 1962 Oscar race.)

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Thanks so much for those kind words 😊

[@oscarman42]

Arguably the most competitive year for that category in Oscar history. All 5 nominees were deserving, which makes 1950 so fascinating to discuss and debate!

[@poetcomic1]

Anne Baxter obstinately running the leading actress category instead of supporting cost Bette her Oscar. I adore Judy but one must remember she played this to a live audience hundreds of times and she got to perfect every moment, timing, a certain way of saying something got a bigger laugh she would do that instead etc. etc. Bette and Gloria didn't even have theatrical rehearsals, they had to nail each scene. Making a film come alive out of nothing is magic. Filming a play for which an actress has already won a Tony and performed 100's of times is putting a play on film as with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker.

[@FrederickCuozzo]

Anne Baxter was correctly categorized as a lead performance. The movie is "All About EVE," and she is on screen equally as Margo. Also, as stated, vote splitting does not really exist. It does not seem logical that anyone who voted for Baxter, would have voted for Davis. ( I actually think that Baxter's performance was the best performance that year.)

[@rosemaryfranzese317]

I don’t believe Anne Baxter effected Bette Davis’ chance of winning an Oscar for All about Eve. I think Bette and Gloria Swanson split the voters. In 1950 things looked very different because all the films were newly released. All about Eve and Sunset Boulevard have stood have stood the test of time better than Born Yesterday. It seems impossible today that Bette or Gloria were overlooked but this video explained why they were

[@derrionbrown3923]

It’s like Christmas. Thanks Fritz!!!

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Haha, well, it's not new content, just re-used 😄

[@fred3467]

I'm sorry, but Judy Holiday didn't deserve the Oscar. It should have gone to either Davis or Swanson. Anyone who thinks differently is sadly mistaken.

[@poetcomic1]

I love Judy but she got to refine every nuance and pause of the play with many hundreds of live audiences. The film actresses got one day to shoot a scene.

[@andreiiliepopescu6393]

You're entitled to that opinion, but consider how rare comedy lead actress Oscars are. So when an actress gets one for a comedy role, that role and actress must have been beyond outstanding, if only in that moment or age. 😊

[@kellie-nd1yp]

Your content is so informative and interesting. I still have many videos to go through.

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@johnjones5424]

I am amazed that Holiday was never nominated again. She was great, especially in "The Marrying Kind" and "Bells Are Ringing." Thanks for a great video.

[@FritzandtheOscars]

You can check out my video on Judy, I explain her post-Oscar career in more detail there

[@501Blonde-dq1ui]

LOVE Holliday in The Bells are Ringing! So underrated.

[@leandrocerqueira9910]

Great review. I just read all your blog too.

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Thanks so much! I haven't made any updates there in a long time...

[@rosemaryfranzese317]

This is a very intelligent analysis and you explain what happened so well. Sunset Boulevard and All about Eve have aged better and so it does seem when viewed today this win was an upset but you showed why it wasn’t back in 1951. Judy was such a unique talent and she shone in Born Yesterday but it’s not a film I would return to over and over again as I would the other two. I believe Oscars are meaningless when it comes to deciding who gave the best performance, acting is an art not a science and can’t be quantified. You are so right in saying the winners are a reflection of the times when the award was given. Personally, I would have split the award between Gloria and Bette but it makes no real difference now, all these performances can still be enjoyed and isn’t that what really matters?

[@anthonyanderson2405]

Holliday’s performance has many inspired moments, but the voice she uses throughout is exceedingly shrill and unpleasant. Sometimes Born Yesterday is best enjoyed with the sound completely off. I would have voted for Swanson.

[@keithabney4665]

agree. Holliday's performance is rather annoying today. I like Swanson as Norma Desmund - she shows the public how distorted awards and fame can become.

[@kimberlymcgee7954]

Thanks for this video. Bette should have won

[@slc2466]

Agree- someone else wrote Bette didn't have any authentic emotion in "Eve"- what!?! The car and phone call scenes are two prime examples wherein Davis certainly does dive deep, but I think she's Margo in every moment, both the big and more subtle ones.

[@paulswanson8926]

Bette Davis only indicated emotion onscreen; she was incapable of simply expressing emotion. With one exception: her Emmy Award winning performance in “Strangers,” the scene behind the bedroom door

[@paulswanson8926]

Davis only manufactured “emotions” Never believed her. After 1944, she’s only mannerisms “The Virgin Queen”! Her last three Oscar nominations were for actresses in decline (no kidding; how appropriate) or actresses in dementia

[@slc2466]

@@paulswanson8926 Strongly disagree regarding simply dismissing Davis' ability to emote onscreen, both via her work in "Eve" and in many other roles, such as "Jezebel," "The Letter" "Now Voyager," etc., wherein she vividly depicts the characters, often utilizing a direct emotional playing in key scenes. You can take a contrary approach and attempt to cut down her talent, but there's a reason Davis is considered a great emotional performer, and the proof is on the screen.

[@leonardmirone8215]

I probably would have voted for Bette, but I’m not at all bothered by Judy Holiday’s win. Her comedic wit and great performance were second to none. Gloria Swanson, in my opinion, deserved the nomination but not the Oscar. Thank you for this wonderful clip, as always.

[@slc2466]

Congrats again on an awesome, dynamic review of possibly the biggest Best Actress race in history. Sublime work, Fritz!

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Thanks a lot! :)

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Holliday, her shrill performance and film, would be forgotten today if it had not been for the absurd fact that she won against Swanson and Davis at their greatest. The year under discussion displays how foolish these competitions are, especially the Academy Awards.

[@akrenwinkle]

Of all the roles for which there were nominations, Baxter had the most difficult. Anne was acting for the movie's audience as Eve, and, at the same time, Eve was acting in the film, deceiving and manipulating everyone around her. In other words, she was acting like she was acting... not an easy task.

[@dext037]

While I love all three movies and actresses and performances, the one I rewatch most and often think about is Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn. Such a refreshingly funny and tender performance. And her voice!! Love it!!

[@PuddyLA]

With the vantage point of an additiional 74 years later we can see that Gloria Swanson gave not just a stellar performance, but THE MOST ICONIC PERFORMANCE EVER, PERIOD. It is an astoundinig, mindblowing, never to be topped performance for ALL TIME. By the same token we have Bette Davis's best performance ever which is also ICONIC, astoundinig, mindblowiing, and never to be topped. How can this even be to have the absolute 2 best performances ever in the same year competing agaisnt each other ? Then we have Judy Holiday's performance which unfortunately rendered Davis and Swanson to the sidelines. Judy's performance was good but not ICONIC. It is a great miisfortune and disservice that this performance won. It is in fact wrong. In an ideal world, Davis and Swanson would tie and Judy would lose. However award giving is not perfect but history is and the 74 years of history point to Swanson and Davis both.

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Thanks for your comment! Well, it certainly depends - I, for example, give Judy the win and I have Bette in second place and Gloria third. Just shows that everyone reacts differently to acting performances

[@paulswanson8926]

I’d love your insight into Oscar nominations/wins based on likability of the characters, not the acting necessary for the role. Examples such as Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird or Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

[@FritzandtheOscars]

I try to cover this as much as possible. I don't think that's a decisive factor in most cases, though...yes, Billie was very likable but as I tried to explain, she also stood for larger themes and trends at the time

[@Count1jt]

I will always be on the Gloria Swanson wagon. In my opinion she pulled it off. I respect the Oscar decision for choosing Judy Holliday. Yes doing comedy is a lot harder. I guess I like the drama look than comedy.

[@orphicuranus]

Please do kate winslet next and will be excited for Marlee Matlin video someday 🩷

[@501Blonde-dq1ui]

Agree about Winslet! Would love to see some about Judy Garland (A Star is Born Oscar race & the wizard of Oz 1939 Oscar race) Audrey Hepburn’s nominations after Roman Holiday, Julianne Moore, Rosalind Russell, and Bette Davis winning for a similar film and character a year before Gone With the Wind and Vivian Leigh winning and Bette’s nomination in the same race for Dark Victory. I agree with the two wins of those years, but Davis in Dark Victory was one of her best (it was her favorite.)

[@chucksellers8422]

Okay this hurts. Bette Davis is my favorite actress of all time, but Norma Desmond was an amazing character. I can't choose

[@paulswanson8926]

You’re so right. Judy Holiday was varied: comic but deeply poignant. She plays an abused person with authentic vulnerability. Davis does not express authentic emotion; she plays the diva exclusively. During Davis’s one crying scene, she turns away from the camera and “cries” into her hands. Swanson doesn’t seem human which is a choice: perhaps Norma is always acting and no longer real. It would have been interesting to see Norma put the psychological mask up, but then have reality break through. However, that doesn’t happen. She’s just bug-eyed and crazed, no real tears. Judy Holiday = best acting. Davis and Swanson = most acting

[@kellie-nd1yp]

That is how I feel about it. Judy gives the performance that I felt drawn to .

[@reniasva]

Hast du eigentlich mal die erste Staffel von "Feud" gesehen?

[@FritzandtheOscars]

Mehrmals 😂

[@kellie-nd1yp]

I know Judy wasn’t there to accept . Cool that Ethel Barrymore did but as the previous years best actor winner was the presenter was also her co Star Broderick Crawford.

[@CrissyRed]

Vote splitting is such a copout with the losers. I really glad you don’t believe in it.