The Oscar-winning Songs Countdown: 1947

1947 was the year when the major Oscar players tackled important issues: anti-Semitism (twice), homophobia (almost once), the narcissism of performing artists, the battle of the sexes and of the classes through the gaze of Dickens... and the existence of angels, as well as the question "is Santa Claus real?"

Darryl Zanuck was determined to improve the world and win an Oscar for it if it was the last thing he did. Having already missed out on the Academy's top prize with Wilson in 1944 and The Razor's Edge in 1946, the 20th Century-Fox head picked anti-Semitism as his important subject for 1947 and dared the Academy not to honor him.

His project was Gentleman's Agreement, based on Laura Z. Hobson's best-seller about a Gentile who passes for Jewish to write a series of articles on religious discrimination. To adapt the book, Zanuck lured Moss Hart from New York. He then assigned Elia Kazan to film it. Zanuck had been sceptical of the Broadway director when he first hired him in 1945, telling a producer, "I am naturally suspicious of deep thinkers in relation to motion pictures. They sometimes think so deep, that they miss the point..." The success of 1945's A Tree Grown In Brooklyn showed that Kazan could get the point and make a profit.

The role of Phillip Green was first offered to Cary Grant, but he turned it down. Grant refused the role because he contended he was Jewish and thought he looked Jewish. He maintained, "The public won't believe my portrayal of a gentile trying to pass himself off as a Jew." The role eventually went to Gregory Peck, even though Kazan thought Peck was the wrong actor to play Philip Green. Also, Celeste Holm is on record as saying that she found Gregory Peck to be no fun to work with. Anne Revere had no apparent problem, even though she plays Gregory Peck's mother, despite being only 12 years older. Peck's romantic interest was played by Dorothy McGuire, with whom Kazan had also worked in A Tree Grown In Brooklyn. John Garfield portrayed Phil's long-time friend.

When other studio chiefs, who were mostly Jewish, heard about the making of this film, they asked the producer not to make it. They feared its theme of anti-Semitism would simply stir up a hornet's nest about a problem which they preferred to handle quietly. Not only did production continue, but a scene was subsequently included that mirrored that confrontation.

Zanuck withstood recriminations from another religious group too. Kazan remembered: "To the Catholics who got after him - they told him the leading lady couldn't be a divorced woman - Zanuck said, in effect, go f*ck yourselves."

Catholicism fought back: In September 1948, the film was rejected for showing in Spain. The New York Times reported that the ban was instigated "by order of the ecclesiastical member of the Film Censorship Board on moral grounds. According to a source close to the board, the banning order stipulated that while it was a Christian duty to 'stimulate love among individuals, societies, nations and peoples,' this should not extend to Jews." The report listed six points or "theological errors" of the film that warranted the ban, including that the film declared "that a Christian is not superior to a Jew" and that the film asserts that "for many Jews it is a matter of pride to be called Jews. Pride of what? The pride of being the people who put God to death? Of being perfidious, as they are called in Holy Scripture?" On October 3, 1948, according to Hollywood Reporter, the President of the Board of Film Censors in Madrid, Gabriel Garcia Espina, called the statement reported in New York Times to be a "calumny" and that the film was, in fact, banned because anti-Semitism was not an issue in Spain. Espina stated, "There is no racial problem in Spain. We do not know here the conflict of Semitism or anti-Semitism. And precisely because of the beautiful and traditional Spanish idea of human freedom, these anguishing racial differences that have disturbed so much, and apparently do disturb, the lives of the peoples, are alien to us and we want them to continue being alien to us." We need to remember that Spain was suffering in a dictatorship under general Franco from 1939 until his death in 1975. Franco's military support came especially from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Close parenthesis. The film, however, was finally approved for showing in Spain on January 12, 1949 under the title La Barrera Invisible.

Many were concerned that this film would somehow lend credence to the bizarre belief among the political right that "Jewish-friendly" films and novels from the time were inspired by communism, or were intentionally made as Communist propaganda. That fear was legitimized somewhat when many of the people involved with the film were brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC/ the McCarthy gang) - which was tasked with uncovering "Communist subversion" in the entertainment industry - including Darryl F. Zanuck, Anne Revere, (perhaps most notoriously) Elia Kazan and John Garfield. Garfield was brought before HUAC twice, was blacklisted, taken off the blacklist and put back on it again; it was believed that the stress of these experiences led to the heart attack that killed him at the age of 39.

The film opened in November 1947 to overwhelming critical acclaim. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "Shaped by Moss Hart into a screen play of notable nimbleness and drive, the bewilderments of Miss Hobson's hero become absorbing and vital issues on the screen and the eventual outcome of his romance becomes a matter of serious concern. For such aspects of anti-Semitism as professional bias against Jews, discrimination by swanky hotels and even the calling of ugly names have been frankly and clearly demonstrated for the inhuman failings that they are and the peril of a normal and happy union being wrecked on the ragged edges of prejudice is affectingly raised.

Indeed, on the grounds of the original, every good and courageous thing has been done by Twentieth Century-Fox, the producer, to make Gentleman's Agreement a sizzling film. A fine cast, brilliant direction by Elia Kazan and intrepidity in citing such names as Bilbo, Rankin and Gerald L. K. Smith give it realism and authenticity. To millions of people throughout the country, it should bring an ugly and disturbing issue to light."

Zanuck's faith in Kazan was justified: Gentleman's Agreement became Fox's top-grossing picture of 1948.

Gentleman's Agreement wasn't the only movie about anti-Semitism that year. Over at RKO, director Edward Dmytryk and producer Adrian Scott adapted a book by future director Richard Brooks about the murder of a gay man by a bigot. However, gay men were invisible in the 40s and 50s Hollywood, so the victim was made Jewish instead in the movie. So, instead of having a movie about homophobia, we had another movie about anti-Semitism. Crossfire, which starred three Roberts (Mitchum, Young and Ryan), was an immediate hit, thanks to its film noirish suspense, but, on November 24, before Dmytryk and Scott could think about their Oscar acceptance speeches, they were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Even more, Dmytryk - a Canadian who had become an American citizen only a decade earlier - was one of the notorious anti-HUAC 'Hollywood Ten.' Indeed, subsequent to the HUAC hearings, both Dmytryk and Scott were blacklisted for political reasons and unable to work in Hollywood.

Robert Mitchum hated making the film, later claiming that any American actor could have played Keeley. Gloria Grahame, on the other hand, later said that Ginny in this movie was her favorite role. Robert Ryan, even though he fought to get the part, which turned out to be his breakthrough role, rarely talked about it, because he wasn't too happy about the negative aspects of his character, who was a murderous, anti-Semitic psychopath. In real life, Ryan was a committed liberal progressive who detested any forms of bigotry.

RKO's new head of production, Dore Schary, was ready to challenge Zanuck for a rack of Oscars with productions from his first year at the studio. RKO's potential Oscar winners were considerably lighter than Gentleman's Agreement: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, a terribly witty comedy written by future best-selling writer, Sidney Sheldon, starred Cary Grant, who, after having turned down the lead in Gentleman's Agreement, excelled in exchanging one-liners with Myrna Loy and an adorable teenage Shirley Temple. Another such film was Farmer's Daughter, in which Loretta Young was a Swedish-American farmer's daughter working as a domestic for a congressman (Joseph Cotten), who is soon infatuated with her, until she is abruptly thrust into politics herself. Ethel Barrymore as the congressman's mother and Charles Bickford as the butler also stood out.

RKO's other Oscar contender was The Bishop's Wife, a whimsical comedy in which Cary Grant is a do-gooding angel sent to help David Niven's Bishop in his troubles and ends up complicating things, especially as far as the Bishop's wife, Loretta Young, was concerned. The studio thought The Bishop's Wife had the best chance against Gentleman's Agreement, since it was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, last year's Best Picture winner for The Best Years Of Our Lives.

RKO had another movie opening Christman night, but it was hardly lightweight fun - Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra. Dudley Nichols was given free rein in adapting and directing O'Neill's lengthy tragedy with his dream cast - Katina Paxinou, Michael Redgrave and Rosalind Russell. The latter described the experience of filming in her autobiography: "It was murder. Katina Paxinou screaming and yelling all over the set; Michael Redgrave, a hell of a good actor, but nervous, taking pills to calm himself..." Russell also worried whether movie audiences would care about Nichols slavish devotion to the text - "O'Neill was his idol" - since his fidelity was resulting in a picture almost three hours long.

The film received good reviews, especially for the acting. It didn't, however, make money. The film was edited heavily after its initial unsuccessful first run. It has since been restored to approximately its full length.

With the studios putting their weight behind heavy dramas, Daily Variety editor Arthur Unger blasted, "It's time for Hollywood to start making pictures for the public, not for the Academy. The editor didn't like the Christmas batch at all. "Everybody, with an exception or two, tried for the arty."

One film was so arty it quoted Shakespeare - A Double Life, directed by George Cukor and starring Ronald Colman. Since Colman had the juicy role of an actor playing Othello who goes mad offstage as well as on, Universal didn't beat around the bush with its ads: "The screen will welcome one of the greatest performances... to qualify for Academy Award nomination." By early January, the question as to why such an expert actor as Colman had never won an Academy Award was trending. Also, although this was not costar Shelley Winters' first screen role, it is considered to be the picture that launched her film career.

Zanuck wasn't too happy with this trend, so he stepped up the campaigning for Gentleman's Agreement's leading man: Gregory Peck was the cover boy of Life in December and then of Time in January. Peck himslef, however, thought his own Oscar chances were below average, confiding to columnist Radie Harris on the eve of a vacation, "I'll be back in time to see Ronnie Colman walk away with it."

Peck's Gentleman's Agreement costar John Garfield loomed as a dark horse. Garfield could afford to play a small role in Gentleman's Agreement because he was the star of another hit - Body And Soul. This prototypical boxing drama gave Garfield even better notices than his earlier triumphs. The New York World-Telegram opined that "he has developed into Hollywood's most vigorous talent."

Publicist Henry Rogers had masterminded Joan Crawford's and Olivia de Havilland's Oscar victories the previous two years and he was hoping to pick a winner for a third year in a row. He offered his services to Rosalind Russell, who took him up on it. Rogers' first tactic was persuading a casino in Las Vegas to post the betting odds on the Academy Awards race. The Vegas "experts" listed Rosalind Russell as the favorite in the Best Actress category, with 6-5 odds. The closest competitor was rising star Susan Hayward as an alcoholic in Smash Up: The Story Of A Woman, with 6-1.

"Then we received unexpected help from legitimate sources," Rogers said, referring to Russell's victory at the Golden Globe Awards. Rogers also made sure that the actress was portrayed as a workhorse in the gossip columns. And then there were the Oscar ads in the trades, quoting enthusiastic critics.

Even with Rogers' tireless efforts, Russell had to contend with RKO head Dore Schary's indifference to Mourning Becomes Electra - it wasn't one of his productions. If Schary had his druthers, the Oscar would go to Loretta Young for Farmer's Daughter. Schary had brought the script with him when he left Selznick, because the latter was no longer interested in it - Ingrid Bergman had turned it down. Schary turned it into a moneymaker, thanks to the enduring popularity of Loretta Young, a 20-year Hollywood veteran.

When Oscar time approached, Schary didn't have to worry about Loretta's making the gossip columns - she was an old pro at the sport. Young's trip to England in January 1948 for the Royal Command Performance of The Bishop's Wife was duly covered in the society pages.

Young's rival in the society pages was Joan Crawford, who threw a big party for Noel Coward around Oscar time. Crawford was also prepared for a second Oscar. Although Warners had Irene Dunne in Life With Father as a possible nominee (who, along with costar William Powell, had garnered critical acclaim for playing an upper middle-class couple in late nineteenth century New York), Dunne was a free-lance actress, so the studio pushed contractee Joan Crawford for Possessed, a film in which she played a schizophrenic so realistically that a woman sued, claiming that Crawford had observed her mental treatments at a local hospital and then copied her on the screen.

While The Bishop's Wife tried to persuade us that angels were real, Miracle On 34th Street made a convincing case for Santa Claus. Doris (Maureen O'Hara) has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan (Natalie Wood at 9-years-old in a part that made her a child star,) to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. However, when a man who calls himself Kris Kringle (character actor Edmund Gwenn) and claims to be the actual Santa Claus, their belief is put to the test. 

The cast and crew were unanimous in their opinion of Edmund Gwenn: they loved him. Alvin Greenman who played soft-spoken janitor Alfred called Gwenn "a dear, dear man," and Robert Hyatt, who played the judge's son Tommy, Jr., said in a 2001 interview, "He was a really nice guy, always happy, always smiling. He had this little twinkle in his eye." Added Maureen O'Hara: "... by the time we were halfway through the shoot, we all believed Edmund really was Santa Claus. I've never seen an actor more naturally suited for a role."

The movie grossed over four times its budget, and it is ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. It is one of only three Christmas movies to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. All three came within two years: The other two were, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Bishop's Wife (1947).

David Lean had impressed Hollywood with his effort from the previous year - Brief Encounter had earned him a Best Director nomination, among others. This year he presented his ambitious adaptation of Charles Dickens' masterpiece Great Expectations, a study of class iniquity and the battle of the sexes in Victorian society.

The film featured John Mills as Pip, Valerie Hobson as Estella, Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham, Bernard Miles as Joe Gargery, Finlay Currie as Magwitch, Alec Guinness, in his first credited film part, as Herbert Pocket and Jean Simmons in her first major film part, as young Estella.

David Lean wanted his film to have a feeling of heightened realism. Working closely in conjunction with art director John Bryan and cinematographer Guy Green, he employed several tricks, such as forced perspective, to achieve this effect. The famous opening shot in the graveyard, for instance, features a brooding church in the background which in reality was only 3 meters high.

Great Expectations turned out to be a big hit: It was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1947 and most popular movie at the Canadian box office in 1948. It did well in the US too, although it didn't make the top-grossing Top 20. Which is, in case you're interested:

The Nominations

The Los Angeles Daily News wrote that Susan Hayward's nomination for Best Actress for Smash Up: The Story Of A Woman was "the most spontaneous nomination of the lot and people are talking about it everywhere in movietown." But Hayward's nomination by no means guaranteed her an Oscar; she was competing with four popular personalities: Joan Crawford (Possessed), Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman's Agreement), Loretta Young (The Farmer's Daughter) and Rosalind Russell (Mourning Becomes Electra).

People were also talking about the nominations of Edward Dmytryk and Adrian Scott for Crossfire, and for the film's Best Picture nomination, a vote of support for the blacklistees. Another eyebrow-raiser was Charlie Chaplin's nomination for an Original Screenplay Award for Monsieur Verdoux, his black comedy that had failed at the box office, because many Hollywood conservatives had been badmouthing Le Charlot. The other nominees for Original Screenplay were The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Body And Soul and A Double Life, the fifth nominee being Vittorio De Sica's neorealist masterpiece Shoe-Shine (Sciuscia). Director Delmer Daves, the producer of the Awards show, tried to explain the omission of the Italian film in the other categories: "The wide spread of nominators did not have an opportunity to see it perhaps... It was nominated for the script because that special group, the writers, make it a point to see more foreign pictures than the rank and file of moviemakers."

After the ruckus, the Academy felt that it had to somehow honor the film. This came in the form of an Honorary Award, which cited "The high quality of this Italian-made motion picture, brought to eloquent life in a country scarred by war, is proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity." It was the first Foreign Language Oscar given. They would be termed honorary for a few more years, then at 1956 the category would become a regular competitive one, a status that it continually holds until today.

Best Actor nominee Ronald Colman tried to direct attention to his performance in A Double Life, with a series of ads in which former Academy Award winners said they felt that Colman should join the winners' circle. Colman's sentimental edge - he was celebrating his 25th year in Hollywood - placed him way ahead of the other nominees: Gregory Peck (Gentleman's Agreement), John Garfield (Body And Soul), Michael Redgrave (Mourning Becomes Electra), and one of Colman's best friends, William Powell, the New York Film Critics winner for Life With Father. The NY critics also picked Gentleman's Agreement for Best Picture, but they went British for Best Actress, choosing Deborah Kerr for the Powell-Pressburger visual feast, Black Narcissus, as well as for The Adventuress.

Edmund Gwenn, who played Santa Claus in Miracle On 34th Street, was the favorite for Best Supporting Actor. The other nominees were: Robert Ryan (Crossfire), Charles Bickford (The Farmer's Daughter), Richard Widmark in a star-making turn as a murderous psycho gangster in Kiss Of Death and Thomas Gomez in yet another Film Noir, Robert Montgomery's passion project Ride the Pink Horse. It was the first time a Latino got an Oscar nomination.

Celeste Holm, in only her second year in films, enjoyed the momentum of Gentleman's Agreement and the attention of admiring columnists who kept abreast of her social outings. She was nominated (for Gentleman's Agreement) in the Best Supporting Actress category, along with her costar Anne Revere. The other nominees were: Gloria Grahame (Crossfire), Ethel Barrymore (not for The Farmer's Daughter, but for Hitchcock's courtroom drama The Paradine Case) and Marjorie Main as the very popular Ma Kettle in the hit comedy The Egg and I.

The nominees for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture were:

Miklós Rózsa for A Double Life:

Hugo Friedhofer for The Bishop's Wife:

Alfred Newman from Captain from Castile:

David Raksin for Forever Amber:

Max Steiner for Life with Father:

The nominees for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture were:

Alfred Newman for Mother Wore Tights:

Johnny Green for Fiesta:

Ray Heindorf, Max Steiner for My Wild Irish Rose:

Robert Emmett Dolan for Road to Rio. (Here's the whole movie):

Daniele Amfitheatrof, Paul J. Smith, Charles Wolcott for Song of the South:

What about the Best Song nominations? These were:

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah from Song of the South • Music: Allie Wrubel • Lyrics: Ray Gilbert • Sung by James Baskett:

A Gal in Calico from The Time, the Place and the Girl • Music: Arthur Schwartz • Lyrics: Leo Robin • Originally performed by Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Martha Vickers (dubbed by Sally Sweetland) and chorus. Here, it is sung by The Hi-Lo's:

I Wish I Didn't Love You So from The Perils of Pauline • Music & Lyrics: Frank Loesser • Sung by Betty Hutton:

Pass That Peace Pipe from Good News • Music & Lyrics: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin, & Roger Edens • Sung by Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald and chorus:

You Do from Mother Wore Tights • Music: Josef Myrow • Lyrics: Mack Gordon • Sung by Dan Dailey, Betty Grable and chorus:

What about other eligible songs that failed to be nominated? Here are some:

Chiquita Banana from This Time For Keeps • Music & Lyrics: Leonard McKenzie, Garth Montgomery and William Wirgers • Sung by Buddy Clark and chorus, with Xavier Cugat & his Orchestra:

Golden Earrings from Golden Earrings • Music: Victor Young  • Lyrics: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans • Originally performed by Murvyn Vye. The best and most successful version, however, was by Peggy Lee:

Time After Time from It Happened In Brooklyn • Music: Jule Styne • Lyrics: Sammy Cahn • Sung by Frank Sinatra:

... And later on in the movie, by Kathryn Grayson:

Fun and Fancy Free from Fun and Fancy Free • Music & Lyrics: Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss • Sung by Cliff Edwards and chorus:

My choice would be between Golden Earrings and Time After Time. Both are classics. If I had to choose among the five nominated, then I would probably go with Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah; it's fun and catchy and James Baskett sings in a very pleasant baritone.

These were the nominations of the most-nominated films, in detail:

Gentleman's Agreement (8 nominations): Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, two nominations for Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and Editing.

Crossfire (5 nominations): Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay.

Great Expectations (5 nominations): Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography/Black & White, and Art Direction/Black & White.

The Bishop's Wife (5 nominations): Best Picture, Director, Score, Editing and Sound.

Miracle On 34th Street (4 nominations): Best Picture, Supporting Actor, Story and Screenplay.

A Double Life (4 nominations): Best Director, Actor, Original Screenplay, and Score.

Life With Father (4 nominations): Best Actor, Score, Cinematograph/Color, and Art Direction/Color.

Green Dolphin Street (4 nominations): Cinematography/Black & White, Editing, Sound, and Special Effects.

Body And Soul (3 nominations): Best Actor, Original Screenplay, and Editing.

Mother Wore Tights (3 nominations): Cinematography/Color, Score, and Song.

Just a few days before the awards, Daily Variety printed the results of a poll it had taken of over 200 Academy members. Their winners were: Gentleman's Agreement, Ronald Colman, Rosalind Russell, Edmund Gwenn, Celeste Holm and Elia Kazan. The newspaper said that 13% of the Academy voters were represented in this tally and that national political polls which reach 5% of the electorate have always proven deadly accurate." An indication of Daily Variety's accuracy: listed in 4th place was Loretta Young for The Bishop's Wife  - her nomination was for The Farmer's Daughter.

The Winners

Gentleman's Agreement was the winner, but with only 3 Oscars, not a spectacular winner. It did however get the big ones: Best Picture, Best Director for Kazan, and Best Supporting Actress for the favorite, Celeste Holm.

Miracle On 34th Street also did very well, with three wins: the favorite, Edmund Gwenn, was crowned Best Supporting Actor, the film also getting two writing awards, for Story as well as for Screenplay. The Best Original Screenplay award went to The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

A Double Life had two wins, Best Actor for favorite Ronald Colman, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. The Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture award went to Mother Wore Tights, while the Best Song went, as expected, to Song Of The South.

The Cinematography and Art Direction awards all went to Britain: the Black & White awards went to Great Expectations, while the Color ones went to Black Narcissus. The Bishop's Wife had to be content with Best Sound, while Body And Soul won Best Editing, as good boxing movies often do. Green Dolphin Street won for Special Effects. The only major player to walk away empty handed was Crossfire.

The last award of the evening was the Best Actress award. Since the Daily Variety poll had been 100% correct so far, members of the audience were leaving, not too quietly. When Fredric March opened the envelope he started to say "Rosalind..." then did a double take. The winner was Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter.

A story this good couldn't pass by Louella Parsons, who recounted, "I was seated directly behind Rosalind... never as long as I live will I forget that almost involuntary motion she made of leaning forward, almost rising from her seat. Then Roz got to her feet - leading the applause." According to Russell's husband, the loser said, "We're going to the party afterward anyway. I won't be bitter."

Loretta Young was in a state of shock. She made Fredric March show her the name in the envelope when she got to the stage and, convinced that she really did win, said, "Up to now this occasion has been for me a spectator sport. But I dressed, just in case."

An Oscar loser who looked on the bright side was William Powell. The 55-year old Powell send a congratulatory telegram to his good friend, 57-year old Ronald Colman: "After all, it's a good thing you won instead of me, because you haven't many years left and I have so many ahead of me." This would be the last nomination for both Colman and Powell...