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| The ten 'Best Picture' Oscar Winners of the 1940s |
So we're here again. It's been ten years since our last PAD (Paul and Doug) awards, and while Meryl Streep still hasn't accepted the invitation to the ceremony, we are still proud to present the winners...
Least Favourite Film  Paul says: Going My Way
The ’40s was rife with topic-of-the-week films, so when I read that Going My Way was about priests I felt like I was in for a sentimental but powerful look at religious injustice and hypocrisy. Like Spotlight meets Love Actually. Instead, what we got was an extended episode of Sesame Street. The writers of the film evidently shied away from tackling the darker side of Catholicism or religion in general. Even though alcoholism, anti-semitism and mental health were all tackled full-force during this decade, it seems there was one topic that film-makers were too scared to dissect. The main characters are dull, the so-called villains are pathetic, the storylines trite and totally lacking in urgency, and the whole thing is a tremendous waste of two hours.
 Doug says: Going My Way
While Hamlet was truly dull, and received my lowest mark of the decade, I can’t help but feel more disappointed by the abject failure of Going My Way. I already disliked the Shakespeare play, whereas this was a contemporary film, written at the time. The dull storylines and trite singing made for an amateurish effort which I’m still agog actually won ‘Best Picture’. Either the competition that year was weak, or Bing Crosby’s voice has actual hypnotic power. Low points include a deeply unfeminist performance from the central female role, and the blurb advertising 'featuring such classic tunes as Three Blind Mice'. I mean, come on.
Favourite Male Performance
I’d never heard of Milland before this film, but he astonished me here. His portrayal of a man on the brink of breakdown due to his addiction to alcohol swings like a pendulum between sympathetic and villainous. Considering the depths to which he sinks to gain another drop of whiskey, and the friends and loved ones he betrays and abuses, Milland performs no easy feat here to keep the audience behind him. He conveys vulnerability when he chickens out of meeting his girlfriend’s parents, desperation when he tears his flat apart to find a hidden bottle, nobility when he nearly makes his brother lie for him, manipulation when he hides a bottle out of his bedroom window. And all of that was in one of our shortest, and punchiest, films so far. Brava!
With stiff competition from Harold Russell in Best Years of Our Lives and Broderick Crawford in All The King’s Men, this coveted award ends up with Ray Milland for his mesmerising performance as the alcoholic Don Birnam. It was a real tour-de-force, with a fully fleshed out performance including all the darker, selfish elements of addiction that Hollywood could easily be tempted to edit out. Birnam’s sharp interpretation and utter commitment to the role led to stunning, if sometimes deeply uncomfortable, viewing. Despite a slightly saccharine end, I was constantly surprised by how dark they took the storyline, and the brutal reality of Milland's performance.
Favourite Female Performance
It must be very hard to be scary or even creepy when you play a character. You not only have to think carefully about movement and delivery, but you also have to have a certain look or aura about you. And that’s exactly what Judith Anderson has in Rebecca. I mean, can you imagine Cameron Diaz trying to play this?! Anderson moves very minimally, and when she does she’s like a cobra in a nest. Her impassive face, sultry voice and wide-eyed fascination with the unseen titular character all work together to send shivers down your spine. If I were trapped in a big country mansion with this shark-like woman circling me, I think I’d probably consider throwing myself from the West Wing window like Joan Fontaine (or at least throw Mrs Danvers). A big shout-out to Sara Allgood in How Green Was My Valley, Jane Wyman in The Lost Weekend and Mercedes McCambridge in All the King’s Men too.
Doug says: Sara Allgood, in How Green Was My Valley
Another hotly contested award, with obvious nominees like Greer Garson for Mrs Miniver and less obvious nominees such as Doris Dowling whose small role as a lovelorn escort in The Lost Weekend was subtly heart-wrenching. But ultimately it has to go to Sara Allgood for her beautifully measured portrayal of Mrs Morgan, the mother at the heart of the tale. While she largely mined the natural comedy of the role, the final tragic moments of the film were pushed from schmaltz into real, affecting emotion by her performance.
Favourite Film 
Paul says: How Green Was My Valley
I didn’t give any 10/10’s out during this decade, but if I could go back I would probably bump Valley from a 9 to a 9.5 because my one criticism of it is so pernickety that it scarcely deserves consideration. This is a marvellous film- with a host of characters and events that have you sobbing, cheering, gasping and laughing. It’s basically an extended episode of Coronation Street, featuring those kind of simple-minded, wholesome, underdog-style characters that are constantly doing battle with the impetuous, unsympathetic rich classes, and the forces of nature. It’s not entirely representative of the small-scale ’40s films (it has the episodic, anthological feel of the big ’30s epics), but it tells a story with sweetness, excitement, humour and, most importantly, a love of Welsh culture and countryside. I’d recommend it to anyone.
Doug says: The Best Years of Our Lives
While not the highest-scoring and by no means the best of the decade, I can’t help but choose this as my overall favourite from the 1940s. It held the structure of an epic tale, with three individual strands weaving and intertwining with great writing and three interesting stories playing out. It’s particularly powerful for Harold Russell’s turn as a sailor who has hooks instead of hands (Russell really had this damage from WWII) and I found the way it tackled the true difficulties of soldiers returning post-war moving and ultimately affecting. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon film, and a treat to discover.
Average Film Scores
Paul: 6.1/10
Doug: 6.15/10
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