I mean, really! She is maybe like barely a minute there in the whole film! And her charachter Felicia was nothing special. I don't understand it.
If anyone should have won an Oscar, it should have been the far better Julie Christie for her charming portrey of Jackie. She offered a lot more and was much more memorable.
1975 was one of the weakest years for women's roles in movie history. In fact, Louise Fletcher's role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest had to be elevated from supporting to leading because of the sheer dearth of worthy parts (if not prerformances).
When you think of some of the most memorable supporting roles ever, for instance Hattie McDaniel's in Gone With the Wind, Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidte, Christy Brown's mother in My Left Foot, or even Leslie Ann Warren's hilarious moll in Victor/Victoria (Oscar stolen by Jessica Lange), nothing from 1975 even comes close.
The voters probably just closed their eyes and pointed or just picked a number from 1-5.
"Well, for once the rich white man is in control!" C. M. Burns
You're right about weak leading roles. Even Diana Ross had a shot with Mahogany! Good Grief.
"It's only a mooovie!"
alfie
Lee more than held her own among the powerhouse cast. Hers was a great supporting role while Julie's was a lead.
Yes, her career achievements may have been the reason for her award. She made a most stunning return to films after a 15 year blacklist. No one had equaled her comeback. Following an Emmy for PEYTON PLACE, Lee returned to films in strong roles in memorable films (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, MAROONED). She was great in THE LANDLORD (her second nomination) and more than held her own in a hilarious scene with noted scene stealer, Pearl Bailey.
Another reason why Lee may have won (and forgotten by many today) is because of the infamous "stretch marks". During the voting periods in early 1976 Lee was involved in a battle with network censors over the use of the above term on het TV series, FAY. Lee played an active middle-aged single woman. The ensuing publicity and fracas ultimately led to the shows cancellation and Lee's return to movies. I remember Lee appeared on Johnny Carson around this time and she maintained her dignity in the face of it all. This, more than even the blacklist, may have been what gave the Academy the impetus of voting for her.
Finally, in 1980 when most actresses in their early 50's are looking for 'mother' roles on sit-coms, Lee turned to directing. Since that times she has directed features, TV episodes, and documentaries. For the latter, she even won a second Oscar in 1986. Hence, she is the only person to win Oscars for acting and directing!
I think she won because she showed so much range in one role -- during her first encounters with Beatty, she is able to negotiate the demands of farce. In a later party scene, she realizes that her marriage to Lester is over, and she plays it straight. Both in both farcical and dramatic situations, Lee Grant stays in character and we feel what her character is going through.
One thing I'd like to point is that Shampoo has a great ensemble. While Lee Grant did a great job, I feel that Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn should have been nominated for Best Actress. Beatty should have been up for Best Actor.
lutherpons>>"Lee turned to directing. Since that times she has directed features, TV episodes, and documentaries. For the latter, she even won a second Oscar in 1986. Hence, she is the only person to win Oscars for acting and directing!"
Not true. Lee won a Director's Guild of America award for the 1986 television documentary "Nobody's Child." She has neither won nor been nominated for a directing Oscar.
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Cuz she goosed the producer and becuz at one time she was blacklisted and everyone was welcoming her back.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
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Yep, the Best Supporting Actor/Actress awards are a bit of a crap-shoot. You get some really odd choices, such as Samuel L. Jackson being nominated for Pulp Fiction. John Travolta was nominated for Best Actor for the same film, yet they share about the same screen time!
There's always some interesting choices, though, such as Malkovich in the Clint Eastwood thriller In the Line of Fire, Joe Pesci in Goodfellas and JFK, and stranger still, Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny - perhaps the most bizarre winner of the gong.
I stopped paying attention to the Oscars a long time ago, when Gladiator won Best Film (2000). It is indeed a great film, but best of the year? I think not. I say, screw the Oscars, and make up your own mind.
I just watched this movie for the first time, mainly because of all the talk about it in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. It's no masterpiece, but I liked it. When I saw in passing that it had won an acting Oscar, I assumed it was Julie Christie, who is by far the best actress (or actor) in it. Lee Grant's performance didn't do much for me; I thought it was by the numbers, nothing special. Times change, and perhaps it was because of the unusual (for the time) character she was playing... but today it seems hard to understand. Julie Christie on the other hand is just brilliant.
shareIn practically any other year, Louise Fletcher would have been nominated in this supporting (not lead) category and justly walked off with award. Grant took a not particularly memorable role and ran with it; she was actually better in her nominated role five years earlier in The Landlord. She also had history on her side (all the delayed guilt about HUAC blacklisting dating back 25 years) and was not perceived as a newcomer like Tomlin or Blakley, both of whom arguably played more complex and interesting characters. Just her time and good for her. Often, these awards are not about acting. (Does anyone in right mind honestly think Grant's co-star Goldie Hawn honestly gave 1969's best screen performance in Cactus Flower?)
shareThe lack of strong competition, the Academy wanting to honor Shampoo which was a hit, Grant's career and blacklisting; she's good was funnier in another Hal Ashby film The Landlord for which she was nominated in the same category.
shareI never realized that Grant had been blacklisted; she doesn't seem old enough! But I thought her performance as Felicia was brilliant. She was beautiful and proud, yet vulnerable, frightened, terrified of losing what she had, which wasn't all that great (a fat, over-the-hill, cheating husband, a boring suburban life and a daughter who hated her!).
Her face-off with Christie/Jackie at the Republican do was priceless, and then her bitter warning to Lester. In many ways, she was like the female version of George, clinging to her own version of Free Love and fun, but hampered by materialism, age and sexism. Her character was very sad and she put so many facets on it! I sympathized far more with Felicia than with Jackie, but in the end, wasn't the former a not-so-distant prediction of what women like Jackie become?
Also, she reminded me of a more proactive and more self-possessed version of Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate".
Don't get me wrong...
It might be unbelievable,
But let's not say so long
I never realized that Grant had been blacklisted; she doesn't seem old enough! But I thought her performance as Felicia was brilliant. She was beautiful and proud, yet vulnerable, frightened, terrified of losing what she had, which wasn't all that great (a fat, over-the-hill, cheating husband, a boring suburban life and a daughter who hated her!).
Her face-off with Christie/Jackie at the Republican do was priceless, and then her bitter warning to Lester. In many ways, she was like the female version of George, clinging to her own version of Free Love and fun, but hampered by materialism, age and sexism. Her character was very sad and she put so many facets on it! I sympathized far more with Felicia than with Jackie, but in the end, wasn't the former a not-so-distant prediction of what women like Jackie become?
Also, she reminded me of a more proactive and more self-possessed version of Mrs. Robinson from "The Graduate".
Don't get me wrong...
It might be unbelievable,
But let's not say so long