Alice Adams (George Stevens, 1935): U.S. A.
Reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar
Alice Adams (1935), a dramatic romantic comedy, directed by George Stevens, was nominated for two Oscars, Best Picture, and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Catherine Hepburn’s work as Alice Adams. The film helped establish Stevens as a formidable director and stabilized Hepburn career after several box office flops. As Alice Adams, Hepburn is lively, animated, and delivers her lines with physicality and with credibility.
The film features several other solid performances. Fred Stone (Virgil Adams) has a self-deprecating manner along the lines of W.C. Fields – only Stone stays primarily within the dramatic. A twenty-seven-year-old, Fred MacMurray (Double Indemnity), plays a dashing young suitor, Arthur Russell. Hattie McDaniel (Melana), who would go on to become the first African American nominated and win an Oscar, provides a solid presence in the Adams household, especially when Arthur comes calling.
With Arthur in the house, and with the Adams family attempting to ensure the dinner is up to par for a social engagement, on what is a blistering evening, the subtle humor begins to ramp up. Mrs. Adams engaging in polite conversation
Giant (George Stevens, 1956): U.S.A.
Reviewed by Larry Gleeson during the annual TCM 31 Days of Oscar
Giant (1956) received 10 Oscar nominations with George Stevens taking home the statuette for Best Director. The film, based on his adaptation of Edna Ferber’s 1952 best-selling novel, is three hours and seventeen minutes long following the Benedict family across several generations. Along the way the audience is introduced to cattlemen, roughnecks, the underclass. The Benedicts are Texas royalty. Jordan Benedict (Rock Hudson) referred to as Bick needs a wife and courts Leslie (Liz Taylor). Leslie is an East Coast girl refined, educated, spirited, well-spoken, and attractive. After the two are married they settle at the Reata Ranch – a massive 594,000-acre cattle ranch. A hired hand beloved by Bick’s sister, Jet Rink (James Dean), is bequeathed a small patch of the ranch and strikes oil.
The narrative covers a lot of ground while keeping centered on these three characters. Dean and Hudson both received nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role for their work in Giant. Unfortunately, Dean’s nomination was posthumously awarded as he had succumbed to injuries sustained in a fatal