Films/DVD Asylum

They competed in different categories

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Victor Khomenko

(M)

In Reply to: "Hud." How in the world could posted by tinear on March 8, 2005 at 16:50:42:

Particia, whose performance was indeed breathtaking, competed against other actresses, not actors. She deserved her Oscar.
Douglas won his in yet another category - Supporting Actor, not Lead actor.
Your question is like why the Olympic 100 meter male runner finished with only silver, when his time was better than that of any woman?
Paul was good, but a bit too much of the usual Paul.
Sidney Poitier, who beat Paul, is no slouch, even though I did not see his "Lilies of the Field" for which he received the award

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I don't understand your point. This was - tinear 17:21:42 03/08/05 (2)
ensemble acting, with Newman's character the sun around which the others revolved. Their characters would have lost quite a bit of their power without Newman's menacing, flashing anger.
"Too much?" I disagree. He had not yet turned some of those habits into mannerisms.
Newman's performance stands the test of time, Poitier's doesn't (the "Magic African-American" alluded to in an earlier post).
- The point was simple... how did you manage to miss it? - Victor Khomenko 17:26:16 03/08/05 (1)
  Patricia didn't compete with Paul. She won in a different group. If the competition was for an all around actor with no gender, then your sentiments would perhaps have merit, but not in the gender-specific world.
  As I said, I did not see that Poitier work, so I can't comment on the merits of that win, but I can imagine him winning.
  You are correct that Newman's performance stood the test of time.
  - Uh... - Harmonia 22:37:36 03/10/05 (0)
    Victor, he KNOWS that actors don't compete against actresses in the same categories.
    He meant that as good as Howard's and Neal's performances were in their *respective* categories, Newman's lead portrayal, arguably the greatest performance in the film, and certainly the engine of the whole shebang, went unrewarded.
    Poitier is a very good actor, and was an icon for a generation of African American actors who rarely (if ever) got the chance to show what they could do on the screen. Hollywood was feeling pressure to recognize the leading black actor of the day. And they did. As it happened, Poitier didn't win for a pivotal role, but for a merely professional turn in a mediocre part in a forgettable movie. (He was much more memorable in In The Heat Of The Night). But it was time for Oscar to acknowledge to contributions of black acotrs, and Poitier was the most visible, accomplished (almost the ONLY) African AAmerican actor of the era. He became the stand in for many. It was an historic win. But it probably wasn't the right call artistically.
    I don't expect much out of the Academy. Not then, not now.

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