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In the early days of Hollywood, Westerns dominated the box office. Shootouts and horse chases were exciting to watch and easy to understand without dialogue during the silent movie era. Audiences were drawn to stories of brave cowboys and mustache-twirling villains because, in times like the Great Depression when hope was hard to find, they could escape into uplifting tales of a hero winning the day. Then, after World War II, in the 1950s, the U.S. emerged as a mighty force to be reckoned with. We had conquered the frontier and helped defeat the Nazis. As such, Westerns became more popular than ever because they reflected our national identity, which was built on a clear good versus evil narrative.

However, the Western genre took a different path when Americans no longer felt that swell of pride in their country. While there are some exceptions, in the 1960s and 1970s...

It’s hard to sum up the work silent film historian Ben Model does under one profession; he’s a preservationist, a lecturer and teacher, an author, and accompanist and composer who performs his own scores live at silent movie screenings all over the world. As someone with a deep love of silent cinema and an evangelical fervor for sharing the movies he adores, Model sums what he does up by referring to something his mentor Walter Kerr once told him.

“Walter said that showing silent films was like missionary work,” Model told IndieWire. “Everything that I’ve done in my adult life has come from a similar place wanting to spread the gospel of silent film.” To that end, Model has now collected his thoughts on the art form in “The Silent Film Universe,” a book that breaks down all the things silent movies do beautifully and explores why...

Adrien Brody took home his second Oscar on Sunday — Best Actor for The Brutalist — putting him in rarefied air: He is the eighth performer to boast a perfect 2-for-2 record at the Oscars.

The first seven to achieve this are:

1. Luise Rainer: Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937)

2. Vivien Leigh: Best Actress for Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

3. Helen Hayes: Best Actress for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932) and Best Supporting Actress for Airport (1970)

4. Kevin Spacey: Best Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects (1995) and Best Actor for American Beauty (1999)

5. Hilary Swank: Best Actress for Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)

6. Christoph Waltz: Best Supporting Actor for Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012)

7. Mahershala Ali: Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight (2016) and Green Book (2018)

See The complete list of Oscar winners

Brody nabbed his first Best Actor Oscar for...

Mark your calendars, Oscars fans, because the 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025 on ABC. The annual star-studded ceremony will honor movies released in theaters within the 2024 calendar year of eligibility. AMPAS members will vote on the Oscar winners in 23 categories, including Best Supporting Actor. But who will win? Here at Gold Derby, thousands of users have been making and updating their 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actor, so let’s take a look at all of the top contenders in our photo gallery below.

These 25 Best Supporting Actor hopefuls are listed in order of their racetrack odds, which are derived from the combined forecasts of four unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc.

The...

Denzel Washington is on his way to making Oscar history for his performance as a former slave who plots to be the emperor of Rome in Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II,” the latest from director Ridley Scott. Right now, he has two Academy Awards to his name for “Glory” (1989) in Best Supporting Actor and “Training Day” (2001) in Best Actor. If he were to prevail for “Gladiator II” in early 2025, he would join an exclusive list of seven other people to win at least three times in the acting categories.

Here are the actors who have achieved this important Oscars milestone:

Katharine Hepburn (4)

Won Best Actress for “Morning Glory” (1933), “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), “The Lion in Winter” (1968), and “On Golden Pond” (1981)

Frances McDormand (3*)

Won Best Actress for “Fargo” (1996), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), and “Nomadland” (2020). *She also has a fourth Oscar for producing “Nomadland.”

Meryl Streep (3)

Won Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice...

Denzel Washington has consistently delivered standout performances — including as a director in recent years! — across his decades-long career. He already has two Oscars to his name and could be on his way to a third Academy Award with his role in Ridley Scott‘s “Gladiator II.”

This follow-up to the 2000 Best Picture champ stars Lucius (Paul Mescal) as Lucius, the grandson of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Lucius is forced into slavery but resolves to fight as a gladiator under the leadership of power broker Macrinus. And that’s where Washington comes in. The titanic Washington plays Macrinus, who is the mentor figure to Lucius and also opposes the rule of emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).

We are predicting that Washington will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor alongside Samuel L. Jackson (“The Piano Lesson”), Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”), Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”), and Stanley Tucci (“Conclave...

Decades before Quentin Tarantino was crowned the coolest director on the planet, Sam Peckinpah was one of Hollywood's most controversial, violent, and flamboyant filmmakers. The creator behind such visceral, violent thrillers like The Getaway, war epics like Cross of Iron, and psychological horror stories like Straw Dogs, Peckinpah was a master of his form, but he was exceptionally talented at helming Westerns.

Most of the stories Sam Peckinpah told were either set in the West or influenced by the genre in some way, shape, or form. That's likely because Peckinpah was a Westerner, with his great-grandfather settling in central California in the mid-1800s. Born in 1925, Peckinpah spent much of his early life on his grandfather's ranch, and after a stint in the Marines, where he witnessed torture and violence while stationed in China, he embarked on a film career that would rank amongst the best the Western genre would ever see.

Quick Links Plot and Cast of Winchester '73 Winchester '73 Saw Jimmy Stewart In a Surprising Role Critical Praise for Anthony Mann's Winchester '73 Should You Watch Winchester '73?

Anthony Mann would cement himself in the annals of film history by helping to reinvent the Western genre with Winchester '73. However, for audiences at the time, the landmark movie also had another surprise that many did not see coming, with the beloved actor, James Stewart, known for his wholesome comedic and dramatic roles, stepping into the boots of skilled marksmen in a mature Western.

We will examine Winchester '73's legacy, including how it helped revitalize the career of one of America's most beloved actors. We will also outline how the Western film noir remains notable decades after its release and why you should watch it.

Plot and Cast of Winchester '73

Lin McAdam and Frankie Wilson end up in Dodge City,...

Jeannie Epper, the peerless, fearless stunt performer who doubled for Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman and swung on a vine across a 350-foot gorge and propelled down an epic mudslide as Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, has died. She was 83.

Epper died Sunday night of natural causes at her home in Simi Valley, her family told The Hollywood Reporter.

Just one member of a dynasty of stunt performers that Steven Spielberg dubbed the “Flying Wallendas of Film” — starting with her father, John Epper, there have been four generations of Eppers in show business since the 1930s — she worked on 150-plus films and TV shows during an astounding 70-year career.

In 2007, Epper received the first lifetime achievement honor given to a woman at the World Taurus Awards and ranks among the greatest stuntwomen of all time.

Known for her agility, horse-riding skills and competitiveness, the 5-foot-9 Epper also stepped in...

The Westerner is an American Western film from 1940 starring Gary Cooper alongside Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport. The film was directed by William Wyler and written by Niven Busch and Jo Swerling, based on a story by Stuart N. Lake. The plot revolves around a drifter, who befriends a self-appointed hanging judge in the fledgling town of Vinegaroon, Texas, who opposes the Judge's violence and unjust methods against the homesteaders, preferring instead that the town belong to Cattlemen and Cattlemen only. The film became a critical and commercial success, with Brennan taking home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Despite the accolades, Cooper was vehemently opposed to being in the film and tried to rescind his contract, forcing producer and longtime friend Samuel Goldwyn to get strict with the famous movie cowboy, much to Cooper's dismay.

Emma Stone could set a record as the youngest to win three acting Oscars if she earns one more in the next ten years. Stone, at 35, is currently the youngest actor with two Oscars and can surpass Walter Brennan's three-win record. If Stone wins another acting Oscar, she'll join the exclusive club of (seven) performers with three or more Academy Awards.

Emma Stone joined the exclusive two-time Oscar winners club (for actors and actresses) during the 96th Academy Awards, but her recent win is made all the more exciting when realizing what it could mean for the actress going forward. Stone starred as Bella Baxter in the 2023 science fiction comedy film Poor Things, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, and her performance garnered her a nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards in March 2024. It was a tight race between Stone and Lily Gladstone from Killers of the Flower Moon,...

Robert Downey Jr. looks to have Best Supporting Actor locked up after he swept the precursors for his sterling turn in Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer.” But while Downey Jr. would be more than a deserving winner for his phenomenal performance, the Oscars always throws up a surprise or two on the actual night. Could we see an upset in Best Supporting Actor?

Downey Jr. is nominated alongside Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”), Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”), Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”), and Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”). Gosling has lots of support for his sublime “Barbie” performance while Ruffalo and Brown also have their backers, too. However, the legendary De Niro could prove to be the closest challenger to Downey Jr. thanks to his iconic career and status.

This is De Niro’s ninth Oscar nomination. He’s been nominated for Best Actor five times — in 1977 for “Taxi Driver,...

Music is one of humankind’s most potent art forms. Music can help heal the deepest depths of depression, call to higher powers for prosperity and nourishment, and, in Ned Benson’s upcoming dramatic comedy The Greatest Hits, facilitate traveling back in time to relive romantic memories. Today, Searchlight Pictures is proud to announce the release date of The Greatest Hits, with the film coming to select theaters on April 5 and to Hulu on April 12.

Ned Benson, the director of films like Four Lean Hounds, The Westerner, Yes, and the Disappearance of Elenor Rigby trilogy, directs The Greatest Hits from his own script, with Lucy Boynton, David Corenswet, Justin H. Min, and Austin Crute leading the cast.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Greatest Hits courtesy of Searchlight Pictures:

Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While...

Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe's performances in "Poor Things" could earn them nominations at the 2024 Oscars and potentially make Oscars history. Both actors have a chance to secure their fourth Best Supporting Actor nominations, tying the record for the most nominations in that category. Early consensus suggests that Ruffalo is more likely to receive the nomination, but Dafoe's consistent strong performances may still put him in the running.

The 2024 Oscars could see Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe take a place in Oscars history thanks to their roles in Poor Things. The 2023 movie from director Yorgos Lanthimos is coming out at the end of the year just in time to make a strong push during awards season. The initial reactions to the movie were quite strong and helped indicate that Lanthimos' first movie since The Favourite could once again strongly contend at the Oscars. It is expected that this will...

Western movies often feature real-life characters, especially when it comes to the roles of villains, from the Wild West era. Still, Western films usually take significant creative liberties with historical accuracy to create more dramatic narratives. Some of the best actors of their generation have portrayed real-life people in Westerns.

Western cinema often includes characters who exist in real life, particularly for the role of villains and antagonists. Usually, to explore the darker chapters of the past, many Westerns have woven narratives around real-life figures who left a mark on the era of the Wild West. From infamous outlaws to politicians, these historical personas have been immortalized on the silver screen, portrayed by some of the most distinguished actors of their time in some of the best Western movies ever made.

Some famous Western villains were not merely fictional creations but were instead based on the formidable individuals who once...

“Poor Things” looks set to be a major Oscar contender this year. It just won the Golden Lion at Venice and Emma Stone just took over the top spot on our Best Actress Oscar odds chart. Supporting players Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo look set to match an Academy Award record.

“Poor Things” tell the tale of Stone as a young woman brought back to life by a scientist in the Victorian era. Dafoe plays the eccentric scientist, complete with a peculiar Scottish accent and killer prosthetic makeup design, while Ruffalo hams it up as the scientist’s lawyer, donning a hilarious English accent and turning up the camp to 10. Both performances are now being touted as strong Oscar contenders in the Best Supporting Actor category, which could see Dafoe and Ruffalo earn their fifth and fourth nominations respectively.

Dafoe was first nominated in 1987 for Best Supporting Actor for “Platoon.

Charlton Heston's legacy lives on through his unforgettable roles in epic films that are still iconic to this day. Hollywood star and political activist. From historical epics to high-grossing sci-fi franchises, Heston continuously appeared on-screen for over six decades and earned accolades along the way. Heston's most successful film, "Ben-Hur," solidified his stardom and helped shape the landscape of religious and historical epics in Hollywood.

Hollywood star and political activist Charlton Heston appeared in nearly 100 movies over the course of his six decades in the film industry, and of these movies, there are many that are absolutely unforgettable. Heston starred in films that can only be described as epics, including stories of war, history, and wondrous places. Despite their age, many of these films are still iconic to this day. Overall, Charlton Heston's legacy lives on through the memorable roles he played in his most incredible films.

Charlton Heston...

by Baby Clyde

Walter Brennan in "The Westerner". The last of his three wins was the most deserving.

After spending most of my life cataloguing all these Oscar winning performances, I feel uniquely qualified to bore you all with my rankings. We’ll cover my favourite winners before handing out some booby prizes to the all-time worst recipients in each acting category.

Let’s start with the category that nobody cares about, Best Supporting Actor...

Thanks to the popularity of the Old West TV series "The Rifleman", starring Chuck Connors as 'Lucas McCain', a reboot of the series as a TV movie continues in development, focusing on adult 'Mark McCain', son of 'Lucas McCain', who reluctantly takes up his late father's proficiency with a gun:

In the original series, Civil War hero McCain, a sharpshooter and widower with a haunted past, moves to the territory of 'North Fork' to raise his son..

There, he joins forces with the fatherly 'Marshall Micah Torrance', to protect his new town and become its unofficial guardian.

Sam Peckinpah ("The Wild Bunch") creator of the series, wrote and directed episodes for the first season of "The Rifleman", starring his favorite actors Dennis Hopper and Warren Oates, letting usually letting bad guys get away with a stern scolding, after they burn down a homestead or drag Lucas face down in the dirt tied to a horse.

Double, double toil and Oscar trouble.

Can Frances McDormand break the Best Actress bubble?

What bloody man is that, who would make such a prediction?

Is it based on fact, or Shakespearean fiction?

Be bloody, bold and resolute.

And when analyzing the derby, awards-astute.

Screw your courage to the sticking place.

Realize that McDormand can indeed make the race.

And must they all be hanged that swear and lie?

Not before reading these five reasons why.

1. She’s bloody Frances McDormand.

There’s nothing more to be said. The academy has shown that it loves this woman in a way that it loves few others. She has now been nominated six times in five consecutive decades. And she’s gone three for three in her Best Actress bids. She earned her inaugural victory for 1996’s “Fargo” – despite appearing in less than one-third of the film and facing stiff competition from...

Best Actress predictions change daily but where are we in regards to Frances McDormand's third Best Actress Oscars? Happening or not? I'm tentatively saying it will. That's where my brain is today at least. Frances would be only the seventh actor to manage three Oscars for acting in the 93 years of Academy history and become only the second woman to win three leading Oscars (after Katharine Hepburn).

The others who've won three acting statues:

Fargo (96), Three Billboards (17), Nomadland (20)

Walter Brennan -Come and Get It (36), Kentucky (38), The Westerner (40) - all in supporting Ingrid Bergman -Gaslight (44), Anastasia (56), Murder on the Orient Express (74) Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory (34), Guess Who... (67), Lion in Winter (68), On Golden Pond (81) - all in leading  Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (75), Terms of Endearment (83), As Good As It Gets (97) Meryl Streep - Kramer vs Kramer (79), Sophie's Choice (82), The Iron Lady (11) Daniel Day...

Paul Raci, 72, has already won several critics organization’s awards including from the National Society of Film Critics for his performance as Joe, a recovering alcoholic who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War. Joe runs a house for recovering deaf addicts that Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a drug addict who lost his hearing playing drums, goes to live. Raci ranks in the top five contenders for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars according to our exclusive odds.

And there’s a good reason wh: the actor gives such a natural, forceful performance as the no-nonsense Joe-his parents were deaf. He’s also fluent in American Sign Language and has appeared in some dozen productions of the Los Angeles-based Deaf West Theater and is lead performer of the Asl Black Sabbath tribute band Hands of Doom. And just as Joe, Raci is also a Vietnam Vet.

Character actors have won Oscars...

Argentina’s “Mother Dough,” a four-part doc series portraying how women have fed humanity through their work at home and their doughs, has won the first Iberseries Pitch, ending first year activities at this year’s Iberseries, an event which is setting out to become the foremost Spanish-language drama series festival in the world.

“‘Mother Dough’ is innovative and, at the same time. universal in its treatment, channelling the principal issues of the 21st century in a proposition that is distinctive, with multiple values in its visuals and content, a nexus connecting with our emotions,” said a jury made up of Ana Celia Urquidi, general manager, production at Mexico’s Hemisphere Media Group, Arantxa Écija, Mediaset España fiction director, and Alex Medeiros, director of development at Globo Channels, Brazil.

The winner will walk away with a €3,000 cash prize, manna from heaven for any Argentine producer at this time.

The Pitch...

Sure, it’s an honor to be nominated, but let’s be honest: it’s even better to win. So taking a victory lap two or three times has got to be the most amazing feeling on the planet. Since 1927, only 22 men have won more than one Oscar for acting, so it’s a tough club to join. Tour our photo gallery above to see which thespians delighted Academy voters multiple times.

Three performers hold the record for victories amongst men with three prizes each: Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson. (Katherine Hepburn is the all-time champ amongst men and woman with four.) Brennan won all three of his trophies in supporting, while Day-Lewis took home all of his awards in lead. Nicholson won two Oscars in lead (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975 and “As Good as It Gets” in 1997) and one in supporting (“Terms of Endearment...

William Wyler would’ve celebrated his 117th birthday on July 1, 2019. The three-time Oscar winner crafted several classics during Hollywood’s Golden Age, adapting his style to a wide variety of genres. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1902 in Germany, Wyler immigrated to the U.S. when his cousin, Universal Studios chief Carl Laemmle, hired him as an errand boy. He quickly moved up the ranks, directing shorts during the silent era before transitioning into features. It was with the advent of sound that he hit his stride, displaying an ear for dialogue that would serve him well in lofty literary adaptations produced by his longtime partner, independent mogul Samuel Goldwyn.

SEEBette Davis movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Wyler quickly became an Oscar mainstay, earning a record-breaking 12 nominations for Best Director: “Dodsworth...

Mahershala Ali added another Oscar as Best Supporting Actor to his shelf for his role as a talented concert pianist traveling through the 1960s South in “Green Book.” The victory comes just two years after his first win in the category for “Moonlight” (2016). He became the 83rd person in history to clinch that prize, beating out Adam Driver (“BlacKkKlansman”), Sam Elliott (“A Star Is Born”), Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Sam Rockwell (“Vice”). Tour our photo gallery above of every Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor, from the most recent winner to the very first one.

SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards

The supporting categories were added in 1936 at the ninth Academy Awards. Initially, winners were given plaques instead of gold statuettes, but starting in 1943 they were given full Oscars.

Since 1936, only eight actors have won this prize more than once.

Mahershala Ali‘s second Oscar triumph Sunday night, for Best Supporting Actor in “Green Book,” puts him some exclusive company: He is the seventh performer to maintain a perfect 2-for-2 record.

Only six other actors have never lost an Oscar from multiple nominations:

1. Luise Rainer: Best Actress for “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936) and “The Good Earth” (1937)

2. Vivien Leigh: Best Actress for “Gone with the Wind” (1939) and “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951)

3. Helen Hayes: Best Actress for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1932) and Best Supporting Actress for “Airport” (1970)

4. Kevin Spacey: Best Supporting Actor for “The Usual Suspects” (1995) and Best Actor for “American Beauty” (1999)

5. Hilary Swank: Best Actress for “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)

6. Christoph Waltz: Best Supporting Actor for “Inglourious Basterds” (2009) and “Django Unchained” (2012)

Since he won his first Best Supporting Actor Oscar two years ago for “Moonlight,” Ali has the second shortest gap between wins of this group,...

Mahershala Ali is comfortably out front to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “Green Book” after his wins at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards. But there remains a big unanswered question about this race: will the academy want to reward him again so soon? It has been just two years since he won for “Moonlight.” That’s not unprecedented, of course, but you have to go back decades to find actors who claimed two Oscars so quickly.

No one has won multiple acting Oscars in two years or less in any category since Tom Hanks went back-to-back in the Best Actor race: “Philadelphia” (1993) and “Forrest Gump” (1994) — that’s 24 years ago. You have to go back a lot farther than that to find such a quick repeat specifically in the Best Supporting Actor race. It happened to Jason Robards 41 years ago when he won two in a...

Need a laugh? Paul Newman shoots people, hangs others and runs a judiciary speed trap for unwary outlaw vagrants. John Huston’s picture is a slack, passably amusing interpretation of writer John Milius’s career- boosting screenplay. A slow-going exercise in ‘printing the legend, only funnier,’ it’s recommended just to take in Stacy Keach’s memorable albino menace, ‘Bad Bob.’

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Ned Beatty, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Zerbe, Dick Farnsworth, Terry Leonard, Matt Clark, Bill McKinney, Steve Kanaly, Bruno The Bear, Michael Sarrazin.

Cinematography: Richard Moore

Film Editor: Hugh S. Fowler

Original Music: Maurice Jarre

Written by John Milius

Produced by John Foreman

Directed by John Huston

When John Huston movies are good,...

David O. Selznick’s absurdly over-cooked western epic is a great picture, even if much of it induces a kind of hypnotic, mouth-hanging-open disbelief. Is this monument to the sex appeal of Jennifer Jones, Kitsch in terrible taste, or have Selznick and his army of Hollywood talents found a new level of hyped melodramatic harmony? It certainly has the star-power, beginning with Gregory Peck as a cowboy rapist who learned his bedside manners from Popeye’s Bluto. It’s all hugely enjoyable.

Duel in the Sun

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1946 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 144 min. / Special Edition / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston, Butterfly McQueen, Charles Bickford, Tilly Losch.

Cinematography Lee Garmes, Ray Rennahan and Harold Rosson

Production Designer J. McMillan Johnson

Film Editor Hal C. Kern, John Saure and William H. Ziegler

Original Music Dimitri Tiomkin

Written by Niven Busch,...

Easily the most mellow of the films of Sam Peckinpah, this relatively gentle western fable sees Jason Robards discovering water where it ain’t, and establishing his private little way station paradise, complete with lover Stella Stevens and eccentric preacher David Warner. Some of the slapstick is sticky but the sexist bawdy humor is too cute to offend . . . and Peckinpah-phobes will be surprised to learn that the movie is in part a musical.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1970 / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date June 6, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring Jason Robards Jr., Stella Stevens, David Warner, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, Peter Whitney, Gene Evans, William Mims, Kathleen Freeman, Susan O’Connell, Vaughn Taylor, Max Evans, James Anderson.

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard

Art Direction: Leroy Coleman

Film Editor: Frank Santillo, Lou Lombardo

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by John Crawford and Edmund Penney

Produced by Sam Peckinpah...

Aaron is joined by Matt Gasteier, who participates in our first game show and shares his insights on the latest from Criterion. We pay homage to Seijun Suzuki, the IMDb message boards, and share our opinions on Lone Wolf & Club, Pedro Almodovar, and a lot of other directors and films.

Episode Notes

2:15 – In Memoriam. Seijun Suzuki, IMDb Message Boards

10:00 – Matt’s opinion on the May Announcements

14:20 – Aaron’s Game for Matt

20:15 – Flash Sale Predictions

22:30 – Ugetsu 4K Restoration

24:50 – William Wyler’s The Westerner

28:00 – Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

36:00 – Short Takes (Lone Wolf & Cub, The Housemaid)

46:50 – FilmStruck

Episode Links Criterion – Seijun Suzuki IMDb Message Boards Janus Films – Ugetsu MacGruber 2 Episode Credits Aaron West: Twitter | Website | Letterboxd Matt Gasteier: Twitter | Letterboxd Criterion Now: Twitter Criterion Cast: Facebook | Twitter

Music for the show is from Fatboy Roberts’ Geek Remixed project.

Denzel Washington, Viola Davis in ‘Fences’ (Courtesy: Paramount)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

The elite circle of thespians who have earned three Oscars for their craft is quite small — but it could potentially expand come February 2017. Now that critics have finally gotten to see Fences, Denzel Washington has shot to the top of the list for the upcoming Academy Awards.

Throughout history there have only been three men to garner three Oscars with some combination of wins in the best actor and best supporting actor categories. And, at this point in the Oscar race, our very own Scott Feinberg calls the 61-year-old a frontrunner for best actor — putting him in a history-making position as he’d only be the fourth person to accomplish this feat.

The first person to win three statues for acting was Walter Brennan who managed to win three of the first five times the best supporting actor category was in existence.

Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman, who would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. TCM has likely aired most of Bergman's Hollywood films, and at least some of her early Swedish work. As a result, today's only premiere is Fielder Cook's little-seen and little-remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), about two bored kids (Sally Prager, Johnny Doran) who run away from home and end up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum. Obviously, this is no A Night at the Museum – and that's a major plus. Bergman plays an elderly art lover who takes an interest in them; her...

'Father of the Bride': Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams. Top Five Father's Day Movies? From giant Gregory Peck to tyrant John Gielgud What would be the Top Five Father's Day movies ever made? Well, there have been countless films about fathers and/or featuring fathers of various sizes, shapes, and inclinations. In terms of quality, these range from the amusing – e.g., the 1950 version of Cheaper by the Dozen; the Oscar-nominated The Grandfather – to the nauseating – e.g., the 1950 version of Father of the Bride; its atrocious sequel, Father's Little Dividend. Although I'm unable to come up with the absolute Top Five Father's Day Movies – or rather, just plain Father Movies – ever made, below are the first five (actually six, including a remake) "quality" patriarch-centered films that come to mind. Now, the fathers portrayed in these films aren't all heroic, loving, and/or saintly paternal figures. Several are...

'The Letter' 1940, with Bette Davis 'The Letter' 1940 movie: Bette Davis superb in masterful studio era production Directed by William Wyler and adapted by Howard Koch from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, The Letter is one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood studios. Wyler's unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis' complex portrayal of a passionate woman who also happens to be a self-absorbed, calculating murderess; and Tony Gaudio's atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit. 'The Letter': 'U' for 'Unfaithful' The Letter begins in the dark of night, as a series of gunshots are heard in a Malayan rubber plantation. Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) walks out the door of her house firing shots at (barely seen on camera) local playboy Jeff Hammond, who falls dead on the ground.

Teresa Wright movies: Actress made Oscar history Teresa Wright, best remembered for her Oscar-winning performance in the World War II melodrama Mrs. Miniver and for her deceptively fragile, small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's mystery-drama Shadow of a Doubt, died at age 86 ten years ago – on March 6, 2005. Throughout her nearly six-decade show business career, Wright was featured in nearly 30 films, dozens of television series and made-for-tv movies, and a whole array of stage productions. On the big screen, she played opposite some of the most important stars of the '40s and '50s. It's a long list, including Bette Davis, Greer Garson, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, Ray Milland, Fredric March, Jean Simmons, Marlon Brando, Dana Andrews, Lew Ayres, Cornel Wilde, Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Joseph Cotten, and David Niven. Also of note, Teresa Wright made Oscar history in the early '40s, when she was nominated for each of her first three movie roles.

It is not too shabby in what the Northeast (New England) part of the United States has produced in terms of past and present actors/actresses making their show business dreams come true. Film careers can be a lot like ice cubes–they start out solid and cool but if you sit around in stagnation your efforts and hard work can melt away before one’s very eyes. Certainly no one can accuse this talented crop of thespians of being one-hit wonders on the big screen. After all, one does not become a recipient of an Academy Award by just sheer luck and charitable fortune.

As a native Bostonian and life long New Englander, I felt compelled to spotlight those Massachusetts-born and bred actors from the same region that had ultimate success on the big screen in winning the Oscar for their acting achievement and contribution to the motion picture industry.

Lupita Tovar turns 103: Actress starred in Spanish-language ‘Dracula’ and in the first Mexican talkie, ‘Santa’ (photo: Lupita Tovar in ‘Santa’) Mexican actress Lupita Tovar, best remembered for the Spanish-language version of Dracula and for starring in the first Mexican talkie, Santa, turned 103 years old on Sunday, July 27, 2013. Tovar was born in 1910 in the city of Oaxaca, the capital of the Mexican state of the same name. In an interview with author Michael G. Ankerich (Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips) published on Ankerich’s site Close-ups and Long Shots, Tovar recalled her brief foray as a silent film actress at Fox (several years before it became 20th Century Fox): "Silent films were wonderful because you didn’t have to worry about your dialogue. You could say whatever you felt. We had music on the set all the time. It was absolutely wonderful." Unfortunately for Tovar, whose English was quite poor,...

Both of the Oscars wins for "Django Unchained" --  Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor) and Quentin Tarantino (Best Original Screenplay) -- are history making.  Waltz, who claimed this same award three years ago for "Inglorious Basterds," his first collaboration with Tarantino, is the seventh actor to win more than once in this category, following: Walter Brennan: "Come and Get It" (1936), "Kentucky" (1938), "The Westerner" (1940);   Anthony Quinn: "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Lust for Life" (1956);   Peter Ustinov: "Spartacus" (1960), "Topkapi" (1964);   Jason Robards: "All the President's Men" (1976), "Julia" (1977);   Melvyn Douglas: "Hud" (1963), "Being There" (1979); and   Michael Caine: "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986...

Colin Firth, Meryl Streep Colin Firth tells Meryl Streep he should have been cast as Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, for he's British and Streep is not. Streep responds by telling him she can play any nationality, including Italian. As proof, she incarnates Anna Magnani in Bellissima. Well, something like that went on backstage at the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony. (Photo: Bryan Crowe / ©A.M.P.A.S.) Meryl Streep's Best Actress Oscar for The Iron Lady was her third. Streep's previous two Oscars were as Best Supporting Actress for Robert Benton's Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), featuring Dustin Hoffman, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry; and as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula's Sophie's Choice (1982), with Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol. Only three other performers have won three Academy Awards: Walter Brennan as Best Supporting Actor for Howard Hawks and William Wyler's Come and Get It...

Meryl Streep Oscar winner Meryl Streep became a three-time Academy Award winner after getting this year's Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady. In the above photo, Streep poses backstage with a naked man holding a strategically placed sword during the 84th Oscar ceremony held February 26. (Photo: Richard D. Salyer / © A.M.P.A.S.) Streep's previous two Oscars were as Best Supporting Actress for Robert Benton's Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), featuring Dustin Hoffman, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry; and as Best Actress for Alan J. Pakula's Sophie's Choice (1982), with Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol. Her Best Actress competitors this time around were Viola Davis for The Help, Michelle Williams (as Marilyn Monroe) for Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn, Rooney Mara (in Noomi Rapace's original role) for David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake,...

Octavia Spencer, Meryl Streep Octavia Spencer — quite literally — joins Meryl Streep at 2012 post-Oscar ceremony Governors Ball held at Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26. Spencer was the Best Supporting Actress winner for her performance in Tate Taylor's socially conscious comedy-drama The Help. Streep was the Best Actress winner for her performance as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady. (Photo: Darren Decker / ©A.M.P.A.S.) Octavia Spencer was a first-time nominee. Her Best Supporting Actress competition consisted of fellow first-time nominees Jessica Chastain for The Help, Bérénice Bejo for Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, and Melissa McCarthy for Paul Feig's Bridesmaids, in addition to two-time nominee Janet McTeer for Rodrigo García's Albert Nobbs. McTeer had been previously shortlisted in the Best Actress category for Gavin O'Connor's Tumbleweeds (1999). Meryl Streep's competitors in the Best Actress...

Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Tom Cruise poses with Meryl Streep during the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony at Hollywood and Highland Center on Sunday, February 26. Cruise, looking very much like his old Top Gun and Cocktail self, was the evening's Best Picture presenter. Streep was the Best Actress Oscar winner for playing Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady. Also worth noting, Cruise and Streep co-starred in Robert Redford's political drama Lions for Lambs in 2006. (Photo: Todd Wawrychuk / © A.M.P.A.S.) Tom Cruise presented the Best Picture Oscar to Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white near-silent comedy-drama The Artist. Cruise's movie Mission: Impossible IV – Ghost Protocol was a major late-year box-office hit and received quite enthusiastic reviews, but failed to be shortlisted in any Oscar category. Cruise's next film is Adam Shankman's Rock of Ages, featuring an extensive cast that includes Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Best Supporting Actress...

Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Tom Cruise congratulates Best Actress Oscar winner Meryl Streep — for Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady — backstage during the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony held at the Hollywood and Highland Center on Sunday, February 26. Cruise and Streep co-starred in Robert Redford's political/Iraq War drama Lions for Lambs in 2006; the film was a box-office flop in the United States, but did solid business overseas. (Photo: Todd Wawrychuk / © A.M.P.A.S.) Tom Cruise wasn't nominated for anything this year; he was the presenter of the Best Picture Academy Award, which went to Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. Cruise's movie Mission: Impossible IV – Ghost Protocol was a major late-year box-office hit and received quite enthusiastic reviews. Cruise's next vehicle is Adam Shankman's Rock of Ages, featuring an eclectic cast that includes Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Julianne Hough, Paul Giamatti, Russell Brand, Hugh Forte,...

Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Dodsworth William Wyler: Record-Setting Oscar Director for Actors Pt.1 Ah, William Wyler also happens to be the director with the most Academy Award nominations: twelve in all. For the record, those are: Dodsworth, 1936; Wuthering Heights, 1939; The Letter, 1940; The Little Foxes, 1941; Mrs. Miniver, 1942; The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946; The Heiress, 1949; Detective Story, 1951; Roman Holiday, 1953; Friendly Persuasion, 1956; Ben-Hur, 1959; and The Collector, 1965. He won the Best Director Oscar for three films — none of which is among his best: Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Ben-Hur. Considering the changes that have taken place in the American film industry following the demise of the studio system, barring a miracle Wyler will remain the Oscars' top director for actors for as long as there are Oscars. (See full list below.) William Wyler died of a heart attack in July 1981 in Los Angeles. William Wyler-directed movies: thirty-six acting nominations; fourteen wins.

William Wyler was one of the greatest film directors Hollywood — or any other film industry — has ever produced. Today, Wyler lacks the following of Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Frank Capra, or even Howard Hawks most likely because, unlike Hitchcock, Ford, or Capra (and to a lesser extent Hawks), Wyler never focused on a particular genre, while his films were hardly as male-centered as those of the aforementioned four directors. Dumb but true: Films about women and their issues tend to be perceived as inferior to those about men — especially tough men — and their issues. The German-born Wyler (1902, in Alsace, now part of France) immigrated to the United States in his late teens. Following a stint at Universal's New York office, he moved to Hollywood and by the mid-'20s was directing Western shorts. His ascent was quick; by 1929 Wyler was directing Universal's top female star, Laura La Plante in the...

Meryl Streep's nomination for "Julie & Julia" increases her Oscar record to 16, putting her even further ahead of Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson (both at 12). Though Hepburn won four lead-actress Oscars and Nicholson a pair of lead-actor Academy Awards as well as a supporting one, Streep has just one lead Oscar and a supporting prize to show for all her nominations.

Though Streep just broke Hepburn's record of an even dozen nods in the lead-actress race, she should take inspiration from Hepburn's Oscar history. Hepburn won her first Oscar bid, for "Morning Glory" in 1933, but she lost her next eight Oscar races. It was only after Hepburn turned 60 in 1967 -- the age Streep is now -- that she prevailed again with nod No. 10 for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Hepburn credited that win as a way for the academy to honor her late love and frequent costar Spencer Tracy,...

While sitting and thinking about the upcoming remake/sequel to Alice In Wonderland (trust me, it’s not something I do all that often), I couldn’t help but stumble upon one, key element about the film. It’s Tim Burton. It features Crispin Glover. One has never directed the other before, and this is a surprising notion to come across. Granted, Glover provided a voice in 9 last year, and Tim Burton was a producer on that film. Before that, though, there has never been a collaboration between these two giants of weird.

This got me thinking. What other obvious collaborations are there that, for whatever reasons the cinema Gods felt necessary, never came to fruition. What directors have such an identifiable style that coalesces with the style of an actor or actress that have just never merged together on any, one project?

Here are a few I’ve found:...

In 1943, there was such fierce disagreement over the year's best picture that the four top film awards went to four pictures: the Oscars ("Casablanca"), National Board of Review ("The Ox-Bow Incident"), New York Film Critics Circle ("Watch on the Rhine") and the brand-new Golden Globe ("The Song of Bernadette"). The latter award was so fledging and low-key that it didn't have a statuette to hand out. Winners were given scrolls on the studio lot.

Variety declared "Watch on the Rhine" even better than Lillian Hellman's Broadway production, which had won best play from the New York Drama Critics Circle, but it had a hard time prevailing as best picture within the New York Film Critics Circle. On the first ballot, it tied director Clarence Brown's "The Human Comedy" and didn't amass enough votes to break away to win until the sixth ballot. "Casablanca" was not a significant contender.