“The biggest robbery since Brink’s.”
That’s how Groucho Marx described Judy Garland in “A Star Is Born” losing the 1954 Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly in “The Country Girl.” (Brink’s was a strategically plotted hit on a Boston building in 1950.)
“A Star Is Born” was Garland’s first film in four years, making it her big comeback. A remake of the 1937 film of the same name, Garland played a rising Hollywood star opposite a fading one (played by Best Actor nominee James Mason). Garland received some of the best reviews of her career, with Time crediting her with “what has to be the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history.” She received her first Oscar nomination (not counting the special miniature statuette she was given for 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz”). It seemed as if Garland was heading safely down the yellow brick road on her way to the gold.
When Kelly was chosen over Garland, many attributed it to pure Hollywood politics. Garland had simply burned too many bridges with her on-set antics and issues over the years, and finally paid the price.
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While that may explain Garland’s defeat, what was it that allowed Kelly to coast to victory 70 years ago? Here are the five main reasons.
1. She was the only one in the category in a Best Picture nominee.
Though “A Star Is Born” shined with six noms, it was left out of the Best Picture race. The same goes for the films of the other three Best Actress hopefuls — Dorothy Dandridge in “Carmen Jones,” Audrey Hepburn in “Sabrina” and Jane Wyman in “Magnificent Obsession.” Meanwhile, “The Country Girl” was celebrated with seven bids, including Best Picture, Best Director for George Seaton and Best Actor for Bing Crosby. Academy members were clearly keen on the film, and that helped to carry Kelly across the finish line.
2. She played the long-suffering spouse.
This theory has been written about extensively, and I do believe that Gold Derby Founder and President Tom O’Neil was the first to call attention to it. This was when he was describing the Oscar wins by Marcia Gay Harden in “Pollock” for Best Supporting Actress of 2000 and both Jim Broadbent in “Iris” and Jennifer Connelly in “A Beautiful Mind” for the two supporting trophies of 2001. Going back to Kelly, she played the wife of an alcoholic and troubled former star (Crosby). The long-suffering spouse had earlier done the trick for the likes of Luise Rainer in “The Good Earth” for Best Actress of 1937, Jane Darwell in “The Grapes of Wrath” for Best Supporting Actress of 1940, and Donald Crisp in Best Picture “How Green Was My Valley” for Best Supporting Actor of 1941. Kelly was just the latest suffering spouse to go from wrath to reward.
3. She was showcased prominently in three other films in 1954.
“Dial M for Murder,” “Green Fire,” and “Rear Window.” (There was also “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” which was released early in 1955.) We have to assume that academy voters had those films in mind when they considered Kelly in “The Country Girl.” Considering her extraordinary body of work that year, it’s no wonder that Kelly dialed “O” for Oscar.
4. She had momentum from “Mogambo” the previous year.
The film earned Kelly a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. While the prize went to Donna Reed in the Best Picture “From Here to Eternity,” the exposure allowed Kelly to go to from relative obscurity to celebrity. She also had a pivotal supporting role in the 1952 Best Picture “High Noon,” playing the wife of Best Actor Gary Cooper. “Mogambo” marked the Hollywood ascension of the future Princess of Monaco. She was suddenly seen as being ready for the Best Actress crown.
5. Garland aside, there was no one else who could beat her.
The dandy Dandridge made history as the first African American nominated for a lead Oscar, but “Carmen Jones” was left out other major categories. The invitation alone was probably seen as her win. Hepburn had prevailed for a somewhat similar role in “Roman Holiday” the previous year, so the academy was safe to take a holiday from her. And as magnificent as Wyman was in “Magnificent Obsession,” she had been recognized for “Johnny Belinda” just six years earlier. Plus, she was the lone contender from the picture, suggesting that voters were hardly obsessed with it. That left Kelly as the lucky girl, going to town — and Oscar — for “The Country Girl.”
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