Academy Award Unfair?

I agree with you, in theory, that it's unfair to judge the performance of an actor/actress who has performed a role on stage, repeatedly--against someone who's created their performance specifically for cinema. The thing to remember, though, is that "film acting" is an entirely different exercise--and for an actor to "scale-down" the performance they've given to a live audience--unamplified (atleast back then it was), and aiming for the back row of the top balcony, requires discipline and a knowledge that the "camera sees everything. Compare it to an opera singer switching to singing to a microphone...they need to re-think the whole style. Not all actors are able to re-work their stage performances for the camera. The best example that comes to mind is Nancy Kelly, who repeated her stage performance as 'Christine,' the hysterically histrionic mother of evil little 'Rhoda' in The Bad Seed. Perhaps her "style" worked during her many performances of the role on Broadway--but her film performance was clearly lifted, lock, stock and barrel from the stage, and dropped--unmodulated--to the film's soundstage...and it is LAUGHABLY overwrought, when seen today (yes, I'm aware she was also a film actress prior to The Bad Seed--though one would never know that by watching the film, which many find to be a laugh-out-loud camp classic...mostly owing to Kelly's hilarious, hand-wringing performance). What's more...SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR 'BEST ACTRESS' Oscar for her performance (fortunately, she did not win--Ingrid Bergman won for Anastasia).