MovieChat Forums > Our Very Own (1950) Discussion > About that Oscar Nomination

About that Oscar Nomination

posted 17 years ago by jeremy_shops
12 replies | jump to latest

This film doesn't play very often on TCM. Dunno about its availability anywhere else.

But it showed up during TCM's "30 Days of Oscar" as a nominee in 1950 for "Best Sound Recording."

Does anyone have any idea why?

It's a pretty pedestrian film with a woefully outdated premise. As others have noted, it's a fair-to-middlin' time capsule of life in the 1950s and Natalie Wood is fun to watch.

But "Best Sound Recording?" Is it, perhaps, because this was an early use of stereo or magnetic soundtrack or something? Because, when it ran today on TCM at the "climactic" graduation scene the track got horribly out of snych with itself. "Pomp & Circumstance" played over itself in what *might* have been a surreal expression of Gail's coming to grips with discovering she's been adopted. Maybe. But in an otherwise so un-avant garde film, it simply came off as a screw-up.

Anybody know anything about why "Our Very Own" was an Oscar nominee?

[–] MissMargoChanning 17 years ago

Sorry, I don`t know anything about why the theme song (I`m assuming that`s the song) was an Oscar nominee. It was nice, but I don`t remember it as being popular. Not like "A Summer Place," or "Because They`re Young" from around that era.
I did, however notice what you were talking about when "Pomp & Circumstance" was playing. All that I could think was that maybe the high school band was`nt suppose to sound perfect. It did sound pretty bad.
As for the movie, I always liked it. I loved "Gail`s" graduation speach.

[–] wermargaret 14 years ago

Mmm...I don't know about that speech. I agree with Gail that anyone lucky enough to grow up in a stable, loving home should be appreciative, but she goes on to say that one of the good things about said home is a father who "slaps us down" when "we need it". Granted that the earlier scene where Gail's father slaps her is at a moment of extreme stress during what is certainly a family crisis, but, well, it's still a little disturbing. IMHO.

A Happy Meal and absolute silence!

[–] TrangPak2 11 years ago

The era of "spare the rod ,spoil the child" nothing disturbing about that scene. The world has becoming unbearably pc!

[–] MissMargoChanning 17 years ago

This will be on again, on March 18`th

[–] bobcan653 17 years ago

I believe there is a certain quality (and to me, an oddness) to the sound in several scenes. It's difficult to describe the effect, kind of tunnelly, but it must have represented something novel and some sort of technical achievement at the time.

Unlike several posts, I really like this movie, and find it to be performed well, and, while an admitted Farley Granger fan, interestingly cast. Hats off to Ann Dvorak - terrific performance. And let's not forget Jane Wyatt, who so many baby boomers would still consider to be the perfect "mom" (Father Knows Best) not to mention Lost Horizon, many years earlier. The cast alone makes it a great movie! Too bad there wasn't a little boy part - I would have cast Billy Gray!

[–] grandduchessnoir 17 years ago

So excited that this movie is coming on on Thursday, July 5th on TCM! I haven't seen it in about 20 years! I always remember the kind of mean way the adopted sister found out that she was adopted. It's probably dated, but worth a glimpse into a video time capsule!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] carvenstud 17 years ago

The sound is indeed out of sync. At times you hear the music and sounds in an almost echo-like pattern not only during the graduation ceremony but throughout the film. I recorded it on my DVR and the second time I watched it, I turned my receiver to normal mode (not surround sound) and switched the audio balance to the left speaker only. This seems to resolve this problem as you hear the mono sound rather than the poor stereo mixing. This glitch aside, I absolutely love this film.

[–] pt100 17 years ago

FYI, I recorded this film the other day off of TCM on my TiVo, then transferred it (via wireless network) to a TiVo in the other room where I have a small mono TV set on my desk that I watch when I'm working at the desk. I freaked out at first because I could hear all the ambient sounds in the film, including the music track and even a sneeze by Natalie Wood near the beginning, but I could not hear any dialog at all. So I went back into the other room and watched part of it on a stereo TV, and got the dialog, too.

After some experimenting, I discovered that if I use the red RCA plug (right audio channel) going from the TiVo into the monaural TV's audio input jack, the dialog is gone, but all other sounds are there; but if I use the white RCA plug (left audio channel), then all sounds, including dialog, are there.

If there's someone here who understands sound mixing and what they might have done with this film, maybe you can explain what that's all about.

[–] carvenstud 17 years ago

I obtained the same result by turning my receiver's audio level to the left or right channels. Keeping the audio turned to the left channel, you hear everything; switch it to the right and you hear ambiance sounds only.

[–] theoctobercountry 11 years ago

Interesting comments here, about the sound mix. I don't know what the problems were; it seems extremely unlikely that this was originally mixed in some sort of stereo, since multi-channel sound didn't come around until the introduction of Cinemascope a few years later....

That said, I've just viewed this film (in August 2013) on TCM and there are no longer problematic sound issues of any kind. Also, it was definitely a basic mono mix; I'm sure of this because I listened to it on headphones.

[–] Itsamoomoo 13 years ago

The information is on back of the VHS videocassette release which I no longer own. It has something to do with multi-track layers of recording. Exellent film.