Why Bergman won the Oscar...


Honestly I don't think it was really a bad performance at all, and I have no problem with her win. But the Academy saw her interrogation scene, most of which was done with no cuts, and were thouroughly impressed with Bergman's work. She was also sick at the time, which helped her tally up more votes.

Do youu think she deserved her Oscar?

"Ahhh!...and boom goes the dynamite."

reply

She definetly deserved her Oscar. Wonderful performance with so little screentime! One of my all-time favourite performances.

As the saying goes... the time to make up your mind about people is never

reply

It was a good performance, but not a stand-out for the year--or even the film. It was a sentimental award. The deserving actress was Valentina Cortese in Day for Night--as Bergman herself said when she accepted her Oscar.

reply

Perhaps so, I haven't seen Day for Night. But Bergman's Oscar speec was one of the best.

As the saying goes... the time to make up your mind about people is never

reply

[deleted]

I think so, it's still one of her best performances, and she really took advantage of her limited screentime and delivered an unforgettable performance in a role that wasn't at all showy (like Bacall's, who also managed to do a brilliant performance).

reply

I didn't realize she was sick at the time. I think she did a fine job, but I also think Diane Ladd and Madeline Kahn did excellent work that year in higher-profile roles. Very strong category.

reply

Considering that Bergman had already won TWO Best Actress Oscar awards, I believe it was questionable to give her another, rather than honoring a great performance by another actress, who never ended up winning a single Oscar. Also, I do not believe she was ill at the time. She died of breast cancer 7 or 8 years later in 1982.

reply

"It was a sentimental award." Very true, and neither the first nor the last but I'm still glad she got it!).

I think that factor can't be ignored - Hollywood was still apologizing to Bergman in 1975 for their shabby treatment of her in the 1950s (please - just imagine an actress today being vilified and shunned for having an extra-marital affair, becoming pregnant, and leaving her husband, though yes, leaving her child would still incur rancor).

But Bergman also had the grace to say she thought another actress (Valentia Cortese) more deserving of the Award, and the further grace to admit afterward that she'd been unfair to the other nominees by singling out Cortese.

"'Nature,' Mr. Allnut, is what we are put here to rrrrrriiiiise above!"

reply

i think she was good but i don't think she should have won it based on 5 minutes of screen time. and i'm quite a fan of ingrid bergman but perhaps someone else should have won it

reply

What Hollywood did to their top female box office draw and the biggest star at that time (late 40s) was ridiculous.

Well, if they had not awarded her a 3rd Oscar for this role, I believe that she would likely have won a lead Oscar for her greatest performance in "Autumn Sonata" where she basically swept most of the high profile critics awards.

reply

I don't know, but I have to say that during her long interrogation scene I realized that I was staring at her as if hypnotized. And I didn't know she'd won an Oscar for it when I saw it. I was only watching it because I'd just read the book and thought "what the heck, the library has it, it's free..."

reply

Wonderful performance, but not better than Madeline Kahn!

Martin Scorsese IS the best

reply

For me, I don't think she deserved it. That isn't to say I don't think she gave a good performance or that I'm not a huge fan, because I think she was amazing actress. But the issue was that I think the part was so slight, and the screen time, and not to mention the other performances, that she didn't leave as strong an impression on me as, say, Lauren Bacall's role. Honestly, if anyone in the cast was going to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress it should've been Bacall. But in the category that year, with the nominees as they are, I think Madeline Kahn should've receieved the Oscar. It's sad she died never having won.

reply

I think we should keep in mind that those who vote for the Oscars don't necessarily watch the films and can base their choices on public tastes or some sentimental reasons, this might be the reason why Art Carney won over Al Pacino for The Godfather Part II (and Jack Nicholson for Chinatown). This is not to diminish the merit of Bergman, but just to say that some voters might not be aware of her limited screentime. Beatrice Straight won for less than 5 minutes in Network 2 years after.

"Darth Vader is scary and I The Godfather"

reply


I think Michael York should have won the oscar. Seriously, his role is about as significant as Ingrid's. She has one really significant scene and that's it. She's good but Oscar? No way.

reply

It was a small part, but she did some pretty great things with it. The way she said, "For their Daisy, and mine" brought tears to my eyes.

reply