1941--The Year in Review

In the year of Citizen Kane, nothing else could confidently approach it in most categories. It was still a landmark period, with Sturges (contributing two of his finest movies), Huston, Ford, Hawks. Korda and Wyler all throwing in yeoman work. But, honestly, there was no real competition--even though the Academy thought differently and handed most awards to John Ford's resilient memory piece How Green Was My Valley (mainly because of the powerhouse Hearst campaign against Citizen Kane, but maybe also as a makeup award for partially snubbing The Grapes of Wrath the year before). Still, Welles and crew had it locked down in terms of posterity, and Welles himself will probably remain the only film artist I'll choose for the titles of best director, actor, writer and producer for a single piece. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this is just. And I should note: with the short films, I again went with The Three Stooges and their ridiculously epic pie fight and, for the second year in a row, Warner Brothers' newly-named Bugs Bunny. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (AKA The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: CITIZEN KANE (US, Orson Welles)
(2nd: Sullivan’s Travels (US, Preston Sturges), followed by: 
The Maltese Falcon (US, John Huston)
The Lady Eve (US, Preston Sturges)
Ball of Fire (US, Howard Hawks)
How Green Was My Valley (US, John Ford)
The Little Foxes (US, William Wyler)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (US, Alexander Hall)
The 47 Ronin (Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi)
49^th Parallel (UK, Michael Powell)
Man Hunt (US, Fritz Lang)
That Hamilton Woman (UK/US, Alexander Korda)
Sergeant York (US, Howard Hawks)
Dumbo (US, Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney)
The Devil and Miss Jones (US, Sam Wood)
Meet John Doe (US, Frank Capra)
Suspicion (US, Alfred Hitchcock)
High Sierra (US, Raoul Walsh)
The Shanghai Gesture (US, Josef Von Sternberg)
Never Give a Sucker An Even Break (US, Eddie Cline)
Hellzapoppin (US, H.C. Potter)
The Wolf Man (US, George Waggner)



ACTOR: Orson Welles, CITIZEN KANE (2nd: Joel McCrea, Sullivan's Travels, followed by: Gary Cooper, Sergeant York; Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon; Henry Fonda, The Lady Eve; Cary Grant, Penny Serenade; Humphrey Bogart, High Sierra; Robert Montgomery, Here Comes Mr. Jordan; Charles Coburn, The Devil and Miss Jones; Gary Cooper, Meet John Doe)
 


ACTRESS: Barbara Stanwyck, THE LADY EVE (2nd: Barbara Stanwyk, Ball of Fire, followed by: Bette Davis, The Little Foxes; Olivia de Havilland, Hold Back the Dawn; Joan Fontaine, Suspicion; Vivien Leigh, That Hamilton Woman; Wendy Hiller, Major Barbara; Irene Dunne, Penny Seranade; Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon; Jean Arthur, The Devil and Miss Jones)

 
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sydney Greenstreet, THE MALTESE FALCON (2nd: Joseph Cotten, Citizen Kane, followed by: Claude Rains, Here Comes Mr. Jordan; George Colouris, Citizen Kane; Donald Crisp, How Green Was My Valley; Everett Sloane, Citizen Kane; Peter Lorre, The Maltese Falcon; James Gleason, Here Comes Mr. Jordan; S.K. Szagall, The Devil and Miss Jones; George Sanders, Man Hunt)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Veronica Lake, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (2nd: Patricia Collinge, The Little Foxes, followed by: Teresa Wright, The Little Foxes; Dorothy Comingore, Citizen Kane; Margaret Wycherley, Sergeant York; Maria Ouspenskaya, The Wolf Man; Sara Allgood, How Green Was My Valley; Joan Bennett, Man Hunt; Mary Astor, The Great Lie; Agnes Moorehead, Citizen Kane)



DIRECTOR: Orson Welles, CITIZEN KANE (2nd: Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels, followed by: John Huston, The Maltese Falcon; John Ford, How Green Was My Valley; Preston Sturges, The Lady Eve; Howard Hawks, Ball of Fire; William Wyler, The Little Foxes; Kenji Mizoguchi, The 47 Ronin; Fritz Lang, Man Hunt; Alexander Hall, Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
 
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, CITIZEN KANE (2nd: Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels, followed by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe, Ball of Fire; Monckton Hoff and Preston Sturges, The Lady Eve; Emeric Pressberger and Rodney Ackland, 49th Parallel)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Henry Buchman, Harry Seagall and Seaton I. Miller, HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (2nd: John Huston, The Maltese Falcon, followed by: Lillian Hellman, The Little Foxes; Yoshikata Yoda, The 47 Ronin; Dudley Nichols, Man Hunt)  

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: IN THE SWEET PIE AND PIE (The Three Stooges; Jules White) (2nd: I'll Never Heil Again (The Three Stooges; Jules White), followed by: Words for Battle (Humphrey Jennings); An Ache in Every Stake (The Three Stooges; Del Lord); Christmas Under Fire (Harry Watt, Charles Hasse); Churchill's Island (Stuart Legg))

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: WABBIT TWOUBLE (Bugs Bunny; Bob Clampett) (2nd: Superman (Dave Fleischer), followed by: Lend a Paw (Mickey Mouse; Walt Disney); How War Came (Paul Fennell); Tortoise Beats Hare (Bugs Bunny; Tex Avery); Contrathemis (Dwinnel Grant))

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gregg Toland, CITIZEN KANE (2nd: Arthur Miller, How Green Was My Valley, followed by: Kojei Sugiyama, The 47 Ronin; Sol Polito, Sergeant York; Rudolph Mate, That Hamilton Woman; Arthur Miller, Man Hunt)

ART DIRECTION: CITIZEN KANE, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, How Green Was My Valley, Blood and Sand, The Little Foxes

COSTUME DESIGN: THAT HAMILTON WOMAN, Blood and Sand, The 47 Ronin, The Chocolate Soldier, The Little Foxes 

FILM EDITING: CITIZEN KANE, Sullivan's Travels, Sergeant York, The Little Foxes, Man Hunt 

SOUND: CITIZEN KANE, How Green Was My Valley, That Hamilton Woman, Ball of Fire, Sergeant York 



ORIGINAL SCORE: Bernard Herrmann, CITIZEN KANE (2nd: Meredith Willson, The Little Foxes, followed by: Franz Wazman, Suspicion; Alfred Newman, How Green Was My Valley; Victor Young, Hold Back the Dawn)

ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace, DUMBO (2nd: Herbert Stothart and Bronislau Kaper, The Chocolate Soldier, followed by: Charles Previn, Buck Privates; Robert Emmett Dolan, The Birth of the Blues; Morris Stoloff, You'll Never Get Rich)



ORIGINAL SONG: "Baby Mine" from DUMBO (music by Frank Churchill, lyrics by Ned Washington) (2nd: "Chattanooga Choo Choo" from Sun Valley Serenade (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon), followed by: "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" from Buck Privates (music by Hugh Prince, lyrics by Don Rave); "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good (music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II); "When I See an Elephant Fly" from Dumbo (music by Oliver Wallace, lyrics by Ned Washington)) 

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THAT HAMILTON WOMAN, Topper Returns, The Sea Wolf

MAKEUP: CITIZEN KANE, The Wolf Man, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde