{"id":35456,"date":"2015-02-04T06:49:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T11:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/?p=35456"},"modified":"2018-12-05T20:26:37","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T01:26:37","slug":"oscars-greatest-mistakes-beatrice-straight-1977-best-supporting-actress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/04\/oscars-greatest-mistakes-beatrice-straight-1977-best-supporting-actress\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar\u2019s Greatest Mistakes: Beatrice Straight , 1977 Best Supporting Actress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"network-beatrice-straight\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What constitutes a supporting performance? That\u2019s a tough question to answer. Is it based on the amount of screen time an actor gets? Is it determined by a harder to quantify metric like the character\u2019s overall impact on a film\u2019s lead characters or storyline? There have even been times when what could be considered a lead performance has been nominated under the supporting category if only to give it a better chance at securing a win. It could be argued that Winnona Ryder’s role in The Age Of Innocence<\/strong> was more a lead role than a supporting one, even though she was nominated in the Supporting Actress category in 1993. Likewise, Mira Sorvino was definitely the female lead in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite<\/strong> and yet she would be nominated in and win the Supporting Actress category in 1995.<\/p>\n

The Academy\u2019s own rules for nominating performers in the Best Support Actor\/Actress categories don\u2019t even outline what would differentiate a supporting performance from a lead on, let alone what would define a supporting performance in and of itself. The only thing that they address about the two categories in their rules are what would happen if an actor or actress receives votes to be nominated for the same role in both lead and supporting categories, and that rule only refers to the number of votes received, not to the substance of the role itself.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where the Academy has run into a bit of trouble.<\/p>\n

In 1977, the powerhouse movie at Academy Awards time was Network<\/strong>. Director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky\u2019s dark satirical take on the television news industry was a hit with critics for its biting deconstruction of the blurring of the line between news and entertainment and the dangers of television news divisions being run as for-profit enterprises – though by today\u2019s standards of 24 cable news channels some of the satire may seem positively quaint. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations, including an unprecedented five nods in the four various acting categories, specifically nominations for Peter Finch for Best Actor for his role as the insane news anchor Howard Beale, William Holden as network news executive Max Schumacher, Faye Dunaway for Best Actress as network executive Diana Christensen, Beatrice Straight for Best Supporting Actress as Max’s wife Louise and Ned Beatty for Best Supporting Actor as network owner Arthur Jensen.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019ve seen Network<\/strong>, the names of Straight and Beatty problem stand out for one reason. Let\u2019s just say that there wasn\u2019t much material to shift through for each actor\u2019s performance clip for the televised awards ceremony. (Though I dare say that they have had to bleep a word or two.) Both are barely in the film, each having just one notable scene apiece. While each moments is indeed a powerful acting moment, are they enough to have those performances considered \u201csupporting?\u201d<\/p>\n

Straight has very little screen time, just under six minutes total. (The IMDb lists it at 5:40, while I have timed it out to 5:59.) Of that time, just over a minute is spent with her just walking through the apartment she shares with her cinematic husband Holden and another four seconds is a shot of the back of her head as her family watches Beale\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m mad as hell and I\u2019m not going to take it any more\u201d speech on live television. While the remainder of her screen time comprises just one scene it is an emotional freight train, a culmination of years of setup that happen off screen.<\/p>\n