MovieChat Forums > Gentleman's Agreement Discussion > As much as I love Celeste Holm...

As much as I love Celeste Holm...

posted 14 years ago by Liza-19
2 replies | jump to latest

I really think Dorothy should have won the Oscar that year. She had the more challenging part by far. Celeste's character was far more likable, and Dorothy had the thankless job of playing a rather irritating character - Kathy is a snob, who's trying in her own snobby way to not be a snob.

In terms of acting, Dorothy's role was much harder, and she nailed it. Anne is the nice girl who sees the way things should be. Kathy is much more complicated (especially given the strange ending that she's the one who gets the guy at the end). I could picture several actresses who could have played Anne just as well, but I could never picture anyone but Dorothy as Kathy.

I don't care about money. I just want to be wonderful. - Marilyn Monroe

[–] robin-moss2 12 years ago

Thanks for your post. Very interesting. Three points:

1) I don't care a damn about Oscars one way or the other.

2) I certainly cannot fault Dorothy McGuire's performance in this film. (Please note she played a rather similar character in "The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs")

3) There is more to Anne than merely being "the nice girl who sees the way things should be". Note the subtext, the sheer loneliness, in her remark "Sure. Everyone loves Annie."

[–] CarlosERM 11 years ago

In fact they were not competing with each other (if that's what you mean to say). Holm won for Best Supporting Actress, whereas McGuire was nominated for Best Leading Actress and lost.