Do you think that Natalie Wood deserved an Oscar for WSS?

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 6:37pm

Should Natalie Wood have gotten a Nomination for West Side Story?? The main reason that she didn't was because she was lip synching, actually she was dubbed without her knowledge. At any rate, Natalie was nominated for Splender in the Grass that year, She lost to Sophia Loren for Two Women. However, Jamie Foxx Lip Synchs in Ray and got a nomination and VERY good shot at winning. Jessica Lange lip synched in Sweet Dreams and got a nomination. Deborah Kerr lip synched in The King and I and got a nomination. Anyways, I really feel that Natalie could have won the oscar for West Side Story. Even though, she is dubbed, the part goes beyond that and she does everything so well. Since she had two big parts that year, and they wouldn't nominate one, they went with the other, but with WSS being the big film that year, it might have helped her cause to be nominated for that part. I would have given her a nomination and a win. If Foxx, Lange, and Kerr did, she should have too. Any Thoughts???? Updated On: 2/3/05 at 06:37 PM

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 6:38pm

Also I see that I misspelled Oscar......I wish I knew how to change it.........

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 6:56pm

I doubt the reason she wasn't nominated was because she was lipsinking, that's impractical. Audrey Hepburn was nominated for an Oscar for MY FAIR LADY, and she wasn't singing either. I don't think it's outrageous that Natlie wasn't nominated...she was the weakest part of the movie and I didn't buy into her performance most of the time.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:00pm

You can change the spelling of Oscar by clicking on "edit post" on your first post.
Who else was nominated that year? I don't know, but its possible that they all may have given better performances.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:00pm

Audrey Hepburn was not nominated for MY FAIR LADY. Yes, I do think Natalie Wood should have been nominated for WSS; but, she was nominated that same year for SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS. She lost to Sophia Loren.

Updated On: 2/3/05 at 07:00 PM

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:03pm

I read that the reason that Audrey Hepburn didn't get a nomination for My Fair Lady was because of the same reason.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:12pm

I think Audrey's lack of nomination was due to a lot of reasons (I think she's horrible in MFL, so that's a good enough reason for me). However, most people, at the time, felt she did fine in the role; but Julie Andrews was so identified with it, that there was a lot of backlash against casting a non-singer in a singer's role (it was, literally, front-page news, all over the country. I can recall the entire TODAY show being dedicated to the topic). Yes, dubbing had been done a thousand times before, but not on anything so high profile. The OCR of MFL was the biggest selling album of all-time, and the show was the biggest show ever to play on Broadway, back when the film was cast. The one thing that the entire country (the world) knew about Julie Andrews, was that she was Eliza in MFL. Julie's debut in MARY POPPINS, was so auspicious, that Hollywood sided with her and awarded her a nomination and the Oscar. Julie felt that Anne Bancroft should have won that year.

Updated On: 2/3/05 at 07:12 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:54pm

She was nominated that year for "Splendor in the Grass", in which she gave a far superior performance.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/3/05 at 7:56pm

Sorry guys, I thought she was nominated for MY FAIR LADY. SORRY!

[Justice]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:43am

Natalie Wood won for something else. didn't she?
And wasn't she nominated for Gypsy?
(And it's not because she was lip-synching. Rita Moreno lip-synched the majority of her role and won the Oscar.)

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:50am

She was nominated 3 times. For REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS AND LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER. She never won. She did win a Golden Globe in 1957, however.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:51am

I feel that Natalie was a good actress, but not a great one. I don't particularly think that her performance as Maria is deserving of an Oscar - but it was definitely good.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:54am

I just watched Splendor in the Grass this past Sunday. I think she was brilliant. Warren Beatty was such a hottie in his early years.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:54am

Interesting topic. Her performance in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS holds up as one of the best of the era. She's vulnerable, and goes to very compelling and dark places. Places she never reached (for) again as an actor, which is sad. Wood's earliest work -- including REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, when she was also quite wonderful -- promised extrordinary things. Revisit SPLENDOR -- you'd assume this woman had brilliant roles ahead of her. But she ended up doing a lot of silly stuff (SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL). Can anyone recall a substantive role that Wood took on later -- that remotely delivers on the promise of REBEL or SPLENDOR? It's amazing to look at SPLENDOR again. It holds up in every department, including the William Inge script, and has the most heartbreaking ending that makes the one in THE WAY WE WERE seem synthetic and forced in comparison.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 8:57am

I thought she was great in WSS and Love With The Proper Stranger (which is my favorite film of hers).

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 9:05am

Thank you, Feodor. PROPER STRANGERS is a lovely movie. I remember thinking she'd be a great Maggie in CAT (TV) but she was rather arch, alas.

[Justice]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 9:15am

Hated Bill, Ted, Carol & Alice, but, of course she was wonderful in it.
Personally, my favorite role of hers was Gypsy. I had seen her in many other things, but it wasn't until she took off the coat and stood in the mirror with that blue dress that I fell in love with her. Recently having watched it again, I love how she goes from an insecure sheltered girl to a proffesional stripper in the "Let Me Entertain You Number".

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 2:10pm

With Regards to Rita Moreno, I know she was dubbed on "A Boy like That", but she did her own singing in "America" and "Tonight"...the quintet.

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 3:01pm

I love Natalie Wood, she's one of my all time favorites. To this day she is so underrated and it's hard to believe she didn't receive her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame while she was alive, she actually received it years after her death.

Natalie Wood was one of the few actresses to make the transition from child star to adult superstar.

1961 was the year that pushed her over the top with performances in "WEST SIDE STORY" and "SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS" both opening just weeks apart.

I think she gave a good performance in "WEST SIDE STORY", the last scene when she breaks down after Tony is gunned down is proof of what she was truly capable of, but her performance in "SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS" was the one she deserved and got the Oscar nomination for.

Sadly she lost to Sofia Loren in "Two Women", to which Natalie said: "Just my luck I get nominated for an Academy Award and I lose out to a performance entirely in Italian!"

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 3:16pm

Rita Moreno did do her own singing in "America"; and some of "The Quintet" (Tonight), but portions of "The Quintet" were dubbed by Marni Nixon. By the end of the number, Marni is singing with herself (Maria and Anita).

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 3:55pm

I think Natalie was one of the greatest actresses of her time, and WSS was an amazing performance! I say it's a damn shame she wasn't even NOMINATED! She definately should have won.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 4:10pm

Feodor... Your not thinking of "A Boy Like That" are you? Because I know that in that song Rita is dubbed by someone named Betty Wand.....anyways, whatever part Anita has in the quintet after her solo is really hard to hear and distinguish(I think I might recall a line of something like "Bernado's going to have his chance" or something like that)....is this what your talking about????

[Marquise]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 4:29pm

i think feodor is referring to the fact that marni nixon also dubbed some of moreno's singing lines in the "a boy like that/i have a love" duet. nixon, in fact revealed this a couple of years ago so by the end of that song when you hear "maria" and "anita" singing you are actually hearing marni's voice for both moreno and wood.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 4:48pm

No, I was speaking about "The Quintet", which is sung right before the rumble. Moreno sings the first part that is clearly audible ...he'll walk in hot an tired poor dear, etc. After that, it is Marni Nixon. And, yes, she is mixed softly and not as audible as the other parts. Betty Wand sang "A Boy Like That".

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 2/4/05 at 4:58pm

okay confirm this.....Does Marni Nixon sing both parts(even if she a bit) in A Boy Like That/I Have a Love?