Supporting Actress Smackdown: 1942

Mainlymovies has a book to finish and is nowhere close and frankly going a bit mad, but he must just pause for a minute to alert readers to the Supporting Actress Smackdown over at StinkyLulu's, in which he has had the honour of participating and which was, as predicted, a riot. The year in question is 1942, in which Teresa Wright picked up a gong for her loving war bride in Best Picture Mrs Miniver, beating Dame May Whitty in the same film, fellow home-front ingenue Susan Peters in Random Harvest, Gladys Cooper's imperious tyrant in Now, Voyager and Agnes Moorehead's unforgettable Aunt Fanny in Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons. Ok, so I've already tipped my hat there, but do tune in to find out what fellow smackdowners Stinky, Nick and Nathaniel thought of the field, and who they argue ought to have won. (Nat, whose largesse knows no bounds, has also compiled a wonderful clipreel of the contest which is well worth watching first, right through — you'll get a priceless "reaction shot" of Cooper after the decision's gone down.) More Supporting Actress Sundays, with any luck, to come — in future I'll hopefully be able to reflect on them in more detail without this deadline breathing down my neck. Thanks Stinky for bringing me on board, and thanks Nat for the time-saving banner I've stolen!