Today is the 109th birthday of Thelma Ritter, the best wisecracking maid/nurse/housekeeper/neighbor lady in motion picture history.

Her uncredited part as Sadie Dugan in A Letter to Three Wives (1949) was only her second appearance in a motion picture; the first was as a shop-weary mom dragging her son around Macy's in Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which I'm sure you'll remember if you think about it.

Her third film, All About Eve (1950) earned her the first of four consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Not bad for a gal who didn't even get into pictures until she was my age. In total, she was nominated six times:
     *  All About Eve (1950)
     *  The Mating Season (1951)
     *  With a Song in My Heart (1952)
     *  Pickup on South Street (1953)
     *  Pillow Talk (1959)
     *  Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

...and never won. NEH-VAH. [Which reminds me,nominate your favorite scandalously neglected star for this year's Aggie Awards.]

Thelma Ritter did a lot of television work in the 50s and early 60s, including a turn as a busybody with a dangerous secret in "The Babysitter," on the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

There is a lovely filmography and tribute to Thelma Ritter here on The Film Experience Blog, but for possibly the best impersonation I've ever heard and a great review of With a Song in My Heart, please watch Episode 9 of Tired Old Queen at the Movies.

And if you haven't had enough, I stumbled across her briefish appearance as the New York co-host of the 1954 Academy Awards — a fabulous year for Oscar — On the Waterfront, Rear Window (with, oh, Thelma Ritter in another great supporting role), and Country Girl, with Bing Crosby as an alcoholic...not the biggest stretch for him artistically, from what I understand.

Some YouTube angel posted the entire event. I present the section with Bob Hope's opening monologue (sorry, no host can touch him) and Thelma Ritter, glammed up, slightly nervous, and terribly sweet.

I don't know what kind of event it will be or where or how many people can physically attend, but I am throwing a dart in the wall for the 2nd Aggie Awards, and that date is: Saturday, August 13, 2011.

Why? Principally because it's Alfred Hitchcock's birthday and the man never ever won an Academy Award for direction, but also because the date is  a) far enough out in the calendar to plan something decent, b) far enough out in the calendar to forget about it altogether, and  c) on a Saturday this year.

That's the current plan, people. I shall keep you informed.

Meanwhile, in honor of Sir Alfred, please enjoy "Premonition," the second episode ever of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, starring the late John Forsythe, the current Cloris Leachman, and the ubiquitous George Macready.

Sorry about the commercials.

It's never to late to nominate the actor and actress most shamefully neglected by the Academy. VOTE NOW!

The other day I ran across the program to a private film festival my friend Monica and I held at her place on Shotwell Street in San Francisco some time in 1994. It was called "Nearly the 100th Anniversary of Going to the Movies" and we screened 15 movies in one day, with a half hour break in the middle to bestow Agnes Moorehead with the first (and only) Lifetime Achievement Award for Hollywood's Scandalously Neglected. The award was to have been forever after known as "The Aggie" and we never did it again, which in itself is scandalous.

It is time to set things right. I am hereby resurrecting the Aggie Awards, since it is Oscar Season and they've stopped parading the Hollywood Elders Miraculously Still Alive on the actual show.  Date and details to follow once I've had a chance to gin up interest.

Meanwhile, I'll start the ball rolling with two lists of contenders for Scandalously Neglected Actor and Scandalously Neglected Actress — and a chance for you to throw a name in the ring.

Now the boys...

Here is the program that started it all. Looking back, I'm pretty impressed with how many studios and eras we covered. It was a 12-hour extravaganza with two rooms going at once: one for features (the first seven pictures in the slideshow) and one for diversions. There may have been some drinking.