Ensemble films are known for getting heavy Oscar attention and usually the Supporting categories are where spots are taken out of merit, politics, or sympathy. 1973 had seen such a nominee come from a mostly unknown group of actors (to-be stars) in a big hit of a film, where one individual stuck out the most and grabbed a nomination for...
...Candy Clark in American Graffiti (1973)
Candy Clark plays Debbie, a cute blond who finds herself getting caught into a night of whirlwind excitement during one busy summer night.
We first see her when Terry (the Toad) is crusin' down the strip looking for a little action and he spots a distraught Debbie strolling down the street, being whistled at by horny boys until he makes small talk with her and invites the "bitchin' babe" in his car taking a likening for her cute disposition and nice looks.
Debbie's the kind of girl who's used to pushy masculine attention from men and how she brushes it away when it becomes to much and probably accepts it when it looks like a good deal. Clark lets us see this right off the bat, and how Debbie's infectious charm captures Terry's heart with giddy excitement.
In this film, with characters and a plot that I find to be dull and tiring, Clark's Debbie is the one person (with another single exception) that I find to be actually interesting and engaging. The script simply asks Clark to be ditsy, goofy, funny, and adorable -- all of which the actress is more than capable of and does very well. Her's is one of the couple plot threads in the films narrative (which ultimately sinks into fuzzy confusion and misguidance in the second half, that infuriates me considering it could have been sooo much better in many ways) and because of the scripts fault (and Clark's), both take a nose dive after a promising start.
The character is really just a device -- she just walks into the movie, with the only purpose to stir up excitement, and to be just another random entity in the story. And although the film does benefit from the character's existence, it doesn't so much from Clark's actual performance. I find three big faults with the work on display here, and half of it goes to the writing/direction -- it seems that while Lucas is too busy following around the main pieces of wood (a horrible Ron Howard, a strained Cindy Williams, and a totally miscast Richard Dreyfuss) that he neglects to invest any real attention to Clark's Debbie or her story. There are potential moments where the camera's on her when she would be given a chance to soar, but Lucas cuts them into little short threads that stunts any development.
Clark is well cast in the role and displays a delightful playfulness (and also instigating some of the few real laughs) that makes Debbie fun and charismatic, but the problem is that she stays that way. Where she could have surprised me, she consistently aims low, and never truly infuses any zest or energy into this stock "dumb-blonde" role, resulting in some pretty uninspired stuff.
Yet what really bugs me is that Clark never crafts any kind of emotional architecture into this lightweight, underwritten role. When she could have made each beat in the character also register and connect in a deeper, emotional way (that Debbie is finally treated with respect and shown a good time by someone who lifts her spirits out of some kind of lonely desperation), she's just there acting silly and frivolous. When she could have been truly touching/enduring and letting us see Debbie's inner issues, which she from would there blossom out of, she neglects to do so and it sours me on the performance a great deal. There's no shading, humanity, or emotional insight involved with this caricature -- and it really is a big disappointment for me because I was expecting (and excited for) so much more...but then I got so little.
Many wonder how Clark, out out of the big ensemble, scored the nomination (considering how little enthusiasm for it there is within the online film community) over ever other cast mates and other potential nominees from the overall year. Well, it cost Candy some dough, but it was supposedly the result of a trade paper ad campaign which got voters' attention during voting season. For me, Clark's nomination should have been replaced by young Mackenzie Phillips as the hilariously precocious Carol (who does far more interesting things with her character both comedic and poignant) and gives the film its most fully rounded characterization.
But, for Candy Clark, I can say that where I expected a transcendent triumph I got a disappointing dud. It's adequate, but mostly negligible work where something truly special/surprising could have been.
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