Current Oscar nominees who have played reel librarians

Will any of these former reel librarians win an Oscar this year?

The nominations for this year’s Academy Awards were announced back in early February. When I read the list of nominations, I noted that several of the acting nominees have played reel librarian characters in past films. And thus, an idea for a post was born! 😉 Will any of these former reel librarians win an Oscar this year? The Academy Awards telecast is scheduled for this Sunday, March 27, 2022.

“Oscar academy award with Oscars 2022 text on red background” graphic by Jernej Furman via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 license

Aunjanue Ellis

Current Oscar nomination:

Aunjanue Ellis is a Best Supporting Actress nominee for King Richard (2021). In King Richard, Aunjanue Ellis portrays Oracene Price, the real-life mother and coach of tennis icons Venus Williams and Serena Williams. This is Ellis’s first nomination for an Academy Award.

Past reel librarian role:

Aunjanue Ellis played reel librarian Jo in Men of Honor (2000), a movie based on the true story of Carl Brashear, the first Black American U.S. Navy diver (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). Carl goes to the local library for tutoring assistance, and Jo, a library assistant, helps him. She reveals that she is working at the library until she can get into medical school.

There is also a good woman in Brashear’s life: Jo (Aunjanue Ellis), the Harlem librarian who tutors him in reading when he has trouble with written exams.
Roger Ebert, “Reviews: Men of Honor,” RogerEbert.com, 10 Nov. 2000

“Men of Honor Because They Said I Couldn’t Have It” video, uploaded by Jonathan F., Standard YouTube License

Judi Dench

Current Oscar nomination:

Judi Dench is nominated this year for Best Supporting Actress for Belfast (2021). In Belfast, Judi Dench plays the grandmother to a young boy, Buddy, and the film centers on Buddy’s family and childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1969, at the beginning of “The Troubles.” This is Dench’s 8th nomination for an Academy Award, and she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Past reel librarian roles:

Judi Dench has played not one, but TWO reel librarian roles!

In Red Joan (2018), Judi Dench played the title role of Joan Stanley, a librarian who is arrested and suspected of being a spy! The film is based on the novel by Jennie Rooney, and the plot is inspired by the life of Melita Norwood, a British civil servant who was a spy for the KGB.

Our first shot of Joan Stanley (Judi Dench) in “Red Joan” is inauspicious enough. A librarian in a cozy cardigan, she’s pruning roses outside her small, neatly kept row house in a London suburb. But then there’s a knock at the door. And a charge of treason.
Elizabeth Weitzman, “‘Red Joan’ Review: Not Enough Drama, or Enough Judi Dench, in British Spy Story,” The Wrap, 18 April 2019

“Red Joan ft. Judi Dench – Official Trailer I HD I IFC Films” video uploaded by
IFC Films, Standard YouTube License

In Wetherby (1985), Judi Dench played Marcia Pilborough, a thoroughly unpleasant Deputy Librarian at the British Library Lending Library, who informs a young scholar (Tim McInnerny) that they do not lend books except under special circumstances.

Related post: Dishonorable Mention

Javier Bardem

Current Oscar nomination:

Javier Bardem is nominated this year for Best Lead Actor for Being the Ricardos (2021), portraying real-life comic icon Desi Arnaz. This is Bardem’s 4th nomination for an Academy Award, and he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men (2007).

The casting of a European actor (Bardem) as a Cuban-American (Arnaz) has caused controversy and criticism. And it’s not the first time this has happened!

The Spanish actor Javier Bardem, in charge of playing Desi Arnaz, is a casting error. […] It is paradoxical that Bardem plays, for the second time in his successful career, a famous Cuban. At the first opportunity he achieved that plausible portrait of the long-suffering and anti-Castro writer Reinaldo Arenas, in the film Before Night Falls. [translated into English]
Alejandro Rios, “Being the Ricardos y la historia de Desi Arnaz, un cubano cosmopolita” [“Being the Ricardos and the story of Desi Arnaz, a cosmopolitan Cuban”], CubaNet, 19 Dec. 2021.

Past reel librarian role:

Javier Bardem also portrayed Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls (2000) — and bagged another Best Actor Oscar nomination for this portrayal! Based on Arenas’s memoir, Before Night Falls focuses on his life as a gay man and a writer and his struggles against the Cuban revolution and government censorship of his writings. As a young man, Arenas enters a young writers contest sponsored by the National Library — the prize is a job at the Library!

“Before Night Falls (2000) Official Trailer – Javier Bardem, Johnny Depp Movie” video, uploaded by Movieclips Classic Trailers, Standard YouTube License

Sources used

“Belfast (film).” Wikipedia, 11 Mar. 2022. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022. CC BY SA 3.0 license.
Ebert, Roger. “Reviews: Men of Honor.” RogerEbert.com, 10 Nov. 2000.
Lang, Brent, et al. “Oscar Nominations 2022: ‘Power of the Dog’ Leads With 12 Nods, ‘Dune’ Follows With 10 (Full List).” Variety, 8 Feb. 2022.
“Red Joan.” Wikipedia, 26 Jan. 2022. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022. CC BY SA 3.0 license.
Rios, Alejandro. “Being the Ricardos y la historia de Desi Arnaz, un cubano cosmopolita” [“Being the Ricardos and the Story of Desi Arnaz, a Cosmopolitan Cuban”]. CubaNet, 19 Dec. 2021.
Weitzman, Elizabeth. “‘Red Joan’ Review: Not Enough Drama, or Enough Judi Dench, in British Spy Story.” The Wrap, 18 April 2019.

Best Picture nominees that feature reel librarians, 2020 update

Updating Best Picture-nominated films that feature librarians, in roles large and small

If you’re a regular Reel Librarians reader (thank you!), then you will know that I am a lifelong watcher of the Academy Awards. The 2020 Oscars telecast is scheduled earlier this year, on Sunday, February 9, 2020, and you can view this year’s nominees here. (On a personal note, I, too, hope the Academy continues and broadens its efforts to diversify its membership so that Oscar nominations better reflect the amazing talents and skills that women and people of color contribute to the world of cinema.)

“146033_0116” photo uploaded by Walt Disney Television via Flickr is licensed under a CC BY ND 2.0 license

I am updating a post I first put together in 2013 and then updated in 2017, rounding up Best Picture-nominated films that feature librarians, in roles large and small. I have updated the post and have added quite a few new titles to the list. (Note: I am not as familiar with this year’s nominated films, so if there is a Best Picture nominee that I need to add to this list, please leave a comment and let me know, thanks!)

I’ve listed the nominated films below in chronological order, oldest to newest, and you can also skip to a specific time period using the shortcut links below.

Enjoy! 🙂

1940s || 1960s || 1970s || 1980s || 1990s || 2000s || 2010s
Best Picture nominees with library scenes (but no reel librarians)
Best Picture nominees (with potential reel librarians) to watch/rewatch

1940s

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) features one scene at the public library and a Quaker librarian (Hilda Plowright). A reporter (Jimmy Stewart) pokes fun by mocking her thee’s and thou’s. She also gets her shush on later in this short, but memorable, library scene.

Citizen Kane (1941)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) is a classic saga about the rise and fall of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). There is quite a memorable scene in which a reporter visits the Thatcher Memorial Library of Philadelphia to research Kane and runs into the steely, no-nonsense presence of the librarian, Miss Anderson (Georgia Backus).

The Human Comedy (1943)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class III film), set in the U.S. homefront during WWII, features one touching scene at the local public library. Two young boys go to the public library to look at books even though they can’t read yet, and encounter a friendly female librarian (Adeline De Walt Reynolds).

Spellbound (1945)

This Hitchcock film and Best Picture nominee, doesn’t technically feature a librarian — nor does it include a library scene — thus landing itself in the Class V category. So why is it here on this list?! Toward the end of the film, a hotel security guard mistakes a psychiatrist (Ingrid Bergman) for a Spinster Librarian. To her credit, she takes it in good humor.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class I film) has probably the most memorable — and memorably notorious! — scene featuring the ultimate Spinster Librarian. In the alternate reality/nightmare of the film’s second half, George Bailey’s (Jimmy Stewart) wife, Mary (Donna Reed), becomes an old maid librarian. The short scene in which George sees Mary as a librarian serves as the catalyst for wanting to return to his life.

1960s

The Music Man (1962)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class I film) also features a memorable reel librarian in a leading role. In this classic musical, con man Harold Hill (Robert Preston) tries to scam a community into buying band uniforms—and ends up falling for “Marian the Librarian” (Shirley Jones). This reel librarian has been immortalized in popular culture, in part due to the namesake song.

1970s

Love Story (1970)

In this Best Picture nominee (and Class II film), a Harvard law student and jock, Oliver (Ryan O’Neal), falls in love with a Radcliffe music major, Jenny (Ali MacGraw). They first meet at the Radcliffe library, where MacGraw works as a library assistant. MacGraw was also nominated for Best Actress, the only woman (thus far) to have been nominated for an acting Oscar for a reel librarian role.

Chinatown (1974)

This Best Picture nominee stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in a twisty, neo-noir storyline set in the 1930s. Nicholson plays a private detective, and in one scene he uses the county archives, encountering a sullen archives clerk. This film is on my Master List, and I need to rewatch this film!

Related posts: Any reel librarians in the AFI Top 100 list?

All the President’s Men (1976)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) features not one, but five reel librarians, albeit in small — but critical! — roles. This film follows the Watergate scandal uncovered by reporters Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford). After several attempts by the reporters to locate information, a library clerk at the Library of Congress helps by providing them with info and records they need.

1980s

Fatal Attraction (1987)

In this Best Picture nominee (and Class IV film), a lawyer (Michael Douglas) has an affair with a woman (Glenn Close), who then starts to stalk him and his family. In a short scene, Douglas confesses his troubles to a colleague in their firm’s private law library while a law librarian shelves books from a cart in the background.

1990s

Awakenings (1990)

In this Best Picture-nominated film that is based on a true story, Dr. Sayer (Robin Williams) finds a new treatment for a ward of comatose patients. And if you blinked during the short library scene for this Class IV film, you’d miss the second or two of Adam Bryant as a librarian.

Related posts: Reel Substance: A look at Classes III and IV

Scent of a Woman (1992)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class II film) is a coming-of-age story about a young man (Chris O’Donnell), a student library assistant at a private prep school, who spends Thanksgiving weekend looking after an alcoholic blind man (Al Pacino). Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar for this film.

In the Name of the Father (1993)

In this Best Picture nominee (and Class III film), Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) is coerced into confessing to an IRA bombing and spends 14 years in prison trying to prove his innocence. His lawyer (Emma Thompson) tries to locate police records, but the chief archivist is not cooperative. She does get records when another archivist is on duty — and the information she gathers eventually leads to Conlon’s release.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class II film) features two memorable reel librarian roles, including star Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. Andy works as an assistant in the prison library — building it up to one of the best prison libraries in the state! — and becomes friends with the old prison librarian, Brooks (James Whitmore).

Quiz Show (1994)

It is on my Master List to rewatch this Best Picture nominee, which is based on the controversial true story behind the Twenty One quiz game show scandals of the 1950s and contestant Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes). Research is a major theme throughout the film, and the credits list Anthony Fusco as a librarian.

2000s

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class IV film), and the first in the well-known saga of Middle Earth, involving a hobbit’s quest to destroy a powerful ring. There is a short scene early in the film in which the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) needs some info about the ring, so he visits the archives in Gondor. There is a quick flash of the Gondorian Archivist (Michael Elsworth) leading Gandalf down a winding staircase to the archives.

The Reader (2008)

I still need to watch this Best Picture nominee, which features Kate Winslet in a Best Actress-winning turn as Hanna Schmitz, a woman convicted for WWII war crimes. Hanna teaches herself to read while in prison, and there are a few scenes highlighting the prison library.

Related posts: A list of banned reel librarian movies

2010s

Spotlight (2015)

Spotlight (a Class III film) won the Best Picture Academy Award for 2015. The film focuses on the Spotlight team of reporters at the Boston Globe who published a series of stories in 2002 about Catholic priests who had been sexually abusing children in their parishes for decades. A few scenes and montages feature the Boston Globe librarians and research methods of using church directories to track down priests.

Hidden Figures (2016)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class IV film) is a biographical film highlighting the personal and professional struggles and contributions of three African-American female mathematicians — or “computers” — at NASA during the early 1960s. Taraji P. Henson plays brilliant mathematician Katherine G. Johnson; Octavia Spencer, in an Oscar-nominated performance, plays mathematician and computer programmer Dorothy Vaughan; and Janelle Monáe plays firecracker engineer Mary Jackson. There is a brief, but pivotal, library scene in which Vaughan enters the “whites” section of the library because the “colored” section doesn’t have what she needs.

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

This Best Picture nominee (and Class II film) was also nominated in four other categories, including Spike Lee for Best Director, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In the early 1970s, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is hired as the first black officer in the Colorado Springs police department. Initially assigned to work in the records room as a “Records Librarian” (nameplate and all!), he gets reassigned to the intelligence division. While reading the newspaper, he finds an advertisement to join the Ku Klux Klan. He calls and pretends to be a white man, and eventually becomes a member of the Colorado Springs chapter. Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver, in an Oscar-nominated performance) substitutes for Stallworth in order to meet the KKK members in person. There are a couple of scenes in the Records Room, as well as a brief research scene in an academic library.

Best Picture nominees with library scenes (but no reel librarians)

Libeled Lady (1936)

This Best Picture-nominated screwball comedy involves a newspaper editor (Spencer Tracy), his long-suffering fiancée (Jean Harlow), and his lawyer (William Powell), who aims to compromise a high-society lady (Myrna Loy) before she can sue the paper for libel. In an attempt to cozy up to her, Powell does a little research on her personal interests, first reading newspaper articles about her father and his love of fishing, and then ringing the ship’s steward for books on angling from the ship’s library. Alas, we never see a reel librarian, so this film ended up in the Class V category.

Related posts: A ‘Libeled Lady’ and a library

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

This Best Picture-nominated film is based on a real-life 1952 case in which the novel’s author, John D. Voelker, was the defense attorney. Lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) defends Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), who is charged with murder of a local man. Biegler argues temporary insanity and pulls an all-nighter in a law library to find a case to use as precedent.

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

This Best Picture-nominated film boasts the Oscar-winning performance of lead actress Marlee Matlin, who works at a school for the deaf. I was able to watch this movie recently, and there is a pivotal scene in the school’s library — but no school librarian to be seen.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture, this fairy tale film features a bookshop and a memorable private library.

Related posts: Reel librarians on library ladders

Best Picture nominees (with potential reel librarians) to watch/rewatch

Imitation of Life (1934)

This Best Picture-nominated drama stars Claudette Colbert as Bea, a white widow and single mother, who becomes close to black housekeeper Delilah (Louise Beavers) and her mixed-race daughter Peola (Fredi Washington). Peola, who “passes” for white, tells everyone she works at the library to cover up the fact that she’s actually working as a dancer in a club. I have not yet seen this film, but it’s on my Master List, as is the 1959 remake.

All the King’s Men (1949)

This Best Picture winner stars Broderick Crawford in the role of the ruthless politician, Willie Stark, and is based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. It’s on my Master List — but I can’t honestly remember why — so I need to watch it to see if there are any library or librarian scenes!

Cleopatra (1963)

This Best Picture nominee stars Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. It’s on my Master List to (re)watch, as I remember Cleopatra being very upset that the Library of Alexandria was destroyed. I can’t remember if there are any actual scenes set in the Library of Alexandria, so please leave a comment if you do remember!

Related posts: A look at ‘The Hollywood Librarian’

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

I still need to rewatch this Best Picture nominee — it’s on my Master List! — to refresh my memory on this classic epic. Yuri (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie) meet in the local library. I believe Lara works as a librarian in this film… I will have to investigate further. Please leave a comment if you have more to share about this film and its reel librarian(s)!

The Graduate (1967)

In this Best Picture nominee, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is a disaffected college graduate, and he rushes to a college library to see Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross). I need to rewatch this film, which is on my Master List, to see if there are any librarians visible in the background of this library scene.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

This Best Picture nominee is on my Master List, and I still need to rewatch this film! Alex (Malcolm McDowell) works in the prison library, and talks with a priest while in the library. I need to rewatch this movie to see if there are any librarians (perhaps other than Alex, if he works in the prison library?) in this scene.

Field of Dreams (1989)

In this Best Picture-nominated film and classic baseball flick, Kevin Costner stars as Ray Kinsella, who is inspired to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field. I do not recall a library scene, but I do seem to remember a scene about censorship set at the local school… bottom line, I need to rewatch this film, which is on my Master List.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

This Best Picture winner won the “big 5” Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best (Adapted) Screenplay. This film is on my Master List, as there is a scene in which Clarice is researching stories on microfilm about Hannibal Lecter. I need to rewatch this classic film to see if there are any reel librarians in the background of this library research scene.

Erin Brockovich (2000)

This Best Picture nominee is on my Master List. Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts, in an Oscar-winning performance) visits several records offices and archives in her research to find evidence against a gas and electric company; therefore, I need to rewatch this film for clues of archivists or librarians.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

This Best Picture winner (!) is on my Master List, but I have not yet seen it. John Nash (Russell Crowe, in an Oscar-nominated performance) is allowed to return to Princeton to audit classes and work out of the library. I need to watch this film to see if there are any discernible librarians in the background of any library scenes.

Juno (2007)

In this Best Picture nominee, Ellen Page stars as Juno, a high-schooler who gets (unexpectedly) pregnant. There is a scene in which Juno mentions librarians (or rather, wannabe librarians), and I seem to remember a scene or two set in the school library (?)… so I need to rewatch this film, which is on my Master List.

Related posts: The Quotable Librarian 7

Hugo (2011)

I still have not seen this Best Picture nominee (although I loved the book!). This film is on my Master List to watch, however, because Hugo and Isabelle go to the Film Academy Library in one scene to research legendary film director Georges Méliès, and I need to watch this scene to see if there’s a reel librarian somewhere in the background of this special library. If you have watched this movie and remember a reel librarian, please let me know in the comments!

Sources used

“Academy Award for Best Picture” via Wikipedia, CC BY SA 3.0
All the President’s Men. Dir. Alan J. Pakula. Perf. Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander. Warner Bros., 1976.
Anatomy of a Murder. Dir. Otto Preminger. Perf. James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, George C. Scott. Columbia Pictures, 1959. Based on the novel by John D. Voelker, under the pen name of Robert Traver.
Awakenings. Dir. Penny Marshall. Perf. Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller. Columbia, 1990.
BlacKkKlansman. Dir. Spike Lee. Perf. John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier. Focus Features, 2018. Based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth.
Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perf. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Ruth Warrick, Alan Ladd. RKO, 1941.
Fatal Attraction. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Perf. Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer. Paramount, 1987.
Hidden Figures. Dir. Theodore Melfi. Perf. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Mahershala Ali. Fox 2000 Pictures, 2016.
The Human Comedy. Dir. Clarence Brown. Perf. Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, Fay Bainter, Van Johnson, Donna Reed. Universal, 1943.
In the Name of the Father. Dir. Jim Sheridan. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postelthwaite. Universal, 1993.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers. RKO, 1946.
Libeled Lady. Dir. Jack Conway. Perf. Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy. MGM, 1936. Based on the story by Wallace Sullivan.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett. New Line Cinema, 2001.
Love Story. Dir. Arthur Hiller. Perf. Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland. Paramount, 1970.
The Music Man. Dir. Morton DaCosta. Perf. Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ron Howard. Warner Bros., 1962.
The Philadelphia Story. Dir. George Cukor. Perf. Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young. MGM, 1940.
Scent of a Woman. Dir. Martin Brest. Perf. Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gabrielle Anwar. Universal, 1992.
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton. Castle Rock-Columbia, 1994.
Spellbound. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G. Carroll, Michael Chekhov. Selznick International, 1945.
Spotlight. Dir. Tom McCarthy. Perf. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber. First Look, 2015.

‘Scent of a’ student library worker

A rare example of a reel librarian character in a Thanksgiving-themed movie. Hoo-ah!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! Although there are many horror films featuring reel librarians to help celebrate the Halloween holiday — as well as many holiday-themed films featuring reel librarians for the Christmas holiday season — there remains a scarcity of Thanksgiving-themed films featuring reel librarians. In fact, I have come across only ONE example in my 20+ years of researching librarians in film. That film is 1992’s Oscar-winning film Scent of a Woman, starring Al Pacino as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade and Chris O’Donnell as Charlie Simms.

Scent of a plot

Has it been awhile since you’ve seen Scent of a Woman? Catch up by watching the trailer:

“Scent of a Woman Official Trailer #1 – Al Pacino Movie (1992) Movie HD” video uploaded by Movieclips Classic Trailers, Standard YouTube License

This coming-of-age story focuses on a young, clean-cut prep school boy, Charlie (Chris O’Donnell), who attends a New England private school on a merit scholarship and works as a student worker at the school library. To pay for a flight home to Oregon for Christmas, he agrees to be temporary caretaker for an alcoholic blind man, Lt. Col. Frank Slade (Al Pacino), who takes Charlie on an adventure-filled Thanksgiving weekend in New York City.

Charlie Simms looks at the school's job board for Thanksgiving weekend jobs — Looking at the school’s job board

Scent of a school library scene

A little over 17 minutes into this 156-minute-long (!) film, we see Charlie working as a student assistant in the school library. While standing behind a high desk, he’s stamping and checking out a book to another student. The library is in the classic style, with lots of wood tones and tall bookcases, befitting a private prep school.

A classmate, George Willis, Jr. (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) then rushes up to the library desk with an armful of books. George has already been introduced in earlier scenes, as one of a group of rich, elite boys, so we know that he likes to mess around and make fun of those who are not elites like himself.

George: Chas, Chas, hold up. [Puts books on counter] How ya doing’?
Charlie: I’m good.
George: That’s great.
Charlie: [looks at one of the books] This can’t go out. This is on reserve.

Charlie notices one of the library books is on reserve

Their conversation continues:

George: Here’s the thing. I need the book tonight for a Thanksgiving quiz with big-shit Preston in the morning.
Charlie: Yeah I know. That’s why he put it on reserve. This is our only copy.
George: Chas, I’m pulling an all-nighter. Without that book I’m dead, okay?

Philip Seymour Hoffman in an early breakout role in Scent of a Woman — Philip Seymour Hoffman said this role changed everything for his career. RIP, PSH.

Charlie, as the one working behind the elevated library desk, is standing above George, ostensibly the one in the power position, at least visually. He also has the power of rules supporting him, the rules that the school instructor set for the book on reserve. The camera mimics the angle of Charlie’s perspective, as he’s looking down at George, who is pleading with him to bend the rules. However, we also know that Charlie is the “poor” kid, the one on merit scholarship, and George is the “rich” kid. Therefore, George is the one who really holds the power in this situation.

It’s no wonder that Charlie is the one who relents. You can see it on his face, as evident in the screenshot below. He knows the score.

Charlie: If it’s not back by 7:30, it’s gonna be my ass.
George: Oh, I promise. I promise.

They then leave the library together. Charlie tells George to wait because he’s “gotta lock up.”

Side note: As a self-respecting, professional librarian, I gotta interject and say, this is NOT realistic. I do not believe for one second that any library would allow a student worker to be solely in charge of the library — especially a library at a private school that surely has lots of expensive materials and collections — and be allowed to lock up the library by themselves. Nope. Not happening. Librarians usually take turns working a night shift during the week, or there are specific librarian positions designated for evening services. In my personal experience, student workers usually help with closing up the library — tasks like announcing when the library is about to close, checking group study rooms, etc. — but the professional staff is ALWAYS ultimately responsible for locking up.

Student library worker Charlie locks up the school library — Leaving a student library worker to lock up the library?! I don’t think so.

SIGH. Okay, soap box moment over. Please continue. 😉

The library scene lasts about 40 seconds in total. As they walk away from the library, Charlie and George see George’s friends setting up some kind of prank. This will prove pivotal to the rest of the film plot, as this prank later humiliates the head master, Mr. Trask (James Rebhorn). Trask then tries to get the two boys to reveal who pulled the prank, but neither Charlie nor George cooperate. Trask then puts the screws on Charlie — the vulnerable one on merit scholarship, natch — and gives him the Thanksgiving weekend to think about cooperating; otherwise, Trask will hold a discipline hearing in front of the whole school right after the Thanksgiving holiday.

After the holiday weekend with Lt. Col Slade and lots of “white male bonding” adventures — eating fancy dinners! dancing the tango with a beautiful woman! endangering the lives of others by encouraging a blind man to drive a sports car! — Charlie faces judgment at that discipline hearing. Lt. Col. Slade joins Charlie at the hearing and defends the young man.

Scent of a Liberated Librarian

So what role does Charlie fulfill? I believe he fulfills the role of a Liberated Librarian, a character who “discovers” himself — and what he’s capable of — during an adventure or crisis. These characters are usually younger (check!), become more “masculine” or “assertive” after the liberation (check!), and usually need an external force to aid or instigate the “liberation” (check!).

It’s important to note that in the case of this Liberated Librarian character, Charlie is not liberated from being a librarian or working in a library like some others (e.g. Joe Versus the Volcano). Rather, he is liberated from his own fear and self-doubt.

I place this role and this film into the Class II category, films in which the protagonist or other major characters are librarians, but the librarian’s occupation does not directly affect the plot.

Charlie is a not an actual librarian, of course, since he is a student worker in the school library, but he is considered a “reel librarian” for the purposes of this research and blog post. He is the only one we see in any kind of authoritative role in a library, using that authority to break the rules about reserve books as well as lock up the library. However, the fact that he works in the library does not directly affect the plot. He could have worked elsewhere on the campus; his job as a student library worker is used primarily to demonstrate that he needs a job. (Clearly, the salary for a student library job is not enough to pay for a plane ticket to Oregon.) And the library setting itself is not essential because it’s a library and serving as a center of knowledge or access to information; instead, it’s used as a convenient locale and reason for the boys to be out late at night on campus. But there could have been other locales chosen on campus, like a tutoring center or student center or even a dormitory, which would have worked just as well for reasons of plot.

Charlie is one of the two leads, but he’s not really the main character. After all, Al Pacino is the one who chews up the scenery throughout the film and won an Oscar for Best Actor for yelling out “Hoo-ah!” a lot. We learn a lot more about Pacino’s character, Lt. Col. Slade, than we do about Charlie.

So how is Charlie described in the film, and what do we learn about him?

Here’s how he describes himself:

I’m not a squealer.

Here’s how Lt. Col. Slade first describes Charlie, at the beginning of the film:

You little snail darter from the Pacific Northwest.

And then toward the end of the film, he recognizes Charlie’s worth:

You got integrity, Charlie.
When the shit hits the fan, some guys run and some guys stay. Here’s Charlie facing the fire.

Scent of an award

As I mentioned, Al Pacino won an Oscar for Best Actor for this role (he had previously been nominated 6 times, and was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for Glengarry Glen Ross the year he won for this film). Scent of a Woman was also nominated in the Best Writing, Best Picture, and Best Director Oscar categories but didn’t win.

The film also won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Pacino won the Golden Globe for Best Actor.

And in a rare example of a reel librarian character resulting in major acting awards: Chris O’Donnell was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for the Golden Globes and won the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor that year. Hoo-ah!

Scent of a comment

Have you seen Scent of a Woman lately? Did you remember that it’s a Thanksgiving movie?! Like me, are you left wondering if George ever returned that reserves book?

Please leave a comment and share… and then get back to your turkey and pumpkin pie! 😉 Happy Thanksgiving!

Sources used

Scent of a Woman. Dir. Martin Brest. Perf. Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, Gabrielle Anwar. Universal, 1992.
“Scent of a Woman (1992): Trivia.” Internet Movie Database.com, n.d.

Updating the list of Best Picture nominees featuring librarians

Rounding up Best Picture-nominated films that feature librarians, in roles large and small

Note: The list in this post has been updated; see my Jan. 2020 “Best Picture nominees that feature reel librarians, 2020 update” post

It’s a wonderful night for Oscar… Oscar, Oscar… who will win?

“Billy Crystal’s Opening: 1991 Oscars,” uploaded by Oscars, Nov. 21, 2011, Standard YouTube license.

The Oscars will be airing this Sunday (!!!), and I am a lifelong Oscar fan.

So this year, I am revisiting a post I put together in 2013, rounding up Best Picture-nominated films that feature librarians, in roles large and small. I have updated the post, adding a few titles to the list, and I’ve listed the nominated films below in chronological order, oldest to newest.

The Philadelphia Story (1940):

This 1941 Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) features one scene at the public library and a Quaker librarian (Hilda Plowright). A reporter (Jimmy Stewart) pokes fun by mocking her thee‘s and thou‘s, as seen below. She also gets her shush on later in this short, but memorable, library scene.

I analyzed the film’s library scene in this post, and compared-and-contrasted it to the original play. I also featured this Quaker librarian in my post about Comic Relief librarians,

Citizen Kane (1941):

This 1942 Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) is a classic saga about the rise and fall of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). There is quite a memorable scene in which a reporter visits the Thatcher Memorial Library of Philadelphia to research Kane and runs into the steely, no-nonsense presence of the librarian, Miss Anderson (Georgia Backus).

I featured Citizen Kane and Miss Anderson in my Hall of Shame list of negative reel librarian portrayals.

The Human Comedy (1943):

This 1944 Best Picture nominee (and Class III film), set in the U.S. homefront during WWII, feature one touching scene at the local public library. Two young boys go to the public library to look at books even though they can’t read yet, and encounter a friendly female librarian (Adeline De Walt Reynolds).

I featured The Human Comedy in my Honorable Mention list of positive reel librarian portrayals.

Spellbound (1945):

This Hitchcock film, a 1946 Best Picture nominee, doesn’t actually feature a librarian, landing itself in the Class V category. So why is it here on this list?! Toward the end of the film, a hotel security guard mistakes a psychiatrist (Ingrid Bergman) for a Spinster Librarian. To her credit, she takes it in good humor.

I expounded on this funny “mistaken identity” scene in Spellbound in an earlier post.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946):

This 1947 Best Picture nominee (and Class I film) has probably the most memorable — and memorably notorious! — scene featuring the ultimate Spinster Librarian. In the alternate reality/nightmare of the film’s second half, George Bailey’s (Jimmy Stewart) lovely wife, Mary (Donna Reed), becomes an old maid librarian. The short scene in which George sees Mary as a librarian serves as the catalyst for wanting to return to his life.

I also featured It’s a Wonderful Life in one of my very first posts!

The Music Man (1962):

This 1963 Best Picture nominee (and Class I film) also features a memorable reel librarian in a leading role. In this classic musical, con man Harold Hill (Preston) tries to scam a community into buying band uniforms—and ends up falling for “Marian the Librarian” (Shirley Jones). This reel librarian has been immortalized in popular culture, in part due to the namesake song.

I featured info about the real Marian behind the “Marian the Librarian” song in this post and what Shirley Jones had to say about the making of the film in her autobiography.

I also included The Music Man in my Honorable Mention list of positive reel librarian portrayals.

Doctor Zhivago (1965):

I still need to rewatch this 1966 Best Picture nominee — it’s on my Master List! — to refresh my memory on this classic epic. Yuri (Omar Sharif) and Lara (Julie Christie) meet in the local library. Is Lara a librarian? I will have to investigate further.

Love Story (1970):

In this 1971 Best Picture nominee (and Class II film), a Harvard law student and jock, Oliver (Ryan O’Neal), falls in love with a Radcliffe music major, Jenny (Ali MacGraw). They first meet at the Radcliffe library, where MacGraw works as a library assistant. MacGraw was also nominated for Best Actress, the only female to have been nominated for an acting Oscar for a reel librarian role.

You can read about all the rest of the Oscar-nominated reel librarians here. And Jenny from Love Story made my list of stylish female reel librarians!

All the President’s Men (1976):

This 1977 Best Picture nominee (and Class III film) features not one, but ~~four~~ five reel librarians, albeit in small — but critical! — roles. This film follows the Watergate scandal uncovered by reporters Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and Bob Woodward (Robert Redford). After several attempts by the reporters to locate information, a library clerk at the Library of Congress helps by providing them with info and records they need.

Awakenings (1990):

I had forgotten this film was nominated for Best Picture in 1991! Based on a true story, Dr. Sayer (Robin Williams) finds a new treatment for a ward of comatose patients. And if you blinked during the short library scene for this Class IV film, you’d miss the second or two of Adam Bryant as a librarian.

Scent of a Woman (1992):

This 1993 Best Picture nominee (and Class II film) is a coming-of-age story about a young prep school boy (Chris O’Donnell), a student library assistant at a private prep school, and a weekend looking after an alcoholic blind man (Al Pacino). Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar for this film.

In the Name of the Father (1993):

In this 1994 Best Picture nominee (and Class III film), Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) is coerced into confessing to an IRA bombing and spends 14 years in prison trying to prove his innocence. His lawyer (Emma Thompson) tries to locate police records, but the chief archivist is not cooperative. She does get records when another archivist is on duty — and the information she gathers eventually leads to Conlon’s release.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994):

Ahhh, a supremely rewatchable classic — one I just rewatched a couple of weeks ago! This 1995 Best Picture nominee (and Class II film) features two memorable reel librarian roles, including star Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife. Andy works as an assistant in the prison library — building it up to one of the best prison libraries in the state! — and becomes friends with the old prison librarian, Brooks (James Whitmore).

I included The Shawshank Redemption in my list of best librarian films by decade, Part II: 1960s-2000s.

Quiz Show (1994):

It is on my Master List to rewatch this 1995 Best Picture nominee, which is based on the controversial true story behind the Twenty One quiz show scandals of the 1950s and contestant Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes). Research is a major theme throughout the film, and the credits list Anthony Fusco as a librarian.

A real-life librarian vents a little about the film, and library props, here.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001):

This 2002 Best Picture nominee (and Class IV film), and the first in a film trilogy of the well-known saga of Middle Earth, involving a hobbit’s quest to destroy a powerful ring. There is a short scene early in the film in which the great wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) needs some info about the ring, so he visits the archives in Gondor. There is a quick flash of the Gondorian Archivist (Michael Elsworth) leading Gandalf down a winding staircase to the archives.

I expand on this short scene, and its significance, here in this post.

The Reader (2008):

I also still need to rewatch this 2009 Best Picture nominee, which features Kate Winslet in a Best Actress-winning turn as Hanna Schmitz, a woman convicted for WWII war crimes. Hanna teaches herself to read while in prison, and there are a few scenes highlighting the prison library.

Spotlight (2015):

The lone winner in this field of Best Picture-nominated films to feature a reel librarian! Spotlight won the Best Picture Academy Award for 2015. The film focuses on the Spotlight team of reporters at the Boston Globe who published a series of stories in 2002 about Catholic priests who, for decades, had been sexually abusing children in their parishes. A few scenes and montages feature the Boston Globe news librarians and research methods of using church directories to track down priests.

I analyzed Spotlight in this post, which also made my personal list of year-end faves for 2016!

Hidden Figures (2016):

I wrote about my first impressions of this Oscar-nominated film just last week. Hidden Figures is a biographical film highlighting the personal and professional struggles and contributions of three African-American female mathematicians — or “computers” — at NASA during the early 1960s. Taraji P. Henson plays brilliant mathematician Katherine G. Johnson; Octavia Spencer, in an Oscar-nominated performance, plays mathematician and computer programmer Dorothy Vaughan; and Janelle Monáe plays firecracker engineer Mary Jackson.

There is a brief, but pivotal, library scene in which Vaughan enters the “whites” section of the library because the “colored” section doesn’t have what she needs.

Sources used:

All the President’s Men. Dir. Alan J. Pakula. Perf. Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander. Warner Bros., 1976.
Awakenings. Dir. Penny Marshall. Perf. Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller. Columbia, 1990.
Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perf. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Ruth Warrick, Alan Ladd. RKO, 1941.
Doctor Zhivago. Dir. David Lean. Perf. Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin. MGM, 1965.
Hidden Figures. Dir. Theodore Melfi. Perf. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Mahershala Ali. Fox 2000 Pictures, 2016.
The Human Comedy. Dir. Clarence Brown. Perf. Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, Fay Bainter, Van Johnson, Donna Reed. Universal, 1943.
In the Name of the Father. Dir. Jim Sheridan. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postelthwaite. Universal, 1993.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers. RKO, 1946.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Dir. Peter Jackson. Perf. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett. New Line Cinema, 2001.
Love Story. Dir. Arthur Hiller. Perf. Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland. Paramount, 1970.
The Music Man. Dir. Morton DaCosta. Perf. Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ron Howard. Warner Bros., 1962.
The Philadelphia Story. Dir. George Cukor. Perf. Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young. MGM, 1940.
Quiz Show. Dir. Robert Redford. Perf. Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturro, Paul Scofield. Baltimore Pictures, 1994.
The Reader. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Perf. Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross. The Weinstein Co., 2008.
Scent of a Woman. Dir. Martin Brest. Perf. Al Pacino, Chris O’Donnell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gabrielle Anwar. Universal, 1992.
Schiavo, Linda Lo. “Flawed Films; What Librarians Know.” The New York Times, 2 Oct. 1994.
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. Perf. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton. Castle Rock-Columbia, 1994.
Spellbound. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G. Carroll, Michael Chekhov. Selznick International, 1945.
Spotlight. Dir. Tom McCarthy. Perf. Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber. First Look, 2015.

The Quotable Librarian 8

These quotes are from films with reel librarian roles that have been nominated for Oscars.

It’s time for another “Quotable Librarian” post! This time, in honor of the Academy Awards this past weekend, it’s an Oscars special. These quotes are from films with reel librarian roles that have been nominated for Oscars.

"OSCARS statuettes" by Prayitno is licensed under a CC BY 2.0 license — “OSCARS statuettes” by Prayitno is licensed under a CC BY 2.0 license

The Asphalt Jungle (1950):

Sam Jaffe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Doc Erwin Riedenschneider, an ex-con who was a prison librarian. How did he become a prison librarian?

I cause no trouble. The prison authorities appreciate that. They made me assistant librarian.
~ Doc Erwin Riedenschneider in The Asphalt Jungle

Love Story (1970):

Ali MacGraw was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Jennifer Cavalleri.

A Harvard law student and jock (O’Neal) falls in love with a Radcliffe music major (MacGraw). They first meet at the Radcliffe library, where MacGraw works as a library assistant.

This is their “meet cute” moment:

You have your own library, preppy.
~ Jennifer Cavalleri in Love Story

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965):

Richard Burton was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Alec Leamas in the film adaptation of John le Carré’s novel. The story focuses on spy Alec Leamus (Richard Burton), who pretends to quit the Secret Service and defect to the Communists. As part of his cover as a failed spy, he starts work as a librarian at the psychical research library.

From the book:

Finally he took the job in the library. The Labour Exchange had put him on to it each Thursday morning as he drew his unemployment benefit, and he’d always turned it down.
“It’s not really your cup of tea,” Mr. Pitt said, “but the pay’s fair and the work’s easy for an educated man.”

And could this following quote about spies also apply to librarians (reel or real)?:

What the hell do you think spies are? Moral philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They’re not! They’re just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me: drunkards, queers, hen-pecked husbands, civil servants playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives. Do you think they sit like monks in a cell, balancing right against wrong?
~ Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

For more Oscars fun on the Reel Librarians site, see here for a post on Oscar-nominated reel librarians and here for a post on Best Picture nominees featuring reel librarians.

Sources used:

The Asphalt Jungle. Dir. John Huston. Perf. Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Sam Jaffe, Marilyn Monroe. MGM, 1950.
Le Carré, John. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Victor Gollancz, 1963.
Love Story. Dir. Arthur Hiller. Perf. Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland. Paramount, 1970.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Dir. Martin Ritt. Perf. Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Sam Wanamaker. Paramount, 1965.

Aunjanue Ellis

Current Oscar nomination:

Past reel librarian role:

Judi Dench

Current Oscar nomination:

Past reel librarian roles:

Javier Bardem

Current Oscar nomination:

Past reel librarian role:

Sources used

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1940s

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Citizen Kane (1941)

The Human Comedy (1943)

Spellbound (1945)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

1960s

The Music Man (1962)

1970s

Love Story (1970)

Chinatown (1974)

All the President’s Men (1976)

1980s

Fatal Attraction (1987)

1990s

Awakenings (1990)

Scent of a Woman (1992)

In the Name of the Father (1993)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Quiz Show (1994)

2000s

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The Reader (2008)

2010s

Spotlight (2015)

Hidden Figures (2016)

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Best Picture nominees with library scenes (but no reel librarians)

Libeled Lady (1936)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Best Picture nominees (with potential reel librarians) to watch/rewatch

Imitation of Life (1934)

All the King’s Men (1949)

Cleopatra (1963)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

The Graduate (1967)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Field of Dreams (1989)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Erin Brockovich (2000)

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Juno (2007)

Hugo (2011)

Sources used

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Scent of a plot

Scent of a school library scene

Scent of a Liberated Librarian

Scent of an award

Scent of a comment

Sources used

Share this:

The Philadelphia Story (1940):

Citizen Kane (1941):

The Human Comedy (1943):

Spellbound (1945):

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946):

The Music Man (1962):

Doctor Zhivago (1965):

Love Story (1970):

All the President’s Men (1976):

Awakenings (1990):

Scent of a Woman (1992):

In the Name of the Father (1993):

The Shawshank Redemption (1994):

Quiz Show (1994):

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001):