The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1952
Well, since I discussed HUAC and the blacklist in 1951, it’ll save me a lot of trouble here. Most people consider High Noon to be the film that should have won here, but the fact that it was clearly an allegory for standing up to HUAC made them skittish about voting for it. So that explains (sort of) what happened here.
Instead of High Noon, they went with The Greatest Show on Earth for Best Picture. Like An American in Paris the year before this — the film didn’t win anything else (major). That points to it being a compromised decision. It’s like them saying they didn’t want to vote for it either, but they had to play it safe until the heat was off. Gary Cooper did win Best Actor for High Noon, though (talked about here), which is interesting. I guess Gary Cooper transcends communism. Best Actress was Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba (talked about here), her first film, after many years on the stage. I don’t particularly like the decision (Julie Harris was so much better in The Member of the Wedding), but I can accept it. Best Supporting Actor was Anthony Quinn for Viva Zapata! (talked about here), which is acceptable. Anthony Quinn is awesome. Best Supporting Actress was Gloria Grahame for The Bad and the Beautiful (talked about here), which, while I wouldn’t have voted for it, is a nice way to show the film (which really should have been nominated for Best Picture. It’s actually the film with the most Oscar wins in history without being nominated for Best Picture) some love. And Best Director — which really points to them admitting compromise — went to John Ford for The Quiet Man (talked about here), which was actually a good decision and very well could have happened even if High Noon won Best Picture.
So, the year makes sense, even though it’s not particularly strong. And while I understand the hesitance in voting for High Noon, my big question about it is — so why not just vote for The Quiet Man then? I don’t get it.
BEST PICTURE – 1952
And the nominees were…
The Greatest Show on Earth (Paramount)
High Noon (United Artists)
Ivanhoe (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Moulin Rouge (United Artists)
The Quiet Man (Republic) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1953
I consider 1953 on of the golden years of cinema. It is one of the strongest years for film ever. And that’s reflected in the Best Picture nominees (mostly). Even though the five they chose might not have been the best five from the year, they were a nice representation of the year from an Oscar standpoint. So I like that.
From Here to Eternity wins Best Picture, Best Director for Fred Zinnemann (talked about here), Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed (talked about here). The great thing about all of those is that you could vote for someone else, but the year is so strong that it doesn’t matter because nearly everyone was deserving. (Also, of those, Zinnemann deserved it the most after being horribly snubbed for High Noon the year before this.) Then, Best Actor went to William Holden for Stalag 17 (talked about here), which, while it wasn’t an amazing performance, Holden is great and deserved an Oscar and the film is great. So it works. And Best Actress was Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday (talked about here), which — oh, I love her. I love the film. It’s one of my top twenty favorite films of all time.
I love this year so much. Even though you could vote for one film over another, every winner definitely deserved it. It’s so nice to have the luxury of multiple good choices.
BEST PICTURE – 1953
And the nominees were…
From Here to Eternity (Columbia)
Julius Caesar (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
The Robe (20th Century Fox)
Roman Holiday (Paramount)
Shane (Paramount) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1954
1954 is a very simple year to recap, so I’ll use this introduction to talk about the widespread changes in the film industry during the 50s. (I’ll save HUAC for 1952.) The Paramount Decision took effect by January 1, 1950. So the 50s as a decade was the first decade where the studios did not have a monopoly on production, distribution and exhibition. They no longer controlled the theaters. So during the 50s was the rise of independent cinema. Drive-Ins. Exploitation movies. Where people like Roger Corman got their start. This thinned out the profit for studios, because they had to fight to get people to come see their movies. Not to mention the other thing that threatened the studios in the 50s —
Television. The rise of television was a huge threat to the studios. The studios needed to find a way to get people back into the theater. So you saw these gimmicks start to pop up. Cinerama, Todd AO, Cinemascope — which were all essentially widescreen. You also saw 3D — things like that. Things you could only see in the theater. They also increased “runaway production” in the 50s, shooting more films on location in other countries (Quest examples are Summertime and this year’s Three Coin’s in the Fountain), to give them that feeling that only the movies could.) This also lead the studios into that corner they’d be in during the 60s, trying to use big budget movies to get people into the theater, like Cleopatra and The Sound of Music. Not to mention, the 50s were also huge culturally, with the rise of the “younger” culture. Elvis, rock ‘n’ roll, movies like Rock Around the Clock and The Girl Can’t Help It. (And you saw this reflected in movies when the children of the 50s, like Lucas and Coppola and Spielberg, started making movies.)
As for 1954 as an Oscar year: On the Waterfront basically sweeps. Best Picture, Best Director for Elia Kazan (talked about here), Best Actor for Marlon Brando (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actress for Eva Marie Saint (talked about here). All perfect decisions. Other winners were Grace Kelly as Best Actress for The Country Girl (talked about here), perhaps the most contested Best Actress decision of all time (one I feel was a good one), and Edmond O’Brien as Best Supporting Actor for The Barefoot Contessa (talked about here), which was good based on the actor but not so much based on the role. Though with three Waterfront nominees in the category, it stands to reason why it happened.
So that’s 1954. A strong Oscar year, not a single bad decision. This is definitely one of the better years in Academy history.
BEST PICTURE – 1954
And the nominees were…
The Caine Mutiny (Columbia)
The Country Girl (Paramount)
On the Waterfront (Columbia)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th Century Fox) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1955
1955 is one of the weakest single years in Academy history. And, like I always say, a year begins with Best Picture. And this year’s Best Picture field might be the single weakest in history (it probably is, actually). There’s nothing here that should win in a regular year. Which pretty much leaves this as a forgotten year in Academy history, just because nothing particularly memorable came from it.
Marty wins Best Picture, Best Director for Delbert Mann (talked about here) and Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine (talked about here). The first two I understand and the third — while I think Frank Sinatra gave the better performance in The Man with the Golden Arm, he had an Oscar from 1953 and Borgnine was just as good, so, it’s fine. Best Actress was Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo (talked about here), which is utterly forgettable, and, in my opinion, a poor decision. (I think Susan Hayward should have won for I’ll Cry Tomorrow, which would have allowed either Deborah Kerr or Rosalind Russell to win their overdue Oscars in 1958, or let Liz Taylor win, which would have allowed Shirley MacLaine win in 1960, which would have affected 1983… the consequences are far-reaching.) Then Jack Lemmon wins Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts (talked about here), which is fine. The category was horrendously weak, though, and Lemmon won Best Actor later on, so most people forget about this. And Jo Van Fleet won Best Supporting Actress for East of Eden (talked about here), which — fine. She was in a bunch of stuff — I don’t have a problem with it (even though I’d have given it to Betsy Blair. Just because I love Marty).
So, really, not one memorable decision this year, despite Marty being a terrific film. But really, when you get down to bare essentials — the Best Picture category — this year is really one of the most forgettable years in Academy history.
BEST PICTURE – 1955
And the nominees were…
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (20thCentury Fox)
Marty (United Artists)
Mister Roberts (Warner Bros.)
Picnic (Columbia)
The Rose Tattoo (Paramount) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1956
A lot of people have strong opinions about this year. I don’t know why. It’s not that surprising a decision at all. Especially compared to 1952. I remember hearing Robert Osborne (of TCM) talk about this, and he mentioned that some famous critic called this the worst Best Picture winner of all time, and he (normally a respectful dude) was just like, “That’s stupid.” Because it is. Sure, it’s not a really strong film, but you can’t be surprised that it won.
The only surprise here was that Around the World in 80 Days only won Best Picture. Which is telling, I feel. Best Director went, instead, to George Stevens for Giant (talked about here). Which is a well-deserved Oscar, for one of the greatest directorial efforts of all time, I feel. It’s also a decision that lessens the impact of the Best Picture win. Then Best Actor was Yul Brynner for The King and I (talked about here), which I like because I like Yul Brynner, but I think it was a weak decision, because Rock Hudson and James Dean (mostly Hudson) gave better performances. Still, it’s okay. Then Best Actress was Ingrid Bergman for Anastasia (talked about here), which I think was a terrible decision. It’s mostly a fairy tale of a film, and there were such better choices in the category, specifically Carroll Baker for Baby Doll (holy shit, was she so much better). Then Best Supporting Actor was Anthony Quinn for Lust for Life (talked about here). The performance isn’t worth it (he’s only on screen for like, eight minutes), but the actor is. Plus the category was pretty weak, so it’s fine. And Best Supporting Actress was Dorothy Malone for Written on the Wind (talked about here). I love that decision. She’s so gloriously over the top. It’s a fun choice (even though Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed was fucking incredible).
So, overall, 1956 is a decent year. Strong categories. And yeah, Around the World in 80 Days is not really a good film. But it’s spectacle. It’s big and it’s spectacle. I understand why it won. Sure, it probably shouldn’t have won, but it’s not that bad. I don’t know. It’s weak, but I can understand it.
BEST PICTURE – 1956
And the nominees were…
Around the World in 80 Days (United Artists)
Friendly Persuasion (Allied Artists)
Giant (Warner Bros.)
The King and I (20th Century Fox)
The Ten Commandments (Paramount) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1957
This year, more so than 1959, is a year that’s a checkpoint year (one where you look at what won and go, “Oh, that makes sense,” and move on without much thought), but is also questionable. Even when there’s a definitive winner, you could almost always make a case for another film (L.A. Confidential over Titanic, To Kill a Mockingbird over Lawrence of Arabia, Anatomy of a Murder over Ben-Hur). And some years it’s warranted, and some years you’re stretching. This year, you can make a legitimate case.
Bridge on the River Kwai is a pretty definitive winner, winning Best Picture, Best Director for David Lean (talked about here) and Best Actor for Alex Guinness (talked about here). All terrific decisions. Best Actress was Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve (talked about here), which was a perfect decision. She was incredible there. And Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were Red Buttons (talked about here) and Miyoshi Umeki (talked about here) for Sayonara, the former I don’t like at all (Arthur Kennedy and Sessue Hayakawa were much better) and the latter I consider the single worst Best Supporting Actress-winning performance of all time. She doesn’t do much at all, and I’m certain they were voting for the role and not the performance.
Overall, though, 1957 is really strong. I don’t agree with the Supporting categories, but the rest of the decisions are really strong. Though, back to my original point — you can make a case here for another film winning — 12 Angry Men. I love years like this, though the pitfall with it is that people get so tied up in favor of one film that they completely discount the other. But outside of that, it’s nice to see a definite winner and a choice that’s just as strong. Rarely are we awarded such a luxury of a win-win situation.
BEST PICTURE – 1957
And the nominees were…
Bridge on the River Kwai (Columbia)
Peyton Place (20th Century Fox)
Sayonara (Warner Bros.)
12 Angry Men (United Artists)
Witness for Prosecution (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1958
1958 is a strong year that is also a weak year. It’s strong in that — the nominees are very strong, on the whole. The films are all very good. However, there’s no real winner in the pack. There’s no real absolute #1, the way there is in most years. Which puts everything about even and then when something does win, it coming out looking weak. Kind of like 1968.
Gigi seems to have won based purely on being fun and big budget. Though the positive side effect of it was that Vincente Minnelli finally won a long-overdue Best Director (talked about here). (In that way, this feels kind of like 2006, where Scorsese was overdue and his film came along to win Best Picture as well.) Then Best Actor was David Niven for Separate Tables (talked about here), which was okay, but not great. He’s a great actor, and having an Oscar is a good thing, though he’s barely in the film (it’s essentially a supporting role), and Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis all gave more vote-worthy performances than he did. So, it’s not great, but it’s kind of okay. Wendy Hiller also won Best Supporting Actress for the film (talked about here), which was a good decision. Best Actress was Susan Hayward for I Want to Live! (talked about here), which was a good decision, and an overdue won. My only grip about it is that she should have won three years earlier (which might have led to Liz Taylor, Rosalind Russell or Deborah Kerr winning, none of whom had Oscars at this point and two of whom never won one). And Best Supporting Actor was Burl Ives for The Big Country (talked about here). This was a terrific decision, because not only is Burl Ives awesome, but he was also great in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof this year as well.
So, 1958 is a strong year in terms of decisions. But the Best Picture decision is kind of “meh.” Which is fitting for the year. Since pretty much any film that would have won (though maybe not The Defiant Ones) really wouldn’t have held up that well as a Best Picture winner.
BEST PICTURE – 1958
And the nominees were…
Auntie Mame (Warner Bros.)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
The Defiant Ones (Kramer, United Artists)
Gigi (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Separate Tables (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1959
1959 is one of the easiest years to recap, Oscar-wise. It’s a “checkpoint year.” The year where you look at it, go, “Oh, okay,” and can rest for a moment because you know what won was always gonna win and doesn’t require much thought.
Ben-Hur wins just about every award it’s up for including (outside of Best Picture Best Director for William Wyler (talked about here), Best Actor for Charlton Heston (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actor for Hugh Griffith (talked about here). The two awards it didn’t win (because there are barely women in the film) were Best Actress, which went to Simone Signoret for Room at the Top (talked about here), which I consider one of the worst decisions of all time in the category, but is somehow made okay (in a way) by the fact that everyone else in the category who probably should have won (mostly Audrey, but I’ll accept Liz or Kate) had Oscars already or would win two (or in Kate’s case three) after this. Still, not a particularly strong winner. And then it also didn’t win Best Supporting Actress, which Shelley Winters won for The Diary of Anne Frank (talked about here). I don’t really like the performance as a winner (particularly against Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner from Imitation of Life), but Shelley Winters is amazing, so it’s okay.
Really, when you look at 1959, you see Ben-Hur and go, “Oh, yeah.” That’s 1959.
BEST PICTURE – 1959
And the nominees were…
Anatomy of a Murder (Columbia)
Ben-Hur (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
The Diary of Anne Frank (20th Century Fox)
The Nun’s Story (Warner Bros.)
Room at the Top (Continental) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1960
I have quite fond memories of 1960. Mostly because The Apartment is one of my five favorite movies of all time. The Best Picture nominees this year are also very strong. (Sure, we’d all love Psycho here, but even so — they’re strong.)
Outside of Best Picture, The Apartment wins Best Director for Billy Wilder (talked about here), which is nice to see, though I think we can all agree that Hitchcock gave the better effort. It also should have won Best Actress for Shirley MacLaine, but she lost to Elizabeth Taylor for BUtterfield 8 (talked about here). Most people agree that Liz only won because she was very ill at the time and they feared she was going to die. Best Actor was Burt Lancaster for Elmer Gantry (talked about here), which was a perfect decision. This was probably Lancaster’s greatest performance (this, Birdman of Alcatraz and Sweet Smell of Success are the top three. To me, anyway). He so deserved it. Shirley Jones also won Best Supporting Actress for the film (talked about here), which is fine, though I’d have voted for Janet Leigh in Psycho (because of the tricky nature of the performance). And Best Supporting Actor was Peter Ustinov for Spartacus (talked about here), which is terrific.
Overall, it’s a very strong year. Even the one questionable decision was remedied after the fact, so it’s just a simple, “Yeah, that shouldn’t have happened,” but isn’t so bad outside of the actual category. In all, this is a strong year, anchored by what I consider one of the top ten or fifteen best Best Picture decisions of all time.
BEST PICTURE – 1960
And the nominees were…
The Alamo (United Artists)
The Apartment (United Artists)
Elmer Gantry (United Artists)
Sons and Lovers (20th Century Fox)
The Sundowners (Warner Bros.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1961
I love 1961. It’s so top-heavy. Look at your three major contenders for Best Picture: West Side Story, Judgment at Nuremberg, and The Hustler. I always say a year’s strength begins at Best Picture, and right there, this establishes this year as a strong one.
As for the rest of the decisions — Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins win Best Director for West Side Story (talked about here), and George Chakiris and Rita Moreno win Best Supporting Actor (talked about here) and Best Supporting Actress (talked about here), respectively, for the film as well. These decisions all make sense and are good (even though I probably wouldn’t have voted for any of them). When you remember the film, these all seem like good choices, but when you look at the categories, I feel as though there were better choices historically (since in Supporting Actor, you had both Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott, who were great in The Hustler and Montgomery Clift in Judgment at Nuremberg. And then in Supporting Actress, you have Judy Garland, who most people feel was horribly snubbed for Best Actress in 1954. So why wouldn’t you give it to her?). Then Best Actor was Maximilian Schell for Judgment at Nuremberg (talked about here), which I think is one of the worst decisions of all time in the category, since Schell wasn’t really a lead in the film, and because Paul Newman was so good in The Hustler (so good, in fact, that the Academy tried to remedy this snub 25 years later when he reprised the same role). And Best Actress was Sophia Loren in Two Women (talked about here). I don’t like this decision at all, but it’s tough. I love Sophia Loren, and I like that she has an Oscar, but I feel, based solely on the category, that Natalie Wood deserved it, giving a great performance in West Side Story and a great performance in Splendor in the Grass. How do you not award a year like that?
So, 1961 is a year with good decisions, though ones that — I don’t know — maybe could have or should have gone another way. But it all comes back to it being a strong year, where you can quibble about one or the other even though the actual decisions were strong. This year is a luxury year. We should be lucky to have one of these.
BEST PICTURE
And the nominees were…
Fanny (Warner Bros.)
The Guns of Navarone (Columbia)
The Hustler (20th Century Fox)
Judgment at Nuremberg (United Artists)
West Side Story (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1962
The reason I love 1962 is because of two films (at least, in this category), but look at those two films — Lawrence of Arabia and To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s justified.
The year is actually quite simple to recap as well — Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean (talked about here). There was no way it wasn’t winning either of those two awards. To Kill a Mockingbird wins Best Actor for Gregory Peck (talked about here). No one can disagree with Atticus. Then Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress were Anne Bancroft (talked about here) and Patty Duke (talked about here) for The Miracle Worker, which were both perfect decisions. The only real outlier is Best Supporting Actor, which Ed Begley won for Sweet Bird of Youth (talked about here). I don’t really see how Omar Sharif doesn’t win this for Lawrence of Arabia. Still, that decision isn’t enough to ruin the other five.
And here — it’s pretty simple. One film or the other. We know which was going to win, but many of us (including myself) have to choose the other for personal reasons. Either way, it’s pretty clear this was gonna be a good one whichever way they chose.
BEST PICTURE – 1962
And the nominees were…
Lawrence of Arabia (Columbia)
The Longest Day (20th Century Fox)
The Music Man (Warner Bros.)
Mutiny on the Bounty (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
To Kill a Mockingbird (U-I) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1963
1963 is one of the toughest Academy years to deal with. It’s arguably worse than 1968, since, at least there, the film that one is a okay choice depending on the category. Here — you don’t know what to vote for. And it’s not that the year itself is horribly weak (though the nominees all-around were on the weak side). It’s just that the more daring films like 8 1/2 and The Cardinal weren’t nominated. So it leaves us with a category where we wonder — what do we do? (Which is probably how we got our eventual winner.)
Tom Jones, aside from Best Picture, won Best Director for Tony Richardson (talked about here). It’s not a good decision (How does Fellini not win?), but it’s understandable. Best Actor this year was Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (talked about here), which is a great decision historically, but they really did pick one of the worst performances to award him for (he’s seriously playing a magical negro). Best Actress was Patricia Neal for Hud (talked about here), which I don’t love as a decision, but I guess is okay. Melvyn Douglas won Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here), which I am okay with. (It’s his second win, in 1979, that I hate.) And Best Supporting Actress was Margaret Ruherford for The V.I.P.s (talked about here), which — there really was no other choice in the category, logistically. So, meh. Whatever.
Overall, what 1963 got right was giving Sidney Poitier an Oscar. Otherwise, the other decisions are either forgettable or just okay. The real weakness for this year is the fact that the Best Picture category consisted of a comedy, a religious film that’s not really about anything, an epic western that’s more entertainment than “Best Picture,” a film about a Greek immigrant, which is terrific but seems to be little-seen (the kind of movie that would be nominated that people wouldn’t know about), and an epic failure (that’s great, but still thought of as a disaster). What do you vote for with that?
BEST PICTURE
And the nominees were…
America, America (Warner Bros.)
Cleopatra (20th Century Fox)
How the West Was Won (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Lilies of the Field (United Artists)
Tom Jones (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1964
I’m very torn about 1964. There’s a lot of, “Yeah… but, oh… but, yeah…but –” involved. I love My Fair Lady. I love it. I really do. But, on the other hand, it’s kind of old-fashioned, and a bit overly long, and a bit on-the-nose as a winner. And yet — (see what I mean?)
Outside of Best Picture, My Fair Lady wins Best Director for George Cukor (talked about here), which — finally! Holy shit, was the man overdue. Him winning here is like Martin Scorsese winning for The Departed. It’s like, “Where was this 25 years ago?” It also won Best Actor for Rex Harrison (talked about here). It was a good decision. I love Rex Harrison (and Peter Sellers — he was never gonna get it, so it’s not really worth griping about). Best Actress was Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (talked about here), which, first, she was Mary Poppins, and second, this probably (or possibly) kept her from winning the year after this, when Julie Christie really should have won (and did). Best Supporting Actor was Peter Ustinov for Topkapi (talked about here), which was a spirited decision in a rather weak category. And Best Supporting Actress was Lila Kedrova for Zorba the Greek (talked about here), which was fine, I guess, but how they could continue to pass up Agnes Moorehead, the epitome of this award (kind of like the way they kept passing up Claude Rains for Supporting Actor) is just ridiculous.
So, in all, an okay year. It’s just — here. We all love Dr. Strangelove. And we all think it should have won. But we all know that it would never win. We know it wouldn’t. Not here. (Maybe not ever.) So it’s a moot point about what should have happened. The most we can do is vote one way and accept the other.
BEST PICTURE – 1964
And the nominees are…
Becket (Paramount)
Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Columbia)
Mary Poppins (Disney, Buena Vista)
My Fair Lady (Warner Bros.)
Zorba the Greek (20th Century Fox) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1965
1965 is a playing card year. I mean that in the sense of — there’s a scene in My Cousin Vinny where Pesci explains that the prosecution’s case looks like a brick, and will be presented as such, but in reality, is as thin as a playing card, because the fact remains that the boys are innocent. And that’s what I feel about this year. On the surface, a good year and a good choice. But, when you look at it more closely — it might not be what it appears.
The Sound of Music, outside of Best Picture, wins Best Director for Robert Wise (talked about here). That’s standard operating procedure. Best Actor was Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou (talked about here), which I think is a terrible decision, yet I can’t be too angry with it because I love Lee Marvin. Still, bad decision. Best Actress was Julie Christie for Darling (talked about here), which was such a great decision. Between that and Doctor Zhivago — man did she deserve that. Best Supporting Actor was Martin Balsam for A Thousand Clowns (talked about here), which — one of the worst Best Supporting Actor categories of all time, so — sure. And Best Supporting Actress was Shelley Winters for A Patch of Blue (talked about here), which she totally deserved. And the film is amazing too. Great decision.
So, fine year, fine decisions, for the most part. This is a year I don’t think is quite that good a decision. And on the other side of the coin, I’m not quite sure what beats it. This is a really interesting year to talk about, and one that I don’t think is as simple as you’d think it is.
BEST PICTURE
And the nominees were…
Darling (Embassy)
Doctor Zhivago (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Ship of Fools (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox)
A Thousand Clowns (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1966
I like me some 1966. I don’t love it. But I like it. It’s a good year. Not terribly memorable, but a year begins with its Best Picture nominees/winner. And this year’s winner (along with the only other potential winner) is a very stagy film. Amazing, but stagy. Which isn’t as sexy as some of the other winners. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a good film.
A Man for All Seasons, outside of Best Picture, wins Fred Zinnemann his second Best Director Oscar (talked about here), which, with this, High Noon and From Here to Eternity (not to mention all the other great films he directed), he’s earned two, and Best Actor for Paul Scofield (talked about here). He did do a great job, and it was really close between him and Richard Burton. Both were very deserving. He was incredible. Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress were Elizabeth Taylor (talked about here) and Sandy Dennis (talked about here) for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, both of whom I felt were deserving in their respective categories (Taylor much more so. She just destroyed the rest of that category). And Best Supporting Actor was Walter Matthau for The Fortune Cookie (talked about here), which — oh man, watch this movie and that performance. It’s genius. It’s a comic role that he plays like a noir. It’s glorious.
So that’s 1966. A very strong year. Every category went with either the best decision or one of the top two. But it’s not very sexy. Some sexiness, but more-so very solid. Maybe we’ll call this the “good husband” year.
BEST PICTURE – 1966
And the nominees were…
Alfie (Paramount)
A Man for All Seasons (Columbia)
The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (United Artists)
The Sand Pebbles (20th Century Fox)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Warner Bros.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1967
This is the year everything changed. After a decade of the crumbling of the studio system, studios not knowing how to handle the changing times, the failures of this big-budget roadshow musicals, the rampant runaway production going on — something snapped. For a few years, these smaller, grittier, counter-culture films were starting to pop up. But this year is where one of them finally broke through into the mainstream: Bonnie and Clyde. Not to mention, you see a huge influx of socially conscious films among the nominees this year. Dealing with race and violence and sex — topics that were completely taboo less than a decade earlier. 1967 is the most socially important year in the history of cinema. No other year holds a candle to it in terms of social importance.
The year is also wonderfully spread out. They managed to get every major film an award. In the Heat of the Night wins Best Picture and Best Actor for Rod Steiger (talked about here). Steiger was pretty due by this point, so that was nice (even though I’d say Spencer Tracy and Paul Newman gave better performances. Not to mention an un-nominated and horribly snubbed Sidney Poitier). Best Actress was Katharine Hepburn for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (talked about here), a solid choice. Best Supporting Actor was George Kennedy for Cool Hand Luke (talked about here), which is so awesome I don’t even want to talk about it lest I somehow jinx it 45 years after the fact. Best Supporting Actress was Estelle Parsons for Bonnie and Clyde (talked about here), which — wow. If you’ve seen the performance, you know. And Best Director was Mike Nichols for The Graduate (talked about here), which he deserved, between this and not winning for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the year before this. So, overall, they did a great job of awarding all the great films from the year.
However — and I’ve said this a lot — I can’t help but feel this Best Picture decision is a cop out decision.
BEST PICTURE – 1967
And the nominees were…
Bonnie and Clyde (Warner Bros., Seven Arts)
Doctor Dolittle (20th Century Fox)
The Graduate (Embassy)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Columbia)
In the Heat of the Night (United Artists) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1968
Talk about a really tough year. 1968 is, quite literally, the transition year for Hollywood. This is the year the business went from Old Hollywood to New Hollywood. (Oscar-wise. In terms of the actual movies, the transition was there until 1970/1971.) The year before this, you had the landmark films like Bonnie and Clyde, and the year after this, you’ll see one of them win Best Picture. Here — you get the last gasp of old Hollywood. All the choices here as so unabashedly old Hollywood. And in return we get a pretty weak set of nominees. 1966, this would have been a good list. 1968 — not so much.
Oliver! wins Best Picture, mostly because it’s the lesser of five evils. If you’re gonna give in, might as well have fun with it. The film also wins Carol Reed his twenty years-overdue Best Director statue (talked about here), which is not a great decision, since Kubrick really should have won for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Carol Reed needed to win, so it has to be acceptable. (This year feels a lot like 2006, where there was no winner, and someone needed to win Best Director, so they went and voted for their film too for Best Picture, because, “Why not?”) Best Actor was Cliff Robertson for Charly (talked about here), which I don’t particularly like, simply because this was Peter O’Toole’s one chance to really win. Best Actress was a tie (the only exact tie in Academy history) between Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (talked about here). They were the best in the category, so it worked out fine. Best Supporting Actor was Jack Albertson for The Subject Was Roses (talked about here), which was a fine decision, he was really great in the film. And Best Supporting Actress was Ruth Gordon for Rosemary’s Baby (talked about here), which I wouldn’t have voted for but is a fine decision.
So, overall, they did the best with what they had to work with for 1968. Still, though — it’s pretty weak. But, it is a prime example of “out with the old.” I do like it for that reason.
BEST PICTURE
And the nominees are…
Funny Girl (Columbia)
The Lion in Winter (Avco Embassy)
Oliver! (Columbia)
Rachel, Rachel (Warner Bros.)
Romeo and Juliet (Paramount) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1969
Ah, 1969. The year, as I like to call it, 1967 took effect. Sure, the film landscape changed in 1967 with Bonnie and Clyde and all that, but the Academy was pretty much business as usual until now. This was their first real embrace of the new type of filmmaking that was taking over the industry. I’m still amazed it happened.
Midnight Cowboy, outside of Best Picture, won Best Director for John Schlesinger (talked about here). He’d had one of those coming for a few years, so it’s nice to see a perfect scenario for him to win one. Best Actor was John Wayne for True Grit (talked about here), which — John Wayne was one of four actors who could have won an Oscar at any point and it would have been okay, no matter who he beat. The other three were Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, and after a certain period, Paul Newman. They transcend the awards. So him winning was automatically a good decision (even though it’s a shame about Richard Burton). Best Actress was Maggie Smith for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (talked about here), which is nice. Maggie is awesome. I’d have gone another way, but the decision was fine. Best Supporting Actor was Gig Young for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (talked about here), which, in a weak category, it was the best decision. And Best Supporting Actress was Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower (talked about here). I like the decision, but man, was Catherine Burns amazing in Last Summer.
1969 is a hugely successful year. All the decisions are terrific. And a great year, of course, starts with a great Best Picture winner.
BEST PICTURE – 1969
And the nominees were…
Anne of the Thousand Days (Universal)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (20th Century Fox)
Hello, Dolly! (20th Century Fox)
Midnight Cowboy (United Artists)
Z (Cinema V) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1970
1970 is one of those years that I call “checkpoint” years. As in, you’re going and looking at all the Best Picture winners, and you go, “Like that, like that, don’t like that, oh man, that one’s horrible…” But when you get to this one, you see Patton and go, “Uh huh,” and you move on. Because it’s unquestionably a film that was gonna win. Gone With the Wind is like that. Lawrence of Arabia. These years are checkpoint years, because you mentally rest for a second before moving on.
Outside of Best Picture, Patton wins Best Director for Franklin Schaffner (talked about here) and Best Actor for George C. Scott (talked about here). Both were terrific decisions (though huge shout out to James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope. I’m not kidding when I say (racism notwithstanding) in almost any other year, he wins hands down). Best Actress this year was Glenda Jackson for Women in Love (talked about here), which is the single worst decision of all time by the Academy, in any category, bar none. (I hate it, in case you couldn’t tell.) Best Supporting Actor was John Mills for Ryan’s Daughter (talked about here), which I consider probably one of the worst three decisions of all time in the Best Supporting Actor category. And Best Supporting Actress was Helen Hayes for Airport (talked about here), which was a wonderful veteran Oscar. I’m glad she won.
So, overall, 1970 is a solid year. However, due to my insane love for another film, I will not be voting for the obvious choice in Patton here. I don’t care what anyone says, but Love Story, to me, is one of the greatest films ever made. Man’s gotta vote with his heart.
BEST PICTURE – 1970
And the nominees are…
Airport (Universal)
Five Easy Pieces (Columbia)
Love Story (Paramount)
MASH (20th Century Fox)
Patton (20th Century Fox) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1971
The 70s had balls. That’s the best way to describe it. In the 80s, you’d look at this list and assume Nicholas and Alexandra was going to win. In the 60s, you’d assume Fiddler on the Roof. Nothing against either of those films, they’re both actually really amazing (this entire list is), it’s just — here, in the 70s — the right film won.
Outside of Best Picture, The French Connection won Best Director for William Friedkin (talked about here) and Best Actor for Gene Hackman (talked about here). Both were awesome decisions. Best Actress was Jane Fonda for Klute (talked about here), which is another great decision and another 70s decision. Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress were Ben Johnson (talked about here) and Cloris Leachman (talked about here) from The Last Picture Show. I don’t love either decision, but am more okay with Supporting Actress. Still, I’d have gone another way on both of them.
Again, though, the 70s are just terrific at awarding good things. There’s so much good stuff nominated that almost no matter what they choose, the result will be good (or at the very least, acceptable). It’s amazing.
BEST PICTURE – 1971
And the nominees were…
A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros.)
Fiddler on the Roof (United Artists)
The French Connection (20th Century Fox)
The Last Picture Show (Columbia)
Nicholas and Alexandra (Columbia) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1972
There is nothing to say about 1972 except: The Godfather. I rest my case.
Outside of Best Picture, Marlon Brando wins Best Actor for the film (talked about here). Duh. Best Actress goes to Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (talked about here), Joel Grey wins Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here), and Bob Fosse wins Best Director for it (talked about here). I love the Best Actress decision, hate the Best Supporting Actor decision (seriously, not James Caan or Al Pacino?) and am completely perplexed by the Best Director decision (I love Bob Fosse, but even the DGA went with Coppola. But it worked out, since both Coppola and Fosse ended up with Oscars.) And the only award left was Eileen Heckart winning Best Supporting Actress for Butterflies Are Free (talked about here), which — okay. It was a weak category, and is pretty irrelevant historically.
Seriously, though — The Godfather. Let’s not play around here.
BEST PICTURE – 1972
And the nominees were…
Cabaret (Allied Artists)
Deliverance (Warner Bros.)
The Emigrants (Warner Bros.)
The Godfather (Paramount)
Sounder (20th Century Fox) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1973
Another one. This decade just knocks them out of the park, one year at a time. Seriously, has it ever been as good as it was here?
The Sting is such a great Best Picture choice I can’t even put it into words. It also won Best Director for George Roy Hill (talked about here), which — finally! After this and Butch and Sundance (not to mention Thoroughly Modern Millie), the man deserved it. Best Actor was Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger (talked about here), which was about thirteen years overdue for him. Even though his category was tremendous, he did deserve to win. Best Actress was Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class (talked about here), which would have been okay had she not won in 1970, but she did, which makes me not like this decision at all (plus if Ellen Burstyn won here, maybe Gena Rowlands could have won the year after this). Best Supporting Actor was John Houseman for The Paper Chase (talked about here). A veteran Oscar, and one I’d normally be okay with, but Jason Miller was so good in The Exorcist and Vincent Gardenia was so good in Bang the Drum Slowly that I just can’t like that decision. And Best Supporting Actress was Tatum O’Neal for Paper Moon (talked about here), which is seriously one of the best decisions of all time in the category. You know me and precocious child roles — this thing is just incredible. I loved that film and that performance so, so much.
Again, we have another 70s year hit right out of the park. I love how this decade is the complete antithesis to the 80s in almost every way. That’s so wonderful.
BEST PICTURE – 1973
And the nominees are…
American Graffiti (Universal)
Cries and Whispers (New World Pictures)
The Exorcist (Warner Bros.)
The Sting (Universal)
A Touch of Class (Avco Embassy) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1974
Oh, I love 1974 so much. (This will be, and has been, a recurring theme of the 70s with me.) Look at all five of these choices. And look at what won! Man, what a year.
The Godfather Part II, I think we can all agree, is one of the top five or ten best Best Picture winners of all time. Francis Ford Coppola winning Best Director for it (talked about here) is one of the top five Best Director decisions of all time, especially considering the Academy passed over him for the first Godfather. Robert De Niro also won Best Supporting Actor for the film (talked about here). I think we all know how good he was. Now, outside of those three — Art Carney wins Best Actor for Harry and Tonto (talked about here), which is one of the single worst Best Actor decisions of all time. Seriously Bottom five. Simply because Carney beat Al Pacino (in Godfather), Jack Nicholson (in Chinatown), Dustin Hoffman (in Lenny) and Albert Finney (in Murder on the Orient Express). None of these actors had an Oscar at this point, and this decision is what prevented Al Pacino from getting his Oscar until 1992 (and then prevented Denzel from getting his until 2001. Not to mention also potentially keeping Robert Downey Jr. and Clint Eastwood from an Oscar as well). I think we can agree it was bad. Best Actress was Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (talked about here). It was a good decision. Burstyn was great in the role, but I can’t help but feel that Gena Rowlands deserved it more for A Woman Under the Influence. And Ingrid Bergman won Best Supporting Actress for Murder on the Orient Express (talked about here), which is clearly a veteran win, because she’s only on screen for five minutes and does next-to-nothing in the film.
Overall, 1974 is a huge success, and is in a way, the heart of the 70s. I’m seriously in awe of this decade.
BEST PICTURE – 1974
And the nominees were…
Chinatown (Paramount)
The Conversation (Paramount)
The Godfather Part II (Paramount)
Lenny (United Artists)
The Towering Inferno (20th Century Fox, Warner Bros.) (more…)
The Oscar Quest: Best Picture – 1975
What is it with the 70s? Great films on top of great films. We’ve rarely had it this good, before or since. The 1972-1976 years are perhaps the strongest consecutive years ever, Oscar-wise. It’s just ridiculous. And what’s great about them is, you can quibble about what won, but you cannot deny the fact that the film that won was better than at least half the other Best Picture winners.
This year, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest wins the big five — Best Picture, Best Director for Milos Forman (talked about here), Best Actor for Jack Nicholson (talked about here), Best Actress for Louise Fletcher (talked about here), and Best Screenplay. If you’ve seen the film, you know how good it is and how good of a decision those were. (Though, personally, I’d have gone another way on Director no matter what won here, just because of personal preference.) Best Supporting Actor was George Burns for The Sunshine Boys (talked about here), which is awesome, and Best Supporting Actress was Lee Grant for Shampoo (talked about here), which works, given the weakness of the category and her stature as an actress.
So, overall — 1975 is an amazing year, and really all we can quibble about is what we liked instead, even though we all know what did win is more than perfectly acceptable. I love years like this.
BEST PICTURE – 1975
And the nominees were…
Barry Lyndon (Warner Bros.)
Dog Day Afternoon (Warner Bros.)
Jaws (Universal)
Nashville (Paramount)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (United Artists) (more…)
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