Monday, May 6, 2013

1950s Oscars

Hey everybody!
It is time of year again, ladies and gentlemen.  I am officially done with the 1950s. Now that we are saying goodbye to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the production code, I am sure there are plenty more treats in store.  I feel like I found the most obscure gems in this decade and while I am sad to see it go, I am excited for the sixties.  So, as always, use the comment section to debate, add your own categories, or call me a cottonheadedniggymuggins.

BEST PICTURE: Le Trou
Nominees:
Wages of Fear
The Searchers
Some Like It Hot
Anatomy of a Murder
High Society
Rear Window
Seven Samurai
Sunset Boulevard
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
Guys and Dolls
The African Queen

BEST DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
Nominees:
Jacques Becker
Alfred Hitchcock
Billy Wilder
Otto Preminger
Charles Laughton
John Huston

BEST ACTRESS: Katharine Hepburn
Nominees:
Sally Jane Bruce
Debbie Reynolds
Eva Marie Saint
Kim Novak
Jean Simmons
Grace Kelly

BEST ACTOR: Marlon Brando
Nominees:
James Stewart
Cary Grant
Marc Michel
Jack Lemmon
Robert Mitchum

WORST PICTURE: Mon Oncle
Nominees:
Gigi
Ordet
Lola Montes
M. Hulot's Holiday

BEST LINE: "I am big! It's the pictures that got small!"
Nominees:
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"
"You're a cookie full of arsenic!"
"You've got more twists than a barrel of pretzels!"

Enjoy!

14 comments:

  1. GREAT to see some "Le Trou" love. I also discovered this picture recently and LOVED it!! Keep up the great work!!

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    1. Le Trou came as such a shock for me. I had never heard anyone mention it before and I found out it is one of my favorite movies. All hail The Book!

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  2. I would just like to say that you are not a Cottonheadedniggymuggins! Good job on all of this!

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  3. To answer Brendan (Weren't you a famous runner in the 70's?) .. I had to ask the same question, thank you for prompting me to look it up..From Wiki .."..Sally Jane Bruce (born December 2, 1948, Los Angeles, California) is an American former child performer, best known for playing little Pearl Harper in Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir The Night of the Hunter."

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  4. thank you and no, I'm not that one

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  5. We must appreciate child actresses who aren't super annoying. They are a rarity.

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  6. I love that you gave the top spot to Le Trou, though it is not my choice. I would go with Seven Samurai, but it is a tight field.
    Not sure I agree with you Worst Movies. Both Ordet and Hulot's holiday are mid-field movies for me. Instead I would throw in The Mad Masters and Mother India. They did nothing for me.

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    1. Ooo I would accept Seven Samurai. I guess I'm more forgiving of short films like The Mad Masters, because you don't have to suffer for long. But agreed about Mother India.

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  7. It's taken me two years and four months to do the fifties. I took a couple of long breaks in there. That means it's even less likely than ever that I'll be able to assess a Best Quote category. Let's just say that almost any line from All About Eve, Sunset Boulevard or The Sweet Smell of Success would be worthy of the accolade.

    Best Picture: Sunset Blvd.
    Nominees: All About Eve, Wages of Fear, Rear Window, The Seven Samauri, Sweet Smell of Success
    Odd that the two best films on the list to date - All About Eve and Sunset Blvd - should appear side-by-side in the book. I shouldn't duck tough decisions too often so I'll call it for Sunset Blvd. but mention that All About Eve is the best script I've ever seen. I compile my list before peeking at yours and now see that you picked Le Trou. I gave this careful thought but decided that I'm influenced by being still blown away from seeing it a couple of nights ago and it might just fall short of nomination when I finally calm down. I may come to regret this decision.

    Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
    Nominees: Billy Wilder, Akira Kurosawa, Henri-Georges Clouzot
    I was minded to give this to Billy Wilder, but Hitchcock's run of great films is just absurd and it's not possible to deny him retaining the award I gave him for the 1940s. John Ford was almost nominated but anyone involved in The Quiet Man is persona non grata at this ceremony.

    Best Actress: Julie Holliday
    Nominees: Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Marilyn Monroe, Giulietta Masina
    Only kidding! Who do you think I am, the 1951 Oscars voting committee? I'm going to do what they should have done and split it between Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson. Special mention also for Ava Gardner being the perfect screen goddess in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

    Best Actor: Kirk Douglas
    Nominees: Tony Curtis, Toshiro Mifune, Alec Guinness, Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, James Mason
    Lots of good candidates, but only two really stood out as deserving of the gong. It's close but, sorry Tony, I'm calling it for Kirk. Looking again at John Wanye's list of films I can't really leave him out after all, even if he was in The Quiet Man.

    Special mentions:
    - If you really want a best quote then Robert Walker creepily saying "Criss-cross, I'll do your murder, you do mine" in Strangers on a Train is one my favourite cinema clips
    - Were there more than five movies all decade that weren't scored by Dimitri Tiomkin?

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  8. By the way, I've just discovered that the Criterion website (www.criterion.com) has an astonishing treasure trove of articles on most of these films and more. Pick a film, see what's there, including who put it in their top-ten.

    Given that many films on the list don't get much coverage in general media nor do we ever meet someone at a party etc who wants to chat about them, it's good to indulge a little.

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  9. Great choices! Well if we ever find ourselves at a party together, we will have a great deal to talk about.

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