Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 24 and 23 — West Side Story (1961) and Wings (1927)

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Josh Kaye

24. West Side Story (1961)

Other Nominated Films:
Fanny, The Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg

Please…no one hurt me for having West Side Story this far down on the list. I enjoyed the film, I won’t deny that at all. But compared to films 1 through 23, I had no choice. West Side Story is based on the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, which is actually my least favorite Shakespearian play…so maybe that played a role in my decision. I will say this about the movie: it’s got some pretty catchy songs (thanks to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim) and it’s not a bad romance. It’s definitely something I would recommend for a date night. I was perplexed when I saw the cast list and realized that the majority of the actors and actresses cast as Puerto Ricans in the film were, in fact, white. While their depiction of Puerto Ricans may have been…well…not that great, their acting in general was pretty solid. The basic plot of West Side Story focuses on two lovers who could never be together due to their race difference. Tony (Richard Beymer) is co-founder of the Jets, who are white Americans, and he begins to fall for Maria (Natalie Wood), the sister of Bernardo (George Chakiris). Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks, a rival gang of Puerto Rican immigrants. The film begins with a free-for-all throughout the streets of Manhattan between the two rival gangs, and the violence only progresses as the film goes on towards its extremely thriller climax, which is one of the redeeming qualities of watching the film. West Side Story holds the distinction of being the musical film with the most Academy Award wins (10).

Nominated for 11 Oscars, Winner of 10
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – George Chakiris (WON)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Rita Moreno (WON)
Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Color – Boris Leven, Victor A. Gangelin (WON)
Best Cinematography, Color – Daniel L. Fapp (WON)
Best Costume Design, Color – Irene Sharaff (WON)
Best Director – Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins (WON)
Best Film Editing – Thomas Stanford (WON)
Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal (WON)
Best Picture – Robert Wise (WON)
Best Sound – Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD), Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD) (WON)
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – Ernest Lehman

The Jets: [singing] Here come the Jets, like a bat out of hell – Someone gets in our way, someone don’t feel so well.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 26 and 25 — Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) and Ben-Hur (1959)

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Josh Kaye

26. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Other Nominated Films:
The Bishop’s Wife, Crossfire, Great Expectations, Miracle on 34th Street

Elia Kazan really has a knack for directing some pretty amazing films. He’s directed classics such as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, East of Eden, and America, America. But the first film to win him Best Director and Best Picture was Gentleman’s Agreement. And this didn’t come without controversy. Given the film’s overtly anti-semetic themes, some Hollywood Execs (many Jewish) were concerned about potential backlash. Some Execs even tried to convince producer Darryl F. Zanuck not to make the film. But Kazan and Zanuck forged ahead with this socially significant film anyway. And, as it turned out, the ‘Jewish-friendly’ (liberal) themed film did, in fact, grab the suspicious attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee.  As a result, Kazan, Zanuck, John Garfield and Anne Revere were called to testify before the committee.   Now, putting aside what was happening off-screen…The film’s plot revolves around the character, Philip Green (Gregory Peck), a journalist that goes undercover as a Jew to conduct research for an article he is writing about anti-semetism.   Green encounters explicit prejudice along the way including professional bias and personal relationship issues, as well as name-calling, discrimination by hotels, etc. Gentleman’s Agreement is a great film that would pave the way for future filmmakers. Kazan took a huge risk in directing a movie of such sensitive nature, and in taking that risk, he created one of the most important films of all time.

Nominated for 8 Oscars, Winner of 3
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Celeste Holm (WON)
Best Director – Elia Kazan (WON)
Best Picture – 20th Century Fox (WON)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Gregory Peck
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Dorothy McGuire
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Anne Revere
Best Film Editig – Harmon Jones
Best Writing, Screenplay – Moss Hart

Mrs. Green: You know something, Phil? I suddenly want to live to be very old. Very. I want to be around to see what happens. The world is stirring in very strange ways. Maybe this is the century for it. Maybe that’s why it’s so troubled. Other centuries had their driving forces. What will ours have been when men look back? Maybe it won’t be the American century after all… or the Russian century or the atomic century. Wouldn’t it be wonderful… if it turned out to be everybody’s century… when people all over the world – free people – found a way to live together? I’d like to be around to see some of that… even the beginning. I may stick around for quite a while.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 28 and 27 — The Lost Weekend (1945) and A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Josh Kaye

28. The Lost Weekend (1945)

Other Nominated Films:
Anchors Aweigh, The Bells of St. Mary’s, Mildred Pierce, Spellbound

The Lost Weekend is an extremely tough film to watch since it’s extremely accurate in its portrayal of the disease known as alcoholism. The Lost Weekend is a haunting film, and it’s so well done by Billy Wilder that you can’t take your eyes off of the screen. The film focuses on the struggles of Don Birnam (Ray Milland), who is an alcoholic New York writer. We’re brought into this man’s life at his most vulnerable point, when he is desperate for a drink and must escape the watchful eyes of his girlfriend and brother — and it’s terrifying for us to experience his torment and degradation. We follow Don for four days as he gives in to his alcoholic urges by stealing money, pawning his possessions, and borrowing money from a woman who he lied to earlier in the film. Ray Milland is truly amazing in his role and is a well deserving recipient of the Best Actor Oscar. Milland brought a realistic element to the role which is the only way a movie like this would work. It should be noted that the “character walking toward the camera as neon signs pass by” camera effect was made famous by this movie. The Lost Weekend would go on to win four Oscars, one being the Best Director Oscar that Wilder should have won for Double Indemnity.

Nominated for 7 Oscars, Winner of 4
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Ray Milland (WON)
Best Director – Billy Wilder (WON)
Best Picture – Paramount (WON)
Best Writing, Screenplay – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder (WON)
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White – John F. Seitz
Best Film Editing – Doane Harrison
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic of Comedy Picture – Miklós Rózsa

Nat: One’s too many an’ a hundred’s not enough.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 30 and 29 — An American in Paris (1951) and Gigi (1958)

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Josh Kaye

30. An American in Paris (1951)

Other Nominated Films:
Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, A Streetcar Named Desire

There are very few films that are as vibrant and lavish as An American in Paris. There are also very few (if any other) films that feature an uninterrupted 16-minute dance sequence. The dance sequence. a ballet set to Gershwin’s An American in Paris  is well choreographed (I would hope so since this sequence cost over $500,000), and I believe this is the primary reason that An American in Paris won the Best Picture Oscar. An American in Paris is an exciting, stand-up-and-move-your-feet type of film, but A Streetcar Named Desire and A Place in the Sun are the truly the more superior films. But let’s not focus on what probably should have happened, let’s focus on what did happened. While the plot of An American in Paris may not be the strongest, what keeps the film from failing is the immerse star power of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, the classic Gershwin songs, and the colorful direction of Vincente Minnelli. I will say that what truly kept me hooked was Leslie Caron. I’m unsure of what it is about her, but when she’s on screen, she demands your attention. When she wasn’t on screen however, it felt to me as if the movie was just slowly dragging. Although I will give credit to Gene Kelly for one of the most memorable dances of all time in I Got Rhythm. The man can really dance, and I have no problem admitting that I wish I could dance like that. An American in Paris would go on to win Academy Awards that year.

Nominated for 8 Oscars, Winner of 6
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color – Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason (WON)
Best Cinematography, Color – Alfred Gilks, John Alton (WON)
Best Costume Design, Color – Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett, Irene Sharaff (WON)
Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture – Johnny Green, Saul Chaplin (WON)
Best Picture – Arthur Freed (WON)
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Alan Jay Lerner (WON)
Best Director – Vincente Minnelli
Best Film Editing – Adrienne Fazan

Jerry Mulligan: She’s one of those third year girls who gripe my liver… You know, American college kids. They come over here to take their third year and lap up a little culture… They’re officious and dull. They’re always making profound observations they’ve overheard.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 32 and 31 — Tom Jones (1963) and Going My Way (1944)

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Josh Kaye

32. Tom Jones (1963)

Other Nominated Films:
America America, Cleopatra, How The West Was Won, Lilies of the Field

There hasn’t been a comedy quite like Tom Jones in a very long time, which is unfortunate since it’s such a unique film in so many ways. When I first watched the film, I actually thought it was a throwback to the silent classics since the entire opening sequence is performed with no sound at all. What also makes this comedy different is the fact that the characters in the film break the fourth wall. A lot. There’s even a moment where Tom Jones (Albert Finney) notices the camera and covers the lens with his hat. I previously saw Finney in films such as Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Big Fish, and Miller’s Crossing, but this is the best Albert Finney film I’ve seen so far (doesn’t say all that much since I’ve seen very few.) Playing the title character with great flair, Jones is a dashing young man with a heart of gold, which makes him the perfect love-’em-and-leave-’em lady charmer. Finney was nominated for the Best Actor award for this role, but didn’t come out the winner. In fact, this film had five Oscar nominations in the acting categories: Best Actor (Albert Finney), Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith), and Best Supporting Actress (Diane Cilento, Dame Edith Evans, and Joyce Redman.) Tom Jones is the only film in the history of the Academy in which three actresses were nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, which makes it all the more shocking to see that none of them won the award. If you’re a fan of comedy films, then Tom Jones is a must-see.

Nominated for 10 Oscars, Winner of 4
Best Director – Tony Richardson (WON)
Best Music, Score – Substantially Original – John Addison (WON)
Best Picture – Tony Richardson (WON)
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – John Osborne (WON)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Albert Finney
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Hugh Griffith
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Diane Cilento
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Edith Evans
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Joyce Redman
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color – Ralph W. Brinton, Ted Marshall, Jocelyn Herbert, Josie MacAvin

Tom Jones: [Drunkenly shouting the news of Mr. Allworthy’s miraculous recovery from his carriage accident] Mr. Allworthy has recovered! It’s over! The fever’s gone! He’s sitting up. He’s well again! The Squire’s recovered! It’s over!
Narrator: It’s not true that drink changes a man’s character. It can reveal it more clearly. The Squire’s recovery brought joy to Tom, to his tutors, sheer disappointment.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 34 and 33 — Oliver! (1968) and How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Josh Kaye

34. Oliver! (1968)

Other Nominated Films:
Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Rachel Rachel, Romeo and Juliet

A twist on the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist (see what I did there), Oliver! is an exciting tale about an orphan who runs away from an orphanage and gets caught up in a gang of child thieves. The twist? (I can’t seem to help myself!) They sing and dance their way happily through their sordid, miserable little lives! I actually have a personal experience with one of the songs from the film. For one of my assignments in a class, my group had to create a pitch for a restaurant idea, and we found this wonderful YouTube video featuring the song Food, Glorious Food. Unfortunately, I can’t find the clip, but it was a perfect fit. When I watched the film and heard the familiar music start playing, I sat up with a smile on my face for two reasons: A) I found the source of the YouTube song; and B) I knew that this would be an enjoyable movie — which it was, although there were some pretty sad moments throughout the film, especially towards the end. There were two characters that really stood out over the rest: Fagin (Ron Moody) and the Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). Fagin can be considered a foster father for a bunch of the young, abandoned boys. He cares for the children and teaches them to make a living by doing what he does best: pickpocketing. And the Artful Dodger is his #1 go-to-guy. Both of the actors were nominated for Oscars, but neither one came out as the winner. I also would like to point out that Oliver Reed, who played Bill Sikes, is terrifying, and that’s all I have to say about that. Since the development of the MPAA rating system, Oliver! is the only G-rated film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture, which is ironic since the following year Midnight Cowboy became the only X-Rated film to win Best Picture. Onna White also received an Honorary Award for her outstanding choreography achievement for Oliver!.

Nominated for 11 Oscars, Winner of 5
Honorary Award – Onna White – For her outstanding choreography achievement for Oliver!.
Best Art Direction-Set Direction – John Box, Terence Marsh, Vernon Dixon, Ken Muggleston (WON)
Best Director – Carol Reed (WON)
Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) – Johnny Green (WON)
Best Picture – John Woolf (WON)
Best Sound – Shepperton SSD (WON)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Ron Moody
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Jack Wild
Best Cinematography – Oswald Morris
Best Costume Design – Phyllis Dalton
Best Film Editing – Ralph Kemplen
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – Vernon Harris

Fagin: [sings] I’m reviewing the situation / Can a fellow be a villain all his life? / All the trials and tribulations. / Better settle down and get myself a wife! / And a wife would cook and sew for me, / And come for me, and go for me, / And go for me, and nag at me, / The fingers, she would wag at me. / The money she would take from me. / A misery, she’ll make from me… I think I’d better think it out again!

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 36 and 35 — The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Josh Kaye

36. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Other Nominated Films:
The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, Dead End, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door, A Star is Born

I’m going to be completely honest, there are just some films that are harder to write about than others. Previous films on my countdown list, such as Around the World in 80 Days and The Broadway Melody, were easy to write about since, as films that are full of excitement, they’re fun to watch. Then, a film such as The Life of Emile Zola comes up, and I find myself struggling. It’s not because it’s a bad movie, since it really isn’t. In fact, it’s a very, very good film. I find the difficulty in writing about it is because…well…it’s just one of those movies. We’ve all seen them before — we watch and admire what’s on the screen, but when it comes to actually discussing the movie, our whole vocabulary is thrown out the window. That’s how I feel about The Life of Emile Zola. Since I’m having my own trouble coming up with the words to say, I’m just going to have to steal from someone who can say them better. Here are a few quotes from the original New York Times review that was published on August 12, 1937:

“The Warners, who have achieved the reputation of being Hollywood’s foremost triflers with history, paid their debt to truth last night with the presentation of The Life of Emile Zola at the Hollywood Theatre. Rich, dignified, honest, and strong, it is at once the finest historical film ever made and the greatest screen biography, greater even than The Story of Louis Pasteur with which the Warners squared their conscience last year.”

“…[The Life of Emile Zola] has followed not merely the spirit but, to a rare degree, the very letter of his life and of the  historically significant lives about him. And, still more miraculously, it has achieved this brilliant end without self-consciousness, without strutting glorification, without throwing history out of focus to build up the importance of its central figure.”

Thank you Frank S. Nugent for letting me borrow your words. I couldn’t have said it any better myself. The Life of Emile Zola is an honest depiction of the man in its title. William Dieterle is able to keep the spirit of Zola alive without having to fabricate many details. Paul Muni, who was nominated for his portrayal of the French author, is astonishing, and not just for his extraordinary performance, but because he looked exactly like the man. There really couldn’t have been a better choice for the role. The Life of Emile Zola would become the second biographical film to win Best Picture and the first film to receive 10 Academy Award nominations.

Nominated for 10 Oscars; Winner of 3
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Joseph Schildkraut (WON)
Best Picture – Warner Bros. (WON)
Best Writing, Screenplay – Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, Norman Reilly Raine (WON)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Paul Muni
Best Art Direction – Anton Grot
Best Assistant Director – Russell Saunders
Best Director – William Dieterle
Best Music, Score – Leo F. Forbstein (Warner Bros. Studio Music Department – Score by Max Steiner)
Best Sound, Recording – Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD)
Best Writing, Original Story – Heinz Herald

Émile Zola: What does it matter if an individual is shattered – if only justice is resurrected?

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 38 and 37 — The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Josh Kaye

38. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Other Nominated Films:
Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls

Florenz Ziegfeld was one of the most famous theater producers of the early 1900′s, producing hits such as the Ziegfeld Follies and Show Boat. The Great Ziegfeld is an extravagant film with gigantic dance sequences, one of which featured 180 performers, 4,300 yards of rayon silk, and cost $220,000. The film in total cost M-G-M about $2 million to make, which, for today, would probably be a budget of $200 million. Luckily for M-G-M, the film was able to bring in over $40 million, and rightly so. Ziegfeld led an interesting life, one that started with little money, but like so many other Americans, he worked his way to the top. While I don’t know much about the man (aside from the fact that the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan is named after him), by watching William Powell’s portrayal, I saw how hard of a worker Ziegfeld was, or Flo, as many of his friends called him. But the real star of the show is Luise Rainer, who won an Oscar for playing Flo’s ex-wife Anna Held. Rainer was great from beginning to end, but the one scene that truly stands out for me is when after she finds out that Flo has married Broadway star Billie Burke, (who would go on the play Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz) and she phones him to pretend she’s glad for him. Rainer plays the heart-broken woman so well that many believe this is the scene that won her the Oscar. While The Great Ziegfeldtakes many liberties with the life of Ziegfeld, it can’t take away the fact that Robert Z. Leonard creates a fun and exuberant film.

Nominated for 7 Oscars; Winner of 3
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Luise Rainer (WON)
Best Dance Direction – Seymour Felix for “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody”(WON)
Best Picture – M-G-M (WON)
Best Art Direction – Cedric Gibbons, Eddie Imazu, Edwin B. Willis (WON)
Best Director – Robert Z. Leonard
Best Film Editing – William S. Gray
Best Writing, Original Story – William Anthony McGuire

Anna Held: [on the phone with Ziegfeld after learning of his marriage to Billie Burke] Hello, Flo… Yes. Here’s Anna… I’m so happy for you today, I could not help calling you and congratulate you… Wonderful, Flo! Never better in my whole life!… I’m so excited about my new plans! I’m going to Paris… Yes, for a few weeks, and then I can get back, and then I’m doing a new show, and… Oh, it’s all so wonderful! I’m so happy!… Yes… And I hope you are happy, too… Yes?… Oh, I’m so glad for you, Flo… Sounds funny for ex-husband and ex-wife to tell how happy they are, oui?… Yes, Flo… Goodbye, Flo… Goodbye…

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 40 and 39 — Cavalcade (1933) and The Broadway Melody of 1929 (1929)

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Josh Kaye

40. Cavalcade (1933)

Other Nominated Films:
42nd Street, A Farewell to Arms, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Lady for a Day, Little Women, The Private Life of Henry VIII, She Done Him Wrong, Smilin’ Through, State Fair

At the time of it’s release, Cavalcade was a pretty big triumph. The 110 minute film spans around three decades of history, which is a tough challenge even for directors today. The film is defined by the big events that happen in the lives of the Jane and Robert Marryot, played by Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook. These include the Second Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and World War I. Cavalcade can easily be considered a tear-jerker due to the fact that the events we witness with this family are tragic on a more personal level. Using such tragic events in history is risky for a film, especially in a time where people are experimenting with cinema and figuring out what topics are proper or offensive to use in a movie. But by taking this risk, Frank Lloyd is able to bring out the best in his actors and allow the audience into the lives of these individuals and feel as they feel. Diane Wynyard is truly fantastic in her role as Jane. It doesn’t look as if she’s acting, but it looks as if she is Jane Marryot, and all of the pain and suffering that Jane has gone through in her life…well it seems as if Diane has been in her shoes before. This was the first Fox Studios film to be awarded Best Picture.

Nominated for 4 Oscars; Winner of 3
Best Art Direction – William S. Darling (WON)
Best Director – Frank Lloyd (WON)
Best Picture – Fox Studios (WON)
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Diana Wynyard

Jane Marryot: There should never be any good reason for neglecting someone that you love.

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Classic Movie Countdown: Best Picture #’s 42 and 41 — Cimarron (1931) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Josh Kaye

42. Cimarron (1931)

Other Nominated Films:
East Lynne, The Front Page, Skippy, Trader Horn

One of the first films to ever win an Oscar, it’s interesting watching it now, to say the least. It’s one of those films that, for the time it was released, I can understand why it was a big hit. It has some pretty solid gun slinging sequences, and the story is able to hold up for the majority of the film. I also must compliment the acting of Irene Dunne, who did a dynamite job portraying a wife who must deal with the actions of her husband who keeps on riding out on her to find bigger and better things. It does tend to be racist, and not just to one race, but at some points, to all. I do realize that this is accurate to how attitudes were back in the day and to how movies were written at this time, but the only time I, myself, have seen a film so racist would have to be The Birth of a Nation directed by D.W. Griffith, one of the pioneers of filmmaking. Cimarronis the first Western to win a Best Picture award, and one of only three Westerns to win the award throughout the history of cinema (Unforgiven and Dances with Wolves are the only other ones.)

Nominated for 7 Oscars; Winner of 3
Best Art Direction – Max Rée (WON)
Best Picture – RKO Radio (WON)
Best Writing, Adaptation – Howard Estabrook (WON)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Richard Dix
Best Actress in a Leading Role – Irene Dunne
Best Cinematography – Edward Cronjagor
Best Direction – Wesley Ruggles

Sabra Cravat: Did you have to kill him?
Yancy Cravat: No, I could have let him kill me.

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