Wings (1928)

Directed by William A. Wellman

Starring Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlen, Jobyna Ralston, El Brendel, and Gary Cooper

Wings is the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only silent film to be so honored. There's not really much worth seeing here besides the historical significance. The story, about a beautiful girl and the two World War I soldiers that love her, is disposable and familiar. The scenes depicting airplanes in combat, though probably ground-breaking in their day, are no longer particularly impressive all these decades later. One bright spot is the cameo by a young Gary Cooper as a doomed hot-shot pilot. It should be noted that for the first and only time, the Academy awarded two Best Picture prizes: Best Picture, Production, which this film won, and is now considered the official historical predecessor of the modern Best Picture award, and Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production. It's interesting to note that the winner of that second award, F.W. Murnau's Sunrise, is now considered an all-time classic, and Wings is all but forgotten.

Other nominees: Seventh Heaven (Frank Borzage) and The Racket (Lewis Milestone)

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Directed by Harry Beaumont

Starring Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomsen, Mary Doran, and Eddie Kane

Undoubtedly one of the worst films to be honored by the Academy as the Best Picture of the year, The Broadway Melody ushered in the sound era with a completely forgettable backstage musical. Some of the songs, notably the title track, are worthwhile, but can also be found in much more worthy projects, especially Singin' in the Rain. The plot can be described as infuriating, as the song-writer/ performer protagonist (King) bounces from sister to sister (Page and Love), and neither sister seems to mind. This is definitely a movie that is only worth seeing if you are trying to see every Best Picture winner. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

Other nominees: No official nominees were announced in 1929.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Directed by Lewis Milestone

Starring Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander, Scott Kolk, Owen Davis Jr., Walter Rogers, William Bakewell, Russell Gleason, Richard Alexander, Harold Goodwin, Slim Summerville, G. Pat Collins, Beryl Mercer, and Edmund Breese

The first classic Best Picture winner, All Quiet on the Western Front is a wonderful anti-war statement. It's surprisingly graphic in its handling of the horrors of war. When one thinks of black and white war films, most are patriotic movies made during World War II, which depicted war as something heroic and full of glory. This goes not glorify war in any way. One of the best sequences does not occur on the battlefield, but rather in a classroom. Lew Ayres's Paul had been inspired to enlist in the war by a fiercely patriotic teacher. When he returns to his school on leave after being in the war for a while, he ends up confronting the teacher, and trying to convince the new crop of young students to avoid the military. For his trouble, he is called a coward by all of the people who were not actually seeing combat. This is a stirring portrait that does not pull any punches, and the first great film of the 1930s.

Other nominees: The Big House (George W. Hill), Disraeli (Alfred E. Green), The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard), and The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch)

Cimarron (1931)

Directed by Wesley Ruggles

Starring Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor, Nance O'Neil, William Collier Jr., Roscoe Ates, George E. Stone, Stanley Fields, Robert McWade, Edna May Oliver, Judith Barrett, and Eugene Jackson

As of this writing, eighty-one movies have won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This is the worst. It's pretty much terrible in every aspect except the reliable Irene Dunne, who gives a pretty good performance. Richard Dix overacts shamelessly, the story is uninteresting, and worst of all, it's terribly racist. Eugene Jackson plays a young black servant named Isaiah who fulfills almost every possible black stereotype. He even salivates over a barrell of watermelons as the family enters a new town. This may have not been a big deal in 1931, but when seen today, it's simply nauseating. It takes a lot to beat out stinkers like The Broadway Melody and The Greatest Show on Earth, but Cimarron has what it takes to do it.

Other nominees: East Lynne (Frank Lloyd), The Front Page (Lewis Milestone), Skippy (Norman Taurog), and Trader Horn (W.S. Van Dyke)

Grand Hotel (1932)

Directed by Edmund Goulding

Starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, Robert McWade, Purnell Pratt, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Rafaela Ottiano, Morgan Wallace, Tully Marshall, Frank Conroy, Murray Kinnell, and Edwin Maxwell

A star-studded affair of the highest order, Grand Hotel featured all sorts of big stars interacting in a European hotel. Mixing comedy and drama, it is a nice movie to watch now and again, if only to see some of the biggest stars of the early 1930s working together. It also holds the somewhat dubious distinction of being the only Best Picture winner to not recieve any other nominations. Several from the cast would reunite one year later for Dinner at Eight, another film considered a classic, but which did not recieve the same accolades from the Academy. This a movie that's more about the spectacle than the actual content, but that spectacle isn't half bad.

Other nominees: Arrowsmith (John Ford), Bad Girl (Frank Borzage), The Champ (King Vidor), Five Star Final (Mervyn LeRoy), One Hour with You (Ernst Lubitsch and George Cukor), Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg), and The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch)

Cavalcade (1933)

Directed by Frank Lloyd

Starring Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin, Beryl Mercer, Irene Browne, Tempe Piggott, Merle Tottenham, Frank Lawton, Ursula Jeans, Margaret Lindsay, John Warburton, Billy Bevan, Desmond Roberts, Dickie Henderson, Douglas Scott, Sheila McGill, and Bonita Granville

A totally forgettable entry on the Best Picture list, Cavalcade, based on a play by the great Noel Coward, follows an English family through the events of the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. It's really just a statement about how many worldwide events affected the English in that relatively short period of time, with no big stars and no particularly memorable moments. 42nd Street and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang have proven to be much more lasting that this film, so it's a shame neither of them won the award. The public's lack of interest in this early Best Picture is evidenced by the fact it is still not available on DVD.

Other nominees: 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon), A Farewell to Arms (Frank Borzage), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (Mervyn LeRoy), Lady for a Day (Frank Capra), Little Women (George Cukor), The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda), She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman), Smilin' Through (Sidney Franklin), and State Fair (Henry King)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Jameson Thomas, Alan Hale, Arthur Hoyt, Blanche Friderici, and Charles C. Wilson

It's seventy-five years old, and it's still one of the best romantic comedies ever made. Gable and Colbert are perfect in their roles, and their journey from hating each other to falling in love is totally believable. This is probably the first classic from Frank Capra, and arguably his best work. Roscoe Karns's extended cameo as sleazy bus passenger Oscar Shapely is one of the many highlights. People have been trying to duplicate the magic this movie made in the decades since it was released, and none have succeeded. One of the earliest classics in the Best Picture roll call.

Other nominees: The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Sidney Franklin), Cleopatra (Cecil B. DeMille), Flirtation Walk (Frank Borzage), The Gay Divorcee (Mark Sandrich), Here Comes the Navy (Lloyd Bacon), The House of Rothschild (Alfred L. Werker), Imitation of Life (John M. Stahl), One Night of Love (Victor Schertzinger), The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke), Viva Villa! (Jack Conway, Howard Hawks, and William A. Wellman), and The White Parade (Irving Cummings)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Directed by Frank Lloyd

Starring Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, Dudley Digges, Donald Crisp, Henry Stephenson, Francis Lister, Spring Byington, Movita, Mamo Clark, Byron Russell, Percy Waram, and David Torrence

A well done adventure on the high seas, Mutiny on the Bounty has remained more popular than most early Best Picture winners, with the exception of its predecessor, It Happened One Night. Charles Laughton eats up the role of maniacal Captain Bligh, and it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role, even though this has been remade several times. Adventure films from the 1930s tend to look a little overblown these days, and this is no exception. Most of the actors are really hamming it up, and it is perhaps a bit overlong, but it's still a fun watch every once in a while.

Other nominees: Alice Adams (George Stevens), Broadway Melody of 1936 (Roy Del Ruth and W.S. Van Dyke), Captain Blood (Michael Curtiz), David Copperfield (George Cukor), The Informer (John Ford), Les Miserables (Richard Boleslawski), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (Henry Hathaway), A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt), Naughty Marietta (Robert Z. Leonard and W.S. Van Dyke), Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey), and Top Hat (Mark Sandrich)

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard

Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan, Fanny Brice, Virginia Bruce, Reginald Owen, Ray Bolger, Ernest Cossart, Joseph Cawthorn, Nat Pendleton, Harriet Hoctor, Jean Chatburn, Paul Irving, Herman Bing, Charles Judels, Marcelle Corday, Raymond Walburn, A.A. Trimble, and Buddy Doyle

The first of two straight mediocre biopics to take home Best Picture, The Great Ziegfeld is the one I prefer, mostly because I am much more interested in the life of Florenz Ziegfeld than the one of Emile Zola. William Powell does his best as the "impressario extrordinare," but his best work is done in simpler films like The Thin Man. I enjoy the look at the history of musical theatre, a favorite subject of mine, no matter how innacurate it is. Fans of musical theatre will revel in the appearances of Broadway stars like Brice and Bolger, as this film provides rare filmed versions of their performances. There's a lot of style here, but not much substance. That being said, should a movie about Florenz Ziegfeld be made any other way?

Other nominees: Anthony Adverse (Mervyn LeRoy and Michael Curtiz), Dodsworth (William Wyler), Libeled Lady (Jack Conway), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Frank Capra), Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor), San Francisco (W.S. Van Dyke), The Story of Louis Pasteur (William Dieterle), A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway and Robert Z. Leonard), and Three Smart Girls (Henry Koster)

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Directed by William Dieterle

Starring Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut, Gloria Holden, Donald Crisp, Erin O'Brien-Moore, John Litel, Morris Carnovsky, Louis Calhern, Ralph Morgan, Robert Barrat, Vladimir Sokoloff, Grant Mitchell, and Harry Davenport

A fairly mediocre biopic, The Life of Emile Zola does not really stand out for any reason among Best Picture winners, good or bad. Not many films released in 1937 are really considered "classics" these days, but The Awful Truth and Captains Courageous stand out as alternative winners. Paul Muni and Joseph Schildkraut do fine work, but to be honest, I've seen this movie at least twice, and I'm having trouble remembering a whole lot of specific things from it. It's lack of staying power probably makes the Academy wish they could have it back.

Other nominees: The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey), Captains Courageous (Victor Fleming), Dead End (William Wyler), The Good Earth (Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming, Gustav Machaty, and Sam Wood), In Old Chicago (Henry King), Lost Horizon (Frank Capra), One Hundred Men and a Girl (Henry Koster), Stage Door (Gregory La Cava), and A Star Is Born (William A. Wellman and Jack Conway)

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, James Stewart, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Spring Byington, Samuel S. Hinds, Donald Meek, H.B. Warner, Halliwell Hobbes, Dub Taylor, Mary Forbes, Lillian Yarbo, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Clarence Wilson, Josef Swickard, Ann Doran, Christian Rub, Bodil Rosing, Charles Lane, and Harry Davenport

With an adaptation of the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, Frank Capra delights audiences and critics alike once again with You Can't Take It with You. Lionel Barrymore leads a band of eccentrics who all live in his house against the greedy bank tycoon played by Edward Arnold. Jean Arthur is Barrymore's granddaughter, and she is in love with Arnold's son, played by Jimmy Stewart. These are all familiar characters and storylines, but Kaufman and Hart's gift for comedy plays perfectly with Capra's gift for sentimentality without sappiness. When Barrymore and Arnold play a harmonica duet together at the end of the film, the audience truly believes that any dispute can work out happily. These kinds of upbeat movies are a rarity in Hollywood today, so watching a movie like this once in a while is a nice change of pace.

Other nominees: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz and William Keighley), Alexander's Ragtime Band (Henry King), Boys Town (Norman Taurog), The Citadel (King Vidor), Four Daughters (Michael Curtiz), The Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir), Jezebel (William Wyler), Pygmalion (Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard), and Test Pilot (Victor Fleming)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, and Sam Wood

Starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Hattie McDaniel, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Butterfly McQueen, Oscar Polk, Victor Jory, Everett Brown, Rand Brooks, Laura Hope Crews, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Harry Davenport, Leona Roberts, Jane Darwell, Carroll Nye, Ona Munson, Cliff Edwards, and Ward Bond

Gone with the Wind is a landmark in filmmaking, so it is appropriate that it was named the Best Picture of 1939, a landmark year in American film. It beat out such classics as The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and deservedly so. It is the definition of epic filmmaking, with a gigantic cast, many ornate locations, a four hour running time, and even one of the most majestic scores of all time, by Max Steiner. Clark Gable starred in his third and last Best Picture winner, and Vivien Leigh won her first of two Oscars for one of the best performances ever put to film. Probably makes the top five for all-time film classics, so if you haven't seen it yet, move it to the top of your list.

Other nominees: Dark Victory (Edmund Goulding), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Sam Wood), Love Affair (Leo McCarey), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra), Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch), Of Mice and Men (Lewis Milestone), Stagecoach (John Ford), The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, Mervyn LeRoy, Richard Thorpe, and King Vidor), and Wuthering Heights (William Wyler)

Rebecca (1940)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce, Reginald Denny, C. Aubrey Smith, Gladys Cooper, Florence Bates, Melville Cooper, Leo G. Carroll, Leonard Carey, Lumsden Hare, Edward Fielding, Forrester Harvey, and Philip Winter

When Alfred Hitchcock came to America, his first movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture, although he lost Best Director to John Ford for The Grapes in Wrath. There were probably many in Hollywood that believed that Hitchcock would go on to make many great films in Hollywood, and he and his films would win many Academy Awards. They were half right. Although he became one of the most popular film directors of all time, no Hitchcock film would again take home Oscar's top prize, and the director himself would never be awarded for a specific work. As far as this film goes, it is not Hitchcock's best, but was the Best Picture of 1940. Fontaine and Olivier do good work in the leads, and Judtih Anderson is very good as the deranged housekeeper. Does not belong in the same class as Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, or Strangers on a Train, but it's still a very good work from one of the true masters of film directing.

Other nominees: All This, and Heaven Too (Anatole Litvak), Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock), The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford), The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin), Kitty Foyle (Sam Wood), The Letter (William Wyler), The Long Voyage Home (John Ford), Our Town (Sam Wood), and The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Directed by John Ford

Starring Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowell, John Loder, Sara Allgood, Barry Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles, and the Welsh Singers

The most famous thing about the 1941 Academy Awards is that Citizen Kane, considered by many to be the greatest movie of all time, did not win the Oscar for Best Picture. This is the film unlucky enough to beat it. It may have been lucky in 1941, but it is looked upon negatively by many now just because it is not Citizen Kane. Sure, it didn't deserve to win that year, but it's still a pretty good movie. There are fine performances all around, including from a very young Roddy McDowell, in this story of a Welsh mining community. It may not have the timeless and groundbreaking qualities of Kane, but it's still a good watch from great director John Ford.

Other nominees: Blossoms in the Dust (Mervyn LeRoy), Citizen Kane (Orson Welles), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Alexander Hall), Hold Back the Dawn (Mitchell Leisen), The Little Foxes (William Wyler), The Maltese Falcon (John Huston), One Foot in Heaven (Irving Rapper), Sergeant York (Howard Hawks), and Suspicion (Alfred Hitchcock)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Directed by William Wyler

Starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Richard Ney, Henry Wilcoxon, Christopher Severn, Brenda Forbes, and Clare Sandars

A movie that was probably selected by the Academy because of it depicted the British home front during the war rather than for its cinematic excellence, Mrs. Miniver is still a rather enjoyable picture. There are good performances all around, and the story moves along nicely, I'm just not sure it holds up like some of the classic films of the era. I feel it's a film that loses a lot of its punch when taken out of the time it was released, so is not nearly as popular nowadays as it would have been in the 40s. Still, worthy to be considered among the better World War II movies actually made during the war.

Other nominees: 49th Parallel (Michael Powell), Kings Row (Sam Wood), The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles), The Pied Piper (Irving Pichel), The Pride of the Yankees (Sam Wood), Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy), The Talk of the Town (George Stevens), Wake Island (John Farrow), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (Michael Curtiz)

Casablanca (1943)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson, Marcel Dalio, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, and Curt Bois

Few movies can unquestionably be called an alltime classic, but if any film can take that title, this one can. It has it all: romance, comedy, drama, action, suspense, you name it. Almost every line is a classic quote, and the performances have been parodied almost non stop in the sixty-seven years since it was released. If you haven't seen this movie, you're probably not reading this blog, but if you haven't, find a copy immediately and see it. It should be required viewing for everyone on Earth. Absolutely timeless.

Other nominees: For Whom the Bell Tolls (Sam Wood), Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch), The Human Comedy (Clarence Brown), In Which We Serve (Noel Coward and David Lean), Madame Curie (Mervyn LeRoy), The More the Merrier (George Stevens), The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman), The Song of Bernadette (Henry King), and Watch on the Rhine (Herman Shumlin and Hal Mohr)

Going My Way (1944)

Directed by Leo McCarey

Starring Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown, Gene Lockhart, Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eily Malyon, The Robert Mitchell Boys Choir, and Rise Stevens

Going My Way is an enjoyable, if totally unbelievable, feel-good film from 1944. It represents a time when priests could be depicted organizing a group of young boys without cynicism, something that unfortunately more recent actions by members of the Catholic Church and others' reactions to them has made impossible. It's not really a musical, but some good songs are introduced here, including the standard Swinging on a Star. A sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's, would be nominated for Best Picture the following year, but lose out to the decidedly not feel-good The Lost Weekend. Perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of this movie is that Barry Fitzgerald's character, who seems older than dirt himself, has a living mother!

Other nominees: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder), Gaslight (George Cukor), Since You Went Away (John Cromwell), and Wilson (Henry King)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen, Mary Young, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Lillian Fontaine, Frank Orth, and Lewis L. Russell

A frightening look at alcoholism years ahead of its time, The Lost Weekend is another example of Billy Wilder's genius. Ray Milland stumbles around as a drunk, supposedly sober, who escapes from his loving girlfriend and brother to go on a weekend bender. The scenes where Milland hallucinates a bat in his room is truly terrifying, and surprisingly graphic for a movie coming out of the 1940s. The 40s, in terms of the Oscars, had been dominated by feel-good or patriotic movies, due to the war. The victory of this film showed a change, and that the Academy would honor films that attack issues, as they would in 1947 with Gentleman's Agreement (Anti-Semitism) and in 1949 with All the King's Men (political corruption).

Other nominees: Anchors Aweigh (George Sidney), The Bells of St. Mary's (Leo McCarey), Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz), and Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Directed by William Wyler

Starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin, Steve Cochran, Dorothy Adams, Don Beddoe, and Marlene Aames

A very interesting look at the lives of soldiers coming home from war, The Best Years of Our Lives is a fine entry in the Best Picture canon. Most war movies of the preceding years wanted to pretend that life for soldiers was perfect, as to boost morale during the war. However, now that the war was over, filmmakers felt more free to show the darker side of life as a soldier. Three returning soldiers (March, Andrews, and Russell) return from the war, and all face different kinds of difficulties. Russell is particularly interesting, as he was a non-actor who had actually lost his hands in the war. His presence brings a sense of realism that few films achieve. Even though it beat It's a Wonderful Life, which has endured as one of the all-time great classics, this is one of the better Best Picture winners of the 40s.

Other nominees: Henry V (Laurence Olivier), It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra), The Razor's Edge (Edmund Goulding), and The Yearling (Clarence Brown)

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Directed by Elia Kazan

Starring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, Anne Revere, June Havoc, Albert Dekker, Jane Wyatt, Dean Stockwell, Nicholas Joy, and Sam Jaffe

A movie that's a little too preachy for it's own good, Gentleman's Agreement tells the story of a Gentile reporter (Peck) who poses as a Jew to write an article on anti-Semitism. The actors do a decent job, but the story plays out more like an instructional video on tolerance than an actual worthy film story. Just two years removed from World War II and the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism was certainly a legitimate problem in the world, so I can't fault anyone too much for making this movie like they did. This isn't a bad movie, I'm just not sure it's a Best Picture.

Other nominees: The Bishop's Wife (Henry Koster), Crossfire (Edward Dmytryk), Great Expectations (David Lean), and Miracle of 34th Street (George Seaton)

Hamlet (1948)

Directed by Laurence Olivier

Starring Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Jean Simmons, Norman Wooland, Felix Aylmer, Terence Morgan, Russell Thorndike, John Laurie, Esmond Knight, Anthony Quayle, Niall McGinnis, Harcourt Williams, Patrick Troughton, Tony Tarver, Peter Cushing, and Stanley Holloway

The plays of William Shakespeare have been made into a great many films, but this is the only one, as of 2009, that has won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This is a very well acted version of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Olivier made a career of bringing the Bard's works to the screen, much like Kenneth Branagh would do to a degree in the late 80s and 90s. Olivier made a wise decision in hiring theatre actors rather than movie stars, as a lot of celebrity cameos, like those in Branagh's Hamlet, can be very distracting. He makes appropriate cuts, as a film version of Shakespeare's entire play would run over four hours. In the end, it is probably not the best, but among the better, Shakespearean film adaptations.

Other nominees: Johnny Belinda (Jean Negulesco), The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), The Snake Pit (Anatole Litvak), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)

All the King's Men (1949)

Directed by Robert Rossen

Starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek, Mercedes McCambridge, Shepperd Strudwick, Ralph Dumke, Anne Seymour, Katherine Warren, Raymond Greenleaf, Walter Burke, and Will Wright

A not-so-veiled look at the life of Louisiana politician Huey Long, All the King's Men depicts how power can corrupt even the most well-intentioned man. Broderick Crawford masterfully portrays a man as he transforms from an idealistic everyman to a power-hungry governor. We start off sympathizing with Willie Stark, and we cheer when he achieves political success. Then, as he descends into corruption, we wish we could interfere and set him straight, but we have to sit back and watch as he is ultimately assassinated. I haven't seen the 2006 remake, but from what I hear, you are better off sticking to this very good original.

Other nominees: Battleground (William A. Wellman), The Heiress (William Wyler), A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), and Twelve O'Clock High (Henry King)

All About Eve (1950)

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Walter Hampden, Thelma Ritter, and Marilyn Monroe

This is a great movie, and a classic, but I will venture it did not deserve its award. It should have gone to Sunset Boulevard, the best film from Billy Wilder, one of the best directors of all time. That being said, All About Eve is a delightful film in its own right. Anne Baxter is terrifying as the young actress that will smile in your face as she stabs you in the back, overshadowing Bette Davis, who is excellent as well. George Sanders is at his slimy best as a snakelike newspaperman. I've read speculation that the Academy picked this over Sunset Boulevard because they were more eager to honor a movie that exposed the dark side of the theatre business than one that exposed the dark side of their own business. Luckily for them, snubbing one great film gave them the chance to honor another.

Other nominees: Born Yesterday (George Cukor), Father of the Bride (Vincente Minnelli), King Solomon's Mines (Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton), and Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)

An American in Paris (1951)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, Nina Foch, and The American In Paris Ballet

Here is a classic movie that I just don't get. I've never been a big fan of Gene Kelly. I've always thought that his ego was much bigger than his talent. Leslie Caron is another I've never seen the appeal of. I do enjoy the Gershwin score, as I feel he is one of the greatest composers of the Twentieth Century, but it just doesn't all come together for me. It does provide one of the great Oscar paradoxes for me. How could this win Best Picture, and then a year later, the similar, but much better, Singin' in the Rain doesn't even get a nomination, while utter garbage on film (The Greatest Show on Earth) takes the Oscar? That's one I will never figure out.

Other nominees: Decision Before Dawn (Anatole Litvak), A Place in the Sun (George Stevens), Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy and Anthony Mann), and A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

Starring Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, Henry Wilcoxon, Lyle Bettger, Lawrence Tierney, John Kellogg, John Ridgley, Frank Wilcox, Robert Carson, Lillian Albertson, Julia Faye, James Stewart, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Edmond O'Brien, and a lot of circus performers

The Greatest Show on Earth is the worst Best Picture winner of the 1950s (a decade with several I don't care for), and one of the worst of all time. It's basically an excuse to show a whole bunch of circus acts, with some ridiculous plot wrapped around it. It's really a shame that fine actors like Charlton Heston and James Stewart were attached to this schlock. There is absolutely no reason to see this movie unless you are trying to see all the Best Picture winners. Even then, I can't see anyone blaming you for missing it. How this won the top award over anything, let alone classics like High Noon, Singin' in the Rain and The Quiet Man, will never cease to amaze me.

Other nominees: High Noon (Fred Zinnemann), Ivanhoe (Richard Thorpe), Moulin Rouge (John Huston), and The Quiet Man (John Ford)

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, Philip Ober, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Bellaver, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden, John Dennis, Merle Travis, Tim Ryan, Arthur Keegan, Barbara Morrison, and Claude Akins

An interesting examination of the soldiers at a pre-war military base called Pearl Harbor, From Here to Eternity provided cinema with one of it's most famous images: that of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing on the beach as the waves crash around them. Beyond this scene, however, lies a very good movie. Montgomery Clift's storyline is much better than Lancaster and Kerr's, so it's interesting that their kissing is the lasting image. Clift, Sinatra, and Reed are all wonderful, and Ernest Borgnine shows some of the promise he would fulfill two years later in Marty. Some movies are only worth seeing for their most famous scene. This certainly isn't one of them.

Other nominees: Julius Caesar (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Roman Holiday (William Wyler), The Robe (Henry Koster), and Shane (George Stevens)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Directed by Elia Kazan

Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John F. Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Rudy Bond, Don Blackman, Arthur Keegan, Abe Simon, and Martin Balsam

Despite being looked at as Elia Kazan's excuse for testifying against his friends before the House Un-American Activities Committee, On the Waterfront remains a true classic of American cinema. Marlon Brando gives one of his best performances, and that's really saying something. He is ably supported by the rest of the cast, featuring some of the best character actors of the era. The acting is the real attraction here, as the movie features one of the finest casts assembled, and a wonderful debut performance from Eva Marie Saint. Anyone interested in acting should tune in for a plethora of wonderful performances.

Other nominees: The Caine Mutiny (Edward Dmytryk), The Country Girl (George Seaton), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Stanley Donen), and Three Coins in the Fountain (Jean Negulesco)

Marty (1955)

Directed by Delbert Mann

Starring Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minicotti, Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, Karen Steele, and Jerry Paris

Marty is much simpler than most Best Picture winners, but it is also much better. The plot is basically: Marty (Borgnine) can't get a date, he meets Clara (Blair), he likes her, his mother and friends don't, so he rejects her, he realizes he doesn't care what they think, so he calls her anyway. There is a subplot involving Marty's aunt, cousin, and cousin's wife, but the plot remains as simple as can be. The performances are wonderful, and the film realizes what is most important in a movie: the story. Paddy Chayevsky gives us characters we can relate to and that we care about. It is alternately funny and sad. It's a great movie, and if you haven't seen it, do so as soon as possible.

Other nominees: Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (Henry King), Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, and Joshua Logan), Picnic (Joshua Logan), and The Rose Tattoo (Daniel Mann)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

Directed by Michael Anderson

Starring David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Newton, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley, Ronald Squire, Basil Sydney, Noel Coward, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Harcourt Williams, Martine Carol, Fernandel, Charles Boyer, Evelyn Keyes, Jose Greco and Troupe, Luis Miguel Dominguin, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Alan Mowbray, Cedric Hardwicke, Melville Cooper, Reginald Denny, Ronald Colman, Robert Cabal, Charles Coburn, George Raft, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Marlene Dietrich, John Carradine, Frank Sinatra, Buster Keaton, Tim McCoy, Joe E. Brown, Andy Devine, Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, Beatrice Lillie, John Mills, Glynis Johns, Hermione Gingold, and Edward R. Murrow

The movie that introduced the word "cameo," Around the World in Eighty Days literally features a cast of thousands. If you don't believe me, you can check out its IMDb. These blink and you'll miss them appearances made the film a big attraction in 1956, but really take away from the film as a whole. It's hard to take it seriously when the filmmakers seemed more concerned with cramming celebrities in than making a good film. The act grows tiresome pretty quickly, and it's not long before the movie feels like it's taking eighty days to finish.

Other nominees: Friendly Persuasion (William Wyler), Giant (George Stevens), The King and I (Walter Lang), and The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Directed by David Lean

Starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, Seesue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, Andre Morell, Peter Williams, and John Boxer

A very well acted war film, The Bridge on the River Kwai remains a classic to this day. Guinness and Hayakawa are excellent as commanding officers on opposite sides of World War II. Guinness portrays a man so overcome with his work ethic and desire to get things done efficiently that he loses sight of the war as a whole. He is one of the finest actors the film world has ever seen, and this film got him his only Academy Award. This is the movie that established David Lean as the primary director of big epics, as he would go one to helm Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, and A Passage to India. The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of the finest films depicting the war in the Pacific during World War II.

Other nominees: 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet), Peyton Place (Mark Robson), Sayonara (Joshua Logan), and Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder)

Gigi (1958)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli and Charles Walters

Starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans, and John Abbott

I guess Leslie Caron just doesn't do it for me. She is the female lead in two of my least favorite Best Picture winners: 1951's An American in Paris, and this entry from 1958. This musical features a substandard score from the usually reliable Lerner and Loewe (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot), Maurice Chevalier mugging like an idiot, and a completely forgettable love story. The fact that Audrey Hepburn starred in the non-musical play on Broadway and that Lerner and Loewe provided the score draw inevitable My Fair Lady comparisons. Do yourself a favor, skip this movie, and check out that 1964 Best Picture winner instead. It's a much better version of a similar story, all around. This is a very weak entry into the Best Picture canon, and every other nominee would have been more worthy of the prize.

Other nominees: Auntie Mame (Morton DaCosta), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks), The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer), and Separate Tables (Delbert Mann)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Directed by William Wyler

Starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Finlay Currie, Frank Thring, Terence Longdon, George Relph, and Andre Morell

One of the most famous movies to come out of Hollywood, Ben-Hur is the quitessential Biblical epic. Biblical epics are not really my thing, but I did like this one more than most of the others. Charlton Heston gives a surprisingly understated performance with the title role, and Hugh Griffith brings some much needed comic relief. Both won Oscars for their performances. The movie does not give into many of the cliches that many of the others from its genre do, but it's still definitely a Biblical epic. It's a movie to see because it's a classic, but you can put it back on the shelf after that.

Other nominees: Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger), The Diary of Anne Frank (George Stevens), The Nun's Story (Fred Zinnemann), and Room at the Top (Jack Clayton)

The Apartment (1960)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White, and Edie Adams

In 1960, Billy Wilder once again proved that he was one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood history. Here, he gives us one of the most genuine romances ever committed to film. Lemmon and MacLaine are perfect for their roles, as is MacMurray, surprising all who know him from his Disney movies as a sleazy executive. Lemmon and MacLaine's characters are in similar situations. They are both being used for the pleasure of MacMurray's Sheldrake, but are afraid to kick him to curb for fear it will ruin their careers. They find the strength they need in each other, and end up getting the self respect we have been hoping they would find throughout. The movie culminates with MacLaine's immortal line, "Shut up and deal" after Lemmon professes his love for her. Wilder again shows his knack for ending his movies with a perfect line, just a year after "Nobody's perfect" ended Some Like It Hot.

Other nominees: The Alamo (John Wayne), Elmer Gantry (Richard Brooks), Sons and Lovers (Jack Cardiff), and The Sundowners (Fred Zinnemann)

West Side Story (1961)

Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Field, Bert Michaels, David Bean, Robert Banas, and Susan Oakes

The first of four musicals to win Best Picture in the 1960s, West Side Story is one of the better movie musicals to come out of Hollywood. The reason for this seems to be that they combined the best of Broadway and Hollywood. Most movie musicals that fail do so for one of two reasons: having no one that knows about musical theatre or having no one that knows about film. This film solved that by hiring two directors: Jerome Robbins, legendary Broadway director and choreographer in his only film job, and Robert Wise, a well established film director who would go on to musical success again with 1965's The Sound of Music. These two minds came together to meld the two art forms into one excellent film. Robbins had directed and choreographed the Broadway show, and transfered a lot of the magic from that production to the screen. West Side Story is the finest example from a golden era of Broadway musical film adaptations.

Other nominees: Fanny (Joshua Logan), The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson and Alexander Mackendrick), The Hustler (Robert Rossen), and Judgment at Nuremberg (Stanley Kramer)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Directed by David Lean

Starring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Wolfit, and I.S. Johar

It's one of the prototypical "epics." It's got a cast full of talented actors, features a historical plot, sweeping locations, and a nearly four hour running time. It's the kind of movie whose reputation precedes it, as I feel there are far more people who know of its status as one of the classics than there are people who have actually seen it. That being said, the movie does deserve most of the accolades it has recieved. It kicked off the long and wonderful career of Peter O'Toole, and showed that epics did not need to depict ancient and Biblical stories. Multiple-Oscar winner Anthony Quinn is particularly fun as a tough Arabian soldier.

Other nominees: The Longest Yard (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, and Darryl F. Zanuck), The Music Man (Morton DaCosta), Mutiny on the Bounty (Lewis Milestone and Carol Reed), and To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan)

Tom Jones (1963)

Directed by Tony Richardson

Starring Albert Finnney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Diane Cilento, George Devine, David Tomlinson, Julian Glover, Peter Bull, Wilfrid Lawson, Lynn Redgrave, Jack MacGowran, Joyce Redman, and David Warner

I think that the best word to describe this one would be "lusty." Chock-full of absurb characters trying to have sex with one another, this is a delightful film, and it's too bad that this is one of the least-seen Best Pictures. The Academy seemed to be more light-hearted in the 1960s, frequently honoring musicals and this bawdy comedy. Finney is very funny as the title character, and is ably supported by his co-stars, as evidenced by the film's three nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Evans, Cilento, and Redman, but all lost to Margaret Rutherford for The V.I.P.s). This film should be looked at as a victory for smaller films, as it was limited in scope, but still defeated Cleopatra and How the West Was Won, two of the most opulent epics Hollywood had ever produced. While it's not among the best of the winners of Oscar's top prize, it's still a film that should be checked out by anyone who loves to laugh.

Other nominees: America, America (Elia Kazan), Cleopatra (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian, and Darryl F. Zanuck), How the West Was Won (John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and Richard Thorpe), and Lilies of the Field (Ralph Nelson)

My Fair Lady (1964)

Directed by George Cukor

Starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne, Isobel Elsom, and John Holland

The movie and its star have a bad reputation for what they aren't, rather than what they are. Some filmgoers resent the movie for winning this award for movies like Dr. Strangelove, and some resent Audrey Hepburn for not being Julie Andrews, the star of the Broadway version. The Academy seemed to be among them, not even nominating Hepburn for her wonderful performance, while Andrews won the Oscar for Best Actress the same year for Mary Poppins. When looked at inpendent of other films or alternate stars, however, this film is a very good adaptation of a wonderful Broadway musical. The excellent Lerner and Loewe score supports the familiar Pygmalion story, and the performances from Harrison, Hepburn, and Holloway are all wonderful. It's a classic of the musical genre.

Other nominees: Becket (Peter Glenville), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick), Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson), and Zorba the Greek (Mihalis Kakogiannis)

The Sound of Music (1965)

Directed by Robert Wise

Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr, Heather Menzies, Nicholas Hammond, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, Kym Karath, Anna Lee, Portia Nelson, Ben Wright, Daniel Truhitte, Norma Varden, and Marni Nixon

Many hit films were made from the Broadway musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but The Sound of Music, based on the last musical the duo wrote the music and lyrics for, was the only one to take home Oscar's top prize. Julie Andrews does very well the year after her Oscar win as Maria, the nun turned nanny turned wife of an Austrian captain. The songs, particularly the opening title tune, are very good. This is one of the rare musicals where the film version is much more well known than the stage version. Everyone associates The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer rather than Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, their Broadway counterparts. The sweeping scenery could obviously not be shown on stage, so this is the rare case when the movie version is better.

Other nominees: Darling (John Schlesinger), Doctor Zhivago (David Lean), Ship of Fools (Stanley Kramer), and A Thousand Clowns (Fred Coe)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Starring Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles, Susannah York, Nigel Davenport, John Hurt, Corin Redgrave, Colin Blakely, Cyril Luckham, Jack Gwillim, and Vanessa Redgrave

A wonderfully-acted adaptation of fine play, A Man for All Seasons tells the story of a man who sticks to his convictions, no matter the consequences. Paul Scofield is brilliant as Thomas More, a roll he created on stage. This movie is often heralded by religious, particularly Catholic, people as a story about how God is more important that worldly things, but I see it in a more universal light. Thomas More was the best example to show a real-life man who risked all for what he believed in, and it happened to be his religion. It's a great film for any fans of literature or history.

Other nominees: Alfie (Lewis Gilbert), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (Norman Jewison), The Sand Pebbles (Robert Wise), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols)

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Directed by Norman Jewison

Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, and Beah Richards

This film was very important when it was released. I feel, however, that it has lost some of its pop in the four decades since. Racism is clearly still a problem in this country, but it needs to be addressed in stronger terms than it is in this film. In the Heat of the Night also illustrates one of my biggest problems of movies dealing with rascism in the 1960s. In the midst of the civil rights movement, Hollywood did churn out several movies denouncing rascism, but they only really employed one actor. Almost all of these movies, with the exception of A Raisin in the Sun, which featured an mostly-black cast, featured Sidney Poiter and a cast of whites. Other black actors may have played small supporting roles, but most of them, like In the Heat of the Night, only featured one black lead, and the producers enlisted Poitier to play it. It would have been nice if Hollywood, which acted like it cared a great deal about the rascism problem, could have given significant work to more than one man.

Other nominees: Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn), Doctor Dolittle (Richard Fleischer), The Graduate (Mike Nichols), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer)

Oliver! (1968)

Directed by Carol Reed

Starring Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed, Jack Wild, Harry Secombe, Hugh Griffith, Joseph O'Conor, Peggy Mount, Leonard Rossiter, Hylda Baker, and Kenneth Cranham

The last musical to take the Academy Awards' top prize until 2002, Oliver! did not deserve the award it won. The honor should have gone to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was not even nominated. However, Oliver! is a fine entry into the film musical library in a decade where Broadway musicals were being adapted to the screen seemingly weekly. The music is fun and light, and the movie is well cast. Particularly fun are Ron Moody as the nefarious Fagin and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger. Both were nominated for Oscars for their roles, but neither took home their prizes. It's not the best picture of 1968, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun.

Other nominees: Funny Girl (William Wyler), The Lion in Winter (Anthony Harvey), Rachel, Rachel (Paul Newman), and Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli)

Mindnight Cowboy (1969)

Directed by John Schlesinger

Starring Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, and Bob Balaban

The first, and only, movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture with an X-rating ushered in a new era in filmmaking. Movies no longer pulled any punches when it came to the darker side of humanity. This would become common in the Best Pictures that would follow, especially in the about-to-begin 1970s. The two leads also showed a different side of being a movie star. Instead of playing glamorous characters, they portray down-on-their-luck hustlers, not caring how it affects their reputation. This is particularly true of Hoffman, who plays street urchin "Ratso" Rizzo quite effectively. It's a shame that two Oscar trends prevented Hoffman and Voight from being honored for their performances. They split votes because they were in the same movie, and the Academy saw the need to reward a screen legend who had not yet been honored, in this case it was John Wayne for True Grit.

Other nominees: Anne of the Thousand Days (Charles Jarrott), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill), Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly), and Z (Costa-Gavras)

Patton (1970)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Strong, Karl Michael Vogler, Richard Munch, Michael Bates, Gerald Flood, Jack Gwillim, and Ed Binns

Like most recent Best Actor winners, the lead performance in Patton overshadows the film as a whole. Scott is magnificent as the eccentric American general during World War II. However, the film tends to be overlong and too reverent of its subject. It seems to excuse the negative things he did, writing them off to his strange nature. I would have liked to see a more critical look at the controversial leader. That being said, Scott does better than well with the material, giving one of the best performances of his stellar career. Take a look at it for a great performance, but don't expect too much more.

Other nominees: Airport (George Seaton and Henry Hathaway), Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson), Love Story (Arthur Hiller), and M*A*S*H (Robert Altman)

The French Connection (1971)

Directed by William Friedkin

Starring Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi, Frederic de Pasquale, Bill Hickman, Ann Rebbot, Harold Gary, and Arlene Farber

The prototypical "gritty cop drama," The French Connection shows a flawed hero, Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle, as he tries to bring down an international drug cartel. I think the movie tends to get overrated because of its influence on the crime drama, but it is still an entertaining action film, especially during the famous car chase underneath the elevated train. Doyle is not a likable guy. I realize this is the point, but it makes it very hard to really want him to bring down the bad guys. He does do very well with the material he was given, earning him his first Oscar. I would have voted for A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show, or Fiddler on the Roof, but this one is still good.

Other nominees: A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick), Fiddler on the Roof (Norman Jewison), The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich), and Nicholas and Alexandra (Franklin J. Schaffner)

The Godfather (1972)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, Gianni Russo, John Cazale, Rudy Bond, Al Martino, Morgana King, Lenny Montana, John Martino, Salvatore Corsitto, Richard Bright, Alex Rocco, Tony Giorgio, Vito Scotti, Tere Livrano, Victor Rendino, Jeannie Linero, Julie Gregg, Ardell Sheridan, Simonetta Stefanelli, Angelo Infanti, Corrado Gaipa, Franco Citti, and Saro Urzi

Unquestionably one of the greatest movies of all time, The Godfather is the rare film that I can watch over and over, and it never gets old. I'm not going to say anything here that hasn't been said a thousand times before, so I won't go into too much detail about its greatness. It's really unfortunate that Cabaret, one of the best movie musicals ever made, came out in the same year, as it could not be honored in the Best Picture category. It did, however, upset The Godfather for Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. Everything about The Godfather is nearly flawless. If you haven't seen it, I'm surprised, but you should see it now.

Other nominees: Cabaret (Bob Fosse), Deliverance (John Boorman), The Emigrants (Jan Troell), and Sounder (Martin Ritt)

The Sting (1973)

Directed by George Roy Hill

Starring Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould, John Heffernan, Dana Elcar, Jack Kehoe, Dimitra Arliss, and Robert Earl Jones

Moviegoers love thieves, especially when the guy they're stealing from is a bigger crook than them. A perfect example of this is The Sting, a crowd-pleasing delight from 1973. In this case, the audience is twice as happy, because the thieves are played by two of their favorite actors: Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The actors, including the ensemble playing Newman and Redford's crew, Robert Shaw as the villain, and Charles Durning as the crooked cop on Redford's tail, all seem to be having a great time. It's the kind of movie that is fun from start to finish, which is a very underrated quality. This movie tends to get lost in the shadows, especially because it won the Best Picture award between the first two Godfathers. However, it's one that anyone should take the time to see, especially if they enjoyed more modern movies like the Ocean's Eleven series.

Other nominees: American Graffiti (George Lucas), Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman), The Exorcist (William Friedkin), and A Touch of Class (Melvin Frank)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, G.D. Spradlin, Richard Bright, Gastone Moschin, Tom Rosqui, Bruno Kirby, Frank Sivero, Morgana King, Marianna Hill, Leopoldo Trieste, Dominic Chianese, Amerigo Tot, Troy Donahue, Joe Spinell, James Caan, Abe Vigoda, Tere Livrano, Gianni Russo, Maria Carta, Oreste Baldini, Giuseppe Sillato, Mario Cotone, James Gounaris, Harry Dean Stanton, Carmine Caridi, and Danny Aiello

One of the best sequels ever made, The Godfather Part II expands on the original by telling the stories that precede and follow that Oscar-winning classic. Pacino and De Niro, in the first film in which they both appear, excel as Michael Corleone, the ruthless mob boss, and his father Vito as he was rising to the top of the American Mafia decades earlier, respectively. Coppola manages to avoid just repeating things from the original, like most sequels tend to do, and progresses the story from his previous success. No sequel would repeat the Oscar success of this film until The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

Other nominees: Chinatown (Roman Polanski), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola), Lenny (Bob Fosse), and The Towering Inferno (John Guillermin and Irwin S. Allen)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Directed by Milos Forman

Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Will Sampson, Sydney Lassick, Vincent Schiavelli, and William Duell

One of the finest films of the 1970s, or any decade, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a heartbreaking portrayal of life for the men in a mental institution. The performances from the ensemble are terrific, especially from Nicholson, who won his first of several Oscars. The movie never implies that these men should not be institutionalized, but it instead merely suggest they be treated as human beings. All of the actors avoid making themselves into cartoon versions of mental patients, and show them as men with real problems. A highlight of a great decade of Best Pictures.

Other nominees: Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick), Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet), Jaws (Steven Spielberg), and Nashville (Robert Altman)

Rocky (1976)

Directed by John G. Avildsen

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Thayer David, and Joe Spinell

Probably the fourth-best movie nominated for Best Picture in 1976 (I still haven't seen Bound for Glory, so it might be the fifth best), Rocky is still a classic and a benchmark for its genre. In the mid-70s, inspirational sports movies were not as common as they are today, but the success of this quitessential underdog story has spawned countless imitators, including this own film's five sequels. Despite the fact that it is to blame for some of the most formulaic movies of the last thirty years, it's still the best example of the inspirational sports movie, and should be viewed by anyone interested in sports or film.

Other nominees: All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula), Bound for Glory (Hal Ashby), Network (Sidney Lumet), and Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)

Annie Hall (1977)

Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Donald Symington, Helen Ludlum, Mordecai Lawner, Joan Neuman, Jonathan Munk, Hy Anzell, Russell Horton, Jeff Goldblum, John Glover, Truman Capote, Sigourney Weaver, and Marshall McLuhan

I will start by saying that this is probably my favorite movie, and Woody Allen is probably my favorite filmmaker. That being said, I know many people think Star Wars to be the best picture of 1977. Let me take a moment to explain why this is wrong. Many, many movies have been made about a relationship between a man and a woman. Most of the time, when the movie is told from the perspective of the man in the relationship, as this one is, the woman is presented as some sort of goddess that would never concievably give the time of day to a schlub like the protagonist. The woman in these movies is not a real person, she's some sort of ideal that doesn't really exist. This isn't the case in Annie Hall. Annie is just as flawed as Woody Allen's Alvy. When they first meet, she is the one who approaches him awkwardly and can't find the right words to say. If you watched all other love stories, you would think that this is impossible, as how could the perfect woman ever be awkward? Annie makes as many mistakes in the relationship as Alvy does, and the viewer can sympathize with him wanting to end the relationship. This makes Annie Hall the most realistic romantic comedy to ever come out of Hollywood, or in this case, New York.

Another thing that makes Annie Hall so great is the perfect uses of jokes at the beginning and end of the film. I won't repeat them hear, as they are quite lengthy, but Allen, as a comedian, realizes how good comedy reflects what is important in life, and these two jokes perfectly sum up why he thinks we persue these relationships even though they often lead to nothing but pain. So, even though Alvy and Annie don't end up together, we believe that their relationship was something good while it lasted, and that both would be fools not to pursue others in the future. Woody Allen, in 1977, came as close as anyone ever had to making the perfect movie.

Other nominees: The Goodbye Girl (Herbert Ross), Julia (Fred Zinnemann), Star Wars (George Lucas), and The Turning Point (Herbert Ross)