Friday, December 14, 2012

Best Screenplays: 1940s

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1940: The Philadelphia Story (Donald Ogden Stewart)
Oscar winner: The Philadelphia Story (Donald Ogden Stewart)

1941: The Maltese Falcon (John Huston)
Oscar winner: Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1942: The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
Oscar winner: Mrs. Miniver (George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis)
Was this nominated?: No

1943: Casablanca (Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch)
Oscar winner: Casablanca (Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch)

1944: Double Indemnity (Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder)
Oscar winner: Going My Way (Frank Butler and Frank Cavett)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1945: Brief Encounter (Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, and Ronald Neame)
Oscar winner: The Lost Weekend (Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives (Robert E. Sherwood)
Oscar winner: The Best Years of Our Lives (Robert E. Sherwood)

1947: Out of the Past (Geoffrey Homes)
Oscar winner: Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton)
Was this nominated?: No

1948: The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles)
Oscar winner: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)
Was this nominated?: No

1949: The Bicycle Thief (Cesare Zavattini, Suso D'Amico, Vittorio De Sica, Oreste Biancoli, Adolfo Franci, and Gerardo Guerrieri)
Oscar winner: A Letter to Three Wives (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Was this nominated?: Yes (only Zavattini was credited)

Best Original Screenplay:

1940: The Bank Dick (W.C. Fields)
Oscar winner: The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges)
Was this nominated?: No

1941: Citizen Kane (Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles)
Oscar winner: Citizen Kane (Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles)

1942: Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges)
Oscar winner: Woman of the Year (Michael Kanin and Ring Lardner, Jr.)
Was this nominated?: No

1943: Shadow of a Doubt (Gordon McDonell, Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville)
Oscar winner: Princess O'Rourke (Norman Krasna)
Was this nominated?: Yes (won for Best Original Story)

1944: The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges)
Oscar winner: Wilson (Lamar Trotti)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1945: I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
Oscar winner: Marie-Louise (Richard Schweizer)
Was this nominated?: No

1946: Notorious (Ben Hecht)
Oscar winner: The Seventh Veil (Muriel Box and Sydney Box)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1947: Monsieur Verdoux (Charlie Chaplin)
Oscar winner: The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (Sidney Sheldon)
Was this nominated?: Yes

1948: The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
Oscar winner: The Search (Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler)
Was this nominated?: Yes (for Best Motion Picture Story)

1949: The Third Man (Graham Greene)
Oscar winner: Battleground (Robert Pirosh)
Was this nominated?: No (wasn't eligible until 1950)

Note: Oscar winners listed in the Best Adapted Screenplay category are actually the Best Screenplay winners, since the Adapted Screenplay category didn't exist yet.

Updated: 9/10/14

6 comments:

  1. Saw The Maltese Falcon recently, the screenplay and dialogue are terrific, I love when a story has twists and turns, and is unpredictable.

    I also watched Double Indemnity and Out Of The Past this year, the former is the more famous, but I think the later impressed me the most in terms of dialogue.

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    1. Love all three films and their respective screenplays.

      I prefer Double Indemnity's screenplay over Out of the Past's, but the dialogue is great in both films.

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  2. Great to see Double Identity and Red Shoes here! Nice that many of those was actually nominated, apparently Academy used to have good taste :)

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    1. I'm a big fan of both films. Haha. It's amazing what the Academy actually has nominated in the past.

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  3. Another terrific list! I need to rewatch Casablanca and Notorious.

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