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Friday, August 9, 2013

1957 CinSpec Awards


Winners indicated (*). I still need to see films like A Hatful of Rain, A King in New York, Designing Woman, A Farewell to Arms, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Lower Depths, The Tin Star, Jailhouse Rock, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Fire Down Below, Island in the Sun, The Story of Esther Costello, Band of Angels, The Joker is Wild, Decision at Sundown, The Comedian, Better Victory, The Delinquents, Boy on a Dolphin, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Night of the Demon, Tokyo Twilight, The Tarnished Angels, Man on Fire, Desk Set, and Time Limit.

The Seventh Seal

BEST PICTURE:
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Cranes are Flying
The Seventh Seal*
12 Angry Men
Wild Strawberries

BEST DIRECTOR:
Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal*
Ingmar Bergman, Wild Strawberries
Mikhail Kalatozov, The Cranes are Flying
David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai
Sidney Lumet, 12 Angry Men

Sweet Smell of Success

BEST ACTOR:
James Cagney, Man of a Thousand Faces
Tony Curtis, Sweet Smell of Success
Victor Sjöström, Wild Strawberries
Rod Steiger, Across the Bridge
Max von Sydow, The Seventh Seal*

BEST ACTRESS:
Audrey Hepburn, Love in the Afternoon*
Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria
Patricia Neal, A Face in the Crowd
Tatyana Samoylova, The Cranes are Flying
Joanne Woodward, The Three Faces of Eve

Love in the Afternoon

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Gunnar Björnstrand, The Seventh Seal*
Maurice Chevalier, Love in the Afternoon
Lee J. Cobb, 12 Angry Men
Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success
Sidney Poitier, Edge of the City

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Bibi Andersson, The Seventh Seal
Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution
Mitzi Gaynor, Les Girls
Hope Lange, Peyton Place
Ingrid Thulin, Wild Strawberries*

12 Angry Men

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Cranes are Flying
Love in the Afternoon
Sweet Smell of Success
12 Angry Men*
Witness for the Prosecution

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
I Vitelloni
Il Grido
Les Girls
The Seventh Seal*
Wild Strawberries

The Cranes are Flying

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Cranes are Flying
Funny Face
Le Notti Bianche
The Seventh Seal*

BEST FILM EDITING:
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Cranes are Flying*
Edge of the City
Les Girls
The Seventh Seal

The Bridge on the River Kwai

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
An Affair to Remember
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Peyton Place
Sayonara
Sweet Smell of Success*

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"An Affair to Remember", An Affair to Remember*
"Free Man in the Morning", A Face in the Crowd
"Gunfight at the O.K. Corral", Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
"3:10 to Yuma", 3:10 to Yuma
"Wild is the Wind", Wild is the Wind

Additional Categories

Les Girls

BEST ART DIRECTION:
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Funny Face
Les Girls*
Pal Joey
Raintree County

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Funny Face
Les Girls*
Pal Joey
The Prince and the Showgirl
The Seventh Seal

Wild Strawberries

BEST MAKEUP:
Les Girls
Man of a Thousand Faces*
The Seventh Seal

BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
The Bridge on the River Kwai*
Les Girls
Paths of Glory
3:10 to Yuma
Throne of Blood

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Bridge on the River Kwai*
The Spirit of St. Louis
Throne of Blood

16 comments:

  1. 1957 was an amazing and important year for cinema, so many great films!
    The Seventh Seal is getting a lot of love from you I see.
    I'm a fan of Douglas Sirk's films from the 50s, and while Tarnished Angels is a bit uneven, it has some great individual scenes. The same I would say about Ozu's Tokyo Twilight.

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    1. Yeah, it was so hard to pick only 5 in some categories, and I still have more films to see!

      The Seventh Seal is my #4 of all time, so it was bound to get a lot of love. :)

      I want to get to those films at some point. I watched 10+ '57 films in the last week, but I couldn't get to them.

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  2. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

    We're like 4/5 in Lead Actress and 3/5 in Lead Actor and I love that you nominate Les Girls and The Cranes are Flying for so much!

    I can't believe I totally forgot to even consider 'A Face in the Crowd' for original song. I totally forgot it had any!!!

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    1. THANKS! :D

      Your ballot was a great source of films I needed to watch. ;)

      Yeah, the main songs in contention were "Free Man in the Morning" and "Mama Guitar".

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    2. LOL, I just noticed that we are not only 4/5 for Supporting Actress, but the only nomination we don't share is our actual winner!

      But I know you have Wild Strawberry's in 1959 ;-)

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    3. Yeah, we had a lot in common this year. Love it. :)

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  3. Obviously, I LOVE all of the Seventh Seal attention, especially that you spread it to the supporting categories as well. I haven't seen that film in about a year. Definitely time for a rewatch.

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    1. Good stuff. It's been about a year for me as well, so I'm probably due for a rewatch too.

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  4. 1957 was such an awesome year!!

    I'll never understand your love for Love in the Afternoon. I don't have anything against it, I even like it but you really love it a lot. :) and AUDREY HEPBURN!! That's all that matters. :)

    P.S.: I just remembered! Where do you stand on Nights of Cabiria?

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    1. Indeed!

      Haha. Well, I went back-and-forth between Love in the Afternoon and Witness for the Prosecution for the last spot. It could almost be a tie for fifth place. Not sure why I love it so much, but I rewatched it earlier this week to make sure. :) Yay! Audrey Hepburn!! ;)

      For me, that film is all about Giulietta Masina's brilliant performance, which I nominated. I'd give the film 3 1/2 stars, but it's just outside my top 10.

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  5. I want to see The Seventh Seal again soon. :)

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  6. I really need to catch up on my foreign film viewing. I haven't seen any of the ones you've selected as winners. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

    Truly outstanding films weren't that difficult to pick this year but what an amazing year for male lead performances! To get the five on my ballot I had to eliminate: Marlon Brando-Sayonara, Henry Fonda-12 Angry Men, Tony Franciosa-A Hatful of Rain, Kirk Douglas-Paths of Glory, Ben Gazzara-The Strange One, Alec Guinness-The Bridge on the River Kwai, Van Heflin-3:10 to Yuma, William Holden-Bridge on the River Kwai, Robert Mitchum-Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, Anthony Perkins-Fear Strikes Out and Frank Sinatra-The Joker is Wild

    Picture:
    The Bridge on the River Kwai
    A Face in the Crowd-Winner
    Paths of Glory
    12 Angry Men
    Witness for the Prosecution
    Bridge and Paths look at different aspects of war expertly and Angry Men could be a textbook illustration of how to translate a stage work/teleplay to film but then so could Witness. I went with Face in the Crowd though because like Ace in the Hole it has stayed pertinent as the years have passed, considering their subject matter not such a great thing.

    Director:
    Delmer Daves-12 Angry Men-Winner
    Elia Kazan-A Face in the Crowd
    Stanley Kubrick-Paths of Glory
    David Lean-The Bridge on the River Kwai
    Billy Wilder-Witness for the Prosecution
    While Witness is my favorite of the bunch in 12 Angry Men Daves economical filming of nothing but the necessary shots makes for riveting viewing.

    Actor:
    James Cagney-Man of a 1,000 Faces
    Tony Curtis-Sweet Smell of Success
    Glenn Ford-3:10 to Yuma
    Andy Griffith-A Face in the Crowd
    Charles Laughton-Witness for the Prosecution-Winner
    So very many great male lead performances this year but out of them all Laughton's has to be the most bemused and comfortably lived in. He's just great.

    Actress:
    Deborah Kerr-Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
    Dorothy Malone-The Tarnished Angels
    Patricia Neal-A Face in the Crowd-Winner
    Ruth Roman-5 Steps to Danger
    Joanne Woodward-The Three Faces of Eve
    5 Steps to Danger is a decent enough spy flick but would be nothing special without Roman's excellent portrait of a woman pursued. Malone's beaten down Laverne shows that she was able to do more subdued work than the flashy Marylee and Deborah Kerr's stranded nun is quietly moving. It's easy to see why Joanne Woodward won for her powerful, varied work in Eve but I found Patricia Neal's betrayed Marcia more compelling.

    Supporting Actor:
    Jack Carson-The Tarnished Angels
    Burt Lancaster-The Sweet Smell of Success-Winner
    Walter Matthau-A Face in the Crowd
    Adolphe Menjou-Paths of Glory
    George Peppard-The Strange One
    Any one of the actors in 12 Angry Men could have competed here, except for Fonda who was clearly the lead, but it was such an ensemble it was impossible to single any particular performer out. But I would have still gone with the venomous J.J. Hunsecker created by Lancaster over any other actor.

    Supporting Actress:
    Joan Blondell-Desk Set
    Marlene Dietrich-Witness for the Prosecution-Winner
    Kay Kendall-Les Girls
    Elsa Lanchester-Witness for the Prosecution
    Hope Lange-Peyton Place
    Joan is the perfect sassy partner to Kate's efficient Bunny and anyone who can stand out in a Tracy/Hepburn picture besides them deserves recognition. Hope Lange gives a superior reading of fragile, broken Selena Cross amongst the posturing of Peyton Place and Kay Kendall is hysterical as the flighty Sybil in Les Girls. As much as I loved Elsa Lanchester as the blustery Miss Plimsoll no one could compete with Marlene Dietrich's work as Christine Vole. She's sensational, I think this is her best ever performance.

    Hovering just outside of my top is Beverly Garland in The Joker is Wild. A very fine interpretation of a role that could have been a nothing. That's why she didn't make the top five, the role just didn't give her enough to do. I also really liked Mitzi Gaynor's performance in Les Girls but Kay engaged me slightly more.

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    1. Great stuff. This year was so good that I left out many worthy films/performances. For instance, I only managed to nominate Paths of Glory for Best Sound.

      I love Witness for the Prosecution so much, but I couldn't fit it in my top 5. Leaving Laughton out wasn't easy either.

      I originally nominated Andy Griffith, but I replaced him with Victor Sjostrom when I moved Wild Strawberries to this year. (I originally had it in '59, since it was nominated for an Oscar then.)

      Hope you get a chance to check out some of those foreign films, especially The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and The Cranes are Flying.

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    2. Hi Josh,

      Just thought I'd drop back in and say that lo these many months on I've finally seen both The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.

      I liked 7th Seal well enough but it didn't knock my socks off. I don't know if I went in expecting too much or it just wasn't something that I totally connected with but I appreciated the craft and storytelling more than being swept up by it.

      However I LOVED Wild Strawberries! Of all the Bergman films I've seen it's my favorite so far. It was just so lovely and gentle even though it was tinged throughout with a sad nostalgia. Victor Sjostrom would definitely take a place on my ballot now replacing Glenn Ford, my runner up actually, but Laughton would still be my winner.

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    3. Thanks for the follow-up, Joel.

      I adore both films, so I'm pleased to hear you're a big fan of Wild Strawberries. Sjostrom is magnificent, and he'd almost certainly make my top 100 performances list. I guess I somehow forgot him.

      LOVE that Laughton win. He's still a painful snub on my ballot.

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