Winners indicated (*). I still need to see films like Gervaise, Aparajito, Never Say Goodbye, The Bold and the Brave, Bob le Flambeur, Moby Dick, Ransom!, Somebody Up There Likes Me, These Wilder Years, The Brave One, Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island, Forbidden Planet, I Vampiri, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, The Court Jester, While the City Sleeps, Carousel, Tea and Sympathy, and The Girl Can't Help It.
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| Giant |
BEST PICTURE:
Giant*
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Killing
A Man Escaped
The Searchers
BEST DIRECTOR:
Robert Bresson, A Man Escaped
John Ford, The Searchers
Stanley Kubrick, The Killing
Albert Lamorisse, The Red Balloon
George Stevens, Giant*
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| The Searchers |
BEST ACTOR:
Humphrey Bogart, The Harder They Fall
Kirk Douglas, Lust for Life
Sterling Hayden, The Killing
James Mason, Bigger Than Life
John Wayne, The Searchers*
BEST ACTRESS:
Carroll Baker, Baby Doll
Brigitte Bardot, And God Created Woman*
Ingrid Bergman, Anastasia
Doris Day, The Man Who Knew Too Much
Elizabeth Taylor, Giant
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| And God Created Woman |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Ed Begley, Patterns
Yul Brynner, The Ten Commandments
James Dean, Giant*
Robert Stack, Written on the Wind
Rod Steiger, The Harder They Fall
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Helen Hayes, Anastasia
Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind*
Patty McCormack, The Bad Seed
Vera Miles, The Searchers
Marie Windsor, The Killing
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| The Red Balloon |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Baby Doll
Bigger Than Life
Giant*
The Killing
The Searchers
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
And God Created Woman
Early Spring
Patterns
The Red Balloon*
The Wrong Man
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| The Killing |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Giant
The Killing
The Red Balloon*
The Searchers
War and Peace
BEST FILM EDITING:
Giant
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Killing*
A Man Escaped
The Searchers
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| A Man Escaped |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Around the World in Eighty Days
Giant
Invasion of the Body Snatchers*
The Ten Commandments
War and Peace
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"The Bus Stop Song (A Paper of Pins)", Bus Stop
"The Searchers", The Searchers
"Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)", The Man Who Knew Too Much*
"Written on the Wind", Written on the Wind
"Yaller, Yaller Gold", Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Additional Categories
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| The Ten Commandments |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Around the World in Eighty Days
Giant
The King and I
The Ten Commandments
War and Peace*
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Around the World in Eighty Days
High Society
The King and I*
The Ten Commandments
War and Peace
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| Invasion of the Body Snatchers |
BEST MAKEUP:
Around the World in Eighty Days
The King and I
The Ten Commandments*
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Giant
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Killing
The Searchers
The Ten Commandments*
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Around the World in Eighty Days
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Ten Commandments*
Updated: 4/16/15
I'm currently working on this year too! Right now my acting winners are Doris Day, Bing Crosby (High Society) and both supporting players from Written in the Wind. This year is great, far better than I was initially expecting.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Moby Dick last night, and while the film is almost terrible, Orson Welles has a ONE SCENE cameo that is BRILLIANT and he is going to easily snag a nomination on my Supporting Actor ballot. He's freaking amazing.
Saw your Amazon review of High Society a while back, and I wish I loved it that much. Honestly, I thought it was terrible, but I think my expectations were too high since I love The Philadelphia Story so much.
DeleteUgh. I wish I'd seen it. If Welles makes my ballot, he'll knock Brynner off. Stack is actually my #4, and Steiger is my runner-up.
Random: You'll be happy to know that I just updated my '77 ballot and put Eraserhead back in my Best Picture and Director lineups. Seriously, how did I EVER put A Bridge Too Far ahead of it?!
Steiger is great, isn't he! Love him and that performance.
DeleteSo glad you put Eraserhead back! That movie is epic.
It was so close, but Dean barely edges him out.
DeleteIndeed. :)
OK, I just watched The Harder They Fall in preparation for the 56 Fistis, and MY GOD was it good, and Steiger and Bogart may be my acting winners that year. They are exceptional. I know you love Bogart, so you need to see it. It was his final film role (he died 9 months after the film was released) and I think it may be his finest performance. Steiger steals the show (as expected) as the flashy villain. Great movie all around.
DeleteI had that recorded from TCM forever ago, and I watched about the first 20 minutes until the recording got scrambled due to bad weather. I really need to see it, but I didn't have time beforehand. :( Really excited about it now. I'll let you know when I see it.
DeleteStill need to see GIANT, I remember my late mom talking about that one as being one of Dean's best roles. Oh I actually saw the remake of 'And God Created Woman,' I thought Rebecca DeMornay was good but I figure Bardot is hard to top, eh?
ReplyDeleteDean only appeared in 3 theatrical films, and I love all of his performances. I might name Rebel Without a Cause as his best, though. I haven't seen the remake of And God Created Woman, but I'd imagine Bardot is better. :)
DeleteIt makes my head hurt that the truly awful Around the World in 80 Days won Best Picture and so many other worthies went completely unacknowledged. But then my ballot and the academy's are very dissimilar this year, sharing few of the same nominees and only one winner in any category.
ReplyDeletePicture:
Carousel
Giant
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Searchers-Winner
Written on the Wind
With Man Hitchcock returns to his own well and improves on it making a tense nail biter with a simple premise. Giant lives up to its name and Carousel tells a dark story through beautiful songs and somehow makes it poignant instead of ugly while Written on the Wind is a fever dream told in bold colors set to a jazzy score. All are great but none match the elegiac ode Ford creates to the West in The Searchers.
Director:
Cecil B. De Mille-The Ten Commandments
John Ford-The Searchers
Alfred Hitchcock-The Man Who Knew Too Much
Douglas Sirk-Written on the Wind-Winner
George Stevens-Giant
Commandments is a grandiose, overbaked but highly entertaining amusement park ride that De Mille keeps on track with his customary skill at handling elephantine excess. Ford trains his camera firmly on the journey of the dogged pair of Wayne and Hunter capturing breathtaking vistas as he goes but Sirk commands the camera to observe the heightened situations his characters find themselves in at bold angles making them more compelling though vantage point, use of color and his perfomers skill.
Actor:
Steve Cochran-Come Next Spring
Kirk Douglas-Lust for Life
Danny Kaye-The Court Jester
James Stewart-The Man Who Knew Too Much
John Wayne-The Searchers-Winner
Douglas portrayal of Van Gogh's genius is big and flashy but ultimely exhausting. Stewart's is one of well observed, contained fear but a bit reserved. On the other end of the spectrum Kaye has the role of a lifetime as the hapless Hubert/daring Giacomo to which he gives his all in a sprightly, necessarily hammy, thoroughly captivating piece of work that leaves little room for nuance. But my choice was between Wayne and Cochran. Cochran's atypical work as the errant wanderer returned home full of regret and apprehension is beautifully realized, proof that he was more than the thugs and gangsters that were his usual lot. Ethan Edwards though is the Duke's signature role and is probably the most complex performance he ever gave far worthier of the award than the winning True Grit. Naturally the academy ignored it.
Actress:
Ingrid Bergman-Anastasia
Doris Day-The Man Who Knew Too Much
Judy Holliday-The Solid Gold Cadillac
Virginia McKenna-A Town Like Alice
Ann Sheridan-Come Next Spring-Winner
As good as Ingrid was in her return to Hollywood her win for Anastasia was a forgiveness gift for her perceived "sin". Vinginia McKenna is gritty and real during the murderous trek that takes place in Alice. Doris balances the required hysteria and level headedness of her role expertly while Judy as usual is a comic marvel getting more out of one look than most actresses can with reams of dialog. But Ann Sheridan was never better than as the careworn, steadfast Bess Ballot matching Cochran's superlative performance.
I still can't believe The Searchers was completely shutout at the Oscars. Though I'm not as enthusiastic on them, it's great to see The Man Who Knew Too Much and Written on the Wind get those nominations. I really must see Come Next Spring and Carousel!
DeleteSupporting Actor:
ReplyDeletePeter Finch-A Town Like Alice
Jeffrey Hunter-The Searchers-Winner
Lee Marvin-Seven Men from Now
Everett Sloane-Patterns
Hank Worden-The Searchers
Marvin and Sloane both put memorable spins on their villains and Finch adds a touch of humanity during his brief screen time in the grueling Alice. My main choices came from the neglected Searchers though. I love Worden's performance of the gentle Mose he's a catalyst for much of the action then recedes into the background but you remember him when the picture is over, he's one of those great character actors who is consistently good but never acknowledged. Nevertheless my winner is Hunter. His extreme attractiveness worked against his acceptance as a serious performer, I would never say he was a great actor but certainly competent, but his callowness suited the role and flashes of anger and grim determination in the face of Wayne's callousness provide dimension to their scenes adding to the tension of their journey.
Supporting Actress:
Dorothy Malone-Written on the Wind-Winner
Patty McCormick-The Bad Seed
Vera Miles-The Searchers
Mildred Natwick-The Court Jester
Debbie Reynolds-The Catered Affair
Quite a varied crop of performances. McCormick makes the dead eyed Rhoda chilling in her creepy perfection and uncomprehending indifference to human life. Miles's performance contains a very real mixture of exasperation and longing for the errant Martin. Debbie in one of the few chances she had at straight drama is affecting as the young girl caught between her own wish for a simple wedding and her mother's dreams in The Catered Affair and Mildred Natwick steals every scene she's in against the formidable trio of Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns and Angela Lansbury. But Dorothy Malone deserved her Oscar. Her rich but common as dirt Marylee is one of the drollest performances every committed to celluloid. Understanding that the part is seething with frank suggestiveness she wrings it for everything it's worth with an arch of those mink stole eyebrows and line readings dripping in venom effectively wiping her castmates off the screen.
My biggest misses of this year: The Harder They Fall and Bigger Than Life. I saw Jubal and liked it but it didn't knock me out.
Love the continued nods for The Searchers. Sloane would probably be my #6 choice in Best Supporting Actor, but I prefer Begley's performance in that film. I've never even heard of A Town Like Alice. I'll have to check it out.
Delete