Oscar History Part 3: 1947-1952

More picks.  For 2010, the ramp-up has started, with critics' picks, guild nominations, and the Golden Globes on Sunday.  We'll have Oscar nominations in a few weeks.

1947

Winner: Gentleman’s Agreement

My pick: Beauty and the Beast (France release in 1946)

Other notable films: Stairway to Heaven (released in UK in 1946 as A Matter of Life and Death), Great Expectations (UK, 1946), Black Narcissus, Ivan the Terrible Part I (USSR, 1944)

Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement is a fine film that addressed an important issue for its day: anti-Semitism.  But the great power of Jean Cocteau's live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast cannot be denied; a great fantasy for all ages and all time.  Powell and Pressburger continue their great work in Stairway to Heaven and Black Narcissus, David Lean's Great Expectations may be the definitive Dickens adaptation, and Sergei Eisenstein's first of two films to chronicle the life of the historical Russian leader is a strong production, chronicling the rise and pomp of the leader.

 

1948

Winner: Hamlet

My pick: Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Other notable films: Red River, The Red Shoes, The Naked City

Laurence Olivier's Hamlet is maybe the best adaptation of Shakespeare's masterwork.  But John Huston's great parable of greed Treasure of the Sierra Madre was the best, with a dark performance by Humphrey Bogart.  Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes represents the pinnacle of their work, combining an adaptation of the famed ballet with a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and loves of the artists; one of the most beautiful films.  Red River is a classic Western featuring a solid performance by John Wayne.  One should not forget Jules Dassin's documentary-style film noir The Naked City.

 

1949

Winner: All the King’s Men

My pick: Bicycle Thieves (Italy release in 1948)

Other notable films: A Letter to Three Wives, A Canterbury Tale (UK, 1944), The Heiress, The Fallen Idol (UK, 1948)

All the President's Men is a great political fable, but Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves is one of the greatest films ever made; if your heart does not break, you are not human.  A Letter to Three Wives is a strong family drama.  Powell and Pressburger's A Canterbury Tale is a solid adaptation.  Oliva de Havilland's performance in The Heiress is powerful.  Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol combines childhood adulation with adult fallibility. 

 

1950

Winner: All About Eve

My pick: Sunset Boulevard

Other notable films: The Third Man (UK, 1950), The Rules of the Game (France, 1939), Night and the City, The Asphalt Jungle

All About Eve is a classic story of actors in competition, but Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard represents the classic melding of Hollywood, madness, and creativity.  Along with Carol Reed's The Third Man (featuring the memorable Orson Welles) and Jean Renoir's tale of society class and corruption The Rules of the Game, the year was exceptionally strong.  

1951

Winner: An American in Paris

My pick: A Streetcar Named Desire

Other notable films: Strangers on a Train, The African Queen, A Place in the Sun
An American in Paris is a weaker musical when compared to the work of Gene Kelly the following year, but Elia Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire features untouched performances by Brando and Leigh.  John Huston's pairing of Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen is a classic adventure story.  George Stevens' A Place in the Sun adapts a classic American tragedy.

1952

Winner: The Greatest Show on Earth

My pick: Rashomon (Japan release in 1951)

Other notable films: Singin in the Rain, High Noon, The Bad and the Beautiful

There's no defense of Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth; easily one of the worst picks in Oscar history.  The Bad and the Beautiful is another classic tale of Hollywood.  High Noon features a career best performance by Gary Cooper.  The best American-made film is Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's Singin in the Rain, a musical all but overlooked by the Academy.  But the best picture of the year is Akira Kurosawa's masterwork of memory and perspective Rashomon.