Before this revisit I had seen rather a lot of 1954 films included the big winner of the 1954 academy awards. The films I'd seen before this revisit I felt covered a rather wide variety of genres. In terms of the academy awards the winning film On the Waterfront is one of the great 50's feature. Directed by Elia Kazan and starring the unequaled Marlon Brando On the Waterfront is the harrowing tale of those who try to escape but just struggle hard to do it. The film was a marvelous mix of typical movie making of the time and also the studied the method being even more introduced to the public through many of the brilliant performances captured in this feature. The other nominees for best picture that year were The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides and Seven Brothers and Three Coins in the Fountain. While On the Waterfront is an all time great film this other four nominees are rather lacking in my retrospective estimation. The Caine Mutiny stands above to me but whether it is the stiffness of Country Girl, the aged quality of Seven Brides or the untimeliness romance of Three Coins. Other then Waterfront it is rather a weak field of nominees which is made even worse by the stack of great films released in the states during 1954.
While I have praised Waterfront above I feel however there are two better features from the year that were overall overlooked. The first being my favourite film achievement of 1954 is Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window. This film is arguable Hitchcock at his best of suspence and style. He captures the building tension of the climactix ending just as strongly as he captures the natural film beauty of Grace Kelly in what is for me her greatest performance of the year (not in fact her oscar winning turn in The Country Girl where she is rather unprepared for the role and just doesn't fit it). Window just is unmatched in terms of beauty and suspence which is why I had to go for Hitchcock for the top prizes yet again (go back to 1958 and you see Vertigo also by Hitchcock dominated). The other film that looms large over Waterfront is Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame De... Yes I think Rear Window is the most beautiful film of 1954 Earrings is a tough competitor dripping with glorious shots out of every frame. Whether it's the longing look at Danielle Darrieux in the lead role or just the beauty of the surrounding backgrounds of this grand story. The other two films to complete my top 5 for the year are Magnificent Obsession and A Star is Born. The former is yet another 50's Douglas Sirk feature that while not as classic as some of his others is a great film that shows the talent Sirk contains for melodrama like no director at the time or director nowadays. The latter A Star is Born is the Judy Garland led George Cukor directed film that is known especially for the groundbreaking turn by Garland and being the second of the many remakes of this star is born film. Garland indeed is brilliant and one of the greatest oscar crimes by her loss but Cukor crafts a great feature around her to allow to completely dominate. Brando, Kelly, O'Brien and Saint where the acting winners of 1954 and while I agree with the Saint win I just can't go for Kelly and O'Brien. Brando is all time great but during the revisit I watched Diary of a Country Priest and was completely blown away by the leading turn by Claude Laydu in the lead role who closely beats Brando to my win. Allow win Saint Lee J. Cobb should've won for his great supporting turn but more then likely split votes with his other two worthy Waterfront nominees.
33 is the amount of films I was able to see from 1954 and overall the quality stands strong which is no surprise due to the overall brilliance of the 50's cinema. That quality might've not been reflected in the academies choices but just look at my below nominees and winners and you'll see how great the year was.
OUTSTANDING PICTURE:
1. Rear Window (Produced by Alfred Hitchcock)
2. The Earrings of Madame De... (Produced by )
3. On the Waterfront (Produced by Sam Spiegel)
4. Magnificent Obsession (Produced by Ross Hunter)
5. A Star is Born (Produced by Sidney Luft)
6. Diary of a Country Priest
7. Ugetsu monogatari
8. Sabrina
9. Johnny Guitar
10. Sansho the Bailiff
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:
Robert Bresson for Diary of a Country Priest
Alfred Hitchcock for Rear Window
Elia Kazan for On the Waterfront
Max Ophüls for The Earrings of Madame De...
Douglas Sirk for Magnificent Obsession
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:
Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in "ON THE WATERFRONT"
Claude Laydu as Priest of Ambricourt in "DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST"
James Mason as Norman Maine in "A STAR IS BORN"
Maasayuki Mori as Genjuro in "UGETSU MONOGATARI"
James Stewart as L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies in "REAR WINDOW"
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:
Ingrid Bergman as Irene Girard in "EUROPE '51"
Joan Crawford as Vienna in "JOHNNY GUITAR"
Danielle Darrieux as Comtesse Louise de... in "THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE..."
Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester in "A STAR IS BORN"
Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina Fairchild in "SABRINA"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Lee J. Cobb as Michael J. Skelly aka "Johnny Friendly" in "ON THE WATERFRONT"
Van Johnson as Lieutenant Steve Maryk in "THE CAINE MUTINY"
Karl Malden as Father Barry in "ON THE WATERFRONT"
Rod Steiger as Charley "The Gent" Malloy in "ON THE WATERFRONT"
John Williams as Chief Inspector Hubbard in "DIAL M FOR MURDER"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Pearl Bailey as Frankie in "CARMEN JONES"
Mercedes McCambridge as Emma Small in "JOHNNY GUITAR"
Thelma Ritter as Stella in "REAR WINDOW"
Eva Marie Saint as Edie Doyle in "ON THE WATERFRONT"
Barbara Stanwyck as Julia O. Tredway in "EXECUTIVE SUITE"
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz for The Barefoot Contessa
Ernest K. Gann for The High and the Mighty
Jacques Tati & Henri Marquet for Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Budd Schulberg for On the Waterfront
Roland Kibbee & James R. Webb for Vera Cruz
OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Screenplay by Robert Bresson; Based on Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos, Diary of a Country Priest
Screenplay by Marcel Achard, Max Ophüls & Annette Wademant; Based on The Earrings of Madame De... by Louise de Vilmorin, The Earrings of Madame De...
Screenplay by Wells Root, Sarah Y. Mason, Victor Heerman & Finley Peter Dunne; Based on Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas, Magnificent Obsession
Screenplay by John Michael Hayes; Based on It Had to Be Murder by Cornell Woolrich, Rear Window
Screenplay by Matsutaro Kawaguchi & Yoshikata Yoda; Based on Ugetsu Monogatari by Akinari Ueda, Ugetsu monogatari
OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:
Set Design by Arrigo Equini, The Barefoot Contessa
Production Design by Jean d'Eaubonne for The Earrings of Madame De...
Art Direction by James Sullivan; Set Design by Edward G. Boyle & John McCarthy Jr. for Johnny Guitar
Art Direction by Bernard Herzbrun, Emrich Nicholson; Set Design by Russell A. Gausman & Ruby R. Levitt, Magnificent Obsession
Art Direction by Joseph MacMillan Johnson & Hal Pereira; Set Design by Sam Comer & Ray Moyer for Rear Window
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:
Nicole Ladmiral (Diary of a Country Priest)
Claude Laydu (Diary of a Country Priest)
Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
Prunella Scales (Hobson's Choice)
Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront)
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Christian Matras for The Earrings of Madame De...
Harry Stradlling for Johnny Guitar
Russell Metty for Magnificent Obsession
Robert Burks for Rear Window
Kazuo Miyagawa for Sansho the Bailiff
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:
Georges Annenkov & Rosine Delamare for The Earrings of Madame De...
Bill Thomas for Magnificent Obsession
Edith Head for Rear Window
Edith Head for Sabrina
Dorothy Jeakins for Three Coins in the Fountain
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:
Executive Suite (William Holden, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Douglas, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern, Dean Jagger, Nina Foch, Shelley Winters, June Allyson, Tim Considine, William Phipps)
Hobson's Choice (Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda De Banzie, Daphne Anderson, Prunella Scales, Richard Wattis, Derek Blomfield, Helen Haye, Jack Howarth, Joseph Tomelty, Julien Mitchell, Gibb McLaughlin, Philip Stainton, John Laurie, Dorothy Gordon)
Magnificent Obsession (Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Kruger, Barbara Rush, Gregg Palmer, Paul Cavanagh, Sara Shane, Richard H. Cutting, Judy Nugent, Helen Kleeb, Rudolph Anders, Fred Nurney, John Mylong)
On the Waterfront (Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Ben Wagner, James Westerfield)
Salt of the Earth (Rosaura Revueltas, Will Geer, David Wolfe, Mervin Williams, David Sarvis, Juan Chacón, Henrietta Williams, Ernesto Velázquez, Ángela Sánchez, Joe T. Morales, Clorinda Alderette, Charles Coleman, Virginia Jencks, Clinton Jencks, Víctor Torres, E.A. Rockwell, William Rockwell, Floyd Bostick, other members of Mine-Mill Local 890)
OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:
Borys Lewin for The Earrings of Madame De...
Richard L. Van Enger for Johnny Guitar
Milton Carruth for Magnificent Obsession
Gene Milford for On the Waterfront
George Tomasini for Rear Window
OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Diary of a Country Priest (Directed by Robert Bresson)
The Earrings of Madame De... (Directed by Max Ophüls)
Europe '51 (Directed by Roberto Rossellini)
Sansho the Bailiff (Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi)
Ugetsu monogatari (Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi)
OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:
Wally Westmore for The Country Girl
Fordon Bau & Otis Malcolm for Dial M for Murder
Carmen Brel for The Earrings of Madame De...
Loren Cosand & Web Overlander for The High and the Mighty
Del Armstrong & Gordon Bau for A Star is Born
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:
Oscar Straus & Georges Van Parys for The Earrings of Madame De...
Frank Skinner for Magnificent Obsession
Leonard Bernstein for On the Waterfront
Franz Waxman for Rear Window
Ray Heindorf for A Star is Born
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, "A Whale of a Tale" (Music by Al Hoffman; Lyrics by Norman Gimbel)
Johnny Guitar, "Johnny Guitar" (Music by Victor Young; Lyrics by Peggy Lee)
A Star is Born, "The Man That Got Away" (Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin)
Susan Slept Here, "Hold My Hand" (Music by Richard Myers; Lyrics by Jack Lawrence)
Three Coins in the Fountain, "Three Coins in the Fountain" (Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:
June Allyson (Executive Suite, The Glenn Miller Story, A Woman's World)
Humphrey Bogart (The Barefoot Contessa, Beat the Devil, The Caine Mutiny, Sabrina)
Ernest Borgnine (The Bounty Hunter, Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz)
William Holden (The Country Girl, Executive Suite, Sabrina)
Grace Kelly (The Country Girl, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window)
James Mason (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Star is Born, Prince Valiant)
OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:
Robert O. Cook & C.O. Slyfield for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
John P. Livadary for The Caine Mutiny
John K. Kean for The High and the Mighty
T.A. Carman & Howard Wilson for Johnny Guitar
Charles David Forrest & Charles Lang for A Star is Born
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL EFFECTS:
John Hench & Joshua Meador for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Lawrence W. Butler for The Caine Mutiny
Robert Mattey for The High and the Mighty
The next year I'm going to revisit is 2006 just a decade ago when after decades of being a big oscar loser it came to a time when the academy finally had to reward Martin Scorsese and made The Departed his oscar winning film to this date.
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