1950 - The year everyone was fasinated by Eve and Norma

Has there ever been such a tightly seperated race between just two pictures as with 1950's battle between broadway and cinema. Yes the two films I'm talking about are All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard. The former eventually won the top prizes and the later won it's fair share of prizes. Both are all time great films however when it comes down to it I go for the latter. Maybe it's my love of broadway that makes this film hit close to me or maybe it's the amount of complex and different female characters featured that both fight and work together is such different and great ways that I find the film endlessly watchable. The academy chose All About Eve for the prize as I'd mentioned and Sunset was also nominated alongside George Cukor's Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride and King Soloman's Mines. The first of these three other nominees Born Yesterday is good but really shines in the oscar wining turn by Judy Holliday who while brilliant would not be my choice for the best actress prize. The other two have their moments but just don't do it for me and feel rather of their time.

1950 was truly a great year and while this was reflected in the top two pictures of the race there are some more great films that where overlooked. However firstly I need to talk about the two worthy picture nominations in more detail. First is All About Eve which like the academy is my choice for best picture. Joseph L. Mankiewicz follows his 1949 feature A Letter to Three Wives with this great classic. Bette Davis is in the starring role that due to it sort of being a comeback role for Miss Davis this has arguably become her most iconic role. The role of Margo Channing filled with such divanishness confidence while at the same time being insecure of aging and being replaced is so set to Davis talent that her casting was an ingenious choice that thankfully happened because no one couldn't played this role like Davis. The film itself is also brilliant due to Mankiewicz screenplay full of witty dialogue and a bountiful of catchy lines that I myself try to repeat anytime I can as the dialogue is so quotable. Truly a great feature which stands up even in today's cinematic climat. Sunset Boulevard is my runner up but a close one. Billy Wilder had already conquered every genre before this film but yet again by watching a Wilder film in Sunset I'm yet again blown away because no one could create a character as mysterious and as real as Norma Desmond was and is. Gloria Swanson easily the great female performance of the year had been long due for a role this varied when talkies came about which adds to the marvel that is her performance. Not only is she making a stand on her own career till this point but also a stand on many of the silent actresses who just lost so much due to the inovation of talking which caused actresses without the proper speaking voices to be replaced by up and comers. Wilder creates a great film noir that all comes together in breathing taking finale where Norma finally has her closeup but Wilder the master he is forgoes this closeup and fades out which is the final nail in Norma's coffin. Akira Kurosawa with Rashoman showed why film makers since have been so inspired by his ingenious. The film is a multi perspective of one murder that each time the one scene is told it gets more gripping. Kurosawa and his editors have crafted some great foreign cinema that unlike any movie before or any movie after that tries to recreate this type of storytelling is timeless and forever great. The Third Man was first seen in 1949 but arrived in the states in 1950 which is why I place it in this year. Carol Reed follows The Fallen Idol which is greatest film achievement. Only Reed and the production team of the film where able to make this suspecful noir that is just so innovative and different from it's genre that I find it great every time I sit down to watch it. Whether it's Orson Welles in one of his best works or the score which unlike many at the time was different for it's instrument use. The final film of the personal picture race is Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place. This picture starring Bogart and Grahame is about both the love between these two characters but also about the falls and highs of fame and celebrity in Hollywood. Ray was one of the unequaled directors of the 50's and this picture started him on his great list of films from this decade.

29 is the number of films released in 1950 that I was able to search out and see. As I said before what a fantastic year for cinema of all genres. Below is the list of nominees and winners I would've choosen.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. All About Eve (Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck)

2. Sunset Boulevard (Produced by Charles Brackett)

3. Rashomon (Produced by Minoru Jingo)

4. The Third Man (Produced by Carol Reed)

5. In a Lonely Place (Produced by Robert Lord)

6. The Asphalt Jungle

7. The Rules of the Game

8. Kind Hearts and Coronets

9. Caged

10. Orphée

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Akira Kurosawa for Rashomon

Joseph L. Mankiewicz for All About Eve

Nicholas Ray for In a Lonely Place

Carol Reed for The Third Man

Billy Wilder for Sunset Boulevard

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Steele in "IN A LONELY PLACE"

Alec Guinness as eight members of the D'Ascoyne family in "KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS"

William Holden as Joseph C. "Joe" Gillis in "SUNSET BOULEVARD"

Toshiro Mifune as Tajomaru, the bandit in "RASHOMON"

James Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd in "HARVEY"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Bette Davis as Margo Channing in "ALL ABOUT EVE"

Gloria Grahame as Laurel Gray in "IN A LONELY PLACE"

Judy Holliday as Emma "Billie" Dawn in "BORN YESTERDAY"

Eleanor Parker as Marie Allen in "CAGED"

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in "SUNSET BOULEVARD"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Sam Jaffe as "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider in "THE ASPHALT JUNGLE"

Mashayuki Mori as Samurai, the husband in "RASHOMON"

George Sanders as Addison DeWitt in "ALL ABOUT EVE"

Eric von Stroheim as Maximillian "Max" von Mayerling in "SUNSET BOULEVARD"

Orson Welles as Harry Lime in "THE THIRD MAN"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Hope Emerson as Evelyn Harper in "CAGED"

Betty Garde as Kitty Stark in "CAGED"

Machiko Kyo as Samurai’s wife in "RASHOMON"

Agnes Moorehead as Ruth Benton in "CAGED"

Thelma Ritter as Birdie in "ALL ABOUT EVE"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

William Bowers & William Sellers for The Gunfighter

Carl Foreman for The Men

Richard Murphy, Daniel Fuchs, Edna Anhalt & Edward Anhalt for Panic in the Streets

Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder & D. M. Marshman, Jr. for Sunset Boulevard

Graham Greene for The Third Man

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz; Based on "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, All About Eve

Screenplay by Ben Maddow & John Huston; Based on The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, The Asphalt Jungle

Screenplay by Albert Mannheimer; Based on Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin, Born Yesterday

Screenplay by Edmund H. North & Andrew Solt; Based on In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, In a Lonely Place

Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa & Shinobu Hashimoto; Based on "Rashomon" and "In a Grove" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Art Direction by George W. Davis & Lyle Wheeler; Set Design by Thomas Little & Walter M. Scott for All About Eve

Art Direction by Randall Duell & Cedric Gibbons; Set Design by Edwin B. Willis for The Asphalt Jungle

Production Design by Harry Horner; Set Design by William Kiernan for Born Yesterday

Art Direction by Bernard Herzbrun & Nathan Juran; Set Design by Russell A. Gausman & Julia Heron for Harvey

Art Direction by Hans Dreier & John Meehan; Set Design by Sam Comer & Ray Moyer for Sunset Boulevard

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Marlon Brando (The Men)

Machiko Kyo (Rashomon)

Marilyn Monroe (All About Eve)

Nancy Olson (Sunset Boulevard)

Sidney Poitier (No Way Out)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Milton Krasner for All About Eve

Harold Rosson for The Asphalt Jungle

Kazuo Miyagawa for Rashomon

John F. Seitz for Sunset Boulevard

Robert Krasker for The Third Man

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Edith Head & Charles LeMaire for All About Eve

Jean Louis for Born Yesterday

Muraki Sinobu for Rashomon

Edith Head for Sunset Boulevard

Ivy Baker for The Third Man

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

All About Eve (Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, Gregory Ratoff, Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Bates)

The Asphalt Jungle (Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, Marilyn Monroe, William "Wee Willie" Davis, Dorothy Tree, Brad Dexter, Helene Stanley, John Maxwell)

Caged (Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson, Betty Garde, Sheila MacRae, Jan Sterling, Lee Patrick, Jane Darwell, Gertrude W. Hoffmann, Olive Deering, Gertrude Michael)

Father of the Bride (Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Moroni Olsen, Marietta Canty, Russ Tamblyn, Tom Irish, Paul Harvey)

Harvey (James Stewart, Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake, Cecil Kellaway, Victoria Horne, Jesse White, William H. Lynn, Wallace Ford, Nana Bryant, Grayce Mills, Clem Bevans, Dick Wessel, Harry Hines, Norman Leavitt, Sam Wolfe)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Barbara McLean for All About Eve

George Boemier for The Asphalt Jungle

Akira Kurosawa for Rashomon

Arthur Schmidt for Sunset Boulevard

Oswald Hafenrichter for The Third Man

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Orphée (Directed by Jean Cocteau)

Rashomon (Directed by Akira Kurosawa)

The Rules of the Game (Directed by Jean Renoir)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:

Alfred Newman for All About Eve

Paul J. Smith & Oliver Wallace for Cinderella

Fumio Kayasaka for Rashomon

Franz Waxman for Sunset Boulevard

Anton Karas for The Third Man

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Cinderella, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman)

Cinderella, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman)

Cinderella, "Sing, Sweet Nightingale" (Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

William Holden (Born Yesterday, Sunset Boulevard)

James Stewart (Broken Arrow, Harvey, Winchester '73)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Stanley Jones for Caged

Robert O. Cook, C.O. Slyfield & Harold J. Steck for Cinderella

Rashomon

John Cope & Harry Lindgren for Sunset Boulevard

John Cox, Jack Drake, Red Law & Bert Ross for The Third Man

Now having gone to the 50's again I will go to the 70's. The year in question is 1978 which is the year the recently departed Michael Cimono won the big prizes with his vietnam drama The Deer Hunter. In close competition with the similarly theme Vietnam drama Coming Home this was a much debated close call between two similar films in 1978. Will either be my choice for the year's best.

1985 - The year an actor turned director caused one of the greatest directors to lose everything

1985 the midpoint of the 80's was a year that I hadn't seen really film from other then Out of Africa and Witness so it was a pleasure to revisit this film year because I was bound to see some brilliant films that I hadn't seen before. Having gone into revisit already haven seen the best picture choice I knew that the films I was going to see could only be better then that film. Yes having seen Out of Africa due to my love of Meryl Streep I was unimpressed by much of the film outside of Streep and really thought it was again another weak choice made by the academy The one reason I believe it won was because people bought into the spralling foreign journey in Africa as well as the romance between the central characters which while good is nothing new to the genre. This uninspired choice is made worse by me due to the strong competition of films also nominated for best picture that year. They were Spielberg's The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, John Huston's Prizzi's Honor and Peter Weir's Witness. Other then Prizzi's Honor which I find to be dreadful having watched it for the first time this a strong lineup. Spielberg may have had the brilliant source material to work with on The Color Purple but none of this takes away from his impressive work. As a white jewish male director he is able to capture the black experince like I never would've expected and even down to his casting choices it's a impressive feat of a picture all around. Kiss of the Spider Woman from Héctor Babenco is another strong feature from the year. The story is heartfelt and takes it's time to be told as we really get to fall for these two central guys. William Hurt who won the actor prize deservedly so is heartbreaking to watch playing the rather tragic role of Luis Molina with such respect and dedication that while he has been great after this Spider Woman is his peak. Witness from Peter Weir is also good not near the level of Spider Woman and Color Purple but still a great film from this year and arguable the great performance Harrison Ford has ever given. As I said the list of pictures nominated is good especially with the later three I discussed but the other two just pale in comparison that overall it's not a strong enough field for me.

The list of films from 1985 is stacked from the great america cinema to the even greater foreign cinema which while not all first released in 1985 made it stateside this year. My choice for the greatest film achievement of 1985 is Ran. Again you can never go wrong with Akira Kurosawa and Ran his final all time great film shows how truly the horrors of life when shot by Kurosawa can be beautiful. The film is a feast of color and glorious image after image. Kurosawa really is one of the greats and Ran goes to show his immense talent like no other. My runner up for the best film is Shoah the nearly 10 hour documentary about the holocaust is a film feet like no other. Never has a director gone so in detail to capture the experinces like in Shoah which is a documentary interviewing witnesses of the atrocities of the Holocaust. It's an emotionally punishing film due to these first hand accounts of the horror they suffered and never will a film be able to properly capture what this horrific time was like as Shoah does. Kiss of the Spider Woman which I discussed above is my third favourite feature of the year and just one more thing I want to point out is Sonia Braga's work in the film. Her role if anyone would've played it would probably be winning but Braga is just so captivating playing multiple roles through the memory of these men that her not even being oscar nominated is criminal. Blood Simple. the first Coen Brothers feature was first seen on the festival circuit in 1984 but the year it actually opened was 1985 and boy did these brothers know how to make an entrance to the film industry. Blood Simple. contains the Brothers mastery of suspence and with McDormand their frequent collaborator in the lead role you get some brilliant Coen Brothers film making. The final film that makes my five favourite of the year is Peter Bogdanovich's Mask. Bogdanovich had been prolific earlier on his career and Mask was really a return to form for the director. Showing the story a young teen suffering is such a tricky subject matter to approach but Mask does it so different giving us both the voice of the young teen and his mother in such equal time that you really get to know these characters so greatly. Cher gives her greatest performance in Mask and Eric Stoltz along with Cher form one of the most believable mother / son relationship to be seen on the big screen.

38 is the amount of films I've seen from the year and overall it was a good year with some truly all time and never to be redone films released this year. Below is the list of winners and nominees I would've chosen as best in 1985.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Ran (Produced by Masato Hara & Serge Silberman)

2. Shoah

3. Kiss of the Spider Woman (Produced by Francisco Ramalho Jr. & David Weisman)

4. Blood Simple. (Produced by Ethan Coen)

5. Mask (Produced by Martin Starger)

6. Lost in America

7. The Purple Rose of Cairo

8. The Color Purple

9. The Breakfast Club

10. Desert Hearts

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Woody Allen for The Purple Rose of Cairo

Héctor Babenco for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Joel Coen for Blood Simple.

Akira Kurosawa for Ran

Steven Spielberg for The Color Purple

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Jeff Daniels as Tom Baxter / Gil Shepherd in "THE PURPLE ROSE OF CARIO"

William Hurt as Luis Molina in "KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN"

Raúl Juliá as Valentine Arregui in "KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN"

Eric Stoltz as Roy L. 'Rocky' Dennis in "MASK"

Jon Voight as Oscar 'Manny' Manheim in "RUNAWAY TRAIN"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Norma Aleandro as Alicia in "THE OFFICIAL STORY"

Cher as Florence 'Rusty' Dennis in "MASK"

Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Johnson in "THE COLOR PURPLE"

Frances McDormand as Abby in "BLOOD SIMPLE."

Helen Shaver as Vivian Bell in "DESERT HEARTS"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Klaus Maria Brandauer as Bror in "OUT OF AFRICA"

William Hickey as Don Corrado Prizzi in "PRIZZI'S HONOR"

Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown in "BACK TO THE FUTURE"

Vittorio Mezzogiorno as Jean Lerman in "L'HOMME BLESSE"

Eric Roberts as Buck McGeehy in "RUNAWAY TRAIN"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Sonia Braga as Leni Lamaison / Marta / Spider Woman in "KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN"

Julie Hagerty as Linda Howard in "LOST IN AMERICA"

Mieko Harada as Lady Kaede in "RAN"

Audra Lindley as Frances Parker in "DESERT HEARTS"

Ann Wedgeworth as Hilda Hensley in "SWEET DREAMS"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for Blood Simple.

John Hughes for The Breakfast Club

Anna Hamilton Phelan for Mask

Aída Bortnik & Luis Puenzo for The Official Story

Woody Allen The Purple Rose of Cairo

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Menno Meyjes; Based on The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Screenplay by Natalie Cooper; Based on Desert Heart by Jane Rule, Desert Hearts

Screenplay by Leonard Schrader; Based on Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig, Kiss of the Spider Woman

Screenplay by Kurt Luedtke; Based on Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen; Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Story Teller by Judith Thurman; Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski, Out of Africa

Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni & Masato Ide; Based on King Lear by William Shakespeare, Ran

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by Norman Garwood for Brazil

Production Design by J. Michael Riva; Set Design by Linda DeScenna The Color Purple

Production Design by Clovis Bueno for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Production Design by Stuart Wurtzel; Set Design by Carol Joffe, The Purple Rose of Cairo

Production Design by Shinobu Muraki, Yoshirô Muraki; Set Design by Jiro Hirai, Mitsuyuki Kimura, Yasuyoshi Ototake, Tsuneo Shimura & Osumi Tousho for Ran

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Laura Dern (Mask)

Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple)

Frances McDormand (Blood Simple)

Catherine O'Hara (After Hours)

Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Barry Sonnenfeld for Blood Simple.

Allen Daviau for The Color Purple

Rodolfo Sanchez for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Gordon Willis for The Purple Rose of Cario

Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saitô & Shôji Ueda for Ran

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Aggie Guerard Rodgers for The Color Purple

Patricio Bisso for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Milena Canonero for Out of Africa

Jeffrey Kurland for The Purple Rose of Cairo

Emi Wada for Ran

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY:

Shoah (Directed by Claude Lanzmann)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

After Hours (Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara, Linda Fiorentino, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Will Patton, Clarence Felder, Dick Miller, Bronson Pinchot, Martin Scorsese, Victor Argo, Larry Block, Rocco Sisto)

The Breakfast Club (Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Paul Gleason, John Kapelos)

The Color Purple (Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Akosua Busia, Adolph Caesar, Willard Pugh, Rae Dawn Chong, Laurence Fishburne, Grand Bush, Dana Ivey, Leon Rippy, Bennet Guillory, James Tillis, Desreta Jackson, Leonard Jackson, Howard Starr, Lelo Masamba)

Desert Hearts (Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonnea, Audra Lindley, Andra Akers, Dean Butler, Gwen Welles, James Staley, Katie La Bourdette, Alex McArthur, Tyler Tyhurst, Denise Crosby, Antony Ponzini)

The Purple Rose of Cairo (Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Edward Herrmann, John Wood, Deborah Rush, Zoe Caldwell, Van Johnson, Karen Akers, Milo O'Shea, Dianne Wiest, George Martin)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Roderick Jaynes & Don Wiegmann for Blood Simple

Mauro Alice for Kiss of the Spider Woman

Susan E. Morse for The Purple Rose of Cario

Akira Kurosawa for Ran

Thom Noble for Witness

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Dangerous Moves (Directed by Richard Dembo)

Ghare-Baire (Directed by Satyajit Ray)

The Official Story (Directed by Luis Puenzo)

Ran (Directed by Akira Kurosawa)

A Time to Live, a Time to Die (Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Jia-hua Lao, Li-Yin Yang & Hsiao-Ming Hsu)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Ken Chase for The Color Purple

Tom Savini for Day of the Dead

Michael Westmore & Zoltan Elek for Mask

Tameyuki Aimi, Chihako Naito, Noriko Takamizawa & Shoshichiro Ueda for Ran

William Munns for The Return of the Living Dead

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andraé Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey & Randy Kerber for The Color Purple

Nando Carneiro & John Neschling for Kiss of the Spider Woman

John Barry for Out of Africa

Tôru Takemitsu for Ran

Chu-chu Wu for A Time to Live, a Time to Die

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Back to the Future, "Power of Love" (Music by Chris Hayes & Johnny Colla; Lyrics by Huey Lewis)

A Chorus Line, "Surprise Surprise" (Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Ed Kleban)

The Color Purple, "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" (Music by Quincy Jones & Rod Temperton; Lyrics by Lionel Richie)

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, "We Don't Need Another Hero" (Music and Lyrics by Terry Britten & Graham Lyle)

White Nights, "Say You, Say Me" (Music and Lyrics by Lionel Richie)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Meryl Streep (Out of Africa, Plenty)

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Michael Jacobi, Neil Kaufman & Magdaline Volaitis for After Hours

Charles L. Campbell & Robert R. Rutledge for Back to the Future

Ship Lievsay, Michael R. Miller, Jun Mizumachi & Fred Szymanski for Blood Simple.

Rodney Glenn for Brazil

Kathleen Earle Killeen & Dan Lieberman for The Purple Rose of Cairo

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Chat Gunter for After Hours

Bill Varney, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, Robert Thirlwell & William B. Kaplan for Back to the Future

Lee Orloff for Blood Simple.

Willie D. Burton for The Color Purple

Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, Larry Stensvold & Peter Handford for Out of Africa

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Kevin Pike & Ken Ralston for Back to the Future

George Gibbs & Richard Conway for Brazil

Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar & David Berry for Cocoon

Howard Jones, Steven Kirshoff & Mark Mann for Day of the Dead

Will Vinton, Ian Wingrove, Zoran Perisic & Michael Lloyd for Return to Oz

Now having gone the 80's I'm going back to the very beginning of the 50's with 1950. This year is big in terms of a close two film race for just amount every prize. One film is about theatre and the other about film. The former All About Eve won the big prizes over the latter Sunset Boulevard. Which one of these will I choose or is there another film other then these two that I might wanna vote for.

2006 - The year Marty was rewarded

It's hard to believe that it's been a decade since Martin Scorsese one of the greatest directors of all time was finally rewarded his long overdue oscar. 10 years from this momentus event he still has only won the one award and really the win in retrospective while worthy in terms of fellow nominees of the actual list of great 2006 features is in my opinion an example of an overdue oscar rather than a deserved one. The Departed the film Scorsese won his oscar for also won the picture prize and while a good film is in no way one of his greats which is tough for any film when comparing to previous achievements from Scorsese. The Departed does have it's moments of greatness like most Scorsese films and features some incredible work from Jack Nicholson and especially Leonardo DiCaprio who was overlooked for this film in favor of Blood Diamond (how did this happen). The other nominees that year for best picture don't inspire much excitement either, they were Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel, Clint Eastwood's Letter from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and Stephen Frears The Queen. Considering how great Letter from Iwo Jima is would've made it my choice from these list of nominees even including The Departed as Letters is the only one to make my top 10 list for the year. Babel is like most Iñárritu films ambitious but in the end not all it's cracked up to be. Little Miss Sunshine is cute and typical indie family fair but best picture worthy I'm not so sure and The Queen while good in terms of it's performances but is rather slow and bland other then the actors work. It's no surprise Scorsese was able to win with this field and his win for this is made even worse especially since he won over such weak competition.

Now that I've sort of objected to the academies choices I will talk about what I consider to be great films from this year. My number one choice actually surprisingly won multiple academy awards. This film is Pan's Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro. It's such a magically horrifying film of equal wonder and fearful shots. Del Toro has never made a greater film than this which is a reason why so many people look forward to his films mainly due to the brilliance he displayed with Pan's Labyrinth. Then there is Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, Yet another impressive feature from the mexican born director who like del Toro made his greatest film in 2006 but unlike Pan's was not even rewarded by the academy. Children of Men is so gorgeous to look at from Lubezki's photography to the entrailing story being told in this film. Then there's Notes on a Scandal which is the perfect blend of elegance and pulpy fun. The film can be overlooked due to it's pulpy elements and high emotional character choices by Blanchett and Dench but the film has a grasp on it's tone so well that I can't help but fall in love with the film every time I see it. One of these reasons is Judi Dench who should've won the actress prize for her villianess and harrowing work as Barbara Covett a women unaware of how she can ruin lives with just lusting for one women. Dench has never been better then Notes and easily snatches my actress prize. Inland Empire to date our last David Lynch film rocked people at the time of it's release leading them to look negatively on the film but in my opinion like many of his features before is a glorious and simply Lynchian film like no other. Laura Dern is a site to behold in the lead role and all together it is Lynch stepping further into himself and you have liked him before like I have then you can only marvel at this film. The final film that would've filled my 5 nominee ballot is Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu a comedic drama film about an old man taken from hospital to hospital one night. It is a rather interesting film to watch that I've only seen the one time but outright loved it that I couldn't help but see it make my top 5 list. The acting winners along with the top prizes where disappointing in 2006 as you had Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Alan Arkin and Jennifer Hudson win. The Hudson win I agree with no matter anyone's opinion as I just outright enjoy her work no matter how limited she might be. However outside of her I just can't agree with the other choices. Whitaker may have struck gold with his performance but when aganist Peter O'Toole in his final nomination is no comparison as O'Toole breaks your heart to pieces. I've discussed Dench over Mirren and Arkin a shock on a night is such a pitiful win that I can't help but cry at him winning over such a turn as Jackie Earl Haley in Little Children.

I've seen so many films during 2006 and over the years since from the year that the list is rather too long but just know that from what I saw it was an impressive year for foreign cinema whether actually the foreign language or foreign directors hitting it big with English language features. Below however is the list of winners and nominees I would've preferred for the year instead of the academies list.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

01. Pan's Labyrinth (Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Bertha Navarro, Frida Torresblanco & Alvaro Augustin)

02. Children of Men (Produced by Hilary Shor, Iain Smith, Tony Smith, Marc Abraham & Eric Newman)

03. Notes on a Scandal (Produced by Robert Fox & Scott Rudin)

04. Inland Empire (Produced by Laura Dern & Mary Sweeney)

05. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Produced by Alexandru Munteanu, Bobby Paunescu & Anca Puiu)

06. United 93

07. L'Enfant

08. Letters from Iwo Jima

09. Dreamgirls

10. Volver

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Alfonso Cuarón for Children of Men

Guillermo del Toro for Pan's Labyrinth

Paul Greengrass for United 93

David Lynch for Inland Empire

Cristi Puiu for The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy in "THE DEPARTED"

Ryan Gosling as Dan Dunne in "HALF NELSON"

Peter O'Toole as Maurice in "VENUS"

Clive Owen as Theo Faron in "CHILDREN OF MEN"

Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in "THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Penélope Cruz as Raimunda in "VOLVER"

Judi Dench as Barbara Covett in "NOTES ON A SCANDAL"

Laura Dern as Nikki Grace / Susan Blue in "INLAND EMPIRE"

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Sherry Swanson in "SHERRYBABY"

Meryl Streep as Miranda Prestly in "THE DEVIL WEAR'S PRADA"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Steve Carell as Frank Ginsberg in "LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE"

Jackie Earl Haley as Ronnie J. McGorvey in "LITTLE CHILDREN"

Eddie Murphy as James 'Thunder' Early in "DREAMGIRLS"

Jack Nicholson as Francis "Frank" Costello in "THE DEPARTED"

Michael Sheen as Tony Blair in "THE QUEEN"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Cate Blanchett as Sheba Hart in "NOTES ON A SCANDAL"

Emily Blunt as Emily in "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA"

Eva Green as Vesper Lynd in "CASINO ROYALE"

Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in "DREAMGIRLS"

Mia Kirshner as Elizabeth Short in "THE BLACK DAHLIA"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Cristi Puiu & Razvan Radulescu for The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck for Half Nelson

David Lynch for Inland Empire

Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne for L'Enfant

Peter Morgan for The Queen

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby; Based on The Children of Men by P. D. James, Children of Men

Screenplay by William Monahan; Based on Infernal Affairs by Alan Mak & Felix Chong, The Departed

Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta; Based on Little Children by Tom Perrotta, Little Children

Screenplay by Patrick Marber; Based on Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller, Notes on a Scandal

Screenplay by Jason Reitman; Based on Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley, Thank You for Smoking

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Cars (Directed by John Lasseter)

Flushed Away (Directed by David Bowers & Sam Fell)

Happy Feet (Directed by George Miller)

Over the Hedge (Directed by Tim Johnson & Karey Kirkpatrick)

A Scanner Darkly (Directed by Richard Linklater)

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by Jim Clay & Geoffrey Kirkland; Set Design by Jennifer Williams for Children of Men

Production Design by John Myhre; Set Design by Nancy Haigh for Dreamgirls

Production Design by K.K. Barrett; Set Design by Veronique Melery for Marie Antionette

Production Design by Eugenio Caballero; Set Design by Pilar Revuelta for Pan's Labyrinth

Production Design by Owen Patterson; Set Design by Peter Walpole for V for Vendetta

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada)

Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson)

Déborah François (L'Enfant)

Eva Green (Casino Royale)

Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Emmanuel Lubezki for Children of Men

Matthew Lipatique for The Fountain

David Lynch for Inland Empire

Guillermo Navarro for Pan's Labyrinth

Barry Ackroyd for United 93

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Patricia Field for The Devil Wears Prada

Sharen Davies for Dreamgirls

Milena Caniberi for Marie Antionette

Lala Huete for Pan's Labyrinth

Consolata Boyle for The Queen

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY:

An Inconvenient Truth (Directed by Davis Guggenheim)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

The Departed (Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson, James Badge Dale, David O'Hara, Mark Rolston, Kevin Corrigan, John Cenatiempo, Armen Garo, Robert Wahlberg, Kristen Dalton, Conor Donovan)

Dreamgirls (Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal, Hinton Battle, Mariah I. Wilson)

Little Miss Sunshine (Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, Dean Norris, Wallace Langham, Beth Grant, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Matt Winston)

A Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, L. Q. Jones, Tim Russell, Maya Rudolph, Robin Williams, Linda Williams, Tom Keith, Sue Scott)

Volver (Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Yohana Cobo, Blanca Portillo, Lola Dueñas, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre , María Isabel Díaz, Carlos Blanco, Neus Sanz)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Stuart Baird for Casino Royale

Alfonso Cuaron & Alex Rodriguez for Children of Men

Thelma Schoonmaker for The Departed

Virginia Katz for Dreamgirls

Clare Dougkasm Richard Pearson & Christopher Rouse for United 93

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Directed by Cristi Puiu)

L'Enfant (Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne)

Letters from Iwo Jima (Directed by Clint Eastwood)

Pan's Labyrinth (Directed by Guillermo del Toro)

Volver (Directed by Pedro Almodóvar)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Aldo Signoretti & Vittorio Sodano for Apocalypto

Jean-Luc Russier & Desiree Corridoni for Marie Antionette

David Marti & Montse Ribe for Pan's Labyrinth

Daniel Phillips for The Queen

Paul Engelen, Melissa Lackersteen &  Petra Schaumann for V for Vendetta

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel

Nathan Johnson for Brick

Clint Mansell for The Fountain

Philip Glass for Notes on a Scandal

Alexandre Desplat for The Queen

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

"O Kazakhstan", Borat (Music by Erran Caron Cohen; Lyrics by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Bauham, Todd Phillips, Dan Greaney, Jeffrey Poliquin & Patton Oswalt)

"Listen", Dreamgirls (Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler; Lyrics by Anne Preven)

"Love You I Do", Dreamgirls (Music by Henry Krieger; Lyrics by Siedah Garrett)

"The Song of the Heart", Happy Feet (Music and Lyrics by Prince)

"I Need to Wake Up", An Inconvenient Truth (Music and Lyrics by Melissa Etheridge)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Alec Baldwin (The Departed, The Good Shepherd, Running with Scissors)

Cate Blanchett (Babel, The Good German, Notes on a Scandal)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Inside Man, Kinky Boots)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Monster House, Sherrybaby, Stranger than Fiction, World Trade Center)

William H. Macy (Bobby, Inland Empire, Thank You for Smoking)

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Martin Cantwell & Eddy Joseph for Casino Royale

Richard Beggs & David Evans for Children of Men

Alan Robert Murray & Bub Asman for Letters from Iwo Jima

Oliver Tarney, Eddy Joseph, Jack Whittaker & Martin Cantwell for United 93

Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle & Andrew Wilkinson for V for Vendetta

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith & Mark Taylor for Casino Royale

Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer & Willie D. Burton for Dreamgirls

John T. Reitz, David E. Campbell, Gregg Rudloff & Walt Martin for Flags of Our Fathers

Dave Campbell, Walt Martin, John Reitz & Gregg Rudloff for Letters from Iwo Jima

Martín Hernández, Jaime Baksht & Miguel Ángel Polo for Pan's Labyrinth

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Frazer Churchill, Tim Webber, Mike Eames & Paul Corbould for Children of Men

Jeremy Dawson & Dan Schrecker for The Fountain

Edward Irastorza, Everett Burrell, David Martí & Montse Ribé for Pan's Labyrinth

John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson & Allen Hall for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Dan Glass for V for Vendetta

Now having revisited my most recent year with 2006 next it's back just over 20 years to 1985 the year when Sydney Pollack's romance epic Out of Africa won a lot of gold. Did this film deserve to win all it did or did something The Color Purple (tied with The Turning Point for the most oscars lost by a film in one year = 11 nominations and 11 loses).

1954 - The year the awards were ruled by some dock workers

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.