1962 - The year Lawrence sweeped

Previously to revisiting 1962 the film year I had only seen two films which were The Miracle Worker and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Both are great films featuring stellar work by their leads but little did I know the brilliance I was in store with all the other films from this historic year in my opinion. As I mentioned in the title just about everything went to David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia. The best picture choice going to Lawrence was for the second year in a row the academy picking the years best in my critical opinion. Lawrence of Arabia is first off a beautiful film and as epic as it's running time would suggest. There is never a dull moment as we follow the journey through the performance of Peter O'Toole, he is heartfelt and grounded that while not my choice for the year's best male performance his work still looms large. David Lean is able to make this vast, sprawling tale thrilling to follow composing such beautiful shots as the Omar Sharif entrance, the blowing out of the match and the multiple shots of this almost never ending desert. Enough can't be said about Lawrence but there were other nominees for best picture in 1962 and they were The Longest Day, The Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty and To Kill a Mockingbird. Of the other four Mockingbird still holds up for it's handle of subject matter and Gregory Peck's academy award winning turn that is such a strong and stoic turn from him. The other three are good if not a bit dated which is why I would personally note nominate any of them.

1962 was an incredible year for film both in the states and abroad in Europe. My runner up for best picture of 1962 is Blake Edwards partially underrated Days of Wine and Roses. The film is mainly praised for it's two leading performances deservedly so but the film itself is just as good as the work done by Reemick and Lemmon. Jack Lemmon in fact would've been my choice for best actor in a close call category with 5 extraordinary leading male performances. The other 3 films that would've filled out my best picture lineup are Sidney Lumet's Long Day's Journey Into Night, Luis Buñuel's Viridiana and Ingmar Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly. Similar to Days of Wine Long Day's is praised for it's powerhouse quartet of performances but itself is a greatly emotional roller coaster of a film. Katharine Hepburn who in her career won 4 oscars should've received one for her work as Mary Tyrone the drug addicted matriarch of the Tyrone house. Viridiana and Through a Glass Darkly are examples of the great foreign cinema of the 1960's The former Luis Buñuel's greatest film and the latter one of the many great films from Ingmar Bergman who for me is clearly one of the greatest film makers ever to create films. Katharine Hepburn and Jack Lemmon as I mentioned would've been my choices for the leading wins and while the academy chose Ed Begley and Patty Duke for supporting wins Begley is a rather overrated turn and Duke deserved her win. Instead of Begley I would've picked Dean Stockwell who was overlooked for his magnificent work in Long Day's Journey Into Night. 

29 films amounts to what films I've seen released in the untied states in 1962. This is the first year of the ones I've revisited that I consider one of the great film years. Whether it was the great american films or ones from Europe I can't help but beg for more film years like this when I see the wonderful films that came out this year. Below is the list of winners and nominees from very stiff competition.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Lawrence of Arabia (Produced by Sam Spiegel)

2. Days of Wine and Roses (Produced by Martin Manulis)

3. Long Day's Journey Into Night (Produced by Ely Landau, Joseph E. Levine & Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr.)

4. Viridiana (Produced by Gustavo Alatriste)

5. Through a Glass Darkly (Produced by Allan Ekelund)

6. To Kill a Mockingbird

7. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

8. Last Year at Marienbad

9. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

10. Jules et Jim

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Blake Edwards for Days of Wine and Roses

John Ford for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia

Sidney Lumet for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Robert Mulligan for To Kill a Mockingbird

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Jack Lemmon as Joe Clay in "DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES"

Paul Newman as Chance Wayne in "SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH"

Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence in "LAWRENCE OF ARABIA"

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD"

Ralph Richardson as James Tyrone in "LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Harriet Andersson as Karin in "THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY"

Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson in "WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?"

Katherine Hepburn as Mary Tyrone in "LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT"

Jeanne Moreau as Catherine in "JULES ET JIM"

Lee Remick as Kirsten Arnesen/Clay in "DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance in "THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE"

Jason Robards Jr. as Jamie Tyrone in "LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT"

Peter Sellers as Clare Quinty in "LOLITA"

Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali in "LAWRENCE OF ARABAIA"

Dean Stockwell as Edmund Tyrone in "LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Patty Duke as Helen Keller in "THE MIRACLE WORKER"

Angela Lansbury as Mr. Eleanor Shawn Iselin in "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE"

Barbara Stanwyck as Jo Courtney in "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE"

Monica Vitti as Valentina Gherardini in "LA NOTTE"

Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze in "LOLITA"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Agnès Varda for Cléo from 5 to 7

JP Miller for Days of Wine and Roses

Michelangelo Antonioni, Ennio Flaiano & Tonino Guerra for La Notte

Alain Robbe-Grillet for Last Year at Marienbad

Ingmar Bergman for Through a Glass Darkly

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Robert Bolt & Michael Wilson; Based on the writings of T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia

Screenplay by Eugene O'Neill; Based on Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey Into Night

Screenplay by James Warner Bellah & Willis Goldbeck; Based on A 1953 short story by Dorothy M. Johnson, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Screenplay by George Axelrod; Based on The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate

Screenplay Horton Footel Based on To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Screenplay by Julio Alejandro

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by John Box; Art Direction by John Stoll; Set Decoration by Dario Simoni for Lawrence of Arabia

Art Direction by William C. Andrews for Lolita

Production Design by Richard Sylbert; Set Decoration by Gene Callahan for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Art Direction by Henry Burnstead; Set Decoration by Oliver Ernest for To Kill a Mockingbird

Art Direction by William Glasgow; Set Decoration by George Sawley for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Mary Badham (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker)

Jane Fonda (Walk on the Wild Side)

Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)

Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Philip H. Lathrop for Days of Wine and Roses

Freddie Young for Lawrence of Arabia

Oswald Morris for Lolita

Russell Harlan for To Kill a Mockingbird

Ernest Haller for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Phyllis Dalton for Lawrence of Arabia

Judianna Makovsky for Lolita

Sophie Devin for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Dorothy Jeakins for The Music Man

Norma Koch for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE:

Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, José Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Wolfit, Michel Ray, I. S. Johar, Zia Mohyeddin, Gamil Ratib, Ian MacNaughton, John Dimech, Hugh Miller, Fernando Sancho, Stuart Saunders, Jack Gwillim, Kenneth Fortescue, Harry Fowler, Howard Marion-Crawford, John Ruddock, Norman Rossington, Jack Hedley, Henry Oscar, Peter Burton)

Long Day's Journey Into Night (Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards, Jr., Dean Stockwell, Jeanne Barr)

The Manchurian Candidate (Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva as Chunjin, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish, John McGiver, Khigh Dheigh, James Edwards, Douglas Henderson, Albert Paulsen, Barry Kelley, Lloyd Corrigan, Madame Spivy)

Sweet Bird of Youth (Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley, Rip Torn, Mildred Dunnock, Madeleine Sherwood, Philip Abbott, Corey Allen, Barry Cahill, Dub Taylor, James Douglas, Barry Atwater, Charles Arnt, Dorothy Konrad, James Chandler, Mike Steen, Kelly Thordsen, Edith Atwater, Robert Burton, William Forrest, Roy Glenn, Sydney Guilaroff, Regis Parton, Davis Roberts, Eddy Samuels)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson, Alice Ghostley, Robert Duvall, William Windom, Crahan Denton, Richard Hale, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Patrick McCormack for Days of Wine and Roses

Anne V. Coates for Lawrence of Arabia

Ralph Rosenblum for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Ferris Webster for The Manchurian Candidate

Aaron Stell for To Kill a Mockingbird

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

La Notte (Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni)

Last Year at Marienbad (Directed by Alain Resnais)

Sundays and Cybele (Directed by Serge Bourguignon)

Through a Glass Darkly (Directed by Ingmar Bergman)

Viridiana (Directed by Luis Buñuel)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/ADAPTATION SCORE:

Bernard Herrmann for Cape Fear

Henry Mancini for Days of Wine and Roses

Maurice Jarre for Lawrence of Arabia

Andre Previn for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Elmer Bernstein for To Kill a Mockingbird

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Days of Wine and Roses, "Days of Wine and Roses" (Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer)

Walk on the Wild Side, "Walk on the Wild Side" (Music by Elmer Bernstein; Lyrics by Mack David)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" (Music by Frank De Vol; Lyrics by Bob Merrill)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Karl Malden (All Fall Down, Birdman of Alcatraz, Gypsy)

Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear, The Longest Day, Two for the Seesaw)

Gregory Peck (Cape Fear, To Kill a Mockingbird)

Telly Savalas (Biardman of Alcatraz, Cape Fear, The Interns)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Corson Joweet & Waldon O. Watson for Cape Fear

John Cox for Lawrence of Arabia

George Groves for The Music Man

Franklin Milton for Sweet Bird of Youth

Harold E. McGhan & Jack Solomon for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

OUSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Robert MacDonald & Jacques Maumont for The Longest Day

Next I will revisit 1936. This year marks the first year supporting throphies were awarded and when The Great Ziegfeld won best picture. This this large scale epic still stand up or do the films such as Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times which was overlooked at the time make a case for being better then what the academy chose in it's 9th year of existence.

1961 - The year everyone like to be in America

As a live long fan of musical theater and anything musical theater related I had seen West Side Story a long time ago and obviously the brilliance of the film made such an impression on me early on. Other that and maybe a couple others I wasn't really educated in what films were released in 1961. Rarely do I feel the academy makes the right decision when it comes to best picture but by picking West Side Story in my opinion the greatest musical adaptation filmed for the big screen. The screen is full of magic from the story which is easily the greatest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, then there is the quite historic choreography which does so much into telling this story of war, romance and family. Rita Moreno who won the academy award for supporting actress is arguably one of the greatest choices in the category because while other main actors in the film might fall back Moreno embraces just about every aspect of the film and when on screen is the one who steals your attention. In terms of the competition there didn't seem to be a clear other film to reward. The other nominees were Fanny a film I still haven't seen but all reports doesn't seem like something I should seek out, The Guns of Navarone your typical male epic-war drama from the 60's, The Hustler one of Paul Newman's many male anti-hero classics and Judgement at Nuremberg a historical account of one of the darkest times in history that just feels like a average filmed stage adaptation. Of the others The Hustler is the only other film I consider great with it even still making my top 5 list of the years best.

In terms of my personal top five for best picture aside from West Side Story & The Hustler the other three I would've included were La Dolce Vita, Breathless and Breakfast at Tiffany's. La Dolce Vita easily one of the greatest films ever filmed which is no surprise from the pure talent that Fellini is. He captures in his many chapters the story of a many who is surrounded by beauty in many forms and like the beauty of life the camera captures what beauty can really look like. Breathless then is one of the most inspirational films of the 60's French New Wave. It's just such a masterclass film that Jean Luc-Godard while he has filmed great films that followed has never topped what he created with Breathless. The final choice Breakfast at Tiffany's for me is the greatest turn from Audrey Hepburn as the delightful Holly Golightly. While the film is looked upon for her greatness Blake Edwards just creates such a charasmatic romance story around her that each time I watch I fall for the film again and again. While in 1961 the acting prizes were rewarded to Maximilian Schell, Sophia Loren, George Chakiris and Rita Moreno outside of Moreno none of these would've been my choices. As I mentioned before Hepburn is easily the strongest leading actress performance given in 1961. The male acting prizes for me would've gone to Paul Newman and George C. Scott for their dueling turns in The Hustler.

22 is the amount of films I've seen from 1961. While the films at the top of my list are great there are some right clunkers towards the bottom of the list in terms of ranking from what I've seen from the year. While the academy was able to make the right choice with the winner below is how overall the list should've looked like with winners and nominees from the year.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. West Side Story (Produced by Robert Wise)

2. La Dolce Vita (Produced by Giuseppe Amato & Angelo Rizzoli)

3. Breathless (Produced by Georges de Beauregard)

4. The Hustler (Produced by Robert Rossen)

5. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Produced by Martin Jurow & Richard Shepherd)

6. Splendor in the Grass

7. Yojimbo

8. Throne of Blood

9. A Raisin in the Sun

10. The Misfits

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Blake Edwards for Breakfast at Tiffany's

Federico Fellini for La Dolce Vita

Jean-Luc Godard for Breathless

Robert Rossen for The Hustler

Robert Wise & Jermone Robbins for West Side Story

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Jean-Paul Belmondo as Michel Poiccard / Laszlo Kovacs in "BREATHLESS"

Clark Gable as Gay Langland in "THE MISFITS"

Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello Rubini in "LA DOLCE VITA"

Paul Newman as Eddie Felson in "THE HUSTLER"

Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee Younger in "A RAISIN IN THE SUN"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly / Lula Mae Barnes in "BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S"

Deborah Kerr as Miss Giddens in "THE INNOCENTS"

Claudia McNeil as Lena Younger in "A RAISIN IN THE SUN"

Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Tabor in "THE MISFITS"

Natalie Wood as Wilma Dean "Deanie" Loomis in "SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Montgomery Clift as Rudolph Peterson in "JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG"

Tatsuya Nakadi as Unosuke in "YOJIMBO"

Annibale Ninchi as Marcello's father in "LA DOLCE VITA"

George C. Scott as Bert Gordon in "THE HUSTLER"

Eli Wallach as Guido in "THE MISFITS"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Ruby Dee as Ruth Younger in "A RAISIN IN THE SUN"

Anita Ekberg as Sylvia in "LA DOLCE VITA"

Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard in "THE HUSTLER"

Rita Moreno as Anita in "WEST SIDE STORY"

Diana Sands as Beneatha Younger in "A RAISIN IN THE SUN"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Jean-Luc Godard for Breathless

Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, Brunello Rondi & Pier Paolo Pasolini for La Dolce Vita

Arthur Miller for The Misfits

William Inge for Splendour in the Grass

Akira Kurosawa & Ryûzô Kikushima for Yojimbo

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by George Axelrod; Based on Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's

Screenplay by Sidney Carroll & Robert Rossen; Based on The Hustler by Walter Tevis, The Hustler

Screenplay by William Archibald & Truman Capote; Based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Innocents

Screenplay by Lorraine Hansberry; Based on A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Screenplay by Ernest Lehman; Based on West Side Story by Jerome Robbins & Arthur Laurents, West Side Story

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Set Design by Sam Comer & Ray Moyer for Breakfast at Tiffany's

Production Design by Harry Horner; Set Design by Gene Callahan for The Hustler

Production Design by Piero Gherardi for La Dolce Vita

Production Design by Boris Leven; Set Decoration by Victor A. Gangelin for West Side Story

Production Design by Yoshirô Muraki for Yojimbo

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Warren Beatty (Splendor in the Grass)

Elenora Brown (Two Women)

Veronica Cartwright (The Children's Hour)

Claudia McNeil (A Raisin in the Sun)

Diana Sands (A Raisin in the Sun)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Eugen Schüfftan for The Hustler

Freddie Francis for The Innocents

Otello Martelli for La Dolce Vita

Daniel L. Fapp for West Side Story

Kazuo Miyagawa for Yojimbo

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Hubert de Givenchy for Breakfast at Tiffany's

Motley for The Innocents

Piero Gherandi for La Dolce Vita

Irene Sharaff for West Side Story

Yoshirô Muraki for Yojimbo

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE:

The Hustler (Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, Myron McCormick, Murray Hamilton, Michael Constantine, Stefan Gierasch, Clifford Pellow, Jake LaMotta, Gordon B. Clarke, Alexander Rose, Carolyn Coates, Carl York Young, Vincent Gardenia, Gloria Curtis, Charles Dierkop)

Judgement at Nuremberg (Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland, Howard Caine, William Shatner, John Wengraf, Karl Swenson, Ben Wright, Ed Binns, Torben Meyer, Martin Brandt, Kenneth MacKenna, Alan Baxter, Ray Teal, Virginia Christine, Joseph Bernard, Olga Fabian)

La Dolce Vita (Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux, Lex Barker, Magali Noël, Alain Cuny, Nadia Gray, Annibale Ninchi, Walter Santesso, Valeria Ciangottini, Riccardo Garron, Ida Galli, Audrey McDonald, Gloria Jones, Alain Dijon, Enzo Cerusico, Nico)

A Raisin in the Sun (Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Stephen Perry, John Fiedler, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett, Joel Fluellen, Roy Glenn, Louis Terrel)

West Side Story (Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno , George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, John Astin, Penny Santon, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Feld, Bert Michaels, David Bean, Robert Banas, Anthony 'Scooter' Teague, Harvey Evans, Tommy Abbott, Susan Oakes, Gina Trikonis, Carole D'Andrea, Rita Hyde d'Amico, Pat Tribble, Francesca Bellini, Elaine Joyce, Jose DeVega, Jay Norman, Gus Trikonis, Eddie Verso, Jamie Rogers, Larry Roquemore, Robert E. Thompson, Nick Covacevich, Rudy Del Campo, Andre Tayir, Yvonne Othon, Suzie Kaye, Joanne Miya, Maria Jimenez Henley, Yvonne Wilder, Luci Stone, Olivia Perez)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Howard A. Smith for Breakfast at Tiffany's

Leo Cattozzo for La Dolce Vita

Gene Milford for Splendour in the Grass

Thomas Stanford for West Side Story

Akira Kurosawa for Yojimbo

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Breathless (Directed by Jean-Luc Godard)

La Dolce Vita (Directed by Federico Fellini)

Throne of Blood (Directed by Akira Kurosaw)

Two Women (Directed by Vittorio De Sica)

Yojimbo (Directed by Akira Kurosawa)

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:

Henry Mancini for Breakfast at Tiffany's

Georges Auric for The Innocents

Nino Rota for La Dolce Vita

David Amram for Splendour in the Grass

Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin & Irwin Kostal for West Side Story

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Breakfast at Tiffany's, "Moon River" (Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Johnny Mercer)

The Innocents, "O Willow Waly" (Music by Georges Auric; Lyrics by Paul Dehn)

Lover Come Back, "Lover Come Back" (Music and Lyrics by Frank De Vol and Alan Spilton)

Lover Come Back, "Should I Surrender" (Music by Adam Ross; Lyrics by William Landan)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians, "Cruella Da Vill" (Music and Lyrics by Mel Leven)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER:

Warren Beatty (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Splendor in the Grass)

Montgomery Clift (Judgement at Nuremberg, The Misfits)

Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Children's Hour)

Rita Moreno (Summer and Smoke, West Side Story)

Natalie Wood (Splendour in the Grass, West Side Story)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

John Cox for The Guns of Navarone

Edward Beyer, Jim Shields, Dick Vorisek & Jack Fitzstephens for The Hustler

Oscar Di Santo & Agostino Moretti for La Dolce Vita

Charles Grenzbach, Philip Mitchell & R.D. Cook for The Misfits

Fred Hynes & Gordon E. Sawyer for West Side Story

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Bill Warrington & Vivian C. Greenham for The Guns of Navarone

Unlike how I've gone from what it seems decade to decade the next year I'll be going to is the following year 1962 where David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia similar to West Side Story dominated the conversation winning just about everything but surprisingly not able to win either of it's acting nominations. We will see if i agree with it's dominance at the academy awards next time I post on Sunday.

1996 - The year English Patient won mostly everything but original song

1996 the year I was born holds a personal place in my heart and while it took me a long time to watch all the movies it was satisfying when I watched all the great ones. 1996 was dominated by three films in terms of critical consensus by three films that all screen in Cannes that year. Those films were Fargo, Secrets & Lies and Breaking the Waves, while neither of them won the best picture prize the three of them are so powerful they still stand high above the rest. The best picture prize went to The English Patient a film I like in moments but the overall product is not as strong and really was your typical average choice. The other nominees for best picture were the Coen brothers spectacular Fargo, Mike Leigh's gut wrenching Secrets & Lies, Cameron Crowe's enjoyable crowd pleasing Jerry Maguire and Scott Hicks' biopic Shine. This lineup outside of Shine is made up on incredible film makers and really great because of Secrets & Lies and Fargo. Jerry Maguire like English Patient has it's moments and Shine is just a terribly contrite and quite boring.

Funnily enough my choice for the year's best film is Secrets & Lies. The film is just unexpected in how emotional it is. The central story of Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste really holds strong in how detailed and emotionally raw it is between Leigh's writing and the two actresses who blow you away each time you watch the film. Then there is the intersecting photography scenes which really help to ground the film and climatic scene of this film holds such power as we witness human nature in all it's colours. Mike Leigh really outdid himself with this film and hits it so hard that is is quite unsatisfying this film won nothing at 1996's oscars.

The academy made some strong choices in the year of indie oscars but while I would also nominate Secrets & Lies and Fargo the other three choices I would've made include Jane Campion's The Piano follow-up The Portrait of a Lady. This film is rather under watched due to coming directly after The Piano but I fell for it hard. Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves the third of the Cannes films is also a spectacular film achievement with Emily Watson giving one of the greatest film debuts of all time making the film better by her presence in the film. Chungking Express would be the final one to fill out my list, directed by Wong Kar-Wai it is one of the greatest achievements by the director I have seen of the ones I have managed to seek out. The acting races in 1996 when to Geoffrey Rush, Frances McDormand, Cuba Gooding Jr. & Juliette Binoche. This choices outside of Rush are fine with McDormand being the closest to the ones I would've rewarded. However in terms of winning performances it doesn't get better then William H. Macy & Steve Buscemi's work in Fargo to win the male acting prizes. Brenda Blethyn just edges above McDormand and Watson to win the actress prize from me. The one performance to fill out the four wins is Joan Allen's magnificent skilled performance as the devastating Elizabeth Proctor. 

43 is the amount of films I managed to see that were released in america in 1996 and overall it was quite a strong year for film which surprisingly shown for the most part in the choices made by the academy awards. However while I say this there is a lot of different directions I would've gone which is why my winners and nominees from that year would look like this.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

01. Secrets & Lies (Produced by Simon Channing Williams)

02. Fargo (Produced by Ethan Coen)

03. The Portrait of a Lady (Produced by Steve Golin & Monty Montgomery)

04. Breaking the Waves (Produced by Peter Aalbæk Jensen & Vibeke Windeløv)

05. Chungking Express (Produced by Chan Yi-kan)

06. The People vs. Larry Flynt

07. Flirting with Disaster

08. Bound

09. Trainspotting

10. The Birdcage

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Jane Campion for The Portrait of a Lady

Joel Coen for Fargo

Wong Kar-wai for Chungking Express

Mike Leigh for Secrets & Lies

Lars von Trier for Breaking the Waves

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor in "THE CRUCIBLE"

Woody Harrelson as Larry Flynt in "THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT"

William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard in "FARGO"

Ewan McGregor as Renton in "TRAINSPOTTING"

Timothy Spall as Maurice Purley in "SECRETS & LIES"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Brenda Blethyn as Cynthia Rose Purley in "SECRETS & LIES"

Laura Dern as Ruth Stoops in "CITIZEN RUTH"

Nicole Kidman as Isabel Archer in "THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY"

Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in "FARGO"

Emily Watson as Bess McNeill in "BREAKING OFTHE WAVES"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Ewen Bremmer as Spud in "TRAINSPOTTING"

Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter in "FARGO"

Richard Jenkins as Paul Harmon in "FLIRTING WITH DISASTER"

Nathan Lane as Albert Goldman in "THE BIRDCAGE"

Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth in "THE CRUCIBLE"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor in "THE CRUCIBLE"

Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Hortense Cumberbatch in "SECRETS & LIES"

Barbara Hershey as Madame Serna Merle in "THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY"

Kelly Macdonald as Diane in "TRAINSPOTTING"

Mary Tyler Moore as Pearl Coplin in "FLIRTING WITH DISASTER"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

The Wachowski Brothers for Bound

Lars von Trier and Peter Asmussen for Breaking the Waves

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Fargo

David O. Russell for Flirting With Disaster

Mike Leigh for Secrets & Lies

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Elaine May; Based on La Cage aux Folles  by Jean Poiret, Francis Veber & Edouard Molinaro, The Birdcage

Screenplay by Arthur Miller; Based on The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Screenplay by Arthur Miller; Based on The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Crucible

Screenplay by Anthony Minghella; Based on The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

Screenplay by Laura Jones; Based on The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Screenplay by John Hodge; Based on Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by William Chang for Chungking Express

Production Design by Stuart Craig; Set Design by Aurelio Crugnola & Stephenie McMillan for The English Patient

Production Design by Janet Patterson; Set Design by Martin Childs & Mark Raggett for The Portrait of a Lady

Production Design by Catherine Martin; Set Design by Brigitte Broch for Romeo + Juliet

Production Design by Kave Quinn; Set Design by Tracy Gallacher for Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies)

Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire)

Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting)

Edward Norton (Primal Fear)

Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Robby Muller for Breaking the Waves

John Seale for The English Patient

Roger Deakins for Fargo

Stuart Dryburgh for The Portrait of a Lady

Brian Tufano for Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Ann Roth for The Birdcage

Bob Crowley for The Crucible

Ann Roth for The English Patient

Janet Patterson for The Potrait of a Lady

Kym Barrett for Romeo + Juliet

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

The Birdcage (Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski)

Fargo (Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Peter Stormare)

Flirting With Disaster (Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, Alan Alda, Beth Ostrosky, Lily Tomlin, Celia Weston, David Patrick Kelly, Josh Brolin, Richard Jenkins, Glenn Fitzgerald, Nadia Dajani)

Secrets & Lies (Brenda Blethyn, Elizabeth Berrington, Marianne Jean-Baptise, Phyllis Logan, Lee Ross, Claire Rushbrook, Timothy Spall)

Trainspotting (Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kevin McKidd, Kelly Macdonald, Peter Mullan)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Andres Refn for Breaking the Waves

Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for Fargo

Christopher Tellefsen for Flirting With Disaster

Christopher Tellefsen for The People vs. Larry Flynt

Masahiro Hirakubo for Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

All Things Fair (Directed by Bo Widerberg)

Antonia (Directed by Marleen Gorris)

Chungking Express (Directed by Wong Kar-wai)

L'uomo delle stelle (Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore)

Ridicule (Directed by Patrice Leconte)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

James McCoy & Cheri Minns for The Birdcage

Sanne Gravfort & Jennifer Jorfald for Breaking the Waves

Fabrizio Sforza & Nigel Booth for The English Patient

Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson for The Nutty Professor

Ben Nye & Bron Roylance for The People vs. Larry Flynt

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

George Fenton for The Crucible

Rachel Portman for Emma

Gabriel Yared for The English Patient

Carter Burwell for Fargo

Wojciech Kilar for The Portrait of a Lady

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

"You Must Love Me", Evita (Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyric by Tim Rice)

"Hell Fire", The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Music and Lyrics by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz)

"I Finally Found Someone", The Mirror Has Two Faces (Music and Lyric by Barbra Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch, Bryan Adams and Robert “Mutt” Lange)

"Kissing You (Love Theme from Romeo + Juliet)", Romeo + Juliet (Music and Lyrics by Des'ree and Tim Atack)

"Because You Loved Me", Up Close & Personal (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Samuel L. Jackson (Hard Eight, A Time to Kill, Trees Lounge)

William H. Macy (Fargo, Ghosts of Mississippi, Hit Me)

Frances McDormand (Fargo, Lone Star, Primal Fear)

Edward Norton (Everybody Says I Love You, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Primal Fear)

Kristen Scott Thomas (Angels & Insects, The English Patient, Mission: Impossible)

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Tom Bjelic, David Evans & John Douglas Smith  for Crash

Eugene Gearty, Lewis Goldstein, Skip Lievsay & Glenfield Payne for Fargo

Sandy Gendler & Val Kuklowsky for Independence Day

Tom Bellfort & Christopher Boyes for Mission: Impossible

Jonathan Miller for Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Walter Murch, Mark Berger, David Parker & Chris Newman for The English Patient

Michael Barry & Allan Byer for Fargo

Ron Bartlett, Christopher Boyes, Shawn Murphy & Gary Rydstrom for Mission: Impossible

Michael Barry for The People vs. Larry Flynt

Ray Merrin, Brian Saunders & Mark Taylor for Trainspotting

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney & Joseph Viskocil for Independence Day

Andrew Eio, John Knoll, Joe Letteri & George Murphy for Mission: Impossible

John Knoll & Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for Star Trek: First Contact

Grant Mason & Tony Steers for Trainspotting

Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Habib Zargarpour & Henry La Bounta for Twister

Now that've talked about some recent cinema with 1996 I'll next venture back 1961. The year were West Side Story considered by many one of the greatest filmed musicals achievements dominated the entire conversation by winning just about every award aside from screenplay. I'll wait to reveal if I thought it was best or if I go in a different direction from what the academy chose.

1942 - The year Greer Garson could not be stopped anywhere

1942 probably the most viewed year of film in the 40's previously by me was dominated by one female centered story. This dominating picture was the eventual best picture winner Mrs. Miniver which might have been looked upon better then were as now it comes off rather preachy and overdone. Greer Garson who won in the lead role is better in Random Harvest that year and the fact this is one of the rare female led pictures to win the top prize does not reflect well on the academy I feel. 1942 was the second last year before the academy done away with nominating 10 nominees for this prize. Of those nominated the ones I've seen are seven and of those there are some clunkers but best above the ones I've seen is Orson Welles The Magnificent Ambersons. I would personally nominate that one largely because it's brilliant and still stands up well for how changed it might've been by many, many edits.

The greatest film achievement for me of 1942 is Casablanca. Yes the film won the best picture prize the year prior but technically the film premiered in 1942. All hat can be said about Casablanca has been said but I'm going to give reasons why I believe it to be the best of this years film. Firstly it's the most timeless film as time goes by. Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and especially Humphrey Bogart are practically perfect in this all adding this to this not so typical love story and making it capture your attention all these years later. The director Michael Curtiz films this classic like all the greats where you just fall head over heals watching just magic happen on screen again and again. Without this film I believe we would never properly understand love and all that sometimes must be sacrificed with it.

The academy really made some questionable choices in 1942 but when it comes to it the ones I would have reconized outside Ambersons and Casablanca are Saboteur yet again an overlooked crime thriller from Hitchcock, Bambi the most heartbreaking of Walt Disney animated films and Yankee Doodle Dandy the musical biopic that really defined my love of musicals early on. While the academy rewarded James Cagney, Greer Garson, Van Heflin and Teresa Wright with the acting prizes this year the women are rather terrible choices. Heflin is nomination worthy and Cagney in retrospective was the right choice by the academy because his work is just pure joy to watch as the man owns the screen. Claude Rains while nominated a year later for Casablanca in either year would be the proper choice for his supporting turn, Bette Davis should've taken the actress prize for Now, Voyager which for me would've been her first award even though she had won two oscars previously. The supporting actress winner is one of the greatest turns to be overlooked by the academy because they had the chance to reward her by actually nominating her but just looking to the young ingenue to reward. This performance and actress I'm talking about is Agnes Moorehead for her breathtaking work as Fanny in Orson Welles The Magnificent Ambersons. She just is electric in the film and explodes so much it's one the earliest and greatest crimes the academy ever made.

While I've seen 34 films from 1942 the year is dominated by by top 10 and outside those the quality seems to drop where we get good films for the year but all time not as much. Below is the list of my wins and nominations that I would've preferred happening that year.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Casablanca (Produced by Hal B. Wallis)

2. The Magnificent Ambersons (Produced by Orson Welles)

3. Saboteur (Produced by Frank Lloyd)

4. Bambi (Produced by Walt Disney)

5. Yankee Doodle Dandy (Produced by William Cagney)

6. Now, Voyager

7. The Major and the Minor

8. Random Harvest

9. Woman of the Year

10. Gentleman Jim

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Michael Curtiz for Casablanca

Michael Curtiz for Yankee Doodle Dandy

Alfred Hitchcock for Saboteur

Orson Welles for The Magnificent Ambersons

Sam Wood for The Pride of the Yankees

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine in "CASABLANCA"

James Cagney as George M. Cohan in "YANKEE DOODLE DANDY"

Ronald Colman as Charles Rainer in "RANDOM HARVEST"

Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in "THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES"

Monty Woolley as Sheridan Whiteside in "THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in "CASABLANCA"

Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale in "NOW, VOYAGER"

Greer Garson as Paula in "RANDOM HARVEST"

Katharine Hepburn as Tess Harding in "WOMAN OF THE YEAR"

Ginger Rogers as Susan Applegate in "THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Ward Bond as John L. Sullivan in "GENTLEMAN JIM"

Walter Brennan as Sam Blake in "THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES"

Robert Dudley as Wienie King in "THE PALM BEACH STORY"

Van Heffin as Jeff Hartnett in "JOHNNY EAGAR"

Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault in "CASABLANCA"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Mary Astor as The Princess Centimillia in "THE PALM BEACH STORY"

Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Henry Vale in "NOW, VOYAGER"

Hattie McDaniel as Minerva Clay in "IN THIS OUR LIFE"

Agnes Moorehead as Fanny Minafer in "THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS"

Dame Mae Whitty as Lady Beldon in "MRS. MINIVER"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Preston Sturges for The Palm Beach Story

Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison & Dorothy Parker for Saboteur

Melchior Lengyel & Edwin Justus Mayer for To Be or Not to Be

Ring Lardner Jr. & Michael Kanin for Woman of the Year

Robert Buckner & Edmund Joseph for Yankee Doodle Dandy

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein & Howard Koch; Based on Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett & Joan Alison, Casablanca

Screenplay by Orson Welles; Based on The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons

Screenplay by Billy Wilder & Charles Brackett; Based on The Major and the Minor by Edward Childs Carpenter, The Major and the Minor

Screenplay by Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton & Claudine West; Based on

Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther, Mrs. Miniver

Screenplay by Casey Robinson; Based on Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty, Now, Voyager

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Art Direction by Carl Jules Weyl; Set Design by George James Hopkins for Casablanca

Production Design & Art Direction by Albert S. D'Agostino; Set Design by Darrell Silvera for The Magnificent Ambersons

Art Direction by Robert Haas; Set Design by Fred M. MacLean for Now, Voyager

Art Direction by Hens Dreier & Ernst Fegte for The Palm Beach Story

Art Direction by Carol Jules Weyl for Yankee Doodle Dandy

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Anne Baxter (The Magnificent Ambersons)

Norman Lloyd (Saboteur)

Diana Lynn (The Major and the Minor)

Susan Peters (Random Harvest)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Arthur Edeson for Casablanca

Nicholas Musuraca for Cat People

Stanley Cortez for The Magnificent Ambersons

Sol Poolito for Now, Voyager

Joseph A. Valentine for Saboteur

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Orry George Kelly for Casablanca

Edward Stevenson for The Magnificent Ambersons

Irene Maud Lentz for The Palm Beach Story

Irene Maud Lentz for To Be or Not to Be

Milo Anderson for Yankee Doodle Dandy

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

The Magnificent Ambersons (Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Richard Bennett, Don Dillaway)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Richard Travis, Jimmy Durante, Grant Mitchell, Billie Burke, Reginald Gardiner, Elisabeth Fraser, George Barbier, Mary Wickes, Russell Arms, Ruth Vivian, Nanette Vallon)

Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, Dame May Whitty       , Reginald Owen, Henry Travers, Richard Ney, Henry Wilcoxon, Christopher Severn, Brenda Forbes, Clare Sandars, Marie De Becker, Helmut Dantine, John Abbott, Connie Leon, Rhys Williams)

Saboteur (Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter, Clem Bevans, Norman Lloyd, Alma Kruger, Vaughan Glaser, Ian Wolfe, Dorothy Peterson, Murray Alper, Kathryn Adams, Pedro de Cordoba, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Billy Curtis, Marie LeDeaux, Jeanne Romer, Lynne Romer, Frances Carson)

To Be or Not to Be (Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan, Charles Halton, George Lynn, Henry Victor, Maude Eburne, Halliwell Hobbes, Miles Mander)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Owen Marks for Casablanca

Robert Wise for The Magnificent Ambersons

Warren Low for Now, Voyager

Daniel Mandell for The Pride of the Yankees

Otto Ludwig for Saboteur

OUTSTANDING DRAMATIC/MUSICAL SCORE:

Frank Churchill & Edward H. Plumb for Bambi

Max Steiner for Casablanca

Bernard Herrmann for The Magnificent Ambersons

Max Steiner for Now, Voyager

Ray Heindorf for Yankee Doodle Dandy

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Bambi, "Little April Shower" (Music by Frank Churchill; Lyrics by Larry Morey)

Bambi, "Love is a Song" (Music by Frank Churchill; Lyrics by Larry Morey)

Holiday Inn, "White Christmas" (Music and Lyrics Irving Berlin)

This Gun for Hire, "I've Got You" (Music by Jacques Press; Lyrics by Frank Loesser)

This Gun for Hire, "Now You See It, Now You Don't" (Music by Jacques Press; Lyrics by Frank Loesser)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Laird Cregar (The Black Swan, Joan of Paris, This Gun for Hire)

Bette Davis (In This Our Life, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Now, Voyager)

Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest)

Tyrone Power (The Black Swan, Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake , This Above All)

Robert Preston (Pacific Blackout, Star Spangled Rhythm, This Gun for Hire, Wake Island)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Bernard B. Brown for Arabian Nights

C.O. Slyfield for Bambi

Bailey Fesler & James G. Stewart for The Magnificent Ambersons

Thomas T. Moulton for The Pride of the Yankees

Nathan Levinson for Yankee Doodle Dandy

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Fred Sersen for The Black Swan

Vernon L. Walker for Cat People

Gordon Jennings for I Married a Witch

Lawrence W. Butler for Jungle Book

John P. Fulton for Saboteur

I've seemed to venture back far in history these past three occasions but next I am to venture to 20 years ago three films from Cannes broke the studio hold on the oscars and started the beginning of the indie takeover of the academy awards. Even though neither of these three won the award it went to The English Patient which holds some connections of romance to Casablanca so we will see if it stands as high with me as it would've with the academy 20 years ago.

1958 - The year a Minnelli movie came in and won it all

In venturing to 1958 it was a rarity where I had only seen two movies from the year prior to watching all the great films from the year. Best Picture went to one of the films I'd seen which is such a travesty as Gigi a musical telling of the novella is such a bore that I can't believe it was able to win everything it was up for. The best picture lineup overall doesn't inspire much of anything with Autnie Mame really worth the watch for Rosalind Russell, The Defiant Ones a typical baity film and Sepearate Tables a good ensemble that are stuck with average material. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the final nominee is really the only one I overall love with it personally making my list of the years best.

My choice for the years greatest film and probably most people's choice is Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Pictured above is James Stewart and Kim Novack from Vertigo who together create one of the unlikeliest of relationships. Stewart is better then he has ever been which is why he should have won the best actor award that year and the lack of a nomination for a man once loved by the academy is hard to take nowadays. Another great quality of Vertigo is just how unapologetic Hitchcock is with his camera creating new and interesting visuals that make the film as watchable as it is. For a man who was somehow underappreciated in his time Vertigo like many of Hitchcock's films goes to show how much a marvel he was.

Now that I've discussed my choice and all the disappointing choices the academy made that year I will now list some other greatly overlooked films from 1958. Along with Vertigo & Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the other three who fill out my top 5 films are Elevator to the Gallows, The Seventh Seal and Touch of Evil (Marlene Dietrich from Touch of Evil pictured above). Elevator to the Gallows is a great feature that stars Jeanne Moreau in the lead role that should've beaten Susan Hayward to the actress prize and alongside her is a greatly fascinating film to watch. It just is a great mystery on top of human error drama. Then there is The Seventh Seal which like most Ingmar Bergman films is on the level of masterpiece. It is a still and silent film approaching the themes of death like no other director would probably be capable of doing. The final film to fill out my list is Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. The film is overlooked in comparison to Welles' breakout film but it is a marvel even with the sorness of Heston's white washed casting in the lead role.

It really was a good year and of the 26 films that I've seen it stands well amongst most decades but sadly in the 1950's arguably the greatest decade for film it sort of has to be ranked lower. Although the films at the top of my best list stand high above most films I've seen so it makes me look more positive on the year. Below is the list of nominees and winners I would've chosen for 1958.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Vertigo (Produced by Alfred Hitchcock)

2. Elevator to the Gallows (Produced by Jean Thuillier)

3. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Produced by Lawrence Weingarten)

4. The Seventh Seal (Produced by Allan Ekelund)

5. Touch of Evil (Produced by Albert Zugsmith)

6. The Horse's Mouth

7. Separate Tables

8. The Big Country

9. The Defiant Ones

10. The Horror of Dracula

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Ingmar Bergman for The Seventh Seal

Richard Brooks for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Alfred Hithcock for Vertigo

Louis Malle for Elevator to the Gallows

Orson Welles for Touch of Evil

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Tony Curtis as John "Joker" Jackson in "THE DEFIANT ONES"

Paul Newman as Brick Pollitt in "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF"

Sidney Poitier as Noah Cullen in "THE DEFIANT ONES"

James Stewart as John "Scottie" Ferguson in "VERTIGO"

Max von Sydox as Antonius Block, knight in "THE SEVENTH SEAL"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Ingrid Bergman as Gladys Aylward in "THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS"

Susan Hayward as Barbara Graham in "I WANT TO LIVE!"

Jeanne Moreau as Florence Carala in "ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS"

Kim Novak as Judy Barton / Madeleine Elster in "VERTIGO"

Elizabeth Taylor as Margaret "Maggie/Maggie the Cat" Pollitt in "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Bengt Ekerot as Death in "THE SEVENTH SEAL"

Burl Ives as Rufus Hannassey in "THE BIG COUNTRY"

Christopher Lee as Count Dracula in "THE HORROR OF DRACULA"

David Niven as Major David Angus Pollock in "SEPARATE TABLES"

Orson Welles as Will Varner in "THE LONG, HOT SUMMER"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Judith Anderson as Ida "Big Momma" Pollitt in "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF"

Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Railton-Bell in "SEPERATE TABLES"

Marlene Dietrich as Tanya in "TOUCH OF EVIL"

Wendy Hiller as Pat Cooper in "SEPERATE TABLES"

Madeleine Sherwood as Mae Flynn "Sister Woman" Pollit in "CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Nedrick Young & Harold Jacob Smith for The Defiant Ones

Paddy Chayefsky for The Goddess

William Faulkner, Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank, Jr. for The Long, Hot Summer

Jacques Lagrange, Jean L'Hôte & Jacques Tati for Mon Oncle

Fay Kanin & Michael Kanin for Teacher's Pet

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Richard Brooks & James Poe; Based on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Screenplay by Louis Malle & Roger Nimier; Based on Elevator to the Gallows by Noël Calef, Elevator to the Gallows

Screenplay by Nelson Gidding & Don Mankiewicz; Based on Newspaper articles and letters by Edward S. Montgomery & Barbara Graham, I Wan to Live!

Screenplay by Ingmar Bergman; Based on Trämålning by Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal

Screenplay by Alec Coppel & Samuel Taylor; Based on D'entre les morts by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac, Vertigo

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design & Art Direcion by Malcolm C. Bert; Set Direction by George James Hopkins for Auntie Mame

Art Direction by William A. Horning & Urie McCleary; Set Decoration by Henry Grace & Robert Priestley for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Production Design & Set Decoration by Henri Schmitt for Mon Oncle

Production Design by P.A. Lundgren for The Seventh Seal

Art Direction by Henry Burnstead & Hal Pereira; Set Decoration by Sam Comer & Frank R. McKelvy for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Christopher Lee (The Horror of Dracula)

Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

Jack Nicholson (The Cry Baby Killer)

Vanessa Redgrave (Behind the Mask)

Madeleine Sherwood (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Lionel Lindon for I Want to Live!

Jean Bourgoin for Mon Oncle

Gunnar Fischer for The Seventh Seal

Russell Metty for Touch of Evil

Robert Burks for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Orry-Kelly for Auntie Mame

Helen Rose for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Jacques Cottin for Mon Oncle

Manne Lindholm for The Seventh Seal

Edith Head for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson, Jack Carson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor)

The Long, Hot Summer (Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Richard Anderson, Sarah Marshall, Mabel Albertson, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Walker)

Separate Tables (Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Burt Lancaster, Wendy Hiller, Gladys Cooper, Cathleen Nesbitt, Felix Aylmer, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton, May Hallatt, Priscilla Morgan)

The Seventh Seal (Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Inga Landgré, Åke Fridell, Inga Gill, Erik Strandmark, Bertil Anderberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Maud Hansson, Gunnar Olsson, Anders Ek, Benkt-Åke Benktsson, Gudrun Brost, Lars Lind, Tor Borong, Harry Asklund, Ulf Johanson)

Touch of Evil (Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Cook Moore, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Val de Vargas, Mort Mills, Victor Millan, Lalo Rios, Phil Harvey, Joi Lansing, Harry Shannon, Rusty Wescoatt, Wayne Taylor, Ken Miller, Raymond Rodriguez, Arlene McQuade, Dan White, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Marlene Dietrich, Mercedes McCambridge, Keenan Wynn, Joseph Cotten)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Ferris Webster for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Suzanne Baron for Mon Oncle

Lennart Wallén for The Seventh Seal

Walter Murch, Aaron Stell & Virgil W. Vogel for Touch of Evil

George Tomasini for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Ashes and Diamonds (Directed by Andrzej Wajda)

Mon Oncle (Directed by Jacques Tati)

The Seventh Seal (Directed by Ingmar Bergman)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

William Tuttle for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Charles Parker for Gigi

Phil Leaky for The Horror of Dracula

Nils Nittel for The Seventh Seal

Bud Westmore for Touch of Evil

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:

Jerome Moross for The Big Country

Charles Wolcott for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Franck Barcellini & Alain Romans for Mon Oncle

Henry Mancini for Touch of Evil

Bernard Herrmann for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Gigi, "Gigi" (Music by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner)

Some Came Running, "To Love and Be Loved" (Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Charlton Heston (The Big Country, The Buccaneer, Touch of Evil)

Burl Ives (The Big Country, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Desire Under the Elms)

Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Left Handed Gun, The Long, Hot Summer, Rally 'Round the Flag' Boys!)

Orson Welles (The Long, Hot Summer, The Roots of Heaven, Touch of Evil)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Wesley C. Miller for Gigi

Jock May for The Horror of Dracula

Lennart Wallin & Aaby Wedin for The Seventh Seal

Leslie I. Carey & Frank Wilkinson for Touch of Evil

Winston H. Leverett & Harold Lewis for Vertigo

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Sydney Pearson for The Horror of Dracula

Farciot Edouart, John P. Fulton & W. Wallace Kelley for Vertigo

If you are in anyway like this come back next time where I'll be traveling back to 1942. That year the academy choose the in some ways relevant Mrs. Miniver. Relevant for what is adding to the perspective of the war but did it add anything to the film cultural come back and see if I think it did.