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BEST BEST PICTURE OSCAR WINNERS--pt. 1Aug 20 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Can't intelligently compare "Casablanca" to "Unforgiven"--only solution is two lists (pre and post 1966, halfway point of Oscar history). 10. "Rebecca" (1940) Far from Hitchcock's best, but his only Best Director win, which makes it worth including. 9. "Mutiny On The Bounty" (1935) If all you know of this story is Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in "The Bounty," consider this a public service. As great as both of them usually are, they're just NOT Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. 8. "On The Waterfront" (1954) Another public service for the young film fan--long before Marlon Brando became the walking punchline he is today, there were few who could match his electricity on screen, as his Terry Malloy MORE than demonstrates here. And with Steiger, Malden, Eva Marie Saint and the great Lee J. Cobb backing him up, how can you not include him here? 7. "The Lost Weekend" (1945) Would have been a lot higher but for the ending. But Ray Milland was brilliant, and Howard Da Silva as the bartender was a discovery--especially for me, since I first saw him here before I saw him as Ben Franklin in "1776". (Kind of a difference, no?) 6. "Ben-Hur" (1959) THIS is movie spectacle! I'll trade you the entire 2 hours of "Gladiator" for the chariot race here--and I'll feel like I cheated you! 5. "Gone With The Wind" (1939) 1939 is generally con- sidered the greatest year in the history of American cinema, so for this to beat out "Stagecoach," "The Wizard Of Oz," and my choice if I had had a vote, "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" makes it almost de rigeur to include this here, even if I don't go out of my way to watch it anymore. 4. "It Happened One Night" (1934) There's a reason pure comedies don't win Best Picture (after "Annie Hall," I'm stuck)--because they're not usually this amazingly funny. How wit is done. 3. "Casablanca" (1943) Greatest love story ever made? Maybe not, but I defy you to tell me it's not on a REAL short list! 2. "My Fair Lady" (1964) I know 4 musicals won Best Picture in the 60's ("Mary Poppins," "West Side Story," and "Oliver" being the others), but if I only picked 1, there's no contest. Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn were immortal, and it has to get bonus points for being so resoundingly politically incorrect today. ("Why Can't A Woman Be More Like A Man?" N.O.W. would be picketing the theatres!) 1. "All About Eve" (1950) I'll try to dial back the hyperbole--no, I won't--this is one of the greatest written films in movie history. Intelligent, funny as hell and especially in the person of George Sanders' critic Addison DeWitt, as wickedly satiric as any char- acter ever created. Genuine masterpiece from first frame to last!  |
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by Stephen_Murray
by cripper
by George_Chabot
