Best Picture and Director 1950

1927/28 through 1997
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Please select one Best Picture and one Best Director

All About Eve
14
28%
Born Yesterday
0
No votes
Father of the Bride
0
No votes
King Solomon's Mines
0
No votes
Sunset Boulevard
11
22%
George Cukor - Born Yesterday
0
No votes
John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle
0
No votes
Joseph L. Mankiewicz - All About Eve
9
18%
Carol Reed - The Third Man
5
10%
Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard
11
22%
 
Total votes: 50

FilmFan720
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by FilmFan720 »

Talk about a year with a wide-breadth of success in nominees. You have three canonical masterpieces in the ranks, and then you have such forgettable work as King Solomon's Mine.

I won't go on and on here, especially because this is a much easier choice for me than a lot of others. I have never found All About Eve the wonderfully entertaining romp that many others have. The script is witty enough, and there are some great performances (especially the underrated Anne Baxter), but every time I watch the film I find it not as engaging as I feel I should (and I feel that way about a lot of Mankiewicz's films).

So this is an easy double vote for Sunset Blvd, easily one of the greatest movies ever made (it would be on my Top 10). You do have to consider The Third Man in director, and any other year I would easily vote for Carol Reed here, but I can't not vote for Wilder. It may be the only time I do so...
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Heksagon »

I notice I have seen all the films here, so I might as well vote here.

The presence of All About Eve and Sunset Blvd alone would be enough to make this an impressive year, but unfortunately the rest of nominees are less than great.

It's odd to see two straight comedies getting Best Picture nominations. Both Father of the Bride and Born Yesterday are entertaining films, but rather shallow for Best Picture nominees.

King Solomon's Mines is one of the worst Best Picture nominees I can think of, an action film without any action. And it isn't simply an issue that the film is dated.

My votes go to All About Eve, one of my favourite films of all time, and a stunningly rich film. It works as a comedy, as a drama, and even as a film-noir (sans violence). Great characters, great acting, great story, great dialogue... I could go on.

It's odd note that All About Eve still holds the record for most nominations, at fourteen. Only Titanic has equaled it.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by The Original BJ »

Eric wrote:I respect Boulevard. I revere Eve.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by bizarre »

My Picture nominees:

All About Eve
Gun Crazy
* In a Lonely Place
Side Street
Stage Fright


My Director nominees:

Yves Allégret … Manèges
Jules Dassin … Night and the City
Akira Kurosawa … Rashōmon
* Joseph H. Lewis … Gun Crazy
Nicholas Ray … In a Lonely Place
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Eric »

I respect Boulevard. I revere Eve.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by ksrymy »

Big Magilla wrote:
ksrymy wrote:Hi all! The worst semester of my life and its subsequent finals are over so here I am! And what a time to chime in.

Absolutely nobody should be shocked by what I chose.

Sunset and Wilder by the biggest landslide ever.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Big Magilla »

ksrymy wrote:Hi all! The worst semester of my life and its subsequent finals are over so here I am! And what a time to chime in.

Absolutely nobody should be shocked by what I chose.

Sunset and Wilder by the biggest landslide ever.
Welcome back. I thought we'd lost you.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by ksrymy »

Hi all! The worst semester of my life and its subsequent finals are over so here I am! And what a time to chime in.

Absolutely nobody should be shocked by what I chose.

Sunset and Wilder by the biggest landslide ever.
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by The Original BJ »

I think In a Lonely Place is a great thriller, and the best of the totally-excluded options.

Of course, it's outrageous The Third Man didn't make Best Picture, but what's REALLY outrageous is that it was knocked out by something as dreary as King Solomon's Mines. This is the kind of movie that unfortunately started to get nominated with regularity throughout this decade -- the bloated color spectacle that's almost entirely dramatically inert. Needless to say, the Academy's obsession with big white elephants -- literally, in this case -- is not something I share.

I think Born Yesterday, and the actress at its center, are pretty funny. But there's also a tenderness to Holliday's character, most evident in her broken relationship with her father, that gives the film a sweetness that helps it resonate dramatically as well. Billie Dawn isn't just a bimbo -- she may not be the smartest girl, but she knows it, and knows how much it has cost her in life, and her efforts to change this are both comical and uplifting. I don't think the movie approaches greatness -- compared to its competition, it's quite lightweight -- but this was the kind of movie George Cukor often excelled at (a gentle human comedy with heart) and I find his effort here to be mostly successful.

Similarly, Father of the Bride reveals Minnelli's gift for family comedy in a movie with a lot of smiles and touching moments. This is essentially the story of a parent coming to terms with the fact that his little girl is no longer so little anymore, and the amusing and heartfelt manner in which Tracy's character prepares to give his daughter away is utterly relatable to anyone who has ever had a family. This, too, is another lighter effort on the ballot, but it's a consistently enjoyable one, I think.

The Asphalt Jungle is, indeed, not any kind of groundbreaking crime film. But it's quite an effective piece of work, with a cast of memorable characters (it's especially jolting to see Jean Hagen in a role so far from her Singin' in the Rain persona), moody photography, and a central heist sequence that John Huston pulls off with effortless skill. It's not as great a movie as Maltese Falcon or Sierra Madre, though, and after picking Huston for the latter, I don't feel the need to reward him again so soon for a more minor effort.

The remaining three films are, as others have said, pretty terrific.

I said about Citizen Kane that it's pretty rare for a film to be as dazzling a piece of visual filmmaking as it is a piece of screenwriting. But The Third Man would be another film that fits that bill. Mister Tee pointed out a lot of the movie's most arresting images -- Best Cinematography all the way! -- but the most marvelous thing about them is the way they work to create a disorienting portrait of a postwar city in decay, a perfect backdrop for a really clever central mystery. And, yes, that score is instantly entrancing, perhaps even more so because, even after all these years, its singularity has never really been replicated. Carol Reed merits very strong consideration for bringing all of the elements of this masterpiece together...and in nearly every other year this decade he'd have had my Best Director vote in a walk. But he's only my runner-up this year, and after picking him last year for a not totally dissimilar movie, at least I can still feel like he got his due.

All About Eve is one of the very greatest movies about acting and the theater, with a central storyline that is beyond iconic. I can't begin to count the number of writing discussions I've been involved with where someone mentions that one character is "All About Eve-ing" another. What makes the film work on a grand level is the way Margo Channing (the great performance of Bette Davis's great career) seems like such a diva, and Eve Harrington such a sweet girl, so that even the audience is caught off guard by how deep Eve has gotten her claws in Margo's life until it's far too late. And along the way, the viewer is treated to a sensational cast across the board, and that crackling, cynical dialogue. ("I wouldn't worry too much about your heart. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be.") It's a great movie, though I do agree with Mister Tee that it's more an example of great writing and acting than direction. Which isn't to demean Mankiewicz's accomplishment here -- I think he pulls off a tone that is consistently witty while at the same time exploring dark undercurrents, and deserves a ton of credit for the magnificent performances and breezy pacing. But visually, the movie isn't terribly innovative, so he wouldn't get my vote in Best Director given the competition.

Perhaps it's my film history fandom that puts me over the edge, but in Best Picture I voted for one of the very greatest movies about the movies, Sunset Boulevard. It, too, has an amazing cast, with Gloria Swanson's grandly enthusiastic relic of the silent era a perfect foil for William Holden's embittered screenwriter, and sensational dialogue. (No matter how many times I've seen the movie, I never fail to laugh out loud at "She read De Mille's horoscope, she read mine!" / "Did she read the script?"...an exchange that perfectly encapsulates both main characters.) And Wilder's images are almost as memorable as his words -- Holden floating in the pool has already been mentioned, but I also love the decrepit design of Norma's house (most hilariously in the monkey funeral), the noir-ish manner in which von Stroheim's character always seems to be emerging out of and retreating back into the shadows, and that final haunting image of Norma descending the stairs, ready for her close-up. I agree that this is Billy Wilder's best film, and though I'm tempted to spread the wealth given the strong alternatives this year, in the end I have to honor his supreme achievement in both categories. I think it's probably one of the most perfect movies ever.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by ITALIANO »

I'm not sure it is really a "woman's picture"... not in a conventional way at least. The main characters are women, true, but so what?
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Mister Tee »

The rare year where we don't have to lament alot of omissions; the absolutely wonderful movies of the year were recognized by Academy voters (though one only by the directing branch).

I will get behind Magilla's mention of the joyous Kind Heart and Coronets. "I shot an arrow into the air" gave me one of the biggest laugh I've ever had at a movie.

King's Solomon's Mines is the most easily dispensed with. It's not my kind of movie AT ALL, to the point I can barely remember what it was about. i was merely checking it off on the list for honorable participation in a discussion just like this. Obligation met.

It's hard to figure why Born Yesterday was such a sensation in its day -- not just here as a best picture nominee, but as a four-year-run on Broadway. Is "Drop dead" all that funny? (Audiences reportedly howled back in the day). I like Judy Holliday well enough, but did this character really seem such a breakthrough? Hadn't Jean Harlow strip-mined that field?

I guess Father of the Bride isn't all that big a deal, either, but I've always had an untoward affection for it -- as I do for many of the films I'd seen in my pre-teen years. I think Tracy's dry delivery is really funny, and Elizabeth Taylor is breathtakingly breautiful. None of this makes it a film for the ages, but I'd rather it than the two previously cited be the film that boxed out my favorites.

To switch to the best directing category a moment: The Asphalt Jungle is not unlike The Killers a few years back, a tight, modest crime-based film that doesn't break much new ground but deserves kudos for its internal integrity. In another year, it might get some consideration for year's best. But 1950 was a special kind of year.

The three remaining candidates would be primary contenders in most any year. All are four-star efforts, and I hope it's not seen as dismissive that I view All About Eve as running a clear third in the group. The film of course has tremendous assets: terrific performances all around, more witty lines than you can remember in one sitting, and a satisfying narrative with an ending that has become a reference point for screenwriters. What are my issues with it? Well, nothing serious; as I say, it's a terrific movie. But, maybe because the theatre is a milieu with which I'm pretty familar first-hand, I find the film just a bit arch and un-serious, compared to the two others. The stakes don't see as high to me. It's also possible it's just too much of a woman's picture for a heterosexual male to fully get behind. In any case, while the film would easily get my vote for best adapted screenplay, it isn't my choice in either of these categories -- emphatically not under best director. I admit to being quite surprised at so many people voting for Mankiewicz for what I see as overwhelmingly a writers' film; I'd no more vote choose him that I'd choose Alexander Payne for Sideways, despite how much I love that film. So...I move on.

Sunset Boulevard is both a writer's film AND a director's film (the late-in-the-film shot of Joe Gillis floating in the pool, with the voice-over saying, "So...this is where you came in", is a perfect illustration of that). Billy Wilder made several movies I love, but this may be the greatest of them. It's a story that manages to be both brutally cynical and deeply heartfelt. And his script (with Brackett) is not just filled with oft-quoted gems ("I AM big..."); it's also a marvel of construction. Take the sequence culminating in the trip to the Paramount lot: because someone saw Jannings' car drive onto the lot to deliver the Salome script, the studio was calling Norma's home; this set up her misconception that DeMille really wanted her script; the visit to the set allows for the re-connect between Joe and Betty Schaefer; and it also brings about the unforgettable "Miss Desmond -- it's Hawkeye" scene...which lets us know that, however faded she may be today, Norma Desmond was indeed a legend at one time (more than Joe Gillis wil ever be). How many modern screenwriters could weave all that into a single segment? And of course, there's much more: above all, the two brilliantly memorable central characters, whose clash moves inexorably toward a gaudy, tragic finale. Of the films nominated, I have to choose Sunset Boulevard as the best.

In best director, though, I have a further choice, and it's one of the few movies I've ever seen that I might rate even higher than Sunset Boulevard. I think The Third Man is just about a perfect film. It, too, is both a writer's film and a director's film. Everyone knows the cuckoo clock speech, but just as memorable is that torrent of voiced-over words that come from Trevor Howard as the film begins ("I never knew the old Vienna, before the war..."). And as far as directing/images, there's our first, inadvertent glimpse of Harry Lime's face -- and then our last, down in the sewer; the neighbor in Harry's building who points down when he says heaven, up when he says hell; and that last, unexpected shot of Alida Valli walking-walking-walking until she...keeps walking. And have I mentioned the music? This is one of the most inventive, greatest scores for any movie ever -- it truly makes the story feel like it's taking place in a very different country...and it takes the whole film to another level. I agree with Danny Peary, that the music is the final ingredient that makes a great movie into a masterpiece. I can watch this film over and over.

Choosing between Sunset Boulevard and The Third Man -- two of the great post-war masterpieces -- is a painful thing to have to do. I wish I could move the release date of one or the other around; I'd vote for either in 1949 or 1951. But qualifying dates are what they are, so I'll take the un-Solomon strategy and split the baby: Sunset Boulevard is best picture, but -- though Wilder would deserve it in most any other year -- I'll go for Carol Reed for director.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Sabin »

Pretty torn. Clearly going to be a Best Picture race shifting back and forth between All About Eve and Sunset Blvd and some Directing votes tossed to Huston and Reed perhaps. I've yet to see Born Yesterday and King Solomon's Mines, which I'm reasonably sure will together accrue a grand total of zero votes. But it's still two films I haven't seen yet.

Good conscience sez I can't. Would end up voting for Sunset Blvd.
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Re: Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Reza »

My picks for 1950:

Best Picture
1. All About Eve
2. Sunset Boulevard
3. The Third Man
4. Adam's Rib
5. In a Lonely Place

The 6th Spot: The Furies

Best Director
1. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, All About Eve
2. Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard
3. Carol Reed, The Third Man
4. George Cukor, Adam's Rib
5. Nicholas Ray, In a Lonely Place

The 6th Spot: Anthony Mann, The Furies
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Best Picture and Director 1950

Post by Big Magilla »

This would seem to come down to a choice between Broadway and Hollywood or the films made about them -Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve and Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. Both are among the best that Hollywood ever produced with All About Eve one of my ten favorite films of all time and Sunset Boulevard easily among my top twenty-five. Missing of course, are Carol Reed's great British noir, The Third Man and John Huston's superior caper film, The Asphalt Jungle, both of which are far superior to George Cukor's Born Yesterday; Vincnete Minnelli's Father of the Bride and MGM's elaborately produced King Solomon's Mines with director chores split between Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton. The latter was an expensive action-adventure nominee pushed by the studio over its other films including The Asphalt Jungle and Adam's Rib. I think one can argue that neither Born Yesterday nor Father of the Bride were the best comedies of a year that also included Robert Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets; Henry Koster's Harvey and Cukor's own Adam's Rib.

No quibble with the directors' branch which chose Reed and Huston over Minnelli and the duo of Bennett and Marton even if they picked Cukor for the wrong film.

Best Picture is an easy choice for me with All About Eve getting my vote. Best Director is more difficult with Mankiewicz, Wilder and Reed all deserving, but I have to go with Mankiewicz.

Re-voting has once again been enabled.
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