Back in 1944, the winner was a black and white movie with a simple (true) story about a girl from a poor family.  The film was called The Song of Bernadette, about Saint Bernadette Soubirous, and Our Lady of Lourdes.  Based on the novel by Franz Werfel, and starring Jennifer Jones and Bernadette.

Bernadette and her family live in Lourdes, France her father François is forced to take a job dumping contaminated sheets from the hospital, into the local dump.  Bernadette, being the least brightest of all her sisters, suffers from health problems which prevent her from attending school on a regular basis.  

One afternoon, Bernadette, her sister, and a school friend go on an errand to collect wood.  Bernadette is left behind after she insists on wading through the cold water, which her family claims will make her sick again.  On her own, she wanders into a cave, where she has her first vision of the Blessed Mary.  This is to start a long dramatic uprising in the town, attracting believers and non-believers alike.  The local government, and even Bernadette’s own family doesn’t believe her, that is until a spring appears outside of the cave, and people are being healed and cured from the water. 

Bernadette befriends the Bishop, who believe she is lying, and making up these visions at first, but grows to see that Bernadette is indeed telling the truth.  The Bishop persuades Bernadette to join the convent, believing that this is her true calling, and that she would be better off there then in the real world.

It is there where Bernadette dies of tuberculosis at a very young age.  The result of this illness leaves her in great pain, but no one in the convent knew she was suffering, becasue she kept this to herself, even quietly scrubbing floors despite the pain.

Okay… now for my thoughts.  As a recovering Catholic, and someone who grew up with the church in his life, I found this movie to be fascinating, and inspiring.  The faith and humility that Bernadette had, was remarkable.  Jennifer Jones’ portrayal of her was outstanding and powerful, and this portrayal would lead Jennifer Jones to recieve the Oscar, and Golden Globe for Best Actress.

The other great performer in this movie, is that of the always amazing Vincent Price, who portrayed the town prosecutor, a very evil and dispicable man, a character in which Vincent Price is used to playing.

Out of all the movies I’ve seen so far for best picture, I don’t believe there has been any that was so overwhelmingly religious, nor do I think that there will be again, the film was very much dripping with the church, however it did not come across as heavy handed.  I believe that anyone, religious or not would enjoy this movie for the simple and inspiring story, and the wonderful performances.

I honestly don’t have much to say from a critical perspective, this was very much a surprising winner for the first Golden Globe.  In contrast, the winner for the Academy Award’s Best Picture was Going My Way, a film that is much more whimsical and entertaining for entertainment’s sake.

DeMille has a very long and impressive career starting 52 years before the release of The Ten Commandments, producing and directing over 80 films, which include Adam’s Rib, Cleopatra, Samson and Delilah, and even an original attempt at The Ten Commandments in 1923.  A career that spanned both silent, and talking pictures, DeMille sort of invented the big Hollywood “epic”, creating movies that are often very grandeous with extensive run times.

Next to Steven Spielberg, DeMille probably has one of the other more well-known names.  Most people may or may not have seen his films (unless you are celebrate Easter, then you see The Ten Commandments at least once a year), they have at least heard the most famous ‘misquote’ by Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)* – “I’m ready for my closeup Mr. DeMille” (the correct quote is “Alright Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup”.

One last note on Cecile B. DeMille, and his importance to cinema.  The Hollywood Foreign Press, gives out a “Cecil B. DeMille Award” every year, honoring a filmmaker who contributed to the art of motion pictures.  First given in 1952, DeMille was it’s first recipient, followed by Walt Disney a year later.

If you’ve seen a DeMille picture, it’s easy to see why he deserves such an honor.  The Greatest Show on Earth is no exception, a film that has flown under my radar, as admittedly I was only familar with The Ten Commandments before this.  Another film that fits into the “epic” paradigm, this film stars Chareton Heston as Brad Braden, the manager of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Baily Circus.  He is a stubborn man, with a passion for the circus, and knows every aspect of his job inside and out.  And his main concern is bringing the entertainment to the people, while keeping his circus family safe in the process.

Brad’s main love interest, is a trapeze artist named Holly (Betty Hutton) who at the beginning of the film is head over heals for him, but often feels second rate compared to his number one love, the circus.  Brad makes an important financial decision, and brings in another trapeze artist who is a greater draw to circus, unfortunately this star knocks Holly out of center ring, a spot she has coveted her entire life.

From here on out, the film twists and turns through many plot points, and love trinagles, all while set against the backdrop of an actual working circus.

This film clocks in at 2 1/2 hours, mostly due to the long scenes of circus acts, and documentary type footage showing a behind the scense look at how the circus is run.

Some filmgoers, may have an issue with a film that goes into such great detail over the day to day runnings of a circus.  Especially now, in a time where the circus is not something that’s as beloved or highly regarded as it once was.

I on the other hand, was blown away by this film, as I love the circus.  Everything about this film brought back memories of the “Great Circus Parade” that passed through my home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin every year.  The Ringling circus stored all of it’s wagons in Baraboo, Wisconsin so as they were either being brought OUT of storage or going back IN to storage, they would put them on parade.  The entire parade was something straight out of the hey day of the Ringling circus.

Now, there’s one aspect of circus life that I haven’t mentioned yet, it’s something that’s near and dear to my own heart, but a cause of fear to most people out there.  I’m speaking of the dreaded clown!!  This film is fillled with all sorts of famous clowns, in fact as was watching this movie, I saw two of the most famous clowns in the world, Lou Jacobs, and Emmett Kelly. (When I was a kid I wanted to be a clown, in fact I still do!).

One clown in particular though, took me by surprise.  Buttons the Clown, played by none other then Jimmy Stewart, in a performance that is deserving of an Oscar!

Now getting down to brass tacks, beyond the nostalgia, and the love for circus… let’s look at the film from a critics stand point.  I don’t believe that in comparison to The Ten Commandments, or Cleopatra, this was DeMille’s best… in fact I’m sure that in his entire career, this is not his best film.  I would imagine a movie like The Ten Commandments would be more deserving of an Oscar win, however sometimes I think that runtime has a lot to do with a win.  The longer the movie, the better chances it has of winning an Oscar (probably not really true, just an observation).

For the most part, this film plays more as documentary, and that’s alright it’s grandeous nature allowed for a hybrid of both.  I do think however, based on my love of the circus, this will be one that I will watch again some time soon.

* Look for my review of Sunset Boulevard in a future update to All Things Kocinski.

I was looking forward to this film for a long time, thinking that Hoffman could easily do a great job directing a story like this.  And although it’s a lovely film, with great acting, it left me a little bit disturbed and uncomfortable.

Jack is suppose to be either shy, misunderstood or just a hippie… I’m not exactly sure which.  His persona changes from scene to scene, and for 3/4th of the movie, he never removes his winter knit cap, even on his first date with Connie (which he wears a shirt and tie, along with said winter hat).  When Jack finally removes the hat during a strange love making session, we see that his hair is notty and dreaded.  My reaction to this is confusion, as I’m not sure if it’s a sign of him being shy, a hippie, or just a moron who doesn’t know how to comb his hair.

Amy Ryan’s character, Connie is equally troubled, shy, and misunderstood, but their friendship and romance helps her character to grow, but does not in any way (I feel) help Jack’s character to grow.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we see the relationship of Clyde and Lucy fall apart, a beautiful couple with a long standing history of love, but also a long standing history of mis-trust.  The characters, and the performances that the actors give are by far the highlight of the film, more so then the performances given by the Oscar winner (Hoffman) and Oscar nominee (Ryan).

Lets take a moment and discuss a genre that most people absolutely hate… Musicals.  According to Wikipedia, a musical is a film in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into narrative.  In my family, musicals were a common form of entertainment, particularly Rogers & Hammerstein musicals.  South Pacific, Oklahoma, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and my personal favorite State Fair (my least favorites being a tie between Oklahoma, and The King and I… I know, I know… a guy who likes musicals.  Get over it).

An American in Paris is the story of Jerry Mulligan, an ex-patriot who moved to Paris after World War II.  Jerry’s story is like a starving artists’ ultimate dream, living next to cabaret singer, best friends with a (wannabe) pianist, and having an affair with a young French girl, all while being courted by a rich heiress.  Jerry’s got it all… well sort of.

So how did I feel after watching this again?  Well, it wasn’t bad.  I would not say it’s one of my favorite films, but it was fun.  However, and there’s always a however… the ending was boring boring boring.  There’s a long song and dance number (that’s what Gene Kelley does afterall!) that seems to last a really long time, and then the movie just ends…

The end of the actual story portion of the movie (as opposed to the films ending) had a pretty Hollywood style ending, exactly how you want a movie from 1950 to end.  Spoiler Alert!!  Jerry gets the girl!!!  (but I won’t tell you which girl!)

So, does a film like this deserve to win the Oscar for Best Picture?  I don’t know, it’s certainly not the first musical to win for Best Picture, and it certainly won’t be the last.  With that being said, I’m not saying a musical doesn’t deserve to win Best Picture, instead I’m asking what elements of this film qualify it to win Best Picture?  The acting was good, but not great.  The story was good, but again not great, and the same can be said about the characters.

Looking at the list of nominees from that same year, it almost breaks my heart to see that one of the other nominees that year, was A Streetcar Named Desire.  A film that is a far cry better then An American in Paris, by all accounts mentioned above, the story is amazing thanks to Tennessee Williams, the characters of Blanche and Stanley Kowlaski are incendiary, and Marlon Brando is a force to be reckoned with.  (Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter all took home Oscars for their performances).

Despite the fact that I did enjoy watching An American in Paris, I do wish I was writing more in depth about Streetcar.  Perhaps Americans wanted something more light hearted in 1951, after all we were just on the heels of World War II and the sun is starting to come out.

Coincidentally, one of the other pictures to come out in 1951, and to hold a nomination for Best Picture is a Place in the Sun, which will turn out to be the first film to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture, and An American in Paris wins for Best Musical or Comedy.  (see continued review below).

Another film who didn’t’ even make the list of nods in 1951 was The African Queen, a film that I hope to be able to write about on it’s own some time in the future.

~~

At some point in this challenge, I decided that I would start to write about the Golden Globe winners for Best Drama in addition to the Academy Award winners for Best Drama.

When I started this whole thing, I put together a spreadsheet of winners, year by year, in order to easily keep track of the movies that I have watched already.  I got my list of winners using Wikipedia, and it seems I’ve discovered some sort of mistake on their page for Golden Globe Winners.  According to Wikipedia, the first award was given out in 1951, and in 1953 no award was given out.  I thought the latter part of that must have been a mistake, and in doing research on the award websites, and on imdb I discovered, not only was The Robe the winner for Best Picture – Drama in 1953, but the Golden Globes started to give out awards in 1943.

I was a bit taken back, because my progress in all of this has taken a step back.  In order to remain the completist that I am, I will of course have to watch these movies.  Looking back at what the winners were, it turns out that there are only three movies that I have not watched or written about, The Song of Bernadette, Sunset Boulevard, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  Coincidentally, Sierra Madre has been on my list of movies that I’ve been wanting to see for a long time, so it will be fun to finally be able to check that movie out.

So here’s the deal… I’m going to continue to move forward, while momentarily taking a step backward.  I won’t be putting the blog on hold, the reviews for these will appear in and among all the other reviews I’ll be doing as I move forward.  In the mean time, I’m going to write about the movie that I THOUGHT was the first winner of a Golden Globe.

~~

A Place in the Sun, the winner for Best Motion Picture – Drama in 1951, a film like so many others that I’ve seen, I knew nothing about it.  The film stars Montgomery Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor, two radically different stars in my own mind.  What I mean by this, is that I know nothing about Montgomery Clift, and I know everything about Elizabeth Taylor.

My initial response to this film was total surprise, I found myself stuck to it with a keen fascination.  The entire film felt like someone’s attempt at creating a Hitchcock film… but what is it about?

A Place in the Sun, follows the story of a young man who’s family is the owner of a large department store chain.  He approaches his uncle for a job in the store, but insists that he wants to start his way up from the bottom.  He gets a job working in the box assembly room and quickly falls in love with a sweet, simple girl who would make him very happy, yet he seems to want more.

As he works harder at his job, his family takes notice, and starts to move him higher up on the corporate ladder.  At a company party, he meets a friend of the family played by Elizabeth Taylor.  She uses her womanly ways to swoon Montgomery Clift, in what I feel is a power move to join the two families.

During the entire movie, as I could see his love for Liz Taylor grow, and his love for this sweet simple girl drift away, I grew increasingly angry with Monty because I knew he was throwing away something good, for something so bad.

The movie takes a dark turn, as Montgomery Clift’s character contemplates a way to step away from his early relationship, and marry the girl that would give him power and wealth.

I absolutely loved this movie, a gripping film that I commented would make an interesting remake.  Incidentally I was sort of right, this movie is a remake!  It’s based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, the original version was released in 1931.

A moving film to say the least, it is quite clear why a film like this would win best picture, a worthwhile addition to my challenge.

Lets take a moment and discuss a genre that most people absolutely hate… Musicals.  According to Wikipedia, a musical is a film in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into narrative.  In my family, musicals were a common form of entertainment, particularly Rogers & Hammerstein musicals.  South Pacific, Oklahoma, The King and I, The Sound of Music, and my personal favorite State Fair (my least favorites being a tie between Oklahoma, and The King and I… I know, I know… a guy who likes musicals.  Get over it).

An American in Paris is the story of Jerry Mulligan, an ex-patriot who moved to Paris after World War II.  Jerry’s story is like a starving artists’ ultimate dream, living next to cabaret singer, best friends with a (wannabe) pianist, and having an affair with a young French girl, all while being courted by a rich heiress.  Jerry’s got it all… well sort of.

So how did I feel after watching this again?  Well, it wasn’t bad.  I would not say it’s one of my favorite films, but it was fun.  However, and there’s always a however… the ending was boring boring boring.  There’s a long song and dance number (that’s what Gene Kelley does afterall!) that seems to last a really long time, and then the movie just ends…

The end of the actual story portion of the movie (as opposed to the films ending) had a pretty Hollywood style ending, exactly how you want a movie from 1950 to end.  Spoiler Alert!!  Jerry gets the girl!!!  (but I won’t tell you which girl!)

So, does a film like this deserve to win the Oscar for Best Picture?  I don’t know, it’s certainly not the first musical to win for Best Picture, and it certainly won’t be the last.  With that being said, I’m not saying a musical doesn’t deserve to win Best Picture, instead I’m asking what elements of this film qualify it to win Best Picture?  The acting was good, but not great.  The story was good, but again not great, and the same can be said about the characters.

Looking at the list of nominees from that same year, it almost breaks my heart to see that one of the other nominees that year, was A Streetcar Named Desire.  A film that is a far cry better then An American in Paris, by all accounts mentioned above, the story is amazing thanks to Tennessee Williams, the characters of Blanche and Stanley Kowlaski are incendiary, and Marlon Brando is a force to be reckoned with.  (Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter all took home Oscars for their performances).

Despite the fact that I did enjoy watching An American in Paris, I do wish I was writing more in depth about Streetcar.  Perhaps Americans wanted something more light hearted in 1951, after all we were just on the heels of World War II and the sun is starting to come out.

Coincidentally, one of the other pictures to come out in 1951, and to hold a nomination for Best Picture is a Place in the Sun, which will turn out to be the first film to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture, and An American in Paris wins for Best Musical or Comedy.  (see continued review below).

Another film who didn’t’ even make the list of nods in 1951 was The African Queen, a film that I hope to be able to write about on it’s own some time in the future.

~~

At some point in this challenge, I decided that I would start to write about the Golden Globe winners for Best Drama in addition to the Academy Award winners for Best Drama.

When I started this whole thing, I put together a spreadsheet of winners, year by year, in order to easily keep track of the movies that I have watched already.  I got my list of winners using Wikipedia, and it seems I’ve discovered some sort of mistake on their page for Golden Globe Winners.  According to Wikipedia, the first award was given out in 1951, and in 1953 no award was given out.  I thought the latter part of that must have been a mistake, and in doing research on the award websites, and on imdb I discovered, not only was The Robe the winner for Best Picture – Drama in 1953, but the Golden Globes started to give out awards in 1943.

I was a bit taken back, because my progress in all of this has taken a step back.  In order to remain the completist that I am, I will of course have to watch these movies.  Looking back at what the winners were, it turns out that there are only three movies that I have not watched or written about, The Song of Bernadette, Sunset Boulevard, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  Coincidentally, Sierra Madre has been on my list of movies that I’ve been wanting to see for a long time, so it will be fun to finally be able to check that movie out.

So here’s the deal… I’m going to continue to move forward, while momentarily taking a step backward.  I won’t be putting the blog on hold, the reviews for these will appear in and among all the other reviews I’ll be doing as I move forward.  In the mean time, I’m going to write about the movie that I THOUGHT was the first winner of a Golden Globe.

~~

A Place in the Sun, the winner for Best Motion Picture – Drama in 1951, a film like so many others that I’ve seen, I knew nothing about it.  The film stars Montgomery Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor, two radically different stars in my own mind.  What I mean by this, is that I know nothing about Montgomery Clift, and I know everything about Elizabeth Taylor.

My initial response to this film was total surprise, I found myself stuck to it with a keen fascination.  The entire film felt like someone’s attempt at creating a Hitchcock film… but what is it about?

A Place in the Sun, follows the story of a young man who’s family is the owner of a large department store chain.  He approaches his uncle for a job in the store, but insists that he wants to start his way up from the bottom.  He gets a job working in the box assembly room and quickly falls in love with a sweet, simple girl who would make him very happy, yet he seems to want more.

As he works harder at his job, his family takes notice, and starts to move him higher up on the corporate ladder.  At a company party, he meets a friend of the family played by Elizabeth Taylor.  She uses her womanly ways to swoon Montgomery Clift, in what I feel is a power move to join the two families.

During the entire movie, as I could see his love for Liz Taylor grow, and his love for this sweet simple girl drift away, I grew increasingly angry with Monty because I knew he was throwing away something good, for something so bad.

The movie takes a dark turn, as Montgomery Clift’s character contemplates a way to step away from his early relationship, and marry the girl that would give him power and wealth.

I absolutely loved this movie, a gripping film that I commented would make an interesting remake.  Incidentally I was sort of right, this movie is a remake!  It’s based on the book An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, the original version was released in 1931.

A moving film to say the least, it is quite clear why a film like this would win best picture, a worthwhile addition to my challenge.

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone is staying warm out there in the blog-o-sphere.

I’ve been writing like crazy these past few days, oh and watching too… so expect some new blog posts up real soon.

As a fan of Colonel Potter and M*A*S*H, it was sad to see that he passed away, although at 96 I think he has led a very successful life and career.

Goodbye Sherm.

Being that All About Eve came out in 1950, it’s too early to tell whether this will be my favorite from the 50s, but it is most certainly an example of a movie that took me by surprise.

The story of All About Eve, follows it’s title character, played by Anne Baxter as she rises to the top of the Broadway theater scene in New York City. She does this by riding on the coat tails of Margo, played by Bette Davis. Eve eventually works her way up as Margo’s understudy, and through betrayals and deception, Eve finds herself as the next big thing in Broadway. In the end, the film goes full circle, as another young actress moves in to ride Eve’s coattails.

This story is not uncommon, it’s a story we’ve seen time and time again throughout Hollywood history, who do you have to step on, to become famous? It’s the story of Hollywood itself (as well as Broadway I’m sure). The film Valley of the Dolls came to mind while watching this film (the original Valley of the Dolls, not the fun and campy Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), which follows another young starlet as she uses her mentor to get to the top, only to leave her in the dust.

The story of Eve however is much more humble, Even knows what she did, she knows who she hurt, but what she doesn’t realize, is that there is no turning back. Once she’s hurt those who got her where she is, their relationship will never be the same.

At a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes, this film does not drag one bit, you are kept interested until the very end. And more often then not, I found myself waiting for Bette Davis’ next line, or monologue, her performance in this film is unforgettable. She is pictured on the film’s poster, therefore I assumed she’d be playing the title role of Eve, in fact it is still hard to determine if this story was about Eve, or about Margo. It certainly was a story about Eve, told through the eyes of Margo, as we experience much of what she is going through as an actress.

All About Eve, is filled with more amazing performances then just Bette Davis, in fact the film held the record for the most number of nominations, which was eventually beaten by Titanic. However, it still holds the record for receiving four female acting nominations.

This film also has one of the earliest performances by Marilyn Monroe, who looking as stunning as ever, was still very unmistakable, she sounded much different from the Marilyn Monroe who came along a decade later.

Often times I will watch a Best Picture Winner and wonder if the film is deserving of the honor, especially when put up against other nominees, that far surpass the winning film. In this particular instance, All About Eve ran against Sunset Boulevard, Father of the Bride, and Born Yesterday (coincidentally, 3 out of the 5 nominees have all gotten a remake at some point) all fine films in their own right, but All About Eve being the clear winner.

Next up on our list of winners, An American in Paris, AND starting in 1951 I will also be writing about the Best Picture Winners from the Golden Globes, so look for an essay on A Place in the Sun as well.