by Allan Fish
OK, let’s get to work…
Best Picture Tokyo Story, Japan (10 votes)
Best Director Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story (8 votes)
Best Short Duck Amuck, US, Chuck Jones (7 votes)
Best Actor Chishu Ryu, Tokyo Story (9 votes)
Best Actress Danielle Darrieux, Madame de… (10 votes)
Best Supp Actor Robert Ryan, The Naked Spur (6 votes)
Best Supp Actress Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Story (11 votes)
Best Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa, Ugetsu Monogatari (8 votes)
Best Score Victor Young, Shane (8 votes)
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and my own choices…
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Best Picture TOKYO STORY, Japan
Best Short DUCK AMUCK, US, Chuck Jones
Best Director Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story
Best Actor Chishu Ryu, Tokyo Story
Best Actress Yuko Mochizuki, A Japanese Tragedy
Best Supporting Actor Charles Vanel, The Wages of Fear
Best Supporting Actress Thelma Ritter, Pickup on South Street
Best Cinematography Kazuo Miyagawa, Ugetsu Monogatari
Best Musical Score Larry Adler, Genevieve
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and on to 1954, and all I can say is good luck, this should be a Japanese benefit…please also note that we are now entering the time of TV. Any individual plays or serials (that is to say not shows that run for several series or seasons) are eligible, though there will be a TV after the country in terms of the titles and after the film in terms of the acting and other individual nominations.
Also before I’m asked about the year of BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK. The official premiere was indeed in January 1955, but there were impromptu previews from October 1954 and an official pre-release showing in New York in December from which Variety and others took their reviews. I am therefore counting that preview as the first showing. Where there is enough evidence the preview was not purely for the press or behind closed doors I have gone for the first public showing. As such, in such books as 50 Years of Hollywood, BLACK ROCK features on the pages of winter 1954, not Jan-Feb 1955. 
At the opposite end, there’s FRENCH CAN CAN, premiered in Paris in February 1955, but shown first in Italy in Christmas week 1954.
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1954
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L’Affaire Maurizius (France…Julien Duvivier)
Animal Farm (UK…Jon Halas, Joy Batchelor)
Apache (US…Robert Aldrich)
The Art of Getting Along (Italy…Luigi Zampa)
Avant le Deluge (France…André Cayatte)
Bad Day at Black Rock (US…John Sturges)
The Barefoot Contessa (US…Joseph L.Mankiewicz)
The Belles of St Trinian’s (UK…Frank Launder)
The Big Family (USSR…Josef Heifitz)
La Blé en Herbe (France…Claude Autant-Lara)
The Caine Mutiny (US…Edward Dmytryk)
Carmen Jones (US…Otto Preminger)
Chikamatsu Monogatari (Japan…Kenji Mizoguchi)
Crime Wave (US…André de Toth)
Cronache al Poveri Amante (Italy…Carlo Lizzani)
Dial M for Murder (UK…Alfred Hitchcock)
Doctor in the House (UK…Ralph Thomas)
Drive a Crooked Road (US…Richard Quine)
Executive Suite (US…Robert Wise)
The Far Country (US…Anthony Mann)
Father Brown (UK…Robert Hamer)
French Can Can (France…Jean Renoir)
The Garden of Women (Japan…Keisuke Kinoshita)
A Generation (Poland…Andrzej Wajda)
The Girl in the Mist (Japan…Hideo Suzuki) (this is 44m, so not a short)
Godzilla (Japan…Ishiro Honda)
Gold of Naples (Italy…Vittorio de Sica)
The Hand of Fate (South Korea…Han Hyeong-mo)
Hobson’s Choice (UK…David Lean)
Huis Clos (France…Jacqueline Audry)
An Inn at Osaka (Japan…Heinosuke Gosho)
An Inspector Calls (UK…Guy Hamilton)
Joan at the Stake (Italy…Roberto Rossellini)
Johnny Guitar (US…Nicholas Ray)
Karin Mansdötter (Sweden…Alf Sjöberg)
Knave of Hearts (UK…René Clément)
The Last Bridge (West Germany…Helmut Kautner)
Late Chrysanthemums (Japan…Mikio Naruse)
The Lost Child (India…K.A.Abbas)
Magnificent Obsession (US…Douglas Sirk)
The Night My Number Came Up (UK…Leslie Norman)
1984 (UK-TV…Rudolph Cartier)
L’Ombra (Italy…Giorgio Bianchi)
On the Waterfront (US…Elia Kazan)
Orage (France…Pierre Billon, Giorgio Capitani)
La Paura (Italy…Roberto Rossellini)
La pointe-courte (France…Agnès Varda)
Pushover (US…Richard Quine)
La Rage au Corps (France…Ralph Habib)
The Raid (US…Hugo Fregonese)
Rear Window (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
Red Garters (US 1954…George Marshall)
Riot in Cell Block 11 (US…Don Siegel)
River of no Return (US…Otto Preminger)
Le Rouge et le Noir (France…Claude Autant-Lara)
Sabrina (US…Billy Wilder)
Salt of the Earth (US…Herbert J.Biberman)
Samurai Part One: Musashi Miyamoto (Japan…Hiroshi Inagaki)
Sansho Dayu (Japan…Kenji Mizoguchi)
Senso (Italy…Luchino Visconti)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (US…Stanley Donen)
The Seven Samurai (Japan…Akira Kurosawa)
The Sheep Has Five Legs (France…Henri Verneuil)
Silver Lode (US…Allan Dwan)
Song of the Sea (Brazil…Alberto Cavalcanti)
Sound of the Mountain (Japan…Mikio Naruse)
A Star is Born (US…George Cukor)
La Strada (Italy…Federico Fellini)
Stronger Than the Night (East Germany…Slatan Dudow)
Suddenly (US…Lewis Allen)
Them! (US…Gordon Douglas)
Tiefland (West Germany…Leni Riefenstahl)
Touchez pas au Grisbi (France…Jacques Becker)
Track of the Cat (US…William A.Wellman)
Twenty-Four Eyes (Japan…Keisuke Kinoshita)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (US…Richard Fleischer)
Vera Cruz (US…Robert Aldrich)
White Christmas (US…Michael Curtiz)
Woman’s World (Japan…Keisuke Kinoshita)
Woman’s World (US…Jean Negulesco)
Young at Heart (US…Gordon Douglas)
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Best Short
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Billy Boy (US…Tex Avery)
Bugs and Thugs (US…Friz Freleng)
Dixieland Droopy (US…Tex Avery)
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (US…Chuck Jones)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (US…Kenneth Anger)
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Best Actor
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Humphrey Bogart The Caine Mutiny
Marlon Brando On the Waterfront
Bing Crosby The Country Girl
Peter Cushing 1984 TV
Fernandel The Sheep Has Legs
Pierre Fresnay La Défroque
Jean Gabin French Can-Can
Jean Gabin Touchez pas au Grisbi
Alec Guinness Father Brown
Rock Hudson Magnificent Obsession
Charles Laughton Hobson’s Choice
James Mason A Star is Born
Toshiro Mifune The Seven Samurai
Ray Milland Dial M for Murder
John Payne Silver Lode
Gérard Philipe Knave of Hearts
Gérard Philipe Le Rouge et le Noir
Anthony Quinn La Strada
Robert Ryan About Mrs Leslie
Shuji Sano An Inn at Osaka
Alastair Sim The Belles of St Trinian’s
Alastair Sim An Inspector Calls
Frank Sinatra Suddenly
James Stewart Rear Window
Spencer Tracy Bad Day at Black Rock
So Yamamura Sound of the Mountain
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Best Actress
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Arletty Huis Clos
Ingrid Bergman La Paura
Shirley Booth About Mrs Leslie
Cornell Borchers The Divided Heart
Joan Crawford Johnny Guitar
Dorothy Dandridge Carmen Jones
Brenda de Banzie Hobson’s Choice
Ava Gardner The Barefoot Contessa
Judy Garland A Star is Born
Setsuko Hara Sound of the Mountain
Kyoko Kagawa Chikamatsu Monogatari
Grace Kelly The Country Girl
Giulietta Masina La Strada
Yvonne Mitchell The Divided Heart
Nobuko Otowa An Inn at Osaka
Debbie Reynolds Susan Slept Here
Haruko Sugimura Late Chrysanthemums
Hideko Takamine Twenty-Four Eyes
Alida Valli Senso
Jane Wyman Magnificent Obsession
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Best Supp Actor
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Edward Arnold Twelve Angry Men TV
Louis Calhern Executive Suite
John Carradine Johnny Guitar
Jack Carson A Star is Born
Lee J.Cobb On the Waterfront
Vittorio de Sica Gold of Naples
Yves Deniaud Huis Clos
Peter Finch Father Brown
James Robertson Justice Doctor in the House
Otto Kruger Magnificent Obsession
Jarl Kulle Karin Mansdotter
Karl Malden On the Waterfront
Emile Meyer Riot in Cell Block Eleven
John Mills Hobson’s Choice
André Morell 1984 TV
Edmond O’Brien The Barefoot Contessa
Ulf Palme Karin Mansdotter
Donald Pleasence 1984 TV
Robert Ryan Bad Day at Black Rock
Takashi Shimura The Seven Samurai
Rod Steiger On the Waterfront
Ernest Thesiger Father Brown
Toto Gold of Naples
Peter Ustinov Beau Brummell
Clifton Webb Woman’s World
John Williams Dial M for Murder
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Best Supp Actress
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Françoise Arnoul French Can-Can
Françoise Arnoul La Rage au Corps
Pearl Bailey Carmen Jones
Danielle Darrieux Le Rouge et le Noir
Nina Foch Executive Suite
Joan Greenwood Father Brown
Joan Greenwood Knave of Hearts
Sachiko Hidari An Inn at Osaka
Katy Jurado Broken Lance
Kyoko Kagawa Sansho Dayu
Mercedes McCambridge Johnny Guitar
Silvana Mangano Gold of Naples
Eiko Miyoshi An Inn at Osaka
Yuko Mochizuki Late Chrysanthemums
Agnes Moorehead Magnificent Obsession
Jeanne Moreau Touchez pas au Grisbi
Teruko Naguoko Sound of the Mountain
Thelma Ritter Rear Window
Barbara Rush Magnificent Obsession
Eva Marie Saint On the Waterfront
Jan Sterling The High and the Mighty
Kinuyo Tanaka Sansho Dayu
Claire Trevor The High and the Mighty
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Best Cinematography
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G.R.Aldo, Robert Krasker Senso
Robert Burks Rear Window
William H.Clothier Track of the Cat
William H.Daniels The Far Country
Bert Glennon Crime Wave
Boris Kaufman On the Waterfront
Michel Kelber French Can Can
Milton Krasner Demetrius and the Gladiators
Milton Krasner Three Coins in the Fountain
Hiroyuki Kusuda Twenty-Four Eyes
Joseph LaShelle River of No Return
Otello Martelli La Strada
Russell Metty Magnificent Obsession
Kazuo Miyagawa Chikamatsu Monogatari
Kazuo Miyagawa Sansho Dayu
Pierre Montazel Touchez pas au Grisbi
Asaichi Nakai The Seven Samurai
Sven Nykvist Karin Mansdotter
Leon Shamroy The Egyptian
Harry Stradling Johnny Guitar
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Best Score
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Malcolm Arnold Hobson’s Choice
Leonard Bernstein On the Waterfront
Hugo Friedhofer Vera Cruz
Fumio Hayasaka Sansho Dayu
Fumio Hayasaka The Seven Samurai
Nino Rota La Strada
Frank Skinner Magnificent Obsession
Dimitri Tiomkin The High and the Mighty
Georges Van Parys French Can Can
Franz Waxman Rear Window
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Thrilled that TOKYO STORY, Ozu and Chishu Ryu triumphed for 1953!
In 1954, we have what could well be the greatest film of all-time, or one that I’d identify as such at least a few days of the week. Still it’s a banner year, with some masterpieces in addition to my top choice, which include Kinoshita’s TWENTY-FOUR EYES, Fellini’s LA STRADA, Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI, Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, Naruse’s THE SOUND OF THE MOUNTAIN, Kazan’s ON THE WATERFRONT, Renoir’s FRENCH CAN CAN, Mizoguchi’s CHICKAMATSU MONOGATARI, Sirk’s MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, Lean’s HOBSON’S CHOICE and Gosho’s AN INN AT OSAKA.
Best Picture: Sansho Dayu a. k. a. Sansho the Bailiff
Best Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho Dayu)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina (La Strada)
Best Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront) and John Williams (Dial M For Murder) TIE
Best Supporting Actress: Kinuyo Tanaka (Sansho Dayu)
Best Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa (Sansho Dayu)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Best Short: Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
Yay for “Tokyo Story” getting best picture, director and best supporting actress in 1953!
Yay for “Duck Amuck” winning best short in 1953.
Yay for “Ugetsu monogatari” winning best cinematography in 1953.
I vote “Seven Samurai” for best picture in 1954.
I vote Akira Kurosawa for best director (“Seven Samurai”) in 1954.
I vote “Duck Dodgers in the 241/2 Century” for best short in 1954.
I vote Toshiro Mifune for best actor in “Seven Samurai” in 1954.
I vote Audrey Hepburn for best actress in “Sabrina” in 1954.
I vote John Williams for best supporting actor in “Dial M for Murder” in 1954.
I vote Julie Adams for best supporting actress in “Creature from the Black Lagoon” in 1954.
I vote “Seven Samurai” for best cinematography in 1954.
I vote “Creature from the Black Lagoon” for best score in 1954.
Scrap that last vote, the real best score for 1954 is the one for “Godzilla”. I’m a moron.
So is this Japan’s “1939″ or what? They’d certainly win the Best Nation award if we did such a thing. But do they sweep all categories? Let’s see:
Best Picture: Seven Samurai
Best Director: Kurosawa
Best Actor: Brando, but this is closer than history assumes. Bogart, Gabin, Mason and Tracy are strong runners-up.
Best Actress: Garland
Supporting Actor: Shimura
Supporting Actress: McCambridge
Cinematography: Clothier, Track of the Cat
Score: a formidable field before you add the winner, Akira Ifukube for Gojira/Godzilla.
Short: Bugs and Thugs
Best Picture: Rear Window
Top Five: 1. Rear Window 2. Touchez Pas Au Grisbi 3. La Strada 4. Sansho The Baliff 5. Seven Samurai
Picture: The Seven Samurai
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi, Sansho Dayu
Actor: Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
Actress: Judy Garland, A Star Is Born
Sup Actor: Jack Carson, A Star Is Born
Sup. Actress: Mercedes McCambridge, Johnny Guitar
Cinematography: Boris Kaufman, On the Waterfront
Picture – Late Chrysanthemums
Director – Hitchcock (Rear Window)
Actor – Toshiro Mifune (The Seven Samurai)
Actress – Haruko Sugimura (Late Chrysanthemums)
Supporting Actor – Dan Duryea (Silver Lode)
Supporting Actress – Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar)
Cinematography – Clothier (Track of the Cat)
Short – Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
SANSHO is one of the most beautiful and devastating movies I’ve ever seen. Just feel the need to affirm that in light of the absurdity that I couldn’t find a spot for it here.
Best Picture: Rear Window
Best Director: Hitchcock (Rear Window)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina (La Strada)
Best Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront)
Best Supporting Actress: Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar)
Best Cinematography: Asaichi Nakai (The Seven Samurai)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Normally, I side with Sam. He and I have alot of the same tastes, have seen many of these films together and have shared the experiences.
However, this year, one of the toughest ones to choose from, I allow my heart to take control and my passion for arresting visual style to guide me…
My apologies, in advance, to my dear friend.
Here we go…
PICTURE: SEVEN SAMURAI
(My top five: The Seven Samurai, Sansho Dayu, Rear Window, La Strada, On The Waterfront)
SHORT: DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24TH AND 1/2 CENTURY (Simply, this could be my vote for Chuck Jones greatest cartoon and one of my top favorites as well. Maurice Noble’s background paintings are like something out of a fevered drug-induced fantasy of the bizarre and Mel Blancs vocal performance of the banter between Daffy and Porky and how they get to Planet X is so perfect in it’s whacked-out delivery that it boggles the mind with it’s bravado and ingenuity.)
DIRECTOR: Akira KUROSAWA (SEVEN SAMURAI)-I feel no other director is as present in the feel of their films this year as Kurosawa is on SAMURAI. He hovers over everything like a scorcerer whipping up a storm for his enemies. He and Mifune must’ve know what they had here and were probably high-fiving each other the whole way throw the shoot. It’s a master class on what great directing is all about.
LEAD ACTOR: Marlon BRANDO (ON THE WATERFRONT)-Some would say this is the lanslide year for Brando. I say look again. With Bogart, Tracy, Mifune, Mason all in the running it’s a tighter race than one may expect. But, then there’s Charles Laughton in HOBSON’S CHOICE and I almost squeezed Brando out in favor of one of the master thespians very best performances. Brando gets it, though, by a hair.
LEAD ACTRESS: Giulietta MASINA (LA STRADA)-Again, a very tough call. However, for me, there is only one other actress in this race breathing down the neck of Masina and that’s Judy GARLAND for her career-defing turn in A STAR IS BORN. Masina, ultimately, makes the cut because on top of a fine performance she’s also allowing her very expressive face do most of the work. Frankly, I cannot take my eyes off of her for a second. She’ll probably also score this same prize from me for NIGHTS OF CABIRIA.
SUPP. ACTOR: Karl MALDEN (ON THE WATERFRONT)-A great lead turn is sometimes measured by the support he gets from the actors that make up his supporting cast. As an ensemble, the cast of WATERFRONT rate and recieve many of the casts individual best work. Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint were never better. But, it’s the conflicted morality of Maldens tough as nails priest that sounds the loudest. His toe-to-toe moments with Brando have electricity in them.
SUPP. ACTRESS: Kinuyo TANAKA (SANSHO DAYO)-Simply, head and shoulders the best in the field and, once seen, never forgotten.
PHOTO: Kazuo MIYAGAWA (SANSHO DAYO)-Hard call knowing that SEVEN SAMURAI is also in the running. However, SAMURAI’s grit just misses with the pristineness of SANSHO waiting to take the prize.
MUSIC: Leonard BERNSTEIN (ON THE WATERFRONT)-One of the great scores from the 50′s and written and performed by one of the major talents and classical icons of the 20th Century. You could listen to this without the visuals and still know, precisely, what is going on. At once powerful, but then, with Edie’s theme, soft and tender. Much of the whallop of WATERFRONT comes from Bernsteins music.
Whew! Is it done now?
Picture: Sansho the Bailiff
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Actor: Marlon Brando
Acress: Judy Garland
Sup. Actor: Rod Steiger
Sup. Actress: Mercedes McCambridge
Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Score: Leonard Bernstein
Best Picture: Rear Window (this is a huge year, but this might be my favorite movie of all-time)
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Alida Valli (Senso)
Best Supporting Actor: Lee Cobb (On the Waterfront)
Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter (Rear Window)
Best Cinematography: Robert Burks (Rear Window)
Best Score: Franz Waxman (Rear Window)
This was a great year…to match Maurizio, my top 5 would be: 1) Rear Window, 2) Touchez pas au grisbi 3) Senso 4) Johnny Guitar, 5) On the Waterfront [which still leaves off Japanese classics that I love as well]
Minority opinion: I find SANSHO THE BALIFF to be impossible for me to get through. There. I said it. Anyway, no way anything could come close to what I consider to be Hitchcock’s best.
PICTURE: Rear Window (followed by Seven Samarai, Johnny Guitar, On The Waterfront, A Star is Born, Bad Day at Black Rock, Salt of the Earth, Executive Suite, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window (2nd: Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samarai)
ACTOR: Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront (2nd: James Mason, A Star is Born)
ACTRESS: Judy Garland, A Star is Born (2nd: Shirley Booth, About Mrs. Leslie)
SUPPORTING ACTOR: John Williams, Dial M for Murder (2nd: Jose Ferrer, The Caine Mutiny)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Eva Marie Saint, On The Waterfront (2nd: Nina Foch, Executive Suite)
SHORT: Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century (2nd: Pigs is Pigs)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Burks, Rear Window (2nd (color): George Folsey, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
SCORE: Dimitri Tiompkin, The High and the Mighty (2nd: Leonard Bernstein, On The Waterfront)
FURTHER:
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michael Wilson, Salt of the Earth (2nd: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni, Seven Samarai)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Michael Hayes, Rear Window (2nd: Philip Yordan, Johnny Guitar)
B&W CINEMATOGRAPHY: Asaichi Nakai, The Seven Samurai (2nd: Boris Kaufman, On The Waterfront
B&W ART DIRECTION: Executive Suite
COLOR ART DIRECTION: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
B&W COSTUME DESIGN: Sabrina
COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
FILM EDITING: Rear Window
SOUND: Rear Window
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
SCORING OF A MUSICAL: Ray Heindorf, A Star is Born
ORIGINAL SONG: “The Man That Got Away,” from A Star is Born, Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
MAKEUP: The Creature From The Black Lagoon
Sansho impossible to get through? I would excommunicate you, Dean, but I fear previous choices have already required the bell, book and candle.
Hark! The wrath of Oscars’ past. But seriously, Dean demands respect not petty reprisals. I don’t always agree with him, but he certainly knows his movies and his contributions here are always diligent and food for thought. I myself have given up on this segment because of this very sort of supercilious outburst.
I didn’t say it was a bad movie. Just that I can’t get through it. Nothing wrong with that. I can’t get through reading MOBY DICK, either.
Dean is being honest. And he does such a great job week after week.
Yes, Dean’s participation in this on-going project has been a treat for the readers, His review too has been wholly terrific.
Lots of great films to choose from, however cannot ignore Hitchcock here.
Pic- Rear Window
Dir- Hitchcock – Rear Window
Actor- Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront
Actress- Judy Garland- A Star is Born (Actually Alida Valli gives an incredible performance in Senso and is probably neck and neck with Garland….however this labor of love for Garland takes it).
Supp. Actor- Lee J. Cobb – On the Waterfront
Supp. Actress- Mercedes McCambridge – Johnny Guitar
Score- Bernstein – On the Waterfront
Cinematography- Aldo/Krasker – Senso
I agree with you Sam, though Seven Samurai and Rear Window are also excellent choices.
Best Picture: Sansho the Bailiff
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho the Bailiff)
Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Actress: Giulietta Masina (La Strada)
Best Supporting Actor: John Williams (Dial M For Murder)
Best Supporting Actress: Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar)
Best Short: Duck Dodgers
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Best Cinematography: Robert Burks (Rear Window)
It is pretty heavy on the Japanese films, though most of the 50s are… The choice at the top isn’t all that hard, because it is one of the all time greats – but what a wealth of material behind it! Including the best Naruse, I think, but it comes up against the best Kurosawa, so what can I do?
PICTURE: Seven Samurai
DIRECTOR: Kurosawa
LEAD ACTOR: James Stewart, Rear Window
LEAD ACTRESS: Haruko Sugimura, Late Chrysanthemums
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Takashi Shimura
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kinuyo Tanaka, Sansho Dayu
SHORT: Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century
SCORE: I think I’m going with Samuel Wilson, Gojira
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Kazuo Miyagawa, Sansho Dayu (it is such a shockingly great looking film.)
Plus bonus picks::
Script: I’ll say Late Chrysanthemums – with its multipart story, its jokes, its interlocked parts…
Editing: Late Chrysanthemums again – though obviously, Seven Samurai has some spectacular scissor work going on. But I love the way Naruse edits the film to complicate the stories – cutting between threads on related actions (someone walks out of a house, cuts to someone else in the street…) Naruse is a very underrated editor.
BEST PIC: Seven Samurai
RUNNERS-UP: Sansho, La Strada, Waterfront.
There were many other excellent films this year deserving to be “best” of the year, as the above reviewers attest to. But imho these four are among the best ever made!
BEST DIR: Kurasawa
BEST ACTORS: Masina-La Strada; Brando-Waterfront
BEST SCR: Schulberg-Waterfront
BEST PH:TIE: Aldo/Krasker-Senso (color) / Miyagawa-Sansho (b&w)
BEST MUSIC: Bernstein-Waterfront
Feature: On the Waterfront
Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window)
Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Actress: Brenda de Banzie (Hobson’s Choice)
Supp. Actor: Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront)
Supp. Actress: Kyoko Kagawa (Sansho The Bailiff)
Cinematography: The Seven Samurai
Score: La Strada
Screenplay: Hobson’s Choice
Editing: The Seven Samurai
honorable mention: French Cancan
Oh and I must put a word in for Bing Crosby in The Country Girl. Any other year it would take my actIng prize. Just a brilliant, revealing performance & it’s kind of amazing that Grace Kelly got all the attention for her decidedly less impressive performance (I’d choose her in Rear Window, playing to her strengths, than in this bit of Oscar bait).
I haven’t been voting for the 50s so far as there are so many gaps in my viewing for that era (might vote for this year at the end of the week as I’m a bit better up on it than some years!), but am following with interest and must agree with you on Crosby, Joel, it’s an astonishing performance and for me it is his film all the way. The scenes where he goes backstage and turns off his stage presence just like that…
The scene I remember most vividly is when he’s in the bar, a sad-sack feeling sorry for himself, and the lounge singer starts singing one of his songs. Without missing a beat, he swivels around in his seat and joins in, still the proud showman even in his dissolute state. But what impresses me most about the sequence is the tinge of arrogance: even when feeling immensely sorry for himself, he can’t resist showing up someone else. And you get the sense that maybe his talent, his self-pity, and his alcoholism all come from the same place.
I wonder if in a year other than ’54, with Brando turning in one of the all-time great turns, he wouldn’t have been so overlooked and/or forgotten. The film itself I have some issues with, but Crosby’s performance is one of my favorite ever. Glad you agree!
Joel, I also like the scene you mention – another one of the places where Crosby turns his star power on and off abruptly. Meant to say that I also agree with you on Grace Kelly – she seems miscast to me in this, and Rear Window is a far better role for her.
Allan, I know I do tend to go for melodrama, as evinced by the fact that I also like the Cary Grant performance you mention here – but I’m interested to hear you see them both as overstatements. Something to think about when I rewatch in the future, though I suspect I will be as compelled by both of them as ever.
Hell, I’m revising my vote. I do this tie thing seldom enough that I think I can get away with it here. Especially if even the big Fish pulls it once in a while!
Allan make it:
Actor: (TIE) Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) & Bing Crosby (The Country Girl)
Much as though I respecrt Judy’s love for him, to me Crosby’s performance is nothing. He was nomninated by the Oscars and hence I included him as a nominee, but if I listed all those performances of 1954 in quality order, he’d be near the bottom. It was as horreendous an overstatement as Cary Grant’s awful turn in None But the Lonely Heart.
Tell us what you think! Ha!
Give it another shot some time; within the parameters of the larger-than-life Crosby persona (which is part of what gives it bite, especially knowing as we do now that he was kind of an asshole) it’s a subtler perfirmance than you give it credit for. Also to a large extent the CHARACTER is a drama queen, a very important aspect to remember. I’ve known many people in life like that; in those cases, ‘overdoing’ might be underplaying.
Best Picture: Rear Window
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Actor: Marlon Brando
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina
Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter
Best Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb
Cinematography: Seven Samurai
Score: Waterfront
Pic – Rear Window (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
Director – La Strada (Italy…Federico Fellini)
Actor – Marlon Brando On the Waterfront
Actress – Judy Garland A Star is Born
Sup Actor – Lee J.Cobb On the Waterfront
Cinematography – Asaichi Nakai The Seven Samurai
Picture: On the Waterfront
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Short: Duck Dodgers
Actor: Marlon Brando
Actress: Giulietta Masina
Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb
Supporting Actress:Thelma Ritter
Cinematography: Boris Kaufman
Score: Leonad Bernstein
I know I am wrong to think this way, but I just couldn’t bring myself to vote for Elia Kazan for obvious reasons that everyone knows well.
No guilt in that, Peter, Kazan doesbn’t deserve it. The mistake, if there is one, is giving Waterfront best film. There are six better Japanese films that year alone, not counting others.
Oh and to Allan (since I chose Waterfront too) I tend to think when judging apples and oranges of Best Feature, subjectivity comes into it way more than in other categories. I’m confident using a fine-toothed comb with, say, my Best Director picks (although actors I tend to choose more by gut than cerebellum) but when it comes to Feature I just go with my favorite among the many best. So the important question to me is usually, is my pick at least on the same plateau as the possibly ‘better’ films I didn’t pick?
Waterfront probably has more flaws than some of the almost perfectly controlled Japanese flicks, but for me flaws don’t usually compromise greatness (unless they are central or preponderant). Hence I’m fine placing the heights of Waterfront alongside the heights of the Nipponese Six, which is enough to earn it consideration; what gave it edge for me personally is that, for whatever reason, most of the Japanese classics of the early fifties just don’t hit me with the same force as, say, European films of the 60s, or American films of the 70s, or Asian films of the 00s. I admire most of the Kurosawa films rather than truly enjoy them, while the Mizoguchis admittedly get more enthusiasm from me (Ugetsu won last year, after all) my reaction to Sansho (which I DO need to see again) is also more respectful than anything else. Even when it comes to Ozu, who may be my favorite Japanese director, Tokyo Story os actually one of my least favorite films of his, lacking the sense of deliverance (I wouldn’t go so far as to call it transcendence myself) achieved by the determined endurance of his other movies.
Much of this (except for maybe my Tokyo Story reservations) is entirely personal – says nothing about the films – but since that’s what helps me choose Best Feature in an otherwise impossibly diverse and equally deserving field, when I cast my ballot the personal becomes ‘political’! Anyway, hope that explains why Waterfront is a contender.
I think it says a real lot that in the Sight and Sound poll that “Tokyo Story” was the #1 choice of the filmmakers and the #3 choice of the critics. When you combine the two I think it comes out the #1 film of all-time. Yes all this voting by everyone and their brother is all relative, and every single person has their own opinion.
No film by Ozu was as moving.
No film was loved more than it’s creator.
No film has had as lasting an influence.
Sure you are entitled to your opinion. That’s what these boards are for. Like Sam and others I was happytthe film did so well in the site voting, even though it was my #2 behind “Madame de.” But I did vote Ozu and Chishu Ryu in the top spot. “Tokyo Story” is Ozu’s greatest film.
Peter, you are far from alone in your assessment. All I can say is that I’ve seen the film several times and it has always seemed to lack the qualities I most cherish in Ozu’s other work. It doesn’t seem as warm as Late Spring, as spontaneous and relaxed as I Was Born But, as tragic (vs. downbeat) as Tokyo Twilight. It is distinctive to be sure, and Ozu was obviously going for something a little different here. I respect that, but it just moves me less than his other works. I suspect that someday I’ll have a viewing that ‘clicks’ more with me, but even so I suspect I’ll always prefer Late Spring.
Peter, out of curiosity (this has always interested me since the very different reactions their awards earned almost back-to-back at the Oscars) would you refrain from awarding Polanski a Best Director in a year you thought he earned it?
Movie Man: I conceded in my comment that “I was probably wrong” and I stand by that position. Kazan was a formidable filmmaker without question, but perhaps more than any other director he was a political “rat.” When I come to vote on this thread every week I vote in terms of “art.” This time I played a political card, caused by my intense dislike for the person.
Am I right? Almost definitely lot. But I just feel I can live withj myself better. Others may not quite feel that way, and that’s cool.
The difference between Polanski and Kazan is that one guy is directly using the film in question to make excuses for his actions. This is a rather important distinction when handing out meaningless statues. While the personal lives of filmmakers shouldn’t be held against their art, if they use that art to actually defend their actions in real life (which Waterfront is clearly doing) than it becomes a more debatable matter. For me, I have always viewed Waterfront as somewhat overrated besides Kazan’s weasel-like nature due to other factors (Karl Malden’s bad acting and pontificating being one).
Polanski in all his best films (which were before his legal problems anyway) never made excuses for what he did. The Pianist didn’t deserve to win simply because the only thing it earns is mind numbing mediocrity IMO… not for it’s message which is unrelated to specific personal problems.
Yes, Kazan’s “art” did overlap into his politics and vice versa. I agree.
No, I don’t mean to judge, just curious a to how the standard is applied since (something it looks like Maurizio addresses below, off I go…)
I completely understand Movie Man. No problem at all.
Oops, responded to Maurizio at bottom of thread. My bad.
For those too lazy to scroll haha:
http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/1953-best-picture-best-director-best-short-best-actor-best-actress-best-supp-actor-best-supp-actress-best-cinematography-best-score-results/#comment-81225
Best Picture: Rear Window
Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Short: Duck Dodgers
Best Actor: Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
Best Actress: Judy Garland, A Star is Born
Best Supporting Actor: Lee J. Cobb, On the Waterfront
Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter, Rear Window
Best Cinematography: Robert Burks, Rear Window
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein, On the Waterfront
Film: ‘Sansho the Bailiff’ (because I’ve seen it more recently than ‘The Seven Samurai’, otherwise how does one choose?)
Director: Ken Mizoguchi
Actor: Toshiro Mifune (‘The Seven Samurai’)
Actress: Joan Crawford (‘Johnny Guitar’); the clock is ticking and I haven’t given Crawford a nod yet, though she and McCambridge might belong in the Actors category here)
S. Actor: Rod Steiger (‘On the Waterfront’) Lee J. Cobb never stops shouting, the typical Kazan brass knuckle approach.
S. Actress: Eva Marie Saint (‘On the Waterfront’) Never lovelier.
Photography: Kazuo Miyagawa (‘Sansho’) Again.
I almost broke precedent and participated to at least give Joan the token vote. To shut her out in the movie she gives her best performance? Fuck.
Glad you remedied the situation, so I didn’t have to. Watched Torch Song last night again.
You have already broken precedent when you cast the tie-breaking vote in 1939 for Renoir’s RULES OF THE GAME, enabling it to squeak past THE WIZARD OF OZ! LOL!!!!
That was a vote to let sanity win, this would be a vote for a deep love of mine.
You need to participate every week, Jamie.
Best Picture: Seven Samurai
Best Director: Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Supporting Actor: Takashi Shimura (Seven Samurai)
Best Supporting Actress: Kinuyo Tanaka (Sansho Dayu)
Best Cinematography: Asaichi Nakai (The Seven Samurai)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Top 5:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Rear Window
3. Sansho the Bailiff
4. On the Waterfront
5. Crime Wave
I voted for Shimura in the Supporting Category because his name has been mentioned in the Supporting list above. However I strongly feel his name ought to have been there in the Lead Actor category – he certainly wasn’t playing second fiddle to anyone, even if Mifune’s was a more flamboyant (and author-driven) role.
No best actresss choice for you?
Well Dean, that was a deliberate omission. I felt it would be better to skip the category as, from what I’ve watched belonging to this year, no ‘lead actress’ performance jumped into my mind, so to speak.
Best Picture: Sansho dayu
Best Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho dayu)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Judy Garland (A Star is Born)
Best Supporting Actor: Karl Malden (On the Waterfront)
Best Supporting Actress: Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar)
Best Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa (Sansho dayu)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Best Film: Sansho the Bailiff
Best Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho the Bailiff)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina (A Star is Born)
Best Short: Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century
Best Supporting Actor: Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront)
Best Supporting Actress: Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Best Photography: Kazuo Miyagawa (Sansho the Bailiff)
Wait…are you voting for MASINA or are you voting for A STAR IS BORN???
Dean—
I just called David, and he apologized for the mix up. His #1 choice is Judy Garland for A STAR IS BORN. He said it was a very difficult decision, with Masina at #2, and he must have been thinking that way even as he wrote it down. Funny though!
Sorry about the confusion, and thanks for noticing the error Dean. These are two great performances, and I think in my head I wanted to vote for both. lol.
Best Picture: On the Waterfront
Best Director: Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina (La Strada)
Best Short: Duck Dodgers
Best Supp. Actor: Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront)
Best Supp. Actress: Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront)
Best Cinematography: Boris Kaufman (On the Waterfront)
I say go all the way!
Haha, why not make it a clean sweep by promoting Saint to Lead, and choosing some extra for Supp. Actress (for the life of me, I can’t think of any other woman in the film; isn’t there some lady with her hair in curlers who waves her husband off in the morning or something, or am I thinking of another movie? I can see her face quite vividly).
Best Picture – The Caine Mutiny
Best Director – Kurosawa
Best Actor – Bogart
Best Actress – Masina
Best S. Actor – Cobb
Best S. Actress – Saint
Best Photography – Russell Metty
Best Score – Leonard Berstein
no vote for best short.
Re: Maurizio, ah here we open up a nice, juicy can of worms!
1) Does the distinction only matter when offering institutional, public recognition or when judging the work itself (I.e. should Waterfront lose critical ‘points’ for being Kazan’s justication? – and Schulberg’s incidentally; although he always hated auteurism in the case of this film it seems to have let him off the hook!)
2) To what extent should a filmmaker’s behind-the-scenes motivation affect our judgment of the work? After all, within the context Waterfront addresses directly, informing is certainly moral and justified. Only when we look at offscreen, at the director’s and writer’s actions and statements do we see Waterfront, laterally, as informing on Communists and fellow travelers who, unlike the mob characters in the film, didn’t represent much of a threat to anyone in the industry and certainly were not the at the seat of overwhelming power (only in the Writers Union did they have much cache and even there they were a minority, and not even that by the fifties when Kazan informed).
3) If we allow lateral propaganda to count against a work, where do we draw the line? Is it a matter of explicit intention? What if a director makes a film which, unexpectedly, lends itself to propagandization in a cause the filmmaker didn’t have in mind – or even opposes? Obviously, this ties back into the first question; if the only objection is to handing out a symbolic statue than obviously the director shouldn’t be punished (although, arguably, the film itself should since – however unintentionally it is says something other than why it’s filmmaker intended? Or does it only make sense to punish creators and not works in this fashion?)
4) Which leads to the last question: if a work serves immoral purposes, onscreen AND off, should that be considered in judgment? I would say ‘mostly’ no. Mostly because it doesn’t disqualify them from what I would call ‘greatness’ which I would consider a matter of power of expression rather than what’s being expressed – I am interested in hearing & seeing all views and ideas presented on film, since art is there to reflect life, even it’s uglier, darker aspects, and all I ask is that the film not be conveniently hypocritical in its presentation, although sometimes I can stomach even that if the film’s good enough. On the other hand, I would seldom leave moral objections out of an extended discussion of an immoral film, no matter how great and when handing out awards in a real-time, high-exposure environment (i.e. not these comment threads!) I might very well consider the morality of the film or filmmaker (as filmmaker, not in his personal life) especially where all other qualities were relatively equal.
*Writers Guild, not Writers Union
1. The distinction is up to the individual I guess. Institutions judging art matter very little to me. My comment is what I would apply if ever becoming part of the institution and/or what I believe personally.
2. Not sure if there is a completely definitive answer for this. Kazan’s motivation was based on some very hurtful actions. Not often you find such a damning example. Saying that, I would understand if someone decided to totally divorce the two factors and judged only the film while not caring about the real life implications. Like I mention above, it is up to the individual in the end.
3. Basically answered this in 1 and 2. Propaganda should only count against a work for those that decide they want too. No right or wrong answer…
4. Each person has their own moral boundaries. They will judge anything as they see fit.
1. Yeah, that’s what I thought you meant. I might lean towards your view as well, although in ’99 I did not have a problem with Kazan receiving a lifetime achievement award. At that point the legacy of the blacklist was no longer really at stake – it was pretty much universally condemned – and if anything it was Kazan who was in the doghouse. But if awarding someone is somehow going to be seen as endorsing their views (related of course to the film they made), at a time when those views actually carry currency, I could see not wanting to vote for them.
2. But I think the important point here is that it already is totally divorced in the context of the film; the viewer has to “bring in” the fact that Kazan informed in real life, in less than savory circumstances, since the movie itself is just about mobsters who deserve to be informed on. In this it differs from something like, say, Animal Farm, which is straight allegory – while Schulberg and Kazan were drawn to the real-life material and shaped it according to their own experiences, the subject matter and story still stand on their own.
As for 3 & 4, I agree there’s no real set rule about this; I guess I was more interested in your own perspective on the matter.
Best Picture: Rear Window (US…Alfred Hitchcock)
Best Director: Akira Kurosawa for The Seven Samurai
Best Actor: Toshiro Mifune The Seven Samurai
Best Actress: Giulietta Masina La Strada
Best Supp Actor: John Williams Dial M for Murder
Best Supp Actress: Thelma Ritter Rear Window
Best Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa Sansho Dayu
Best Score: Leonard Bernstein On the Waterfront
Best Picture: Seven Samurai
Best Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho)
Best Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Best Actress: Haruko Sugimura (Late Chrysanthemums)
Best Sup. Actor: John Williams (Dial M)
Best Sup. Actress: Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
Picture: Rear Window (I also love On the Waterfront, Track of the Cat and French Can Can)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window)
Actor: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) ( very strong year… I also love both Crosby, as mentioned earlier, and Sinatra in Suddenly – a great year for singers in acting roles. And Gabin, James Mason and James Stewart.)
Actress: Joan Crawford (Johnny Guitar) (I also like Judy Garland, but such a shame we don’t have the complete film and so both her performance and Mason’s are damaged.)
Supporting actor: Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront)
Supporting actress: Kinuyo Tanaka (Sansho Dayu)
Cinematography: Clothier (Track of the Cat)
Sorry, I meant to put the score on too – Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront), though I do also like the Tiomkin