In an Italy where pretty much everyone is a crook, a bunch of bungling crooks get together to pull off an easy heist. It’s all a lot of breezy fun watching the interactions and relationships of this gang while they’re trying to overcome the various obstacles that get in the way to the loot. Going to have to work through more of the Marcello Mastroianni films on The List.
Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film
As in many genres, there’s a lot of sameness to be found amongst many Westerns, particularly the story of a lone lawman fighting off a gang of baddies. Here we have a gunslinger being hired to act as marshal and clear the town of their bad guys. The gunslinger and his companion (played by Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn respectively) aren’t really good guys themselves and the townspeople don’t really have authority to hire a marshal, but that only is a small obstacle in how things go down. As really the reason to watch this, Fonda and Quinn pull off an early bromance, with Quinn willing to make any sacrifice to elevate his friend.
Just another one of many interchangeable John Wayne westerns. There’s an odd contradiction that the film treats the Apache somewhat respectfully while also shrugging its shoulders at their foregone demise. Geraldine Page’s character was much more interesting than anything Wayne was offering, a tough woman who knew what her expected place in society was but also knew the realities of the man she was married to and the situation she was left with.
Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Perhaps confusing this with the 1950 film of the same name, I really expected this to be an American Western. Instead this is a flick about a family of Australian sheep drovers in the 1920s. I’m not so sure what to think about the unevenness in the accents of Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, but they do have a lot of chemistry as the married couple. The story itself is an inoffensive romp where the couple tries to come to a compromise when one partner wants to settle down while the other experiences wanderlust. Amongst the new friends they meet along the way are characters played wonderfully by Peter Ustinov and Glynis Johns. 
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
The number of Westerns I subject myself to as an Oscar completionist and a James Stewart fan is numerous. Luckily this one is covered by both of those umbrellas. Despite the grievances of many a child of the 1950s who would prefer a simplistic good guys-bad guys narrative, I have a soft spot for those Westerns that make some attempts toward nuance in their portrayals of Native Americans. Aside from that, this film following Stewart’s attempts at brokering a peace deal between Cochise and the Army, after saving an Apache boy and finding sympathy for the ways of the Apache, is mostly forgettable.
Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Color
Everyone hates film producer Kirk Douglas, but they also all want to make movies with him. Creatively told almost completely in flashbacks, Lana Turner, Dick Powell, and Barry Sullivan are gathered together by Walter Pidgeon to explain the very good reasons why they all hate Douglas. The story is an intriguing examination of how movies are made and the people who make them.
Oscar Wins: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White
Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role
As a light, but exceptionally long, rendering of the well-known story of the Frank family and their companions hiding from the Nazis, this film is adequate. It gives a good view of the crampedness of the quarters they shared and some of the harrowing events that occurred while they were there. But it is told in a relatively breezy way. Aside from going through the motions to keep from being found, there’s not as much of a sense of both the danger and tedium that had to exist for such a long period of time together. Millie Perkins is not particularly believable as a young teenager, a bit too cute and precious. On the other hand, Joseph Schildkraut as Otto Frank and Shelley Winters as Petronella Van Dam bring real emotion to their roles, the former as a father trying to keep everyone safe and the latter trying to hold on to life as she once knew it.
Oscar Wins: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Director; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
It’s hard to talk about Auntie Mame without comparing it to the musical Mame, particularly the Lucille Ball 1974 movie version. Both stories follow the adventures of Mame Dennis, a single middle aged woman who is suddenly granted the guardianship of her orphaned nephew. After seeing the musical, I expect the character to possess a lot more zaniness than Rosalind Russell brings to the role. The supporting cast also didn’t bring as much to the plate. What does bring a beautiful wackiness to the production is the constant changes over the years in Mame’s apartment and costuming.
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color; Best Film Editing
Filmed in an actual VA hospital with many patients in supporting roles, Marlon Brando’s debut film is an affecting look into the experiences of injured vets. In some ways it feels like a documentary, including a few scenes that are almost lectures to give the vets, their loved ones, and the audience information on what to expect in recovery and the long lasting effects of their injuries. Brando and Teresa Wright work well together, portraying the ups and downs of a relationship living with their new reality.
Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
Eartha Kitt’s father kicked her out of the family home for being ‘bad’, but the one thing that drove her to a less than respectable life was being turned away from her family. When given a chance to turn things around, her father still is unwilling to see her differently. I found this whole film to be heartbreakingly sad. Every time it seems Eartha might experience a change for the better, something comes to punch her back down. While a bit theatrical in the way many stage adaptations are, Eartha Kitt is a complete queen here and backed up admirably by the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Rex Ingram.