Category: Best Art/Production Design

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The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Ugh, this film took me forever and more than one watching to get through. My lack of interest in the subject was not helped by a poor quality print and the fact that Franchot Tone and Richard Cromwell look a lot alike. Those two men are newcomers to a regiment of British soldiers during the days of the British Raj. One is a cocky, seasoned soldier and the other is a newly commissioned officer and son of the Colonel. Gary Cooper’s job is to guide these new recruits. The story of the three soldiers is familiar and was done much better in other films of the era, Gunga Din, The Four Feathers, and Beau Geste to name a few.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Assistant Director

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

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Marie Antoinette (1938)

There are some actors that I wish I liked more than I do. Norma Shearer is one of those. There are a couple of roles that I have enjoyed her in, but they are few and far between. Marie Antoinette is not one of them. A lavish, excessively long costume drama that surely takes liberties with Marie Antoinette’s actual life history, Shearer leads the cast with histrionics and overacting every other scene. Robert Morley’s Louix XVI is the opposite, dull and mostly forgettable. John Barrymore is underutilized, Joseph Schildkraut is over the top malicious, Tyrone Power’s entire role could be cut from the film. The costumes and sets are beautiful. I imagine they took up the majority of the movie’s expense. I’m sure they would have been ravishing if the film had been in Technicolor.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction; Best Music, Original Score

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Aliens (1986)

I believe there are some who feel that Aliens is superior to Alien. For me, the two don’t compare. They illustrate the stark contrast between films of the 1970s and what was made in the mid-1980s. Where Alien was more shadowy and dark in portraying the same location, Aliens is all bombastic, large, and in your face. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, dragged along on a mission to supposedly annihilate the xenomorphs for good, is completely shoehorned into a mother role, though it does create a nice parallel for the big ending. Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein are both massively over the top as part of the Marine crew. Paul Reiser is spectacularly oleaginous portraying the ultimate in capitalistic greed. Again the moral of the story is you should really listen to Ripley.  Scifi  Horror

Oscar Wins: Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing; Best Effects, Visual Effects

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Score

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The Razor’s Edge (1946)

This story of a man searching for the meaning of life after his experiences during World War I is much stronger when his transcendence is told through the mirror of his various acquaintances rather than when it’s explicitly showing Tyrone Power’s journey. It’s a little peculiar that W. Somerset Maugham himself, played by Herbert Marshall, is a supporting character who seems to know more about the ways of the world than any of the other characters. That seems to be faithful to the source material Gene Tierney is very beautiful as usual, but her soul is very dark and conniving in this one. Clifton Webb is entertaining as a snobbish older member of Power’s circle. Anne Baxter is given more to do with a role that has her at the top of society falling to the very bottom. I’m very curious to compare the 1984 Bill Murray version to this one, despite the former’s reputation.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Supporting Role; Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White

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Alien (1979)

Not being a fan of either, I generally avoid sci-fi and horror films. This film is why I can’t avoid them completely. With its feet planted much more firmly in the sci-fi half of the equation, it has incredibly visual design in both the ship and the alternate lifeform. I’m overwhelmed with how perfect the design of the Xenomorph is. Seeing a picture of one, it has the look of a typical Giger design. On the ship, slithering through the shadows of the ship’s mechanics, it is perfectly camouflaged until the moment it decides to show its menacing self. They found an entire crew of extraordinary actors to man the craft, most impressively Sigourney Weaver of whom the entire movie could be summed up with the words ‘you really should listen to her.’  Scifi  Horror

Oscar Win: Best Effects, Visual Effects

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

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Radio Days (1987)

I admit that I’ve added all the Woody Allen Oscar nominations to The List so that I can’t be surprised by any additional films of his that I’d be forced by my own convictions to watch. Aside from his narration, his acting is largely absent from this one. A series of 1940s vignettes, the coming-of-age tale centers on the childhood memories of the narrator, very similar to A Christmas Story. While not as cohesive of a story as that other film, this one is held up by a great cast, including many old-time Allen regulars like Dianne Wiest, Diane Keaton, and Julie Kavner.

Oscar Nominations: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

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Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Angry, unhinged Bette Davis is an aspiration. Here she is Charlotte, an eccentric who defiantly haunts her ancestral mansion, the site where her married lover was graphically hacked to pieces many years ago, a crime many locals believe she committed. Olivia de Havilland deliciously plays her cousin whom Charlotte hopes will help her in fighting the local highway commission. Olivia is perfection, using her sweet reputation as a façade on some darkness that is evidently hiding underneath. Agnes Moorehead wickedly adds to the cast as Charlotte’s only real ally. Young Bruce Dern is also great as the murdered lover. Rather surprised to see that the creepy song Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte became a hit and that it was composed by The Brady Bunch theme writer Frank de Vol.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Substantially Original Score

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The Last Tycoon (1976)

It’s not surprising that this was adapted from an F. Scott Fitzgerald work as it has the feel of a companion piece to the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. It’s also not surprising that it was an unfinished novel because there’s quite a bit that feels slapdash and pieced together. Robert De Niro plays somewhat of a wunderkind in the early film industry, but there’s only a few scenes that touch on his skill. Instead focus is pulled through a tepid, drawn-out romance. I am now curious how the 2017 mini-series handles the story with an obviously longer runtime.

Oscar Nomination: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

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Dead End (1937)

I do enjoy seeing actors who have long careers in their early works, in this case Sylvia Sidney who reminds me a lot of Marion Cotillard or that should be vice versa. I also enjoy seeing earlier works with Humphrey Bogart where he was part of a composite instead of a superstar headling the movie. Watching the beginnings of gentrification as the rich try to figure out ways to put pressure on their neighbors who were there first is what makes this film most interesting. The moralizing of the rich man on how to fix the rough hooligans is particular icing on the cake. I haven’t been fond of the Dead End Kids in other films I’ve seen; it seems their presence isn’t any more appreciated in this, their first appearance.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction

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Citizen Kane (1941) – Rewatch

After watching Mank, I decided I needed to revisit this. I honestly didn’t get a whole lot out of it the first time I had watched it many years ago. With more film knowledge under my belt, I sadly still don’t connect much with the story and really can’t find reason to care about a fictionalization of William Randolph Hearst and others like him. I appreciate that the story more or less circles back on itself in a creative, though not really surprising, way. Visually it is striking and this subsequent watch gave me an opportunity to appreciate the framing, which is innovative for its time even when it feels overused. I don’t know what the Best Movie Ever actually is, but this still wouldn’t get my vote.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture

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