A Passage to India (1984)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1985	Won	Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Peggy Ashcroft Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Angela Lansbury accepted the award on her behalf.
			Best Music, Original Score Maurice Jarre
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Judy Davis
			Best Art Direction-Set Decoration John Box Hugh Scaife
			Best Cinematography Ernest Day
			Best Costume Design Judy Moorcroft
			Best Director David Lean
			Best Film Editing David Lean
			Best Picture John Brabourne Richard B. Goodwin
			Best Sound Graham V. Hartstone Nicolas Le Messurier Michael A. Carter John W. Mitchell
			Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium David Lean

Columbia Pictures
Directed by David Lean
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Sony)

Muddled adaptation of the EM Forster novel set in India during the time of British rule. Judy Davis sails from England to be with her fiance, a judge in an Indian court room. His racist attitudes towards the natives offends her to the point that she calls off the marriage, but later changes her mind. In an attempt to see the "real India" she plans a trip to some remote caves with a professor friend and his entourage. Instead, she has some kind of inexplicable hallucination in a cave and claims she was raped. A sensational trial follows, but once again she changes her mind. In a postscript years later the professor forgives her. It's all beautifully filmed by Lean and cinematographer Ernest Day, it's just too bad it's wasted on this story. The soundtrack by Maurice Jarre is good but belongs in another film as well, it ruins the mood and is completely inappropriate.

Sunset Blvd (1950)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1951	Won	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Hans Dreier John Meehan Sam Comer Ray Moyer
			Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Franz Waxman
			Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Charles Brackett Billy Wilder D.M. Marshman Jr.
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role William Holden
			Best Actor in a Supporting Role Erich von Stroheim
			Best Actress in a Leading Role Gloria Swanson
			Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nancy Olson
			Best Cinematography, Black-and-White John F. Seitz
			Best Director Billy Wilder
			Best Film Editing Arthur P. Schmidt Doane Harrison
			Best Picture (Paramount).

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Billy Wilder
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Paramount)

Down and out Hollywood writer William Holden stumbles on the decaying mansion of a silent film icon Gloria Swanson and ends up staying for awhile. In exchange for re-writing a script meant to be her comeback after 20 years, she lavishes him with expensive clothes, jewelry and gifts. At first he lives above the garage, but after a few months he's living in her bedroom. He sneaks out at night to write a real screenplay with buddy Nancy Olson, but when she ends up falling in love with him complications ensue. The whole movie is self-referential, including some gratuitous shots of the Paramount studios, a major plot point is given away by the opening scene and Swanson not only chews the scenery she spits it out, but undeniably entertaining. The final scene is justifiably legendary.

Camelot (1967)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1968	Won	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration John Truscott Edward Carrere John Brown
			Best Costume Design John Truscott
			Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment Alfred Newman Ken Darby
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Cinematography Richard H. Kline
			Best Sound (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts SSD).

Warner Bros.
Directed by Joshua Logan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

King Arthur forms a new order, the Knights of the Round Table, dedicated to everything that is good. A Frenchman, Lancelot Du Lac, answers the call and travels to England. However, Lancelot's condescending attitude does not win him any friends, particularly Arthur's new queen, Guenevere. That all changes when Lancelot apparently resurrects a fallen knight from the dead after a jousting competition. Lancelot and Guenevere embark on a torrid love affair that eventually leads to the dissolution of the Round Table and almost destroys Camelot. The weak link here is Franco Nero as Lancelot. His depiction is almost comical, and it is nearly impossible to believe Guenevere would fall in love with him. The songs in this musical are superfluous, I think it would have been better as just a straight drama. Some of the sets are stunning, as is the meticulous costume design, and it is certainly a beautiful film to look at, much better than its rather poor reputation.

I Remember Mama (1948)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1949	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oskar Homolka
			Best Actress in a Leading Role Irene Dunne
			Best Actress in a Supporting Role Barbara Bel Geddes
			Best Actress in a Supporting Role Ellen Corby
			Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Nicholas Musuraca

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by George Stevens
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Episodic story of a family of Norwegian immigrants in San Francisco. They deal with a series of misfortunes: the youngest daughter's operation in a hospital, an injured cat, a dying uncle and a graduation present are the main ones. Irene Dunne holds the family together with her thriftiness and heart, although she might work a little harder on her Norwegian accent. Barbara Bel Geddes is the sensitive teenager who wants to be a writer. It's overlong and at times over dramatic, but does at least have well developed characters and a tearjerker ending.

Il Divo (2008)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Makeup Aldo Signoretti Vittorio Sodano

MPI
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, MPI Video)

Pretentious biography of Italian politician Giulio Andreotti. All of the flashy cinematography and digital manipulation cannot obscure the fact that there isn't much of a story here. A corrupt politician, who is also socially inept, is accused of conspiring with the mafia to murder his political opponents. He is put on trial numerous times but always dismissed, until finally convicted as an elderly man, though apparently that too is eventually overturned. Really, though, this is a visually oriented film: Andreotti with his peculiar mannerisms, flat ears, hunched back and dour face is more like a cartoon than a real character. No opportunity is wasted to indulge in quirky music selections, to linger over a character actor with an unusual face or to pose Andreotti in an ironic way; all of which makes a great trailer, just not the best of films.

Arabian Nights (1942)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1943	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color Alexander Golitzen Jack Otterson Russell A. Gausman Ira Webb
			Best Cinematography, Color Milton R. Krasner William V. Skall W. Howard Greene
			Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Frank Skinner
			Best Sound, Recording Bernard B. Brown (Universal SSD)

Universal Pictures
Directed by John Rawlins
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Silly Hollywood costumer about two brothers fighting over a throne and a beautiful dancing girl. Sabu is the young acrobat who switches the identity of the ruling caliph of Baghdad when he finds him near death after being attacked by his brother. Jon Hall is the undercover brother who tries to get his rightful place back while romancing the lovely Maria Montez as Scheherazade. The plot loses steam in the last half with endless scenes around a swimming pool that are all talk, no action. There is excessive comic relief from Shemp Howard, of all people, as Sinbad and Billy Gilbert with a running gag using his rotund stomach as a weapon. Entertaining in the right frame of mind, and in glorious Technicolor, but mindless.

Shoeshine (1946)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1948	Won	Honorary Award	Italy. The high quality of this Italian-made motion picture, brought to eloquent life in a country scarred by war, is proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity.
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Writing, Original Screenplay Sergio Amidei Adolfo Franci Cesare Giulio Viola Cesare Zavattini

Directed by Vittorio De Sica
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Entertainment One)

Two friends are arrested for selling stolen blankets and sent to a juvenile prison. They are placed in separate cells and make new friends. The authorities abuse and interrogate them, eventually getting a confession which destroys their friendship through a misunderstanding. They participate in a risky escape attempt while a film is being shown to the rest of the prison population, leading to tragedy. While there are some memorable scenes, the burning projector, the horse on the bridge, the large cast of amateur children actors gets a bit unwieldy at times and the ending seems contrived.

Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1974	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Joanne Woodward
			Best Actress in a Supporting Role Sylvia Sidney

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Gilbert Cates
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Sony)

Joanne Woodward is having a heck of a mid life crisis. She has dreams about airplane crashes, is obsessed with the past, is battling depression and regret, has a gay son in Amsterdam who has forgotten her and a husband who threatens to leave her if she doesn't change. It the middle of all this her mother dies, sending her precariously close to a breakdown. In one chilling scene, she thinks she sees her dead mother and grandparents on a crowded escalator. Her husband takes her on a trip to Europe to try to cope, but he ends up revisiting some of his own demons. Excellently acted by Woodward, Martin Balsam as her husband and Sylvia Sidney as her mother.

Dangerous Moves (1984)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1985	Won	Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film Switzerland.

Gaumont (France)
Directed by Richard Dembo
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Home Vision Entertainment)

A middle-aged Russian chess master with a heart condition is challenged by a young, brash defector for the world championship in Geneva. They play a series of games where the real action is not on the board but behind the scenes. They each try a variety of tactics to distract their opponent, such as placing a hypnotist in the audience or continually showing up late. It gets personal when wives are brought into the mix. Supposedly a metaphor for the Cold War which was ongoing at the time of its release, the political angle is not so intriguing today. Chess aficionados may get a kick out of this, but the rest of us are left kind of scratching our heads about the importance of it all.

Scent of a Woman (1974)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1976	Nominated	Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film Italy
			Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material Ruggero Maccari Dino Risi

Twentieth Century-Fox Films
Directed by  Dino Risi
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

A blind military man takes a trip through Italy with his young assigned escort. He is a hard drinking womanizer whose first order of business in Naples is to find a prostitute. The boy discovers a photograph and a gun in his suitcase while the man is otherwise occupied. It's on to Rome where they meet a priest, more girls and talk a lot, about girls, mostly. Back in Naples they meet up with another blind man and his family, consisting of, you guessed it, more girls. One of them is in love with the much older blind man, although the escort is probably more appropriate for her. The blind man resists her advances while she ignores the young boy. The plot takes an unexpected tragic turn with an attempted murder-suicide. Uneven, to be sure, and a sexist attitude permeates much of the film, but bittersweet and beautifully photographed on Italian locations.

Pigskin Parade (1936)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1937	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Stuart Erwin

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by David Butler
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Jack Haley is the new football coach at a small Texas university. His team is accidentally picked by powerhouse Yale to play in a charity game. When the star Texas quarterback gets hurt, by the coach's wife no less, they manage to find an Arkansas hick who can throw melons to step in and lead them to victory. The ridiculous plot is just an excuse for songs by The Yacht Club Boys and Judy Garland. However, they are upstaged by the unknown Robert McClung, a country bumpkin who can play harmonica with his nose and make barking noises at the same time.

Monsieur Vincent (1947)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1949	Won	Honorary Award	France. Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1948.

Directed by Maurice Cloche
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Lionsgate)

A priest quits his plush job in medieval France and wanders into a nearly deserted town which has locked up an old woman dying of the plague. Father Vincent goes into her house and finds her dead, but saves her abandoned child. These first scenes are the best, and what follows are a series of vignettes detailing his untiring work with the poor, his interaction with the wealthy to get their support, ultimately leading to the founding of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul which continues to this very day. Wonderful black and white photography by Claude Renoir captures the feel of the time as well as the simplicity of the story. Pierre Fresnay is excellent in the title role.

The Brink's Job (1978)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1979	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Dean Tavoularis Angelo P. Graham George R. Nelson

Universal Pictures
Directed by William Friedkin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal Vault Collection)

After a string of some of the best movies ever made, including The Exorcist, The French Connection and Sorcerer, William Friedkin released this dud. Peter Falk is one of the dumbest criminals ever, botching even the simplest robbery. Following a stint in prison, he gets together a gang of his Boston cronies to pull off a heist of the Brink's office where millions are stashed in a safe. Against all odds, they pull it off, until the post-crime meltdown by the gang members. When it goes for laughs it isn't funny, like the crook opening a door full of gumballs, and when it goes for suspense it's boring, like the whole heist.

The Promised Land (1975)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1976	Nominated	Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film Poland

Directed by Andrzej  Wajda
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Vanguard Cinema)

Three Polish capitalists live an absurd life borrowing money to build a factory, while their workers slave away: underpaid, underfed and frequently mutilated by the machinery. Wajda is not afraid to hide his contempt for his leading characters, or their Jewish lenders, but once the point is made it really has no where to go. The factory is built with much difficulty, using other people's money gained through sex, lies or just plain theft. When one of the love affairs is discovered, the jealous husband burns down the factory. However, in a postscript the whole cycle just starts over again. The frantic pace and very large cast make it difficult to keep up with characters and motivations, until at some point I just stopped caring about these pathetic people.

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1963	Won	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Henry Mancini (music) Johnny Mercer (lyrics) For the song "Days of Wine and Roses"
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Jack Lemmon
			Best Actress in a Leading Role Lee Remick
			Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Joseph C. Wright George James Hopkins
			Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Donfeld

Warner Bros.
Directed by Blake Edwards
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick give remarkable performances as an ordinary couple who become alcoholics. Lemmon introduces her to drinking by way of a chocolate concoction, which over time leads to more drinking and eventually a way of life. Lemmon ends up in a straightjacket not once but twice until he finds AA. Remick, on the other hand, refuses to admit she has a problem and seems a lost cause. She is given a last chance, but apparently alcohol is more important than her husband and child. Wonderful black and white photography by Philip Lathrop incorporates some subtle, and not so subtle, symbolism. Just as good, if not better, than its more famous predecessor, The Lost Weekend.

Unconquered (1947)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1948	Nominated	Oscar	Best Effects, Special Effects Farciot Edouart (visual) Devereaux Jennings (visual) Gordon Jennings (visual) W. Wallace Kelley (visual) Paul K. Lerpae (visual) George Dutton (audible)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

A bland love story disguised as an adventure story set in the pre-Revolutionary days of the US wilderness. The three leads are simply terrible: Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard and Howard da Silva give the worst performances of their careers, both collectively and individually. If you can believe the way Cooper and Goddard survive their plunge over a waterfall, just try to watch Boris Karloff as an Indian chief. Only the final Indian attack on a fort manages any kind of thrills, but it's too little, too late.

A Little Romance (1979)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1980	Won	Oscar	Best Music, Original Score Georges Delerue
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Allan Burns

Orion Pictures
Directed by George Roy Hill
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

A precocious teenage American girl, who reads Heidegger "for fun", meets a brash French boy, who spends most of his time in the cinema, and they fall in love. They literally bump into Laurence Olivier one day in the park, who befriends the young couple. He spins a tale about his dead wife and the "legend" of a kiss at sunset in Venice which seals a love forever. They decide to runaway and fulfill the legend, but need Olivier to get them there. It's sweet, it's charming, but it's also predictable, hammy (Olivier) and naive, just like the young couple. Locations in Paris, Venice and points in between are the most recognizable and touristy spots, frequently giving it the feel of a travelogue.

Festival (1967)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1968	Nominated	Oscar	Best Documentary, Features Murray Lerner

Peppercorn-Wormser Film Enterprises
Directed by Murray Lerner
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Eagle Vision)

Superb documentary of the mid 60s folk scene filmed at the Newport Folk Festival. Superstars Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary get the most songs, but many lesser known artists also get at least some screen time. One can easily see how the setting of the folk festival would evolve into the even more famous Woodstock in just a few short years. Attendees sport long hair and beards, sleep on the beach or in their cars and talk about how folk music is used as freedom of expression. Lerner falls in love with extreme close-ups towards the end, and some of the performances are cut short, but overall captures the feel of the times like few films.

Sunset (1988)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1989	Nominated	Oscar	Best Costume Design Patricia Norris

Tri-Star Pictures
Directed by Blake Edwards
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Columbia TriStar)

James Garner essentially reprises his Rockford Files character in this innocuous mystery set in the Hollywood of the late 1920s. Bruce Willis is miscast as western B-movie star Tom Mix, who helps Garner, playing none other than the real Wyatt Earp, solve the murder of a Hollywood call girl. Far more interesting is the period setting, including some behind-the-scenes glimpses inside movie studios and of the very first Academy Awards ceremony at the Roosevelt Hotel. You have to pay close attention to spot Douglas Fairbanks, Laurel and Hardy, WC Fields and other stars, but I would suggest turning away when Malcolm McDowell attempts a Charlie Chaplin impersonation. Mariel Hemingway cries her way through one of the worst performances in recent memory.

Paradise Now (2005)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2006	Nominated	Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Palestine.

Warner Independent Pictures
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Two friends who work as mechanics are selected to become martyrs for the Palestine resistance movement. They have one day to say goodbye to friends and family before strapping on suicide belts. They cross the border into Israel through a hole in a fence, only to encounter a border patrol and gunfire on the other side. They hurry back into Palestine but get separated. One of them gets back to the organizers, but the other is lost. Eventually they are reunited and try again, but they are less certain if what they are doing is right. The film is more interested in motivations and moral questions rather than being an action film, and as a result is rather low key, especially given the subject matter. The change of heart of one of the friends was not particularly convincing, but the grim determination of the other one, for reasons more personal than political, was very real.

Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1976	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Brenda Vaccaro

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Guy Green
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Olive Films)

Trashy but entertaining story of teenage girl falling in love with middle-aged writer and drunkard. The lovely Deborah Raffin glows as only girls in 70s films can as the confused daughter of aging actor Kirk Douglas. She feels rejected after he marries a wealthy woman and tries to replace him with the manly David Janssen, who has a blast with his role, which predictably does not end well. There is a groovy bachelor pad decked out as a bordello, romantic music by Henry Mancini (and his singers), a lesbian love scene and Brenda Vaccaro with a dirty mouth. Beautifully shot on location by John Alonzo in Europe, NYC and LA.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1937	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Louis Alter (music) Sidney D. Mitchell (lyrics) For the song "A Melody from the Sky".

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Henry Hathaway
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

It's the old Hatfield and McCoys story, with the feuding back wood families shooting it out and fighting with each other just because. Fred MacMurray is the educated engineer who tries to get them to come to their senses, with little success. He also finds time to romance the lovely and barefoot Sylvia Sidney, and get her some much needed education. Spanky McFarland takes a break from Our Gang with a pivotal role. However, the story tends to wallow in its own sentimentality. An early Technicolor production, and apparently the first outdoor shoot, but I'm not sure it would have been better in black and white.

Life of Pi (2012)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2013	Won	Oscar	Best Achievement in Cinematography Claudio Miranda
			Best Achievement in Directing Ang Lee
			Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Mychael Danna
			Best Achievement in Visual Effects Bill Westenhofer Guillaume Rocheron Erik De Boer Donald Elliott
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Editing Tim Squyres
			Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Bombay Jayashri (lyrics) Mychael Danna (music) For the song "Pi's Lullaby".
			Best Achievement in Production Design David Gropman (production designer) Anna Pinnock (set decorator)
			Best Achievement in Sound Editing Eugene Gearty Philip Stockton
			Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Ron Bartlett Doug Hemphill Drew Kunin
			Best Motion Picture of the Year Gil Netter Ang Lee David Womark
			Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published David Magee

Fox 2000 Pictures
Directed by Ang Lee
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray 3D, Fox)

The story of an Indian boy and his family who sell their zoo and undertake a journey across the Pacific Ocean to relocate in Canada. The ship sinks in a storm and the only survivors are the boy and some of the animals. They end up together on a lifeboat, but a hyena makes a quick meal of the zebra and orangutan, who himself is eaten by the tiger, leaving boy and tiger alone. Luckily he's got a survival manual and canned food and water for weeks if not months, and solves the problem of feeding the tiger by fishing. They survive at sea for almost a year, with diversions for storms and a stay on a carnivorous island inhabited by meerkats, until finding land in Mexico. But wait... an alternative explanation for the whole story is given by the adult Pi in which no animals or other mysteries are involved, but a rather routine story about people stranded on a lifeboat trying to survive. The competing stories supposedly represent lives spent believing in God or without. The film clearly comes down on the side of God, the more interesting of the two stories and the one that was filmed. Although I was not so easily convinced, I did appreciate the philosophical exercise. According to the Humane Society stamp of approval, no animals were harmed in the making of this film, most are digital anyway, but it is still difficult to watch the tiger suffer through the ordeal at sea, not to mention feeling bad about the goat, zebra, orangutan and hyena which die.

Call Me Madam (1953)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1954	Won	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Alfred Newman
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Costume Design, Color Irene Sharaff

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Walter Lang
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Two sappy love stories anchor this musical laced with catchy Irving Berlin songs. Ethel Merman, a wealthy Washington socialite whose main credential seems to be throwing a good party, is made ambassador to "Lichtenburg", apparently using Liechtenstein was prohibited. Anyway, she falls in love with George Sanders at first sight, a general with political aspirations. Meanwhile, her "press attache", Donald O'Connor falls head over heels for the Lichtenburg princess, Vera-Ellen. They all dance and sing there way through a fair, endless balls and parties, even an underground tunnel. I hope to one day get the song "You're in Love" out of my head.

Death on the Nile (1978)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1979	Won	Oscar	Best Costume Design Anthony Powell

Paramount Pictures
Directed by John Guillermin
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Lionsgate)

Peter Ustinov is Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who takes a cruise down the Nile which turns deadly for one of the guests. The victim is wealthy newlywed Lois Chiles and the boat is full of people with reasons to see her dead. Ustinov theorizes how each one could have done it, which we see as fictionalized flashbacks. However, it is obvious that it did not happen in any of those ways. After more murders, he calls the suspects together for the big reveal. The murders are cleverly explained, and it would have been very difficult if not impossible to figure it out with the clues given. Entertaining but overlong mystery, with some questionable acting by aging pros like Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis and George Kennedy.

A Little Night Music (1977)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1978	Won	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score Jonathan Tunick
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Costume Design Florence Klotz

New World Pictures
Directed by Harold Prince
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

A middle-aged Austrian lawyer is married to a teenager, but after 10 months she is still a virgin. He goes to see old flame Liz Taylor, an actress, to find relief from his problems. Liz's lover, a Duke, finds them together and vows to get revenge. The Duke's wife, who knows about his affairs, schemes to get him back. Meanwhile, the young teenage wife of the lawyer is falling in love with her step-son. It's all set to the occasionally clever music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, though the delivery is awfully sluggish, particularly by Liz. Based on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, though Bergman fans will likely not recognize it.

Battle Cry (1955)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1956	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Max Steiner

Warner Bros.
Directed by Raoul Walsh
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner)

Long, boring look at the love lives of Marine recruits as they go through training camp and then get shipped off to the Pacific. It's more like Peyton Place than a war movie: episodic and trashy. These teenage boys relentlessly pursue women during their endless furloughs and leaves, it does not matter if the girls are married, or if the men have girlfriends waiting back home. You know there is something wrong when the stock footage of real battles is more exciting than the 15 minutes or so of action tacked on to the end of this 2 and a half hour snooze fest. Van Heflin is uninspiring as the Major who leads the men, James Whitmore a mere caricature of a drill sergeant and the women, well we won't even go there.

Sounder (1972)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1973	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Paul Winfield
			Best Actress in a Leading Role Cicely Tyson
			Best Picture Robert B. Radnitz
			Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Lonne Elder III

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Martin Ritt
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Koch Vision)

Simple, moving story of black sharecroppers in Louisiana during the Great Depression. Paul Winfield is the father of a family just barely scraping by, living in a shack and working for a rich, white farmer. One day he is arrested for stealing food, a charge he does not deny, and is sentenced to a year of hard labor. His wife and his children are left behind to bring in the crop alone. The oldest son, Kevin Hooks, does a lot of growing up in that time, including a long trek by foot to find his father at a prison camp. Instead, he finds a teacher and his own future. It is a bit romanticized at times, and some of the amateur actors, especially the children, hurt rather than help, but in such a strong character driven story, those deficiencies are easy to overlook.

Man of La Mancha (1972)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1973	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation Laurence Rosenthal

United Artists
Directed by Arthur Hiller
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Cervantes is imprisoned by the Inquisition for putting on a religious play in the town square. To prove his innocence, he spins the tale of Don Quixote using his fellow prisoners as actors. The mad knight Quixote fights windmills, falls in love with a whore and picks fights with people much stronger than himself. His madness, he argues, is actually idealism, and that to live in the real world is to be mad. In one of the best scenes, Quixote is beaten by a knight not with a sword, but with his shield that acts like a mirror, forcing him to see himself as he really is for the first time: a worn, ragged, beaten old man. The film works on multiple levels, all is not what it appears. However, as a musical it is almost a complete failure. There is not a memorable song in sight, including the wildly popular "The Impossible Dream". However, Peter O'Toole, in both the role of Cervantes and Quixote, gives a bravura performance.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1970	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Peter O'Toole
			Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) Leslie Bricusse John Williams

MGM
Directed by Herbert Ross
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Peter O'Toole gives one of his best performances as a middle aged schoolteacher who finds love with the most unlikely Petula Clark. They are opposites in every way: he is proper and well-educated, she an outspoken actress with a questionable past. They get to know each other in Greece, where they both happen to be touring ancient ruins, although for different reasons. They get married and she proceeds to turn heads at the stoic school for boys where he has hopes of becoming head schoolmaster. His dreams are thwarted by a hypocritical Lord with money who tries to blackmail him with her past. The plot makes a rather abrupt jump to WWII and the bombing of London, leading to tragedy. O'Toole's emotional speech to the school as an elderly man is perhaps the highlight of his long and illustrious career.

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1956	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Lyle R. Wheeler John DeCuir Walter M. Scott Paul S. Fox
			Best Music, Original Song Johnny Mercer For the song "Something's Gotta Give"
			Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Alfred Newman

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Jean Negulesco
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Fred Astaire, approaching 60, romances 24-year-old Leslie Caron, whose character is only 18. He tries desperately to avoid being labelled a "sugar daddy", the title is sort of a polite variation, but in the end it's hard to deny. He pays for her to leave a poor orphanage to attend an American college, where he lavishes her with expensive clothing. It's all done anonymously, but he shows up at her dorm one day as her roommate's "uncle", then whisks her off to New York for dancing and dining. She falls in love, but not before he has second thoughts about the whole thing and disappears. The story never crosses the line, but certainly flirts with it. However, there are several very good dance sequences, especially the final ballet/dream choreographed by Roland Petit which is one of the best of its type. Uneven to be sure, but quite entertaining and frequently breathtaking.

Battleground (1949)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1950	Won	Oscar	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Paul Vogel
			Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Robert Pirosh
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role James Whitmore
			Best Director William A. Wellman
			Best Film Editing John D. Dunning
			Best Picture (M-G-M).

MGM
Directed by William A. Wellman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Archetypical story of a rag-tag platoon roving the snowy countryside of France in the waning days of WWII. They end up making a "last stand" against the Germans at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. It is rather low-key and lacking in tension, preferring instead to focus on the characters. This works for awhile, but at points I was waiting for something, anything, to happen. Instead, I mostly remember the constant chattering of the false teeth of one the men, they make a sound even while he sleeps, sort of like the Three Stooges, he even can play a tune on them.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1936	Won	Oscar	Best Cinematography Hal Mohr First and only write-in nominee to actually win.
			Best Film Editing Ralph Dawson
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Assistant Director Sherry Shourds
			Best Picture (Warner Bros.).

Warner Bros.
Directed by Max Reinhardt and William Deiterle
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Shakespeare goes Hollywood in this long, silly adaptation of the classic play. Mortal lovers Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Olivia de Havilland and Jean Muir get sprinkled with pixie dust and love potions and become pawns of the mischievous Mickey Rooney as Puck, a sort of demented Cupid. Most of the film takes place in a magical forest inhabited by flying fairies on wires and their King Oberon. At times it resembles a low-tech Lord of the Rings, which is a compliment to neither film. A subplot involves James Cagney as a dumb actor who gets turned into an ass, literally. Cagney and Rooney, in particular, overact hilariously. If you make it to the end, there is a play put on for a Duke starring an ugly man in drag that goes on forever.