ALL THE KING'S MEN

1950’s Best Oscar Winner, All the King’s Men, was an engaging film with some outstanding acting. Personally, I’ve never been much of a fan of the “anti-hero” but this movie zeroes straight in on one. His name is Willie Stark.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

My 2020 quest to see all the Best Picture Oscar winners is one step closer to completion! An American in Paris won the Best Picture Oscar in 1952. Twelve years after Gone with the Wind, it would be the second color film to earn that award. And it wasted not a single moment showing off the fullest palette of color possible, with splendid results.

GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT

It’s sad to me that the theme of this movie is one that we are still dealing with 60 years later. While anti-Semitism may not be as openly rampant as it was in the 1940s, the assumption of gentile superiority still exists and has been joined with the assumption of white superiority, heterosexual superiority, Christian superiority, and cis-gender superiority. And of course, all of these were preceded by the long-time assumption of male superiority. Sadly, there have always been those in society who imagine it is their right to tell others what their place will be. 1948’s Oscar-winning film, Gentleman’s Agreement, addresses the assumption of gentile superiority head-on. And it does so superbly.

UNFORGIVEN

My dad has always been a huge fan of Westerns. If there’s nothing else available to watch, he’ll tune in to a western… even if he’s seen it numerous times before. Me, I never much liked them. I always felt they were hokey and predictable. The characters were almost always very one-dimensional. Unforgiven changes that. This film peels away the sanitizing that films (and TV) have always applied to stories of this genre. This was a captivating story from the moment it begins until the moment it ends. The characters are all flawed. The good guys aren’t just the good guys, and the bad guys aren’t just the bad guys. The women of the West are shown as true prostitutes, not dancehall Miss Kitties. It is directed by Clint Eastwood (who is also the main star), who consistently does a great job of dealing with the intricacies of morality in his films.

GOING MY WAY

 My 2020 quest to see every Oscar-winning Best Picture continues. This time it’s with 1944’s winner, Going My Way starring Bing Crosby.  Bing plays Father Chuck O’Malley, a character I was already familiar with from the movie, “The Bells of St. Mary’s”. This was his first outing with the character, and it garnered him a Best Actor Oscar as well. In all the film achieved six Oscars. Oddly, Barry Fitzgerald (Father Fitzgibbon) was nominated both for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same role. The Academy would later amend its rules regarding dual nominations for the same role.

TOM JONES!

Crass, zany and bawdy! This film was a slow burn of humor and satisfaction. Albert Finney plays the titular character in the 1964 Oscar-winning best picture, Tom Jones.

This British film is an adaptation of the 1749 novel, “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling”, and is set in the same period. A narrator shares passages from the original texts throughout the film. The story follows the trials and tribulations of a bastard child taken in and raised by a family of means. That bastard child grows up to be an extremely lovable rascal, both to the other characters around him, and to the audience.

THE STING

Another Oscar-winning Best Picture is now checked off my list! The Sting, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman won in 1974. It picked up 7 Oscars total, but none for acting.

I thought it was a really fun brom-com (did I just make that up?!) but when it was done, I found myself wondering why all the acclaim? It was a fun journey, but not one I imagine I'll be thinking about much now that it's over.

Redford and Newman were wonderful in their parts, but I found myself more entertained by all the bit players. Sally Kirkland, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Harold Gould, and especially Eileen Brennan.

The story progresses nicely, but also predictably. With the exception of one character being shot in the head (no spoiler on who!), I pretty much felt like I knew where things were going all the time. Even the ending. As I said.... enjoyable. That's about all I got on this one.