Post by idioticbunny on Mar 19, 2018 0:52:48 GMT
It's been a long time coming, but I've finally finished off the decade of the 1940s in my film odyssey and while it was a rather weak decade on average, there are still quite a few great films here (and the most 10/10s I've given in a decade thus far on my journey with four) even if the technical categories leave a lot to be desired. Regardless, here is my complete list of what I feel is the best of the decade, and hopefully it'll remind you of some films to check out when the AMARAs get around to this decade or open your eyes to some hidden gems. Everything on this list I recommend.
Feel free to offer your thoughts as well as share your favorites of the decade in here as well
BEST PICTURE:
*** The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) ***
Brief Encounter (1945)
Casablanca (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Fantasia (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948)
BEST DIRECTOR:
*** James Algar et al. | Fantasia ***
Frank Capra | Arsenic and Old Lace
Alfred Hitchcock | Rope
David Lean | Brief Encounter
Ernst Lubitsch | To Be or Not to Be
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | A Matter of Life and Death
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Orson Welles | Citizen Kane
Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend
William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives
BEST ACTOR:
Jack Benny | To Be or Not to Be
Humphrey Bogart | Casablanca
Humphrey Bogart | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Charles Chaplin | The Great Dictator
Joseph Cotten | Shadow of a Doubt
*** Cary Grant | Arsenic and Old Lace ***
Ray Milland | The Lost Weekend
James Stewart | It's a Wonderful Life
Howard Vernon | Le Silence de la Mer (The Silence of the Sea)
Orson Welles | Citizen Kane
BEST ACTRESS:
Ingrid Bergman | Notorious
Joan Crawford | Mildred Pierce
Joan Fontaine | Letter from an Unknown Woman
*** Joan Fontaine | Rebecca ***
Olivia de Havilland | The Snake Pit
Katharine Hepburn | The Philadelphia Story
Celia Johnson | Brief Encounter
Deborah Kerr | Black Narcissus
Rosalind Russell | His Girl Friday
Teresa Wright | Shadow of a Doubt
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
*** Dana Andrews | The Best Years of Our Lives ***
Dana Andrews | The Ox-Bow Incident
Jean-Louis Barrault | Children of Paradise
Joseph Cotten | The Magnificent Ambersons
James Dunn | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Frank Morgan | The Shop Around the Corner
Claude Rains | Casablanca
Harold Russell | The Best Years of Our Lives
Anton Walbrook | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Orson Welles | The Third Man
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Mary Astor | The Maltese Falcon
Kathleen Byron | Black Narcissus
Jane Darwell | The Grapes of Wrath
*** Dorothy McGuire | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ***
Agnes Moorehead | The Magnificent Ambersons
Gene Tierney | Heaven Can Wait
Claire Trevor | Key Largo
Alida Valli | The Paradine Case
Teresa Wright | The Best Years of Our Lives
Loretta Young | The Stranger
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Children of Paradise
*** Citizen Kane ***
The Great Dictator
It's a Wonderful Life
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Matter of Life and Death
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Notorious
To Be or Not to Be
The Third Man
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Best Years of Our Lives
Brief Encounter
*** Casablanca ***
Double Indemnity
His Girl Friday
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Maltese Falcon
Rope
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:
Arsenic and Old Lace
*** The Best Years of Our Lives ***
Casablanca
Children of Paradise
Citizen Kane
A Matter of Life and Death
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Philadelphia Story
To Be or Not to Be
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
BEST FILM EDITING:
Brief Encounter
*** Citizen Kane ***
Double Indemnity
Key Largo
A Matter of Life and Death
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
*** Black Narcissus ***
Brief Encounter
Citizen Kane
A Matter of Life and Death
The Third Man
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Black Narcissus
Children of Paradise
Citizen Kane
*** La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) ***
The Red Shoes
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Henry V
*** The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ***
La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast)
On the Town
Zolushka (Cinderella)
BEST MAKEUP & HAIR-STYLING:
Citizen Kane
Kind Hearts and Coronets
*** La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) ***
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Wolf Man
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Foreign Correspondent
Lifeboat
*** A Matter of Life and Death ***
The Red Shoes
BEST SOUND DESIGN:
Cat People
The Devil and Daniel Webster
*** Jour de Fête (The Big Day) ***
Key Largo
The Red Shoes
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Brian Easdale | The Red Shoes
*** Hugo Friedhofer | The Best Years of Our Lives ***
David Raksin | Laura
Miklós Rózsa | The Lost Weekend
Max Steiner | Now, Voyager
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Little April Shower" | Bambi
"Love Is a Song" | Bambi
"Pink Elephants on Parade" | Dumbo
*** "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Meet Me in St. Louis ***
"You and I" | Meet Me in St. Louis
As you can see with VFX and sound it's clear I didn't get around to a whole lot tech-heavy films this decade, as most of the big budget films seemed to be these three-hour epics that didn't seem all too appealing to me, but I'm sure in time I'll come back around to them.
I will say, though, that while this decade was on average rather dull in terms of ingenuity, there were some filmmakers that really raised the bar. Special mention to Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger - probably my favorite director(s) of the decade. Even with the films I liked least from them (I Know Where I'm Going! and The Red Shoes) there was something unique or special about them that at least made them interesting.
Other great directors to check out from the decade: David Lean (my first introduction to his work and one of them was a masterpiece: Brief Encounter), Orson Welles (Kane is his crowning achievement, but had studios not interfered with the final cut in his other work, I think the rest of his '40s output would've been on par with it), John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Frank Capra (he's more prominent in the '30s, but his two best works were this decade), Billy Wilder (I've yet to see any of his '50s output aside from Sunset Blvd, but he really comes into his own here), Alfred Hitchcock (of course, even though his best decade is the next one), Jacques Tourneur, and Michael Curtiz.
Also a few of my favorite actors/actresses from the decade: Joseph Cotten, Joan Fontaine, Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Olivia de Havilland, Deborah Kerr, Dana Andrews, Orson Welles, Walter Huston, Teresa Wright, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
So yeah, while the decade as a whole was pretty much bogged down (and yet also changed, possibly for the better in terms of cinema) by the second World War, it introduced the world to a lot of greats who would go on to do even better things in the next decade when Hollywood was beginning to rise to insurmountable heights.
It might be a couple months before I get to go onto the 1950s, but I'm very excited for what's in store for me (can you believe I've never seen Singin' in the Rain?!). And again, feel free to show your lists!
Feel free to offer your thoughts as well as share your favorites of the decade in here as well
BEST PICTURE:
*** The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) ***
Brief Encounter (1945)
Casablanca (1942)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Fantasia (1940)
The Great Dictator (1940)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948)
BEST DIRECTOR:
*** James Algar et al. | Fantasia ***
Frank Capra | Arsenic and Old Lace
Alfred Hitchcock | Rope
David Lean | Brief Encounter
Ernst Lubitsch | To Be or Not to Be
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | A Matter of Life and Death
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Orson Welles | Citizen Kane
Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend
William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives
BEST ACTOR:
Jack Benny | To Be or Not to Be
Humphrey Bogart | Casablanca
Humphrey Bogart | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Charles Chaplin | The Great Dictator
Joseph Cotten | Shadow of a Doubt
*** Cary Grant | Arsenic and Old Lace ***
Ray Milland | The Lost Weekend
James Stewart | It's a Wonderful Life
Howard Vernon | Le Silence de la Mer (The Silence of the Sea)
Orson Welles | Citizen Kane
BEST ACTRESS:
Ingrid Bergman | Notorious
Joan Crawford | Mildred Pierce
Joan Fontaine | Letter from an Unknown Woman
*** Joan Fontaine | Rebecca ***
Olivia de Havilland | The Snake Pit
Katharine Hepburn | The Philadelphia Story
Celia Johnson | Brief Encounter
Deborah Kerr | Black Narcissus
Rosalind Russell | His Girl Friday
Teresa Wright | Shadow of a Doubt
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
*** Dana Andrews | The Best Years of Our Lives ***
Dana Andrews | The Ox-Bow Incident
Jean-Louis Barrault | Children of Paradise
Joseph Cotten | The Magnificent Ambersons
James Dunn | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Frank Morgan | The Shop Around the Corner
Claude Rains | Casablanca
Harold Russell | The Best Years of Our Lives
Anton Walbrook | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Orson Welles | The Third Man
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Mary Astor | The Maltese Falcon
Kathleen Byron | Black Narcissus
Jane Darwell | The Grapes of Wrath
*** Dorothy McGuire | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ***
Agnes Moorehead | The Magnificent Ambersons
Gene Tierney | Heaven Can Wait
Claire Trevor | Key Largo
Alida Valli | The Paradine Case
Teresa Wright | The Best Years of Our Lives
Loretta Young | The Stranger
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Children of Paradise
*** Citizen Kane ***
The Great Dictator
It's a Wonderful Life
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
A Matter of Life and Death
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Notorious
To Be or Not to Be
The Third Man
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Best Years of Our Lives
Brief Encounter
*** Casablanca ***
Double Indemnity
His Girl Friday
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Maltese Falcon
Rope
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:
Arsenic and Old Lace
*** The Best Years of Our Lives ***
Casablanca
Children of Paradise
Citizen Kane
A Matter of Life and Death
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Philadelphia Story
To Be or Not to Be
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
BEST FILM EDITING:
Brief Encounter
*** Citizen Kane ***
Double Indemnity
Key Largo
A Matter of Life and Death
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
*** Black Narcissus ***
Brief Encounter
Citizen Kane
A Matter of Life and Death
The Third Man
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Black Narcissus
Children of Paradise
Citizen Kane
*** La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) ***
The Red Shoes
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Henry V
*** The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ***
La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast)
On the Town
Zolushka (Cinderella)
BEST MAKEUP & HAIR-STYLING:
Citizen Kane
Kind Hearts and Coronets
*** La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) ***
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Wolf Man
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Foreign Correspondent
Lifeboat
*** A Matter of Life and Death ***
The Red Shoes
BEST SOUND DESIGN:
Cat People
The Devil and Daniel Webster
*** Jour de Fête (The Big Day) ***
Key Largo
The Red Shoes
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Brian Easdale | The Red Shoes
*** Hugo Friedhofer | The Best Years of Our Lives ***
David Raksin | Laura
Miklós Rózsa | The Lost Weekend
Max Steiner | Now, Voyager
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Little April Shower" | Bambi
"Love Is a Song" | Bambi
"Pink Elephants on Parade" | Dumbo
*** "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | Meet Me in St. Louis ***
"You and I" | Meet Me in St. Louis
As you can see with VFX and sound it's clear I didn't get around to a whole lot tech-heavy films this decade, as most of the big budget films seemed to be these three-hour epics that didn't seem all too appealing to me, but I'm sure in time I'll come back around to them.
I will say, though, that while this decade was on average rather dull in terms of ingenuity, there were some filmmakers that really raised the bar. Special mention to Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger - probably my favorite director(s) of the decade. Even with the films I liked least from them (I Know Where I'm Going! and The Red Shoes) there was something unique or special about them that at least made them interesting.
Other great directors to check out from the decade: David Lean (my first introduction to his work and one of them was a masterpiece: Brief Encounter), Orson Welles (Kane is his crowning achievement, but had studios not interfered with the final cut in his other work, I think the rest of his '40s output would've been on par with it), John Huston, Laurence Olivier, Frank Capra (he's more prominent in the '30s, but his two best works were this decade), Billy Wilder (I've yet to see any of his '50s output aside from Sunset Blvd, but he really comes into his own here), Alfred Hitchcock (of course, even though his best decade is the next one), Jacques Tourneur, and Michael Curtiz.
Also a few of my favorite actors/actresses from the decade: Joseph Cotten, Joan Fontaine, Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Olivia de Havilland, Deborah Kerr, Dana Andrews, Orson Welles, Walter Huston, Teresa Wright, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
So yeah, while the decade as a whole was pretty much bogged down (and yet also changed, possibly for the better in terms of cinema) by the second World War, it introduced the world to a lot of greats who would go on to do even better things in the next decade when Hollywood was beginning to rise to insurmountable heights.
It might be a couple months before I get to go onto the 1950s, but I'm very excited for what's in store for me (can you believe I've never seen Singin' in the Rain?!). And again, feel free to show your lists!