Oscar Revisionism: 1966

Well, it has been almost a year since we last left off with the Oscar Revisionism series (well, not quite that long, but close) and I've finally gotten off my lazy ass and dipped myself back into the unfinished project.  If you're unfamiliar, you can refresh here.  But, in a nutshell, before the AMPAS (aka the Oscars) expanded its Best Picture field to 10 nominees three years ago (or, well, now, ahem, 5 - 10), there were DECADES where the category only consisted of five nominees.  HOWEVER, back in the day, in the early 1940s and 1930s, there WERE ten nominees competing against one another in the field, just like there can be now.  The impetus for this series was: what if that never changed and we had a seamless Field of "Ten" throughout Oscar history?  We've been working backwards from 2008 and left off at 1967.  (Can't say how far my stamina will carry me in the next few months, but I *think* I can promise we backpedal all the way "through" the 1960s, leaving a manageable remainder)  So, here it goes ... for 1966, A Man for All Seasons beat Alfie, The Sand Pebbles, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, for best picture.  BUT ... WHAT IF ... there had been *ten* nominees.  What do YOU think they would have been?  (DISCLAIMER: varying rules would color voting possibilities and habits, so, this series is very NON-TECHNICAL, as I'm unsure how Foreign Language films and Documentaries play into these scenarios, the data collected is sketchy at best, and hindsight, in this case, is a retrospective handicap.)


The Winner

A Man for All Seasons

Depicts Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More's refusal to compromise his Catholic morals in order support King Henry VIII's wish for a divorce from his first wife.

Total Wins/Nominations: 6 wins (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Color Cinematography, Costumes), 2 nominations (Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA winner, NBR winner, NYFCC winner, BAFTA winner, Golden Globe (Drama) winner, WGA winner

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Release Date: 12. December

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $2M (IMDb)

Current RT: 86%

Current IMDb: 8.0

The Nominees

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Hot new theatrical director Mike Nichols helmed this acting melodramatic bonanza involving two couples (starring real life on/off again power couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) filled with mistrust, jealousy, and rage.

Total Wins/Nominations: 5 wins (Actress, Supporting Actress, B&W Cinematography, AD, Costumes), 8 nominations (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) winner, BAFTA winner, Golden Globe (Drama), KCFCCA winner, WGA winner

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: 21. June

Domestic Box Office: $28M (IMDb)

Budget: $7.5M (IMDb)

Current RT: 97%

Current IMDb: 8.2

The Sand Pebbles

1920s war film set aboard a navy ship.

Total Wins/Nominations: 8 nominations (Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound, Color Cinematography, AD)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, Laurel Awards (Drama), Golden Globe (Drama)

Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Release Date: 20. December

Domestic Box Office: $20M (IMDb)

Budget: $12M (IMDb)

Current RT: 88%

Current IMDb: 7.7

Alfie

Free-wheeling young man played by Michael Caine must ultimately confront the meaning of his superficial life.

Total Wins/Nominations: 5 nominations (Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress, Song)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) 4^thPlace

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Release Date: 24. August

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $0.8M (IMDb)

Current RT: 100%

Current IMDb: 7.1

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming

Cold war comedy about what happens when a Russian submarine crosses paths with a New England town.

Total Wins/Nominations: 4 nominations (Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Film Editing)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, Golden Globe (Comedy) winner, NBR, Laurel Awards (Comedy) 2^nd Place, WGA winner

Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: 25. May

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 82%

Current IMDb: 6.9

The Revisionism Possibilities

Hawaii

1820s colonists try to tame natives of The Aloha State and they start getting restless.  The James Michener adaptation stars Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, and Carroll O’Connor.

Total Wins/Nominations: 7 nominations (Supporting Actress, Original Score, Song, Sound, Visual Effects, Color Cinematography, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: 10. October

Domestic Box Office: $34.6M

Budget: $15M (IMDb)

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 6.4

The Professionals

Western starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin.

Total Wins/Nominations: 3 nominations (Director, Adapted Screenplay, Color Cinematography)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, Laurel Awards (Action-Drama) winner, Golden Globe (Drama), WGA

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Release Date: 2. November

Domestic Box Office: $19.5M

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 93%

Current IMDb: 7.3

Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman)

Claude Lelouch’s drama about two people getting a second chance at love. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 wins (Original Screenplay, Foreign Language Film), 2 nominations (Director, Actress)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, BAFTA, Cannes winner

Distributor: Allied Artists Pictures

Release Date: 12. July

Domestic Box Office: $14M

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 75%

Current IMDb: 7.6

The Fortune Cookie

Billy Wilder directed Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in their first film pairing, a madcap comedy about insurance fraud. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Supporting Actor), 3 nominations (Original Screenplay, B&W Cinematography, AD)

Other Awards/Nominations: WGA

Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: 19. October

Domestic Box Office: $6.8M (IMDb)

Budget: $3.7M (IMDb)

Current RT: 95%

Current IMDb: 7.4

Georgy Girl

Life of a young Londoner played by Lynn Redgrave.

Total Wins/Nominations: 4 nominations (Actress, Supporting Actor, B&W Cinematography, Song)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) 5^th Place, Berlin

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Release Date: 17. October

Domestic Box Office: $16.9M (The-Numbers)

Budget: $0.4M (IMDb)

Current RT: 90%

Current IMDb: 6.9

Blow-up

Antonioni’s abstract mystery about a photographer featured Vanessa Redgrave in an early role.  Too risque for the AMPAS?  

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Director, Original Screenplay)

Other Awards/Nominations: Cannes winner, NSFCA winner

Distributor: MGM

Release Date: 18. December

Domestic Box Office: $20M (IMDb)

Budget: $1.8M (IMDb)

Current RT: 86%

Current IMDb: 7.6

Born Free

Details a real-life couple who nurses an orphaned lion in captivity. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 wins (Original Score, Song)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, Golden Globe (Drama), NBR

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Release Date: 22. June

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 92%

Current IMDb: 7.1

Grand Prix

John Frankenheimer’s racing drama about four Formula One drivers starring James Garner and Yves Montand.

Total Wins/Nominations: 3 wins (Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects)

Other Awards/Nominations: DGA

Distributor: MGM

Release Date: 21. December

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $9M (IMDb)

Current RT: 83%

Current IMDb: 6.8

Fantastic Voyage 

Before there was Innerspace, there was Richard Fleischer’s science fiction film about a team of miniaturized scientists who travel through the body of a comatose doctor who discovered the amazing technology that made their shrinkage possible.  

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 wins (Visual Effects, Color AD), 3 nominations (Film Editing, Sound Effects, Color Cinematography)

Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Action-Drama) 3^rdPlace

Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Release Date: 24. August

Domestic Box Office: $12M

Budget: $5.1M

Current RT: 92%

Current IMDb: 6.9

The Bible

John Huston production about the most famous Book (Genesis), based on the most well known tome in Western Civilization, probably has Ben-Hur to thank for its existence. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Original Score)

Other Awards/Nominations: NBR

Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Release Date: 28. September

Domestic Box Office: $35M

Budget: $18M (IMDb)

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 5.8

Morgan!

David Warner plays a communist with a predisposition for communism and gorillas hoping to win his wife (Vanessa Redgrave earned her first Oscar nod) back in this Karel Reisz film.

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Actress, B&W Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: BAFTA, Cannes

Distributor: Cinema V

Release Date: 4. April

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 100%

Current IMDb: 7.0

Paris brûle-t-il?  (Is Paris Burning?)

René Clément’s war drama dealing with the emancipation of Nazi-occupied Paris.

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (B&W Cinematography, AD)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Release Date: 10. November

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 80%

Current IMDb: 6.7

Giulietta degli Spiriti (Juliet of the Spirits)

Fellini’s meditation on repression and liberation in the life of a married woman.

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Color AD, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: Rizzoli

Release Date: 3. November 1965

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 86%

Current IMDb: 7.5

 

The Naked Prey

Influential African rural adventure story.

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Original Screenplay)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Release Date: 14. June

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $0.9M (IMDb)

Current RT: 82%

Current IMDb: 7.5

Hombre (1967)

Martin Ritt directed Paul Newman in this progenitor to Western Dances with Wolves dealing with race issues related to Native Americans telling the story in a way only Hollywood can: from the perspective of a white man.  It made twice its budget back. 

Total Wins/Nominations: N/A

Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Drama) 3^rd Place

Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Release Date: 21. March 1967

Domestic Box Office: $5.9M

Budget: $12M

Current RT: 100%

Current IMDb: 7.3

Khartoum

War story starring Charlton Heston set in Sudan during the Siege of Khartoum.  

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Original Screenplay)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: 15. June

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 89%

Current IMDb: 6.8

Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew)

With Genesis being covered by The Bible, a book out of the New Testament in film form detailing the crucification and resurrection of Christ seemed appropriate for this year too, I guess. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 3 nominations (Adapted Score, B&W AD, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: Venice

Distributor: Continental Distributing

Release Date: 17. February

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 93%

Current IMDb: 7.8

Mister Buddwing

James Garner plays an amnesiac wandering around Manhattan encountering several women (including Jean Simmons, Suzanne Pleshette, and Angela Lansbury).

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (B&W AD, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: MGM

Release Date: 11. October

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 6.0

It Happened Here

A controversial fictional reimagining of the Nazi occupation of England during World War II. 

Total Wins/Nominations: N/A

Other Awards/Nominations: NBR

Distributor: Lopert Pictures Corporation

Release Date: 8. August

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $0.02M (IMDb)

Current RT: 67%

Current IMDb: 6.7

Shakespeare Wallah

Early Merchant/Ivory production based on Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s original screenplay about a group of British actors touring through India.

Total Wins/Nominations: N/A

Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, Berlin

Distributor: Continental Distributing

Release Date: 22. March

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 83%

Current IMDb: 6.8

The Oscar

Edith Head costumed the all-star cast in the story of one movie star’s climb to the top. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Color AD, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: N/A

Distributor: Embassy Pictures Corporation

Release Date: 4. March

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: 27%

Current IMDb: 5.2

Gambit

The comedy caper about two crooks on the make (played by Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine) has been remade for 2013 with an adaptation from the Coen brothers starring Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz.  If the trailer and posters are any indication, the update looks horrible.  

Total Wins/Nominations: 3 nominations (Sound, Color AD, Costumes)

Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy)

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Release Date: 21. December

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 7.0

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to theForum

Stage comedy come to life filled with Roman hijinks. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Adapted Score)

Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy)

Distributor: United Artists

Release Date: 16. October

Domestic Box Office: $3M

Budget: $2M (IMDb)

Current RT: 82%

Current IMDb: 6.8

The Singing Nun

Debbie Reynolds plays the title role, loosely based on the nun who wrote the hit song “Dominique,” begging the question: when is the next time we’re going to have a hit song by a nun?

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Adapted Score)

Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Musical) winner

Distributor: MGM

Release Date: 17. March

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 5.7

You’re a Big Boy Now

One of Francis Ford Coppola’s initial films, it focused on a coming of age tale that was a harbinger of sorts for the new generation of youths. 

Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Supporting Actress)

Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy), Cannes, WGA

Distributor: Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Release Date: 9. December

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: $0.8M (IMDb)

Current RT: 78%

Current IMDb: 6.3

Not with My Wife, You Don’t

Love triangle starring Tony Curtis and George C. Scott.  Great Scott, those eyes!

Total Wins/Nominations: 0

Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy)

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: 2. November

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 5.7

Years of Lightning, Days of Drums

Tribute film to assassinated president JFK. 

Total Wins/Nominations: N/A

Other Awards/Nominations: NBR

Distributor: Embassy Pictures Corporation

Release Date: 10. April

Domestic Box Office: N/A

Budget: N/A

Current RT: N/A

Current IMDb: 7.9

Feel free to leave comments.  Thanks for reading!