Oscar Revisionism: 1957

A tough year all around to look back on to predict a Field of Ten, 1957's Best Picture winner was David Lean's POW war epic The Bridge on the River Kwai [IMDb: 8.3; RT: 96%].  Nominated as well was a more romantic war film starring Marlon Brando, Sayonara [7.1].  Two courtroom dramas made it in, Witness for the Prosecution [8.4; 100%] and 12 Angry Men [8.9; 100%], as well as soap opera Peyton Place [7.1; 60%].  This was that rare year where every Best Picture nominee also landed in the Best Director category.  Most of these films still hold up today, and all of them did well at the box-office at the time of their release.  But, what kind of films would the AMPAS have made room for, had the field been expanded to ten?

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Hollywood legend John Huston directed this war drama about a corporal (Robert Mitchum) and a nun (Deborah Kerr) stranded on an island.  Kerr received one of her many nominations, and Huston and John Lee Mahin were recognized for their screenplay in the very competitive adapted category.  [IMDb: 7.3]

Designing Woman
Screenwriter George Wells won the film's sole nomination for writing the story about a fashion designer (Lauren Bacall) and a sportswriter (Gregory Peck) who fall in love.  Vincent Minnelli directed this romantic comedy, the only non-musical one that had a prayer at a best picture nomination in 1957, which grossed $2.3M.  [IMDb: 6.8]

Pal Joey

Frank Sinatra plays a charming womanizer who falls in love with one woman (Kim Novak), after seducing another (Rita Hayworth) into a business opportunity.  George Sidney directed this hit musical to four technical nominations including film editing.  [IMDb: 6.8]

Raintree Country
This romantic drama involved a sordid affair between characters played by Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor set against the backdrop of the Civil War.  A costly production, the movie did well at the box-office, but didn't quite make all of the studio's money back.  The movie is infamous for its star Clift getting in a horrific auto accident in the Hollywood Hills during filming, and, as legend goes, Elizabeth Taylor saved him by reaching into his mouth and dislodging teeth that would have suffocated him to death.  Director Edward Dmytryk was also behind Crossfire, The Caine Mutiny, and The Young Lions.  His film got Taylor a nomination, and collected three technical nods.  [IMDb: 6.3]

Funny Face

Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face) directed this romantic musical comedy from the Gershwins about a photographer (Fred Astaire) and reluctant model (Audrey Hepburn) who fall in love.  It received four nods, including screenplay, and even today has a place in popular culture.  The movie didn't make as much as Pal Joey, but still made it in the Top 20 for the year.  [IMDb: 6.9; RT: 84%]

The Three Faces of Eve 
Not nominated for anything else but Best Actress, the movie won for its star Joanne Woodward, who played a woman living with multiple personalities.  Nunnally Johnson, who directed, had been nominated as a screenwriter twice in the 1940s.  The movie made $1.4M.  [IMDb: 7.2; RT: 92%]

A Hatful of Rain
Anthony Franciosa plays a Korean war veteran dealing with morphine addition in this Fred Zinnemann drama.  The actor got a Best Actor nod and the film grossed $1.5M.  Don't you love how sordid and dramatic the poster is?  [IMDb: 7.0]

Wild Is the Wind
Anna Magnani and Anthony Quinn were both nominated for their lead roles in this torrid romantic drama directed by George Cukor, who also directed Les Girls that year.  It was also nominated for Best Song.  [IMDb: 6.8]

An Affair to Remember
Leo McCarey, who wrote and directed this iconic romantic remake starring Cary Grant an Deborah Kerr, got nominated in the past multiple times.  It was clear the AMPAS loved him and even gave him one of four of its nominations for cowriting the title song, though the love and appreciation the film has received years later may distort interpreting how The Academy felt about the film at the time of its release.  Nothing for its leads, nor its screenplay and the original category was one of the least competitive that year.  The movie was one of the top earners that year with $3.8M.  [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 65%]

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Mythologized account of a misrepresentation of an event which gained popularity decades after it occurred, John Sturges' (Bad Day at Black Rock, The Old Man and the Seas, The Great Escape) western offers Hollywood's depiction of the infamous standoff between Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) and Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas) and the outlaw Cowboys.  Needless to say, it was a big hit.  The film received nominations for film editing and sound.  [IMDb: 7.2; RT: 82%]

Man of a Thousand Faces 
Joseph Pevney (who would later go on to helm the Star Trek series) directed James Cagney as Lon Chaney in this biopic which grossed $2.4M and got a nomination for screenplay.  [IMDb: 7.1]

A Farewell to Arms 
Charles Vidor (Gilda) directed this box-office romance based on the Ernest Hemingway World War I drama, earning actor Vittorio De Sica its only Oscar nod.  Though it bade its budget back, the reviews were not kind.  [IMDb: 5.9]

The Bachelor Party 
A young man encounters a mid-life crisis over his marriage while out celebrating with his buddies in this Paddy Chayefsky script directed by Delbert Mann.  Nominated for two awards including supporting actress and song, the film grossed $1.5M.  [IMDb: 6.8]

I vitelloni 
Fellini's influential film was nominated for screenplay.  [IMDb: 7.9: RT: 100%]

The Tin Star 
Anthony Mann (El Cid, Men in War, The Glenn Miller Story) western starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins made $1.4M and got nominated for its script.  [IMDb: 7.3]

Les Girls 
George Cukor musical comedy starring Gene Kelly got three Academy Award nominations and won the Golden Globe over Pal Joey.  [IMDb: 6.6]