Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Oscar Revisionism 1963

To begin the New Year, I thought I'd get things off to a great start and make the first 2013 post another edition of Oscar Revisionism.  You can read 1964 here.  For 1963, nearly 49 years ago, Tom Jones, a comedy about a slut played by Albert Finney (whose first of five unwinning nods lost to Sidney Poitier's second and final nominated role), basically, won Best Picture.  Many pundits had brought out the knives for the harmless British film.  Sound familiar?  But, there was no other movie they could employ to knock Jones off his perch.  America, America was considered admirable, but too dark.  Cleopatra was weighed down by gossip which plagued its production.  Lilies of the Field was referred too as being overly schmaltzy.  However, what if the field had been expanded to ten nominees?  The extra five pictures would seldom ever play an important role in the contest, or would this year have been different?


Tom Jones
Albert Finney as Don Juan in this comedic adventure.
Total Wins/Nominations: 4 wins (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Score), 6 nominations (Actor, Supporting Actress x 3, Supporting Actor, Color AD)
Other Awards/Nominations: DGA winner, NBR winner, Laurel Awards (Comedy) winner, NYFCC winner, BAFTA winner, Golden Globe (Comedy) winner, Venice
Distributor: Lopert Pictures Corporation
Release Date: 6. October
Box Office: $11.9M
Budget: $1M (IMDb)
Current RT: 81%
Current IMDb: 6.9

America, America
Elia Kazan’s dramatic romance about a Greek man and his journey to America.
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (B&W AD), 3 nominations (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay)
Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, Golden Globe (Drama), WGA
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: 15. December
Current RT: 89%
Current IMDb: 7.8

Cleopatra
The most expensive film ever made had a more interesting backstory than what was caught on camera with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 4 wins (Visual Effects, Color Cinematography, AD, Costumes), 5 nominations (Picture, Actor, Film Editing, Score, Sound)
Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Drama)
Distributor: TCFFC
Release Date: 12. June
Box Office: $48M (IMDb)
Budget: $44M (IMDb)
Current RT: 38%
Current IMDb: 6.8

How the West Was Won
Sprawling epic 1800s western detailing the Gold Rush and Civil War.
Total Wins/Nominations: 3 wins (Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound), 5 nominations (Picture, Score, Color Cinematography, AD, Costumes)
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR
Distributor: MGM
Release Date: 20. February
Box Office: $35M
Budget: $15M (IMDb)
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.0

Lilies of the Field
A drifter is befriended by a group of nuns in this dramedy. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Actor), 4 nominations (Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actress, B&W Cinematography)
Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, NBR, Golden Globe (Drama)
Distributor: United Artists
Release Date: 1. October
Box Office: $2.5M
Budget: $0.2M (IMDb)
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.6

Love the Hand
on Hip Action, Newman
Hud
Intergenerational western starring Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 3 wins (Actress, Supporting Actor, B&W Cinematography), 4 nominations (Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, B&W AD)
Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) winner, NYFCC 2nd Place, BAFTA, Golden Globe (Drama), Venice, WGA winner
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 28. May
Box Office: $4M
Budget: $2.5M (IMDb)
Current RT: 79%
Current IMDb: 7.9

The Cardinal
Tom Tryon played the title role in a story concerning the ascension of a cleric that takes places in the decades between the two world wars. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 6 nominations (Director, Supporting Actor, Film Editing, Color Cinematography, AD, Costumes)
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) 3rd Place, Golden Globe (Drama) winner
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: 12. December
Current RT: 60%
Current IMDb: 6.6

8 ½
Frederico Fellini’s classic comedy-drama blends fantasy and reality while following the plight of a film director with a creative block. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 wins (Foreign Film, B&W Costumes), 3 nominations (Director, Original Screenplay, B&W AD)
Other Awards/Nominations: DGA, BAFTA
Distributor: Corinth Films
Release Date: 25. June
Current RT: 97%
Current IMDb: 8.2

Love with the Proper Stranger 
Romantic comedy-drama starring Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 5 nominations (Actress, Original Screenplay, B&W Cinematography, AD, Costumes)
Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Drama)
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $8.5M
Release Date: 25. December
Current IMDb: 7.2

Seven Days in May
Political thriller about the attempt to overthrow an American president who signs a nuclear disarmament treaty. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Supporting Actor, B&W AD)
Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Drama) 5th Place, WGA
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 12. February 1964
Budget: $2.2M (IMDb)
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.9


Captain Newman, M.D.
World War II comedy-drama starring Gregory Peck as a physician running a mental ward full of soldiers suffering from psychological afflictions. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 3 nominations (Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Sound)
Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Drama), WGA
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Release Date: 25. December
Current IMDb: 6.9

Les Dimanches de Ville d’Avray (Sundays and Cybele)
French PTSD drama about a relationship that develops between a Vietnam war veteran and a young girl.
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Foreign Language Film), 2 nominations (Adapted Screenplay, Adapted Score)
Distributor: Davis-Royal
Release Date: 23. November 1962
Current IMDb: 8.0

This Sporting Life
Richard Harris starred in this British drama about a footballer who struggles with his personal life. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Actress, Actor)
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, BAFTA
Distributor: Continental Distributing
Release Date: 16. July
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.8

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
International treasure hunt comedy packed full of Hollywood legends. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Sound Effects), 5 nominations (Film Editing, Score, Song, Sound, Color Cinematography)
Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy)
Distributor: United Artists
Release Date: 7. November
Box Office: $48.3M
Budget: $9.4 (IMDb)
Current RT: 78%
Current IMDb: 7.4


The Great Escape
Star-studded World War II adventure about a group of POW’s escaping Nazi clutches. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Film Editing)
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, Laurel Awards (Drama) 2nd Place, Golden Globe (Drama), WGA
Distributor: United Artists
Release Date: 4. July
Box Office: $11.8M
Budget: $4M (IMDb)
Current RT: 92%
Current IMDb: 8.3


Irma la Douce 
Rom-com reunites The Apartment director Billy Wilder and stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Adapted Score), 2 nominations (Actress, Color Cinematography)
Other Awards/Nominations: Laurel Awards (Comedy) 2nd Place, Golden Globe (Comedy), WGA
Distributor: United Artists
Release Date: 5. June
Box Office: $20M (IMDb)
Budget: $5M (IMDb)
Current RT: 86%
Current IMDb: 7.3


The Caretakers
Mental ward drama pitting a doctor who believes in group therapy verses the another who subscribes to strait-jackets and padded cells.  Guess which role is played by Joan Crawford. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (B&W Cinematography)
Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Drama)
Distributor: United Artists
Release Date: 21. August
Current IMDb: 5.5

Le Quattro Giomate di Napoli (The Four Days of Naples)
World War II historic drama about enslaved Italians who fight back against their Nazi captors. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Original Screenplay, Foreign Language Film)
Other Awards/Nominations: BAFTA
Distributor: MGM
Release Date: 19. March
Current IMDb: 7.6

Twilight of Honor
Richard Chamberlin plays a trial lawyer caught up in small-town drama. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Supporting Actor, B&W AD)
Distributor: MGM
Release Date: 16. October
Current IMDb: 6.2

The L-Shaped Room
Leslie Caron plays a pregnant woman unlucky in love. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Actress)
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, BAFTA
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: 27. May
Current IMDb: 7.4

The V.I.P.’s
London airport drama starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 win (Supporting Actress)
Distributor: MGM
Release Date: 19. September
Box Office: $14M (IMDb)
Budget: $4M (IMDb)
Current IMDb: 6.3

All the Way Home
Turn of the century drama about a family who loses their patriarch. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 0
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: 17. October
Current IMDb: 7.2

Nóz w Wodzie (Knife in the Water)
Roman Polanski’s drama where sexual tensions arise when a couple picks up a hitchhiker as they embark on a sailing trip.
Total Wins/Nominations: 1 nomination (Foreign Language Film)
Other Awards/Nominations: BAFTA, Venice
Distributor: Kanawha
Release Date: 28. October
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.6


Bye Bye Birdie
Hit musical about a singer who visits his biggest fan before getting drafted into the military.
Total Wins/Nominations: 2 nominations (Adapted Score, Sound)
Other Awards/Nominations: Golden Globe (Comedy), Laurel Awards (Musical) 2nd Place / (Comedy) 4th Place
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: 4. April
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 6.4

Billy Liar
Dramatic rom-com about a man who makes poor choices and slowly ostracizes himself from those he loves. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 0
Other Awards/Nominations: BAFTA, Venice
Distributor: Continental Distributing
Release Date: 10. December
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.4

The Servant
Twisted Harold Pinter drama between the rich and the help.
Total Wins/Nominations: 0
Other Awards/Nominations: BAFTA, Venice
Distributor: Landau Releasing Organization (LRO)
Release Date: 16. March 1964
Budget: 75%
Current IMDb: 7.9

Lord of the Flies
You know the story: bunch of tween boys stranded on an island, whomever wants to speak needs the conch, social order breaks down, die little Piggy, etc. 
Total Wins/Nominations: 0
Other Awards/Nominations: NBR, Cannes
Distributor: Continental Distributing
Release Date: 13. August
Budget: $0.3M (IMDb)
Current RT: 100%
Current IMDb: 7.1
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