Oscar Revisionism: 1955

For Oscar year 1955, Delbert Mann's Marty beat out Picnic, Mister Roberts, The Rose Tattoo, and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing for Best Picture.  Some Oscar bloggers might try to make the argument that the last three were not legitimate Best Picture contenders, for they were not nominated for Best Director.  Of course, it would all really depend on whether or not Marty or Picnic was the blogger's favorite for that year, as one I'm thinking of specifically makes arguments as they go along, all in the name of pimping out their favorite.  But, yes, strangely, in a very rare instance, three of the Best Picture nominees missed out on having their main guy nominated for his work.  Additionally, Marty was the only Best Picture nominee to get a screenplay nod.  The omissions probably make this year's guessing for what movies would have made it into a Field of Ten all the more easier.  But only to an extent.

East of Eden
Modern epic Cain and Abel retelling of a paternal approval.  Director: Elia Kazan.  Screenplay: Paul Osborn adapted the second half of the John Steinbeck tome.  Stars: James Dean, Julie Harris, Burl Ives, Raymond Massey.  Nominations: Director, Screenplay, Lead Actor, Supporting Actress.  Box Office: $5.9M.  Golden Globe (Drama) winner, NBR, WGA, DGA.  [IMDb: 8.0; RT: 87%]

Bad Day at Black Rock
A mysterious gimp (Spencer Tracy) arrives in a small Southwest town in a thriller that mixes the Western and film noir genres.  The story goes that Tracy wanted to back out of the picture, but the producers coaxed him into staying by misleading him into thinking Alan Ladd was going to participate in the movie.  Director: John Sturges (The Great Escape).  Screenplay: Don McGuire (Tootsie) and Millard Kaufman (Take the High Ground!, Raintree Country) adapted Howard Breslin's short story "Bad Time at Honda."  Stars: Tracy, Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Anne Francis.  Nominations: Director, Screenplay, Lead Actor.  Box Office: $2M.  NBR, WGA, DGA.  [IMDb: 7.8; RT: 96%]

Love Me or Leave Me
Musical biography of Ruth Etting, a triple threat in Broadway and Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s.  Despite its high nomination count, it wasn't recognized for Doris Day's performance, and ended up losing two awards to Oklahoma!  Director: Charles Vidor (Gilda).  Screenplay: Daniel Fuchs, Isobel Lennart.  Stars: Day, Cagney, Cameron Mitchell.  Nominations: Lead Actor, Screenplay, Story (winner), Musical Score, Sound Recording, Song.  Box Office: $6.2M.  WGA (musical), DGA.  [IMDb: 7.1; RT: 67%]

Blackboard Jungle
A new teacher tries to do his job while facing strong opposition from both students and faculty.  The film's release corresponds to a time in history which witnessed the beginnings of a teenage rebellion.  Director: Richard Brooks (multiple nominations for writing and directing after this film came out).  Screenplay: Brooks adapted Evan Hunter's novel.  He went on to write The Birds.  Stars: Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Anne Francis, Jamie Farr.  Nominations: Screenplay, Editing, Black and White Cinematography, Costume Design.  Box Office: $5.3M.  WGA, DGA.  [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 76%]

Summertime
David Lean directed Katharine Hepburn in this romantic drama set in Venice.  The actress contracted conjunctivitis for the rest of her life for a scene depicting her character falling in a canal which the director insisted she film without a double.  Director: Lean.  Screenplay: Lean and H.E. Bates adapted Arthur Laurents' play The Time of the Cuckoo.  Stars: Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi.  Nominations: Director, Actress.  Box Office: $2M.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 93%]

Rebel Without a Cause
The drama about an outsider entering a new high school helped make a star out of James Dean and became the voice of a generation.  Perhaps it was also somewhat of a companion piece to Blackboard Jungle.  Director: Nicholas Ray.  Screenplay: Ray, Irving Shulman, and Stewart Stern, with its title inspired by the Robert M. Lindner book.  Stars: Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo.  Nominations: Story, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress (it should be noted that the film's lead Dean was already nominated for Exit to Eden).  Box Office: $7.1M.  [IMDb: 7.8; RT: 95%]

Oklahoma!
This 1943 Broadway western musical about cowboys fighting for some women finally hit the screens twelve years later.  Director: the highly respected Fred Zinnemann.  Screenplay: Sonya Levien and William Ludwig adapted the Riggs, Rodgers & Hammerstein musical for the film.  Stars: Gordon MacRae, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson, Charlotte Greenwood, Shirley Jones.  Nominations: Musical Score (winner), Sound Recording (winner), Film Editing, Color Cinematography.  Box Office: $7.1M.  WGA.  [IMDb: 7.1; RT: 95%]

The Man with the Golden Arm
Frank Sinatra played a heroin junkie who tries to walk the straight and narrow while dealing with outside pressures.  Director: Otto Preminger, who was mid-career in AMPAS favor.  Screenplay: Walter Newman and Lewis Meltzer adapted the Nelson Algren novel.  Stars: Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak.  Nominations: Lead Actor, Non-musical score, Black and White Art Direction.  Box Office: $4.4M.  [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 84%]

I'll Cry Tomorrow
Biopic about alcoholic stage actress Lillian Roth.  Director: Daniel Mann (The Rose Tattoo, BUtterfield 8).  Screenplay: Helen Deutsch (Lily) and Jay Richard Kennedy adapted Roth's biography.  Stars: Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert.  Nominations: Actress, black and white Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design (winner).  Box Office: $6.5M.  [IMDb: 7.1]

The Bridges of Toko-Ri
Action-drama about a navy pilot whose mission it is to bomb several bridges during the Korean War.  Director: Mark Robson (The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Peyton Place).  Screenplay: Valentine Davies adapted the Jame Michener novel.  Stars: William Holden, Mickey Rooney, Fredric March, Grace Kelly.  Nominations: Visual Effects (winner), Film Editing.  Box Office: $4.7M.  DGA.  [IMDb: 6.8; RT: 78%]

Guys and Dolls
A gambler and missionary fall in love on their way to Havana.  Director: the legendary Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  Screenplay: Mankiewicz adapted the 1950 stage musical.  Stars: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra.  Nominations: Musical Score, Color Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design.  Box Office: $20M.  Golden Globe (Comedy/Musical) winner.  [IMDb: 7.1; RT: 86%]

To Catch a Thief
A reformed cat burglar must vindicate himself after a robber adopts his style and throws his reputation back into jeopardy in this romantic thriller.  Director: Alfred Hitchcock.  Screenplay: John Michael Hayes adapted David Dodge's novel.  Stars: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly.  Nominations: Color Cinematography (winner), Art Direction, Costume Design.  Box Office: $4.5M.  [IMDb: 7.5; RT: 94%]

Interrupted Melody
Biography about opera singer Marjorie Lawrence, her career ups and downs, as well as her experience with polio.  Director: Curtis Bernhardt.  Screenplay: Oklahoma! scribes Sonya Levien and William Ludwig wrote this screenplay along with Lawrence.  Stars: Glenn Ford, Eleanor Parker, Roger Moore.  Nominations: Actress, Story/Screenplay (winner), color Costume Design.  Box Office: $1.8M.  [IMDb: 6.9]