Oscar Revisionism: 1956

For 1956, the box-office smash Around the World in Eighty Days [IMDb: 6.8; RT: 73%] won Best Picture.  If that happened today, there are certain bloggers around the internet who would probably go into cardiac arrest.  Michael Anderson directed the hot-air balloon adventure and it had a list of stars including Cantinflas, who headlined the musical Pepe two years later.  Eighty Days beat out the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 96%], highest grossing of the year Cecil B. DeMille epic The Ten Commandments [IMDb: 7.8; RT: 80%], box-office hit romantic western Giant [IMDb: 7.7; RT: 97%] starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, and Civil War drama Friendly Persuasion [IMDb: 7.4].  I can only imagine that some bloggers would have been ripshit if more stately films like Friendly Persuasion or Giant hadn't been chosen.  But, at any rate, what if the field had been expanded to ten nominees?  What would the other five films have been?  This would be a year where you would have to cast a pretty wide net to catch all of the possibilities. Some of the titles have been recycled into completely different movies over the year, you might notice ...

This was also the final year of the "Best Story" category, which got eliminated seventeen years after the introduction of "Best Original Screenplay."

Lust for Life
Kirk Douglas stars in this biography of Vincent Van Gogh, dealing with his relationship with Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn), which was mostly directed by Vincent Minnelli.  It was nominated for four Oscars, including screenplay, and two for acting.  The drama grossed $1.6M.  GG (Drama), NBR  [IMDb: 7.3M; RT: 100%]

Baby Doll
Elia Kazan's adaptation of Tennessee William's (two Oscar favorites) sultry story managed to score four nods, including William's adaptation of his play and two for acting.  Creepy, controversial, and sexually teeming tale about a young woman caught between two gin-owners in the Deep South, Doll made $2.3M at the box-office.  WGA (Drama)  [IMDb: 7.3; RT: 100%]

War and Peace
King Vidor received his fifth and final nomination for directing for his next to last film before retiring.  The Tolstoy epic starred Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn and also scored two technical nods, but had difficulties recouping its costs, though it made a lot of money.  GG (Drama), DGA  [IMDb: 6.7]

The Eddy Duchin Story
Romantic musical biography nominated for four Academy Awards about a band leader (Tyrone Power) and a socialite (Kim Novak).  Directed by Oscar staple George Sidney.  Box Office: $4.4M.  DGA (finalist), WGA (Musical)  [IMDb: 6.6]

The Bold and the Brave
Lewis R. Foster (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The More the Merrier) directed this World War II drama about three disparate soldiers, one of them a gambler played by Mickey Rooney, who scored a nod, along with Robert Lewin's screenplay.  Box Office: $1.4M.  [IMDb: 6.1]

Somebody Up There Likes Me
In this Robert Wise black & white production, written by Ernest Lehman, Paul Newman portrays real-life criminal turned boxer Rocky Graziano.  It won two Oscars, and was mentioned for film editing.  Newman was edged out of a nod by King Yul Brynner, the two Giants, Douglas' Van Gogh, and Laurence Olivier's Richard III.  The drama grossed $2M.  WGA (Drama), NBR, DGA  [IMDb: 5.2; 82%]

Written on the Wind
Never nominated for an AMPAS, Douglas Sirk's oft-imitated melodramatic directing style became synonymous for his tawdry soap operas of the 1950s.  Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall play star-crossed lovers caught between two thoroughly unstable siblings (Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone both got nominated for their supporting roles, the latter winning).  Based on the Robert Wilder novel, the film was also nominated for its self-titled song and grossed $5.7M.  [IMDb: 7.5; 81%]

The Bad Seed
First a play and then a novel, Mervyn LeRoy (Random Harvest, Mister Roberts, Gypsy) directed this tale of a young girl gone very, very wrong.  Macaulay Culkin would try playing this role several decades later.  This horror-thriller scored three acting nominations and a mention for cinematography.  Box Office: $4.1M.  [IMDb: 7.3; RT: 68%]

Bus Stop
Popular at the box-office and scoring one acting nod, Joshua Logan, not unfamiliar with The Academy, took the reigns on this iconic William Inge play starring Marilyn Monroe and Don Murray as young lovers figuring things out.  Box Office: $7.3M.  GG, WGA (Comedy), NBR, DGA (finalist)  [IMDb: 6.7; RT: 92%]

The Searchers
This John Ford western is considered one of the classic films from the 1950s, yet it never received one Oscar nomination.  Set post-Civil War Texas, John Wayne plays a man on the hunt for his niece (Natalie Wood) kidnapped by Native Americans and assimilated over time.  This movie version of Alan Le May's novel did very well at the box-office, but was snubbed by the Academy and gained a momentum of respect over time.  DGA (finalist)  [IMDb: 8.0; R: 100%]

Anastasia
Ingrid Bergman won her second Academy Award for playing a lowly woman who is randomly selected to pass herself off as a Russian duchess to help a businessman claim a fortune.  Anatole Litvak (Decision Before Dawn, The Snake Pit) directed this adaptation of Marcelle Maurette's play to $5M and an additional Oscar nod.  Box Office: $5M.  NBR  [IMDb: 7.0]

The Brave One
This Irving Rapper (Now, Voyager) family drama about a boy trying to save his pet bull won the final "Best Story" Oscar, along with getting nominated for two other Oscars, including film editing.  [IMDb: 6.8]

High Society
Grace Kelly plays socialite Tracy Lord (!) who must choose between Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and John Lund in this musical comedy.  Charles Walters (Lili) directed Kelly's final film before becoming Princess of Monaco.  The reviews were mixed, but it still managed to do well financially with a $5.9M (or so) take and received two Oscar nods (after was all said and done).  WGA (Musical)  [IMDb: 6.9; RT: 80%]

The Ladykillers
Four-time nominee William Rose (who finally won his last nomination) wrote this crime caper starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, which was remade fifty years later by the Coen brothers starring Tom Hanks.  [IMDb: 7.8]

The Rainmaker
In this Western romance, also billed as a comedy thriller, Burt Lancaster plays a grifter who romances budding spinster Katharine Hepburn.  Like Anastasia, the screen legend scored an Oscar nod, along with Score.  Joseph Anthony (Career) directed and N. Richard Nash adapted his own play.  Box Office: $2.1M.  GG, WGA (Drama)  [IMDb: 6.9]

The Solid Gold Cadillac
Not a lot of comedies were recognized in 1956, and, nominated for two awards, albeit black & white, this was the only one which won anything.  Judy Holliday plays a ball-busting stockholder in this rom-com which made $2.4M.  GG, WGA (Comedy)  [IMDb: 7.4M]

La Strada
Fellini's depiction of a young woman sold into circus life against her will was a foreign language winner and also nominated for screenplay.  [IMDb: 8.1; RT: 31%]

The Proud and Profane
A screenwriting Oscar fixture, George Seaton directed this war romance that scored its only two nods from the uncompetitive black & white technical categories going home empty handed.  Box Office: $3.9M.  [IMDb: 6.0]

Julie
In this thriller nominated for director Andrew L. Stone's screenplay (as well as the self-titled song), Doris Day plays the wife of a jealous man with murderous designs.  Box Office: $4.5M.  [IMDb: 5.9]

Seven Samurai
Akira Kurosawa's class action-drama about villagers under attack who enlist the assistance of a group of ronin.  [IMDb: 8.8; RT: 100%]