Nominees: A Streetcar Named Desire, Strangers on a Train, A Place in the Sun, Ace in the Hole, Day the Earth Stood Still, Miss Julie, The Browning Version, Cry Danger
Oscars Pick: An American In Paris
Nominees: Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vidas, A Streetcar Named Desire
Bresson's stripped down austere style doesn't always appeal to me. While the cinematography and blocking are impressive, I dislike the way he drains emotion from his actor's performances. It's like watching Vulcan's do Shakespeare. And yet, when he focused his camera on the saintly and the trials and cruelty they endure, as he does here and with Au Hassard Balthazar, he does create empathy and emotion, he does draw me in. Diary of a Country Priest. Which is about a sickly, depressed young Priest who is assigned to a Parish in a town full of dickweeds, is unrelentingly bleak and -as with most Bresson films- wordy. It also manages to be expressive and left its mark on my mind and soul.
It's my winner among a stable of rock-solid nominees -
There was Hitchcock's tense and chilling Strangers on a Train. Followed by the polarizing movie based on a true crime story, A Place in the Sun. Billy Wilder's harrowing Ace in the Hole, Alf Sjöberg's Miss Julie, and Robert Wise's sci-fi classic, Day the Earth Stood Still.
Oscars pick is okay, but not the best Gene Kelly musical and far from the best film. I'm surprised they ignored The African Queen; it seems a film suited to them. I'm also surprised Streetcar, which got so much acting love form the Academy, was bypassed as Best Picture. Odds at the time had A Place in the Sun as the favorite. When Paris won, some critics charged that the fix was in, while others demanded a recount.
Honorable Mentions:
Marlon Brando, Streetcar * Michael Redgrave, The Browning Version * Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole * Alastair Sim, Scrooge * Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun * Trevor Howard & Robert Morley, Outcast of the Islands * Robert Ryan, On Dangerous Ground * Canada Lee, Cry the Beloved Country * Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen
Best Actress: Anita Björk, Miss Julie
Honorable Mentions:
Michèle Morgan, The Strange Madame X * Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire * Patricia Neal, The Day the Earth Stood Still * Ida Lupino, On Dangerous Ground * Nargis, Awaara * Ulla Jacobsson, One Summer of Happiness * Maj-Britt Nilsson, Summer Interlude * Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen
Michèle Morgan, The Strange Madame X * Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire * Patricia Neal, The Day the Earth Stood Still * Ida Lupino, On Dangerous Ground * Nargis, Awaara * Ulla Jacobsson, One Summer of Happiness * Maj-Britt Nilsson, Summer Interlude * Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen
Supporting Actor: Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire
Supporting Actress: Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire
