The Real Best Picture of Each Year
The title of Best Picture is given out every year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to what their voters consider to be the greatest. Often, however, this award goes to topical, politically charged movies instead of those with greater artistic merit. This shouldn’t be a problem, except that the award has garnered a following has made it the de facto register for looking back for great cinema. It is only natural that as time goes on, other terrific films present themselves that may have been overlooked by critics and the academy in their time. The following list, from 1927 to present, shows my choice for the Best Picture of the year, outlining my reasons, and comparing it to the actual winner of the award.
1927:
My Pick: Underworld (Josef von Sternberg)
Best Picture Winner: Wings (William A. Wellman)
The first year of the Oscars was an exceptional year for film. Wings, the Best Picture winner is a technical marvel from a big studio and has a lot to be admired from a film history standpoint. Two other great films, Sunrise and Metropolis, came from German auteurs and are some of the most visually striking of the era. My pick is the Josef von Sternberg’s silent masterpiece Underworld. In addition to being the first gangster film, it’s realism and depth of story are vastly ahead of there time.
Honorable Mentions: Metropolis, Sunrise
1928:
My Pick: The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer)
1928 split awards with the years surrounding it so there is no official Best Picture. Dreyer’s masterpiece was not nominated in either year but history has shown it is an undisputed masterpiece of emotion and imagery, highlighted by Maria Falconetti’s devastating performance.
1929:
My Pick: Man With a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov)
Best Picture Winner: The Broadway Melody (Harry Beaumont)
Man With a Movie Camera isn’t as much a movie as it is an extended experiment in film and perspective. Even today, the wild techniques used seem incredibly original. It’s no wonder the Academy went with the more conventional musical, The Broadway Melody, although this was also an innovative film for an early use of technicolor.
1930:
My Pick: All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
Best Picture Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
This year my pick was the same as the Best Picture winner. And really there isn’t much argument for any other film that year. This WWI epic is one of the most powerful and poetic films about the horrors of war and its effect on the young generation of the soldiers.
1931:
My Pick: The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman)
Best Picture Winner: Cimarron (Wesley Ruggles)
Here the Academy really missed the mark. Not only did they choose an incredibly forgettable Western as Best Picture, but they overlooked four all-time classics. My pick, The Public Enemy, is an expressionist melodrama, kick-starting the gangster genre and James Cagney career. Because of the unique characters and powerful visuals it sticks with you well after the credits roll.
Honorable Mentions: Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, M
1932:
My Pick: Freaks (Tod Browning)
Best Picture Winner: Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding)
Freaks is a shocking midnight movie featuring actual circus freaks. It is something that could never be made again and really has to be seen to be believed. Again, I can’t really blame the Academy for going with something more respectable. Grand Hotel is a fine film, starting the popularity of the ensemble picture.
1933:
My Pick: Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
Best Picture Winner: Cavalcade (Frank Lloyd)
The Academy really had a thing for sweeping epics back then. Cavalcade follows a family through a few decades in England. It is really quite dull. Much better is the Marx Brother’s masterpiece Duck Soup, following the hijinx of the leader of a small nation. The comedy is remarkably relatable even today.
1934:
My Pick: L’Atalante (Jean Vigo)
Best Picture Winner: It Happened One Night (Frank Capra)
It Happened One Night is one of the best screwball comedies but to me it still falls short of the poetic gem L’Atalante. Jean Vigo’s only feature film before his premature death, the movie is a sublime portrait of a relationship filled with memorable, entrancing visuals.
1935:
My Pick: Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl)
Best Picture Winner: Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd)
I feel a bit uneasy choosing a Nazi propaganda film as the best of the year, but it’s technical merits are unquestionably in a class of their own. Even watching is discomforting, due to how effective it is as a pusher of Hitler’s agenda. Mutiny on the Bounty is a good film, with a great performance by Charles Laughton. A better film, that was nominated alongside it was Captain Blood, Errol Flynn’s breakthrough role.
1936:
My Pick: Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
Best Picture Winner: The Great Ziegfeld (Robert Z. Leonard)
Modern Times is one of Charlie Chaplin’s masterpieces, with a plethora of visual gags as well as may pointed commentaries about society. His style of slapstick is jsut as funny then as it is now. The Great Ziegfeld is a drawn out film about the famous showman, although it has many impressive sequences including the famous staircase scene. another great film is William Wyler’s Dodsworth starring Walter Huston.
Honorable Mention: Dodsworth
1937:
My Pick: Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey)
Best Picture Winner: The Life of Emile Zola (William Dieterle)
This was the first really difficult decision due to the numerous great films that came out in 1937. My pick was Leo McCarey’s favorite of his films, the criminally underrated Make Way for Tomorrow, a depression-era drama that inspired Tokyo Story. It is a simple, elegant film, with one of the most powerful endings in film history. The Life of Emile Zola is a standard biopic from the era, with a good performance by Paul Muni but really doesn’t hold up compared to some of it’s peers.
Honorable Mentions: Pepe le Moko, Lost Horizon, La Grande Illusion
1938:
My Pick: Angles with Dirty Faces (Michael Curtiz)
Best Picture Winner: You Can’t Take it With You (Frank Capra)
Angels With Dirty Faces is one of my all time favorite films, featuring an incredible, complex performance by James Cagney, with powerful themes and striking cinematography. For me it is the pinnacle of the old-style gangster films, with perfect characters and story. You Can’t Take it With You is another fun comedy from Capra which also holds up pretty well but it can’t compete with the intensity of Curtiz’s film.
1939:
My Pick: Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming)
Best Picture Winner: Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming)
1939 was another tremendous year for cinema, putting out countless classics, but I think the Academy actually got this one right. This groundbreaking epic was both a crowning achievement in technical filmmaking and great storytelling. The scope, performances and perfect pacing helped it edge out other classics like The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Honorable Mention: The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Roaring Twenties
1940:
My Pick: Pinocchio (Disney, Various Directors)
Best Picture Winner: Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock)
Walt Disney followed up the revolutionary Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with his two greatest masterpieces: Fantasia and Pinocchio. Fantasia is a terrific display of animation, creativity and was an innovator in theater sound technology. Pinocchio is one of the most emotive animated films of all time, with countless memorable, often terrifying, set pieces. Rebecca is also a fantastic film, with Hitchcock mixing thrills with grandeur.
Honorable Mentions: Fantasia, Rebecca, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator
1941:
My Pick: Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges)
Best Picture Winner: How Green Was My Valley (John Ford)
I hope some don’t take this as an affront to the legacy of Citizen Kane. I respect that film a lot, especially it’s technical merits, but Sullivan’s Travels is a timeless comedy classic with an important message. It follows a popular director who is tired of making cheap comedies and wants to make an important film. Through a funny, thrilling cross-country adventure he discovers that comedy is more important in a lot of ways than the most profound drama.
Honorable Mentions: Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, The Devil and Daniel Webster
1942:
My Pick: The Pride of the Yankees (Sam Wood)
Best Picture Winner: Mrs. Miniver (William Wyler)
Gary Cooper’s career defining performance elevates The Pride of the Yankees above the common sports film fare, into a timeless portrait of a complex American legend. Mrs. Miniver is a well-made war drama that probably won due to the relatability of it’s content.
Honorable Mentions: Kings Row, Yankee Doodle Dandy
1943:
My Pick: Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)
Best Picture Winner: Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
Casablanca’s constant popularity and acclaim is well earned. Terrifically complex characters stuck in a twisting, romantic war plot, there is something for everyone, not to mention some of the best dialogue ever written. My pick however, is Hitchcock’s favorite and most underrated film: Shadow of a Doubt. This abnormally wicked thriller stars Joseph Cotten as a serial killer who goes to live with his estranged brother and his family, and his plan unravels in exciting fashion.
Honorable Mentions: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Casablanca, Le Corbeau
1944:
My Pick: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder)
Best Picture Winner: Going My Way (Leo McCarey)
Maybe the greatest film noir of all time, Double Indemnity is perfectly constructed in pacing and plot, with striking imagery and memorable performances. Going My Way is an above average Bing Crosby musical, also worth a watch. Another noteworthy film from this year is Sergei Eisenstein’s epic masterpiece Ivan the Terrible.
Honorable Mention: Ivan the Terrible, Part I, Laura
1945:
My Pick: The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder)
Best Picture Winner: The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder)
Still one of the most visceral portraits of alcoholism, Ray Milland gives a tour-de-force performance as the protagonist grappling with addiction. His self destructive habits are perhaps a bit overblown, but are undeniably effective in showing the dangers and drama. Jane Wyman also stars as his troubled wife.
Honorable Mention: I Know Where I’m Going, And Then There Were None
1946:
My Pick: A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
Best Picture Winner: The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler)
A Matter of Life and Death is admittedly a personal favorite but it marks a tremendous turning point for Powell & Pressburger. Although they had made some still great films in the years preceding this, this picture marks their transition into the more vibrant phase of their partnership. Featuring groundbreaking effects, colors and unforgettable imagery this British classic is a must see.
Honorable Mentions: The Big Sleep, It’s a Wonderful Life
1947:
My Pick: Black Narcissus (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
Best Picture Winner: Gentleman’s Agreement (Elia Kazan)
Another Powell & Pressburger venture, Black Narcissus is a more grounded story about troubled nuns in a secluded convent, but it is one of the most impressive examples of lighting and color in film history. Gentleman’s Agreement is a well acted drama about antisemitism which is again a product of it’s time.
1948:
My Pick: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)
Best Picture Winner: Hamlet (Laurence Olivier)
The greatest Shakespeare play by the greatest interpreter of Shakespeare is certainly a treat in many ways, but as a film it does little to recreate the urgency of live theater. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is John Huston’s first masterpiece and one of his most memorable. Featuring a perfect cast and an unflinchingly dark plot filled with twists, it is as captivating as any modern thriller.
Honorable Mentions: The Red Shoes, Brighton Rock, Red River
1949:
My Picks: Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer)
Best Picture Winners: All the King’s Men (Robert Rossen)
This brilliant film from the legendary Ealing Studios is the high watermark for British comedy of the era. It is a devilish dark comedy about a young man killing off members of a distinguished family so that he can gain inheritance. Oh, and it features Sir Alec Guinness in nine different roles. All the King’s Men is a great adaptation of a great commentary on American politics and is worthy of it’s award. The Third Man, another terrific film, won the first top prize at Cannes, after the festival’s rocky start in World War II.
Honorable Mentions: Late Spring, White Heat, The Set Up, The Third Man
1950:
My Pick: Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
Best Picture Winner: All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
This was another very close pick. All About Eve is one of the most heralded films in Hollywood history, receiving 14 Academy Award nominations and for good reason. As good as Bette Davis is in that film, she is still shown up by Gloria Swanson who puts together one of the most memorable, deranged performances in history. Put that together with thrills, unique storytelling and great direction from Wilder it’s a must see classic.
Honorable Mentions: Rashomon, All About Eve, In A Lonely Place
1951:
My Pick: Tales of Hoffman (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
Best Picture: An American In Paris (Vincente Minelli)
An American is Paris is a very creative Hollywood musical, especially notable for it’s dream sequence, the inspiration for the similar sequence in the much ballyhooed La La Land. Tales of Hoffman is that level of art direction applied to the length of an entire opera. It is simply put the most fantastical visual feast ever filmed with practical effects and tells an enchanting story along the way.
Honorable Mention: Ace in the Hole, Strangers on a Train
1952:
My Pick: Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa)
Best Picture Winner: The Greatest Show on Earth (Cecil B. DeMille)
Cannes Winners: Othello (Orson Welles) & Two Cents Worth of Hope (Renato Castellani)
The Greatest Show on Earth is an impressive production but is boring and a mess. Meanwhile, Ikiru is perhaps the greatest, certainly the most emotive, film in Kurosawa’s filmography, following a dying workaholic who finally learns to live. Truly touching, with real human emotions and an incredible performance by Takashi Shimura.
Honorable Mention: Umberto D.
1953:
My Pick: Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)
Best Picture Winner: From Here To Eternity (Fred Zinneman)
The Wages of Fear is one of the most tense thrillers ever and it is very deserving of the praise it receives, including the top prize at Cannes. Ozu’s masterpiece came out this year, however, and is a nearly unrivaled cinematic achievement. It is a simple film that carries its power in the two tender, central performances and Ozu’s intimate, natural directing. Often considered one of the greatest films ever made, it is really a must see for any fan of film. From Here to Eternity is a well acted Hollywood war drama, better than most of its kind.
Honorable Mentions: The Wages of Fear, Stalag 17, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday
1954:
My Pick: Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
Best Picture Winner: On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan)
It is fascinating to see how films and directors are recognized by their peers compared to how their legacy holds up half a century later. On the Waterfront has a good reputation still, but is mostly known for Brando’s performance. This year also had three masterpieces from some of the most revered filmmakers of all time that were not in the running: La Strada by Fellini, Seven Samurai by Kurosawa and Rear Window by Hitchcock. Rear Window, a near perfect thriller, is my favorite but all are tremendous pictures.
Honorable Mentions: La Strada, Seven Samurai, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
1955:
My Pick: The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton)
Best Picture Winner: Marty (Delbert Mann)
The Night of the Hunter is the only directorial effort by legendary actor Charles Laughton. Now considered a masterpiece, it was panned at release. While it certainly has its flaws in pacing and balance of mood, the pros far outweigh the cons. It features some of the most striking imagery of its era with, a tense plot and Robert Mitchum as the horrifying villain. Marty, on the other hand, is a very touching look at love written by a young Paddy Cheyefsky, but there’s a reason nobody is talking about it now.
Honorable Mentions: Bad Day at Black Rock, Rebel Without a Cause, Diabolique
1956:
My Pick: The Searchers (John Ford)
Best Picture Winner: Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Anderson)
I think that The Silent World is one of the most underrated films of all time and one of only two documentaries to win at Cannes. It started the film career of Cousteau the great documentarian, who hired a student, Malle, who would go on to become a master auteur in his own form. Not only is it the most fascinating nature documentary, but it also importantly goes into the lives and methods of the scientists and explorers behind the discoveries. Still, it falls short of The Searchers, the greatest Western ever and a titan of American cinema. Around the World in 80 Days, one of the more maligned Best Picture Winners, is quite a bit of fun.
Honorable Mentions: The Silent World, Bigger Than Life
1957:
My Pick: The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
Best Picture Winner: The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
Simply put David Lean is a magician. Nobody else in film history has been able to so seamlessly craft enormous action packed epics while still imbibing them with terrific plot, engaging characters and meaningful themes. This thought provoking war is such a perfectly crafted picture that it makes you stop analyzing the film and instead just sit back and watch the master at work.
Honorable Mention: Le Notti Bianche, Nights of Cabiria, A Face in the Crowd
1958:
My Pick: Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock)
Best Picture Winner: Gigi (Vincente Minnelli)
The fact that Vertigo didn’t even get nominated shows just how ahead of its time the film felt. Now considered by many critics to be one of the greatest ever, it is easy to look past all of the unique choices Hitchcock made while directing to really bring out the mystery. Obviously the trick camera angles jump out, but the use of color is also inspired. Along with terrific storytelling and Bernard Hermann’s great score it’s in a class of its won. Gigi is yet another musical that has not aged well.
Honorable Mentions: Mon Oncle, Touch of Evil
1959:
My Pick: The Human Condition: Parts I & II (Masaki Kobayashi)
Best Picture Winner: Ben-Hur (William Wyler)
Ben-Hur is one of the largest scale films ever made; its a sweeping historical epic with where they built a life size stadium just for one scene. It is still not as impressive as Kobayashi’s nearly ten hour epic The Human Condition. While the final part of the trilogy didn’t come out until 1961, the first two are just as powerful in their own way, each telling an important step in the epic war saga. This masterpiece is criminally unknown, even by fans of world cinema.
Honorable Mentions: Rio Bravo, Floating Weeds, Black Orpheus
1960:
My Pick: La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini)
Best Picture Winner: The Apartment (Billy Wilder)
La Dolce Vita may not be as personal as some of his other films, but it is his most profound masterpiece and, in my opinion, the greatest Italian film ever made. Marcello Mastroianni plays the central lost soul, wandering around a world of distraction and debauchery and without any cause or purpose. Fellini tells the story through poetic imagery, mixing dreams with realism. The Apartment is a great dramedy with Jack Lemmon, showing Billy Wilder’s great range.
Honorable Mentions: The Apartment, Psycho, Peeping Tom, L’Avventura
1961:
My Pick: Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa)
Best Picture Winner: West Side Story (Robert Wise)
West Side Story is one of the greatest musicals ever written, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Steven Sondheim. It is not a surprise that the movie is the greatest movie musical of all time. Robert Wise, one of the great directors of Hollywood’s Golden Age, does a phenomenal job adapting and elevating the source material. Yojimbo, however, is the greatest film by Kurosawa and the most iconic entry in the Samurai genre. Remade many times, it is as close to an all around perfect film as I have found.
Honorable Mentions: West Side Story, The Hustler, Divorce Italian Style
1962:
My Pick: Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
Best Picture Winner: Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
Despite being a very strong year for movies this one is a no brainer. David Lean’s masterpiece follows the real historical epic in impressive scope without ever boring or feeling drawn out. It is visually stunning with many great performances, an iconic soundtrack and Lean behind the camera to tie it all together.
Honorable Mention: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Harakiri, To Kill a Mockingbird
1963:
My Pick: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer)
Best Picture Winner: Tom Jones (Tony Richardson)
Tom Jones is pretty good comedy, and for its time was even somewhat revolutionary, but cannot compare to the most ambitious comedy film of all time, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It’s a format that has been tried many times before and after: bringing together the funniest minds of the generation hoping magic happens. Here the brilliant talents of Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar and too many more to name all race eachother to find a treasure. With a staggering runtime of over 3 hours, its a non-stop goofy laugh riot. A completely singular feature could never be made today.
Honorable Mention: The Leopard, 8 1/2, Hud, The Great Escape
1964:
My Pick: Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara)
Best Picture Winner: My Fair Lady (George Cukor)
Woman in the Dunes is Teshigahara’s philosophical masterpiece, with a profound allegorical script by Kobo Abe and a wild soundtrack by Toru Takemitsu. The plot is almost surreal, following a man who falls into a pit and is forced to stay down there with a woman by the locals. This summary does not do it justice, as it is a complete hypnotic experience leaving the viewer with a lasting impression. My Fair Lady is a solid Hollywood musical from an above average source material.
Honorable Mentions: Dr. Strangelove, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
1965:
My Pick: The Sound of Music (Robert Wise)
Best Picture Winner: The Sound of Music (Robert Wise)
The Sound of Music is not Wise’s best movie, it’s not even his best musical, but it is a breathtaking cinematic achievement. By adding gorgeous cinematography to this pretty saccharine plot, he manages to elevate the atmosphere above the normal corniness of Hollywood musicals. This was also a particularly weak year for film, and most of the other notable pictures were only so due to the performances such as A Thousand Clowns.
Honorable Mentions: A Thousand Clowns, Chimes and Midnight
1966:
My Pick: Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)
Best Picture Winner: A Man For All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann)
A Man For All Seasons is one of the most complex and powerful costume dramas to come out of Hollywood but the year was so strong for cinema that it barely makes my top 5 for the year. My winner is Robert Bresson’s masterpiece, Au Hasard Balthazar, a poetic, allegorical tale of suffering and saintliness. Like most Bresson it’s simplicity is a strength, making the viewer pry deeper into the lives of a girl and her donkey. I also must mention Tarkovsky’s epic Andrei Rublev & Atonioni’s swinging mystery Blow Up.
Honorable Mentions: Andrei Rublev, Blow Up, Alfie, A Man for All Seasons
1967:
My Pick: Playtime (Jacques Tati)
Best Picture Winner: In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison)
1967 is my favorite year in all of film history, French cinema peaked with what are in my opinion the country’s two greatest movies of all time: Jacques Tati’s visionary masterpiece Playtime as well as Jacques Demy’s brilliant musical The Young Girls of Cherbourg. Three other great French films that year included Bunuel’s brilliant Belle de Jour, Godard’s otherworldly Weekend and the criminally depressing Mouchette by Bresson. Japan gave us Kobayashi’s intense Samurai Rebellion and Seijun Suzuki’s iconic Branded to Kill. America had a terrific year as well. In the Heat of the Night was powerful, but it’s political message helped it beat out even greater films like The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke & The Graduate. There are even more great films I didn’t name that would be in contention most other years. I give Playtime the edge for it’s flawless execution, bold originality and heartfelt message.
Honorable Mentions: The Young Girls of Rochefort, The Dirty Dozen, Samurai Rebellion, Cool Hand Luke, Belle de Jour, Weekend, The Graduate, Mouchette, Branded to Kill, Bonnie & Clyde, Le Samourai
1968:
My Pick: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
Best Picture Winner: Oliver! (Carol Reed)
Oliver! is one of the weakest films by veteran British director Carol Reed, but of course, its the one that wins Best Picture. Thankfully the Academy has stopped the tradition of blindly honoring any large scale musical with the award, but this year was one of the key offenders. It’s not surprising that they overlooked Kubrick’s sci-fi epic, which was extremely controversial and misunderstood upon release, but it remains one of the legendary director’s greatest, most realized achievements.
Honorable Mentions: The Swimmer, Rosemary’s Baby, The Killing of Sister George
1969:
My Pick: The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
Best Picture Winner: Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger)
Midnight Cowboy is the wildest movie to ever win Best Picture, fittingly so as it came out in 1969. The psychedelic, haunting story of young male prostitute played unforgettably by Jon Voight is bleak and harrowing. The Wild Bunch, what could have been an old fashioned western thriller, is instead even more groundbreaking than Midnight Cowboy, thanks to the bold ideas of Sam Peckinpah, one of the most underrated filmmakers of all time. With a star-studded cast of veteran actors including William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan, The Wild Bunch simultaneously paid homage to and closed the book on the western genre.
Honorable Mentions: Midnight Cowboy, Last Summer, Women in Love, The Italian Job
1970:
My Pick: Claire’s Knee (Eric Rohmer)
Best Picture Winner: Patton (Franklin J. Schaffner)
Patton is a rather boring, drawn out war epic, that only succeeds due to George C. Scott’s virtuosic performance. A much better war film that year was Robert Altman’s MASH, which subverted the genre’s typical themes into a new era. MASH would have been my pick if it weren’t for Rohmer’s bizarre and utterly beautiful Claire’s Knee. One of the director’s moral tales captures crisis & obsession mixed in with a mix of colorful characters and uncharacteristically poignant imagery for the prominently non-visual filmmaker.
Honorable Mentions: MASH, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The Conformist, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
1971:
My Pick: Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti)
Best Picture Winner: The French Connection (William Friedkin)
1971 was another truly great year in film, packed with great gems, some of which have been unfairly forgotten over time. The greatest of these is a tremendous adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice, featuring Dirk Bogarde’s nuanced lead performance and Visconti’s dense but subtle filmmaking. Other great films that the Oscars would never consider include Get Carter, the seminal gritty gangster film starring Michael Caine, the brutal thriller Straw Dogs by Peckinpah and The Devils, Ken Russell’s X-rated religious film. The French Connection is an exhilarating cop film, but was not as original as it;s competition.
Honorable Mentions: Get Carter, Straw Dogs, The Devils, The Last Picture Show, The French Connection, A Clockwork Orange
1972:
My Pick: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
Best Picture Winner: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
Nothing more needs to be said about The Godfather. It is a great film with legendary performances and while I am not of the opinion that it is the best of all time, it easily wins best of the year. In fact, this was a particularly weak year, full of movies that didn’t meet their potential or those that simply had a lower ceiling. The only other really good movies this year were the survival thriller Deliverance and Sleuth, a two-man masterclass in acting by Laurence Olivier & Michael Caine.
Honorable Mentions: Deliverance, Sleuth