Monthly Archives: July 2011

July 29, 2011 · 11:38 am

The Best Picture Project – Going My Way (1944)

Directed by Leo McCarey

Screenplay by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, story by Leo McCarey

Starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald

Here’s an intriguing question: What does it take for an actor to win an Oscar? Leaving the little matter of politics out of it, my curiosity is over what kind of performance does it take for an actor to win an Oscar? Is it better to play a showy role where the scenery can be chewed in all it’s glory, or at least one where we know a part is being played? Or, is it better to play a role that rewards the naturalistic, showcasing the kind of acting where the actor doesn’t’ even seem to be acting? Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under The Best Picture Project

Tagged as academy awards, al pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Barry Fitzgerald, Best Picture Project, billy wilder, Bing Crosby, Boy’s Don’t Cry, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Colin Firth, Daniel Day Lewis, double indemnity, Dustin Hoffman, Ed Wood, Father O’Malley, Forrest Gump, Forrest Whitaker, Frank Butler, Frank Cavett, fred macmurray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, Holiday Inn, Leaving Las Vegas, Leo McCarey, Martin Landau, Meryl Streep, Michael Corleone, Monster, Movies, My Left Foot, Nicolas Cage, oscar, Oscars, Philadelphia, Rainman, Shakespeare in Love, Silence of the Lambs, Sophie’s Choice, The Aviator, The King’s Speech, The Last King of Scotland, Tom Hanks, White Christmas

July 12, 2011 · 1:28 pm

The Best Picture Project – Gone With The Wind (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming

Screenplay by Sidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell

Starring Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia DeHavilland, Leslie Howard and Hattie McDaniel

In the grand history of the Oscars, 1939 might be the most stellar year of them all, what with a Best Picture race that include Of Mice and Men, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, The Wizard of Oz, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and the eventual winner, Gone With The Wind. In another year it’s conceivable any of those films might’ve taken the top prize – of the losers, I’m especially fond of Mr. Chips – but this wasn’t any other year, this was 1939, and this was the year of Gone With The Wind. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under The Best Picture Project

Tagged as 1939, academy awards, Alice Randall, All The King’s Men, Best Picture Project, Birth of a Nation, Clark Gable, David O’ Selznick, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Hattie McDaniel, irving thalberg, Leslie Howard, Margaret Mitchell, Mice and Men, Movies, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Olivia DeHavilland, oscar, Oscars, Sam Speigel, saul zaentz, Sidney Howard, The Wind Done Gone, The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming, Vivien Leigh