If you're here, chances are you've been here before. I started retrospective Oscar years in 2011; my last one was in September of last year, the next one begins right now - the longest I've gone between retrospectives in three years.
But here we are! As voted on by you, the next three retrospectives will all focus on the years in which Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director.
Despite being heralded as one of the greatest (and certainly most influential) filmmakers of all time, Hitchcock never won a competitive Academy Award, despite five nominations (he did win the non-competitive Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968). All five nominations came within a 20-year period, beginning with his first Hollywood feature, 1940's Rebecca (as we covered in 2024), and ending with his most famous film, 1960's Psycho (which we will cover in July).
In addition to Rebecca and the films of 1940, - which, by the way, include Hitchcock's second Hollywood production, Foreign Correspondent - we've also already looked at his nomination for Rear Window and the films of 1954. Which means only three years to cover, beginning with his second nomination: Lifeboat, 1944.
Now, recall - or learn, if it's your first time here - we don't just focus on just the one film or the one category or even the one ceremony. No, I've watched 89 films released in 1944, and we're going to look at all of them, the good and the bad. We're gonna look at Charlie Chan films. We're gonna look at almost-nominated buzzworthy films. And, of course, we're gonna talk about World War II, still ongoing, though this would be the final full year of the war. Of the 89 films I screened, at least 49 either depict or reference - or are an allegory for - the War.
We'll get into it, starting tomorrow. But I do want you to know what we're talking about, so here are the 89 films we'll cover:
Address Unknown
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Arsenic and Old Lace
Bathing Beauty
Between Two Worlds
Black Magic
Brazil
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Canterville Ghost
Casanova Brown
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Christmas Holiday
The Climax
Cobra Woman
The Conspirators
Cover Girl
Cry 'Havoc'
Days of Glory
The Desert Song
Double Indemnity
Dragon Seed
The Eve of St. Mark
The Fighting Seabees
Follow the Boys
Gaslight
Going My Way
A Guy Named Joe
Hail the Conquering Hero
The Hairy Ape
Higher and Higher
His Butler's Sister
Hollywood Canteen
Home in Indiana
House of Frankenstein
In Society
The Invisible Man's Revenge
Irish Eyes Are Smiling
It Happened Tomorrow
Jack London
Jane Eyre
Janie
Kismet
Knickerbocker Holiday
The Lady and the Monster
Lady in the Dark
Lady, Let's Dance
Laura
Lifeboat
The Lodger
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Merry Monahans
Minstrel Man
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Mrs. Parkington
Mr. Skeffington
The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Ghost
Nine Girls
No Time for Love
None But the Lonely Heart
None Shall Escape
Passage to Marseille
The Pearl of Death
Phantom Lady
The Princess and the Pirate
The Scarlet Claw
Secret Command
Sensations of 1945
Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman
Since You Went Away
Song of the Open Road
The Story of Dr. Wassell
Step Lively
The Sullivans
Summer Storm
Sweet and Low-down
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Two Girls and a Sailor
The Uninvited
Up in Arms
Up in Mabel's Room
Voice in the Wind
When Strangers Marry
The White Cliffs of Dover
Wilson
Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X
The Woman of the Town
No comments:
Post a Comment