November and December 1945. By the end of the year, the Nuremberg Trials begin, revolution breaks out in Indonesia, and 51 nations join the United Nations. The year began with a world at war and ended with a world determined to find peace, even as some nations were still struggling to establish their independence from colonial rule (not just Indonesia; India was also trying to get the Brits out, while civil war continued in China).
Hollywood-wise, the heavy-hitters at the Oscars all came from the last two months of the year. Deliberately saved 'til the last minute by the studios, or just recency bias from weary voters momentarily looking up from post-War news? Whatever the reason, eleven of the twelve following films wound up nominated for Academy Awards:
This Love of Ours
release: November 2
nominations: Best Score (Hans J. Salter)
dir: William Dieterle
pr: Howard Benedict
scr: Bruce Manning & John D. Klorer & Leonard Lee, from the play Come prima, meglio de prima by Luigi Pirandello
cin: Lucien Ballard
It's such a bizarre setup. A doctor at a convention goes to see some local stage show, a caricaturist and his female assistant, and it turns out the assistant is his estranged wife, whom their daughter believes is dead and even has a shrine where she prays to her? And in flashback, it's established that they're estranged because he was so jealous, he accused her of being a slut without evidence and took their child? And this is supposed to be a story of redemption and love, but it is, uh, psychotic.
Spellbound
release: November 8
wins: Best Score (Miklós Rózsa)
nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Michael Chekhov), Best Cinematography - Black-and-White, Best Special Effects (Jack Cosgrove)
dir: Alfred Hitchcock
pr: David O. Selznick
scr: Ben Hecht, adaptation by Angus MacPhail, from The House of Dr. Edwardes by Francis Beeding (ie, John Palmer & Hilary St. George Saunders)
cin: George Barnes
A psychiatrist begins to suspect something's not quite right with the new head doctor of the mental asylum where she works. We'll get more into it next week.
Marie-Louise
release: November 12
wins: Best Original Screenplay
dir: Leopold Lindtberg
pr: Oscar Düby / Lazar Wechsler
scr: Richard Schweizer
cin: Emil Berna
A French child refugee is brought to Switzerland, where her trauma both warms hearts and upends expectations of the war within the community. Really interesting movie, proves that asylum seekers have always been met with a mix of both resistance and welcome. Also depicts how being a foster guardian means establishing trust and safety, yes, but reminding yourself and your charge that they will return, or find a permanent, home, and it's not necessarily you. In this case, Marie-Louise's family is alive, she must return at some point, but she herself is reluctant, both because she has grown used to this home and because the traumas of occupied France, the memories of her bombed-out home, are fresh scars that need healing. What do we do to the children, when adult egos rattle their sabers?
Sing Your Way Home
release: November 14
nominations: Best Original Song ("I'll Buy That Dream")
dir: Anthony Mann
pr: Bert Granet
scr: William Bowers, original story by Edmund Joseph and Bart Lytton
cin: Frank Redman
War correspondent eager to get back to America becomes chaperone to a band of juvenile entertainers on a ship's voyage; hijinks ensue. It's cute and it's funny and the songs are good and the children aren't annoying, nor is Jack Haley. So yeah, why not?
What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
release: November 21
nominations: Best Original Screenplay
dir: Richard Thorpe
pr: George Haight
scr: Harry Kurnitz, from characters created by marion Hargrove
cin: Henry Sharp
Sequel to See Here, Private Hargrove, which I did not see. Basically a comedy about a bumbling American squad in France post-Liberation. Not for me. Nominated for Original Screenplay despite being based on characters from a memoir that inspired the first film.
Captain Kidd
release: November 22
nominations: Best Score (Werner Janssen)
dir: Rowland V. Lee
pr: Benedict Bogaeus
scr: Norman Reilly Raine, original story by Robert N. Lee
cin: Archie Stout
The titular pirate captain passes himself off as a pirate hunter to the King of England, allowing him to wreak havoc and reap rewards. Charles Laughton is clearly having a blast, as Kidd is not much of a physcial fighter but an amoral, ruthless contriver and opportunist, no crime too low to commit, but always done so with a smirk and a quip. He's fun!
The Lost Weekend
release: November 29
wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Ray Milland), Best Screenplay
nominations: Best Score (Miklós Rózsa), Best Cinematography - Black-and-White, Best Film Editing (Doane Harrison)
dir: Billy Wilder
pr: Charles Brackett
scr: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, from the novel by Charles R. Jackson
cin: John F. Seitz
An alcoholic writer spends three days bingeing, scheming, and disappointing friends and loved ones. I read the book years ago in a single night, I remember the gay nurse and the fur coat vividly. Anyway, more on the film next week.
Detour
release: November 30
dir: Edgar G. Ulmer
pr: Leon Fromkess
scr: Martin Goldsmith
cin: Benjamin H. Kline
A New York pianist hitchhikes to Los Angeles for his girl, and bad luck gets him into one fix after another. Scuzzy, dirty movie, Tom Neal's protagonist too unlucky to be fully believed (we only get his side of the story, see), while Ann Savage and Edmund MacDonald are so cutthroat and sleazy, so blunt and offensive, they make you want to take a shower and scrub with Comet, just to get the filth out. The cheap day-rooms, the five o'clock shadow, Savage's whole aura: Ulmer really nails the perpetual late-afternoon sleaze of the city, a land of last-ditch possibilities for desperate schemers. Can I really sell you on a movie by telling you how awful it makes you feel? I hope I can, because this is a great one, not to be missed.
Leave Her to Heaven
release: Christmas Day
wins: Best Cinematography - Color
nominations: Best Actress (Gene Tierney), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration - Color (Lyle R. Wheeler / Maurice Ransford / Thomas Little), Best Sound (Thomas T. Moulton)
dir: John M. Stahl
pr: William A. Bacher
scr: Jo Swerling, from the novel by Ben Ames Williams
cin: Leon Shamroy
A man fears that his wealthy new bride may be too obsessed with spending time with him - independent of all others. A rare film noir in color, and pretty glorious color, too, letting pop the expansive blue of the lake where they spend much of their time, the patterns on Gene Tierney's costumes, the blue eyes that can be cold as ice or passionate as the hottest flame, or even the many interiors: a desert ranch house, a lakeside lodge in Maine, a house in Bar Harbor...a stunning, picturesque film. Tierney is magnificent, you believe every move she makes, perhaps even sympathize her, even as she makes moves that make you scream, howl, gasp. Vincent Price makes a meal out of the climactic trial (of course, there's a climactic trial!). Cornel Wilde plays a stupid husband who probably should know better than to dedicate his book to his wife's young, hot adopted sister, but in his defense, he also keeps "surprising" her even when she's made clear she hates that - what a dummy!
They Were Expendable
release: Christmas Day
nominations: Best Sound (Douglas Shearer), Best Special Effects (A. Arnold Gillespie / Donald Jahraus / R.A. MacDonald / Michael Steinore)
dir/pr: John Ford
scr: Frank Wead, from the book by William L. White
cin: Joseph H. August
A PT boat squadron based in the Philippines seeks to prove its worth in the days following Pearl Harbor. It's funny, I don't remember much of the characters or the story, but I do remember the emphasis on grim determination, ending as it does on our initial evacuation of the Philippines, with some being left behind to be captured, killed, or continue the fight, their fates left ambiguous. Fascinating note to end on, considering it's the last big war film of the year and just three months after Victory, but it recognizes that that victory was hard won. War is sacrifice. Stirring action, filmed in the Florida Keys.
The Bells of St. Mary's
release: December 27
wins: Best Sound (Stephen Dunn)
nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Bing Crosby), Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman), Best Score (Robert Emmett Dolan), Best Original Song ("Aren't You Glad You're You?"), Best Film Editing (Harry Marker)
dir/pr: Leo McCarey
scr: Dudley Nichols, story by Leo McCarey
cin: George Barnes
Follow-up to Going My Way sees Father O'Malley try his tricks on a school run by nuns. We'll get into it next week.
San Antonio
release: December 29
nominations: Best Original Song ("Some Sunday Morning"), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration - Color (Ted Smith / Jack McConaghy)
dir: David Butler
pr: Robert Buckner
scr: Alan LeMay and W.R. Burnett
cin: Bert Glennon
A rancher comes out of hiding with evidence against the cattle barons who've been cheating locals - but will he live long enough to present it? Errol Flynn as a cowboy, Alexis Smith as a saloon girl, me as entertained viewer. Paint-by-numbers plotwise, but what a time!
Tomorrow, Oscar's nominees for Best Supporting Actor: Michael Chekhov (Spellbound), John Dall (The Corn is Green), James Dunn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Robert Mitchum (Story of G.I. Joe), and J. Carrol Naish (A Medal for Benny).
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