Let's continue the journey through the Best Picture winners into a really solid decade. To me, with the exception of maybe 1939, the 1940s were the apex of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Some true classics came out of this era and there are some years that all the nominees are worth watching.
1940-1949
“Really? This was ‘the Best?’”
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Going My Way (1944)
Okay, unlike the previous entries in this category, these aren’t bad movies really. They are being sorted here because there were way better films that should have won instead. Going My Way is a nice little musical about Bing Crosby as a priest in New York with fine tunes and good performances, but is it really better than Double Indemnity? Though, I do admit that Billy Wilder’s noir classic is in my top five favorite films of all time. How Green Was My Valley also isn’t a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but it really isn’t better than Citizen Kane. I get why Kane didn’t win, in a political sense I suppose, but the also nominated Maltese Falcon is better than Valley too. Valley however, being the plight of Welch miners is about as “Academy Award” as it can get without being The English Patient.
Grades: B (for both)
The Good
The Lost Weekend (1945)
This film’s win kind of gives credence to my whole Double Indemnity over Going My Way argument. It’s like the Academy was like, “Yeah, we did bad last year, sorry about that.” Weekend was also helmed by Wilder (who also won Best Director, having lost the previous year). This saga of an alcoholic trying and failing to stop became the blueprint for "problem" pictures. What seems cliche now, wasn't quite back in 1945. This film isn’t bad really, Milland’s performance is engaging if a little Cage-esque, but it sure comes off as annoyingly preachy toward the end. Grade: B
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
This is preachy too and much more hamfisted when viewed today. Even so, it is a pretty good film, and Gregory Peck just knocks it out of the park. It’s a good story of racial prejudice and anti-semitism, but you can’t help but feel that the kid gloves are on. Also there is something icky about Peck pretending to be Jewish for a newspaper column. But maybe that ickiness adds something. Grade: B+
Hamlet (1948)
There's a chance I rated this higher because I’m a bit of a Shakespeare fan. I like alternative retellings more (Scotland, PA being my favorite), but this dreamy ethereal adaptation is quite interesting. I really dig the set design Olivier used. Something about the open space and the fogginess really works with Hamlet. Also everybody puts in amazing performances, albeit in typical "Shakespearean" ways. If you aren’t into Big Bill or the Prince of Denmark, this will be a chore. But if you have even the slightest interest, you’ll like it. Grade: B
The Great
Rebecca (1940)
Hitchcock’s only Best Picture winner is from an extremely stellar year. Most of the best pic nominees that year are classics in their own right, but I can see why this won out. One of the best Gothic romances ever, and Hitch's second of three Daphne du Maurier adaptations. The story of an unnamed woman who marries a widower aristocrat, and how he and everyone in the house is haunted by his late wife. Like every Hitchcock film, I notice something new every time I watch it. It isn’t Hitch’s best work, but it is better than Foreign Correspondent, Hitch's other film nominated that year. A ghostly, great film. Grade: A-
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
I confess that I am super burnt out on WWII films. I was burnt out before I started watching all these films, and after this exercise I’m probably gonna be burnt out for a few years at least. I think what made me like this was the fact that it focused solely “at home.” A domestic drama foremost, but it’s definitely a war film. The British setting also makes the stakes higher, as an air raid could happen at any minute. My favorite aspect of the film, without giving too much away, is that it goes the other way with a certain expectation. Not so much a twist, but a better way to tell the story. You’ll have to see it to know what I mean. Grade: A
All the King’s Men (1949)
I’m glad I watched this during an election year, but it is still pretty relevant in general. The rise and fall of a rural politician isn't anything new, even back then, but it's a story that needs retelling from time to time. Basically the thesis of the film could be boiled down (albeit cynically) to “This is how populism works.” If you haven’t seen it, watch this with the similarly themed Face in the Crowd. Grade: B+
The Essential
Casablanca (1943)
You’re not surprised about this, are you? Okay, I must admit that until last year I hadn't sat down to watch the whole thing. I knew the story well, and had seen all of it in bits and pieces. You probably know the story about Rick, his bar, and his lost love that returns- all the while dealing with Nazis. Even with that knowledge and the fact that this is one of the most referenced films ever, I was transfixed. Though a WWII film, it never really feels like a war film like Miniver does. Possibly the most essential title you will encounter in all the winners, and it totally lives up to its hype. Grade: A+
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
An ensemble drama of veterans returning home. Harold Russell gives one of the greatest performances in the history of acting as a double amputee. Overlong yes, melodramatic for sure, but still essential. It would become the template of all “back from the war” dramas. In a lot of ways The Deer Hunter is just the Vietnam version of this. Despite it’s flaws, the performances and the epic closeness of the story are just classic. Grade: A-
See you guys next Tuesday for the 1950s!