EYE-BALL MovieZone – Oscar Movies DECADE REVIEW: 1950 – ’59

EYE-BALL MovieZone - Oscar Movies DECADE REVIEW: 1950 – ’59

Statistical Data: Total Movies Nominated for ‘BEST PICTURE’ Oscars between 1950 – 1959 = 50 Fast Links: – [Return Links Provided] Link to – Highest EYE-BALL MovieZone Rated Movies: – [Best Picture Nominees] Link to – Most Oscar Nominated Movies: – [All Categories] Link to – Most Winning Oscar Nominated Movies: – [All Categories] Link to – Missing Movies: – [Best Picture Nominees] Link to – Decade Summary – [Best Picture Nominees] Link to – Most Nominated Directors: – [Best Picture Nominees] Link to – Most Appearances by an Actor/Actress in Oscar Movies: – [Best Picture Nominees] Link to – Breakdown of Movie Drama Types: – [Best Picture Nominees] Links to – All the Academy Awards Nominees and Winners 1950-59: – [All Categories] Links to – EYE-BALL MovieZone Yearly Reviews – 1950-59: – [Best Picture Nominees] Page Link to EYE-BALL MovieZone Summary PDF File for all Oscar Nominated Best Picture Movies – 1950 – ’59 data: Back to Top Highest EYE-BALL MovieZone Rated Movies: 9.0 – “Ben-Hur” – Best Picture Winner 1959 8.0 – “Roman Holiday” – 1953 7.5 – “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – 1958 7.5 – “The Ten Commandments” – 1956 7.5 – “From Here to Eternity” – Best Picture Winner 1953 7.0 – “The Nuns Story” – 1959 7.0 – “Giant” – 1956 7.0 – “The King and I” – 1956 7.0 – “Peyton Place” – 1957 7.0 – “Marty” – Best Picture Winner 1955 6.5 – “Father of the Bride” – 1950 Back to Top EYE-BALL MovieZone – Reviews   [Yearly Best Picture Nominees, Reviews, Wikipedia links and other Information 1950-59] 1959 – 1958 – 1957 – 1956 – 1955 – 1954 – 1953 – 1952 – 1951 – 1950 – Back to Top [Best picture Nominees] – [This is a EYE-BALL MovieZone rating and is independent of any influence - the assessment is made on viewing pleasure, storyline, script quality, scene quality, and overall appeal with allowances made for the age and quality of production - i.e. technical capabilities at the time - no judgement has been made on vision or audio quality or the quality of the reproduced copy of the movie. All other Movies Nominated for "Best Picture" rated less than 6.5 on the EYE-BALL MovieZone rating barometer.] Most Oscar Nominated Movies:   [All Categories] “From Here to Eternity” – Best Picture Winner 1953 – 13 Nominations “Ben-Hur” – Best Picture Winner 1959 – 12 Nominations “On the Waterfront” - Best Picture Nomination 1954 – 12 Nominations “A Street Car Named Desire” – 1951 – 12 Nominations “Sunset Boulevard” – 1950 – 11 Nominations “Giant” – 1956 – 10 Nominations “Gigi” – Best Picture Winner 1958 – 9 Nominations “Peyton Place” – 1957 – 9 Nominations “Sayonara” – 1957 – 9 Nominations “The King and I” – 1956 – 9 Nominations “A Place in the Sun” – 1951 – 9 Nominations Back to Top Most Winning Oscar Nominated Movies:   [All Categories] “Ben-Hur” – Best Picture Winner – Won 11 Academy Awards “Gigi” – Best Picture Winner – Won 9 Academy Awards “On the Waterfront” – Best Picture Winner – Won 8 Academy Awards “From Here to Eternity” – Best Picture Winner – Won 8 Academy Awards “The Bridge over the River Kwai” – Best Picture Winner – Won 7 Academy Awards “An American in Paris” – Best Picture Winner – Won 6 Academy Awards “A Place in the Sun” – Won 6 Academy Awards “All About Eve” - Best Picture Winner – Won 6 Academy Awards “Around the World in 80 Days” – Best Picture Winner – Won 5 Academy Awards “The King and I” – Won 5 Academy Awards Back to Top Summary:Of these 10 highest Oscar Award winning movies – seven (7) did not make the EYE-BALL MovieZone’shighest rated movies list for the Decade. Those excluded included – “Gigi”, “On the Waterfront”, “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”, “An American in Paris”, “A Place in the Sun”, “All About EVE”, “Around the World in 80 Days”.That is not to say that these movies did not deserve their Oscars – what is does say that as society stands today – these movies do not have the same movie goer appeal as they did when they were first released. Again – it’s a subjective opinion – for example – Chevalier in “Gigi” was brilliant – but the music and the plot whilst entertaining at the time – is very much dated. In “A Place in the Sun” – Cliff’s performance as the twisted turned around man who can’t make up his mind is also so far removed from how society likes and wants their men. Cliff was famous for these types of roles – however modern Directors hardly ever want to portray a ‘lead’ actor in this way – probably because actors don’t want or know how to play that type of character.It’s also not about ‘Colour’ verses ‘Black and White’ – or length and style of movie – it’s about the content and the storytelling of the drama – the way a movie dates as society changes – acceptance and boundaries – acting ability compared to the way modern Directors and Cameramen can depict a backdrop and scene focus through technical advancements. There are many wonderful Black and White movies – but what has been discovered in the early part of this research was that there were many movies given Awards who were not worthy – How “The Greatest Show on Earth” ever won Best Picture in 1952 is unfathomable – it was a weak year for quality movies and someone had to win it. But then 1956 saw three excellent movies – “Giant”, The Ten Commandments” and “The King and I” all lose to “Around the World in 80 Days” … There are mysteries when it comes to who wins OSCAR and who loses – no doubt there is politics and Studio influences to be waxed and hand held, and some 60 years later who am I to make judgement on what the thoughts and wants of the movie going public were during the 1950′s. A lot of these movies are what is called ‘hard drama’ – not soft or mellow – but overacted and crushing in the way the character is portrayed … there are exceptions – “Marty”, “Roman Holiday”, “The King and I’ to name a few – but Brando’s style of acting at his time was seen as defining – these days he would be just another ‘hood’ and struggle to pass voice tests if he was allowed to speak as he did in some of his movies. There is no doubt this was part of his appeal with the public and why they loved him so and with the Audio enhancements around today – maybe he would have been allowed to get away with it – yet in these old movies he was always so hard to understand. When he played the lead in “The Godfather” Part 1 – 1972 – now that was acting – he did not force his role – yet in “Julius Caesar” – 1953 – he looked a rank amateur in several scenes early in the movie … yet he won Best Actor for his role … [I will watch this again just to make sure I have not been to critical of Brando] – but first impressions were is was a poor performance. We all have our favourite actors/actress’ – and part of the wonderful experience that this project has discovered has been the re-discovery of many old movies and many fine artists who played wonderful roles – it has been an education and an awakening. Back to Top Missing Movies:[Best Picture Nominees] 1958 – Separate Tables - This movie has not been seen and therefore remains unrated – attempts to find a copy are ongoing. Back to Top Most Nominated Directors:    [Oscar Nominated Best Picture Movies:] – [Links to Wikipedia Name Sites] George Stevens – 4 – (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) Vincente Minnelli – 3 – (February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) William Wyler – 3 – (February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) Fred Zinnemann -3 – (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) Delbert Mann – 3 – (January 30, 1920 – November 11, 2007) Billy Wilder – 2 – (22 June 1906 – 27 March 2002) John Ford -2 – (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) Cecil B DeMille – 2 – (August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959) Joshua Logan – 2 – (October 5, 1908 – July 12, 1988) Back to Top Most Appearances by an Actor/Actress   [In Oscar Nominated Best Picture Movies:] Elizabeth Taylor – 6 – (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) Deborah Kerr – 6 – (30 September 1921 – 16 October 2007) Marlon Brando – 4 – (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) William Holden – 4 – (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) Charlton Heston – 3 – (October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) Burt Lancaster – 3 – (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) Grace Kelly – 3 – (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) Audrey Hepburn – 2 – (4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) Montgomery Clift – 2 – (October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) Sidney Poitier – 2 – (February 20, 1927 - Henry Fonda – 2 – (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) Yul Brynner – 2 – (July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) Karl Malden – 2 – (March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) Jack Warden – 2 – (September 18, 1920 – July 19, 2006) David Niven – 2 – (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) Back to Top The talent these two list name can only confirm what we all know – Movies are a significant part of everybody’s lives. Sadly – very few names on the above list are still alive if any at all – [this has not been researched but will be investigated and updated in the future] – it is their memories we all cherish – how they entertained us all – Names that will be remembered. Breakdown of ‘Genre/Drama ‘TYPES’   [Oscar Nominated Best Picture Movies:] Historical – 4 – based on true events in a historical context … Period – 6 – Fiction set in a past period … Crime/Cop – 2 – self explanatory … Western – 2 – self explanatory … Action/Thriller – 0 – self explanatory … War/Army – 7 – self explanatory … Comedy – 0 – self explanatory … Romance – 6 – where romantic context is predominant … Musical – 3 – self explanatory … Family Drama – 3 – where the plot revolves around family drama … Emotive Drama – 12 – where human emotive relationships are the plot drivers … Animation – 0 – self explanatory … Fantasy – 1 – anything supernatural or not of this world in belief terms … Drama – 4 – Where the plot does not fit any other catagory listed … This statistic will become more relevant when over time the theme of Oscar Nominated movies for each decade bares its similarities and differences – i.e. very few Westerns are recognised or made in modern movies – the last one was “Unforgiven” in 1992. Musicals are also a rare breed – “Chicago” in 2002 – and before that “Moulin Rouge” – 2001, but before them the previous Nominated Movies was – “All That Jazz” in 1979. There would be many reasons for this – costs associated with Musical productions – societies diverse musical tastes – and the industry just don’t have people like ‘Rodgers and Hammerstein’ anymore – “It’s all a mystery” – as Geoffrey Rush says in “Shakespeare in Love” – 1998 Best Picture Winner.As stated – it’s a theory that Movies either set trends, or follow Societal changes – and the Movies made reflect these societal attitude changes and acceptances – this project when completed will hopefully be able to determine the answer – which came first – the ‘chicken’ or the ‘egg’!Back to Top Links to Official Academy Awards[Winners and Nominations 1950-59]Link to Academy Awards Copyright Information 1959 – 31st Academy Awards … 1958 – 30th Academy Awards … 1957 – 29th Academy Awards … 1956 – 28th Academy Awards … 1955 – 27th Academy Awards … 1954 – 26th Academy Awards … 1953 – 25th Academy Awards … 1952 – 24th Academy Awards … 1951 – 23rd Academy Awards … 1950 – 22nd Academy Awards … Back to Top ________________________________________ [Just a small note - this is a free website - and the information posted hereto is the product of genuine research which has taken considerable time and effort. 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