Cavalcade (1933)

Cavalcade is not an easy movie to find if you want to see it. After discovering that is the only Best Picture winner currently not available on DVD, I had to begin a search for it on VHS. Luckily, being a librarian, I was able to borrow it from another library in the state of Pennsylvania.

The story is extremely sad. Nothing "good" happens to any of the characters. It feels like a British tragedy that spans 30+ years. In some ways it reminded me of Forrest Gump because it had fictional characters experiencing real events. Events include the Second Boer War, Queen Victoria's death, the sinking of the Titanic, and World War I.

I am a big fan of the fact this movie was not extremely long and drawn out. I also really like that this is a British film. Their films, for the most part, seem to be more tastefully done.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

This Best Picture winner is based on a true story. I recently watched a newer version of the same story and have to admit that the 1935 version is extremely different.

Clark Gable was clearly made out to be a hero against a harsh Captain Bligh. I have never been in the military but I have always expected that the person is charge, is the person in charge. They have to be harsh and set strict rules. That is the only way you are going to maintain order and what is best for everyone.

The women of Tahiti in this version are all very light-skinned. I can only assume this was because 1935 audiences would not want to see people with different colored skin in romantic situations together.

The story took place during one of my favorite periods in history. It is also a very fascinating true story. While I liked this movie in comparison to some Best Picture winners, I prefer the 1984 version with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. It seemed more balanced and realistic.

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

The more I think about this film, the more I really like it. The most impressive thing about the movie are the vibrant colors. In a time when many of the Best Picture winners were in black and white, this one was done in Technicolor. A movie about a circus probably should be done in really striking colors. It made the film for me.

In addition, I have to say that this may be my favorite Jimmy Stewart role thus far. I believed these characters were a family. The entire cast worked so well. I also loved the cameos of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. I spotted them in the crowd of the circus immediately.

I never attended a circus so viewing the one in the film was really my first experience too. The shots of the kids eating ice cream and it dripping down their hands never got old. Had I been eating ice cream while viewing the movie, I imagine I would have been doing something very similar.

I am not sure where this one falls on my list of "liked" Best Pictures but it is going to be toward the top. It was 2.5 hours long, yet I did not want it to end. I may have to add this film to my collection in the near future.

All the King's Men (1949)

I am shocked to learn that there were corrupt politicians in the 1940s. I thought it was only a recent thing. Okay, please note the sarcasm in that.

All the King's Men is a film about an honest man who wants to clean up corruption that is in the office of the county commissioners. He is bullied and threatened as a result. Due to his honesty, many people begin to follow him to help him in his campaigns. He loses the race but when things he pointed out were wrong begin to happen on a large scale, the public begins to stand behind him. However, once he begins to get power, he becomes as corrupt, if not worse than, the politicians he sought to replace.

*Spoiler Alert* While this story is not based on a true story, but a novel, it is very reminiscent of the story of Huey Long. Long was also killed while at the height of his political career.

I thought Mercedes McCambridge was perfect in her role. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work on this film. While researching her, I discovered that she did the voice of the demon in The Exorcist. That is rather terrifying.

A bit of useless trivia: The title of this film and novel is from the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai takes place in a Japanese war camp during World War II. Held captive there are British ,and a few American, soldiers. The prisoners of war are given the task of completing a bridge across the Kwai River by a specific date. The Japanese forces will then use the bridge and railway to invade.

When the British officers refuse to work, as it is a part of the Geneva Conventions, the Japanese officer in charge of the camp imprisons the British officers in small cages for weeks. When no progress is being made to the bridge with only the British enlisted men working on it, the Japanese commanding officer has no choice but to free the British officers from their cages. The British officers then use their former knowledge of bridge building in India to construct a magnificent bridge across the Kwai River.

At the same time, an American soldier has escaped the camp and has found his way to a military base on the Allies side. He is asked to return to the area to aid in blowing up the bridge that may or may not be complete.

*Spoiler Alert* The final scenes are extremely tense as you aren't sure if the explosives and the Allies trying to bring down the bridge will be found. The British commanding officer leads the Japanese right to the men, who are on his side of the war, and causes them to be killed. As a result, he faints onto the trigger and brings the bridge he help build, down and into the river. Along with it, the Japanese train crashes in the river.

The work song the British soldier whistle throughout the movie is really famous. I knew it as a child thanks to the movie The Parent Trap (1960). I really like this movie. It was a good war film that was not too long or with boring segments. I also love British movies and Japanese culture so that was an added bonus for me.

Patton (1970)

I realize my grandfather may be spinning in his grave as I type this but I thought Patton was one of the most boring films I have ever seen. My grandfather was a tank commander in WWII and apparently met Patton at one point, very informally. My dad also said that he took his father to see this film in the theater when it came out in 1970. I feel like I am betraying their taste in movies but I just did not like this movie.

I did find it funny when George C. Scott had that annoyed look on his face when the Russian dancers were doing their celebratory dance. That was really the only part that I liked.

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

I am not sure how I feel about this Best Picture winner. I can only imagine that for the late 1940s, this would have been a controversial subject for someone to pose as a minority to see what it was really like. However, looking at this film through my 2012 eyes, it seems really tame.

Gregory Peck plays a man that wants to expose if Jewish people are treated differently than their gentile associates. He discovers that the best way to find this out is to pretend to be Jewish himself. It's not like he could pose as an African American man (see C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man in the 1980s for an awful example of why Gregory Peck did not do it). That and the 1940s probably was not ready for a movie that portrayed African Americans as real people.

The woman Peck is dating is so unlikeable. What did he see in her exactly? Celeste Holm was on a show I used to watch with my mom and grandmother so it was amazing to me to see her as a young, vibrant blonde.

It was an okay movie but nothing special. I imagine now we could push the envelope a little more about the ill treatment of any given minority. It was good to see that someone in the 1940s was trying to show there was injustice in the country. Maybe it was not explosive but at least someone made an effort.