Wednesday, August 7, 2019

1948 BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!


This is my choice (choices) for Best Picture for the year 1948.  My criteria is that I can only use films that are on the 1001 list. To make it a little easier on myself, I am using the rules of the first Academy Award and name a winner for Best Picture (won by Wings for 1927-1928) and Best and Unique and Artistic Picture (won by Sunrise from 1927-1928). 

1948 features two clear winners for this category, though there are definitely some other movies that may have taken the prize had it been a year removed.

And the nominees on the entries from every edition of 1001 Movie You Must See Before You Die are...
The Bicycle Thief
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Secret Beyond the Door
Force of Evil
Spring in a Small Town
Red River
Rope
The Snake Pit
The Lady from Shanghai
The Pale Face
The Red Shoes
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
Louisiana Story
                    


And the winner for the Best Picture of 1948 is…The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

I try not to state on this blog that a movie is great. I may say how much I liked a movie. You can’t argue with that. But who am I to determine the aesthetic merits of a particular work of art or film? That being said, I’m willing to go out on a limb on this one.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre is a great film.

I can't even explain why it's great, so I'm not going to try.

However, I can safely say that Humphrey Bogart and Walter and John Huston were great.

And I still don’t know who the elusive author B Traven was.

And I still don’t have to show you no stinkin’ badges.

Just watch if you haven't seen it.

Red River is one of my favorite westerns and would have been a worthy choice in a different year. Unfortunately it came out the same year of my favorite western.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre


And the Award for Unique and Artistic Picture of 1948 is...The Bicycle Thief


The Bicycle Thief

De Sica's artistic neo-realistic triumph of one man's life spiraling out of control seems the obvious winner for this category for 1948. Might be viewed as a double feature with Pee Wee's Big Adventure (another search for a lost bike) or The Player, a movie where producer Tim Robbins goes to see The Bicycle Thief  before he kills a screenwriter.

The Bicycle Thief

3 comments:

  1. Totally with you on both awards. Though I would have considered The Snake Pit and Rope as well. This is a strong year.

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  2. The Snake Pit was a film I remember seeing as a kid and thinking it was most unusual and frank in content for an "older" movie.

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  3. david leann's "Oliver Twist" is pretty good film in that year.

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