1963--The Year in Review

An abysmal year for American film, with only one Best Picture nominee (Elia Kazan's beautiful memory piece America, America) worthy of the honor. The slate was rounded out with two bloated epics--the now-dull Cinerama showcase How The West Was Won and the intermittently entertaining Cleopatra (the year's most controversial work, for all the wrong reasons)--and one good-hearted drama, Lilies of the Field, starring Sidney Poitier, who probably won the '63 Best Actor award because he wasn't even nominated for his supreme screen performance the year before (for A Raisin in the Sun). The winner, ultimately, was Tony Richardson's bawdy farce Tom Jones, a handsome and totally inconsequential choice (though one that harkens to the looming sexual revolution and British Invasion). It's holds, then, that Fellini takes the prize (here, at least) for his impressively thoughtful, visually striking personal epic about a filmmaker's bout with creative ennui; it kinda goes without saying that it's a dazzling work, deserving of the award even if American movies had been ten times their power. Spearheaded by Marcello Mastroianni's complex, charismatic lead performance, Fellini's soul-baring movie would be much imitated by only the bravest directors in later years, but never with quite as much verve (though Bob Fosse would come dangerously close in 1979). Still, the great Italian auteur spars mightily with Jean-Luc Godard, another master filmmaker critically examining his chosen craft with the brightly-colored and beautifully scored Contempt. The closest the US could come to this remarkable level of filmmaking aptitude was Martin Ritt's Hud, a sourly dour look at the death of the American West, led by nasty Paul Newman as an odious drunkard causing trouble for his aging cowpoke father (a stern, lovely Melvin Douglas) and straight-talking housemaid (Patricia Neal, whose wonderfully naturalistic, Best Actress-winning role really belonged in the supporting category). Instead, for Best Actress, I initially leaned towards competing performances delivered by Ingrid Thulin in service of Ingmar Bergman (agilely directing two intensely challenging movies about religious faith), but in the end had to give the award to Julie Harris. whose manic heroine finds solace with a haunted house (for me, it's her second Best Actress award, after 1952's The Member of the Wedding). In the newly lively Documentary Feature category, it was impossible to ignore Robert Drew's Crisis, an intimate examination of President John F. Kennedy's trying battle with Alabama's governor George Wallace over allowing black students into the state university. As for the short films, none surpass The House is Black, the shockingly frank look at a leper colony from Iran's Forugh Farrokhzad--a masterpiece if there ever was one. The same goes for Stan Brakhage's silent "animated" short film Mothlight, consisting of pieces of moth wings embedded withing long strips of 16mm editing tape (both films are like nothing you've ever seen--and you can watch them here!). And, finally, in the special effects category, Ray Harryhausen finally wins, this time for his most deeply loved work. Unbelievably, it wasn't even nominated for the Special Effects award. What the hell were the voters THINKING? NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: 8½ (Italy, Federico Fellini)
(2nd: Contempt (France, Jean-Luc Godard), followed by:
Hud (US, Martin Ritt)
High and Low (Japan, Akira Kurosawa)
The Leopard (Italy/US, Luchino Visconti)
America, America (US, Elia Kazan)
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (US, Robert Drew)
Winter Light (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
The Birds (US, Alfred Hitchcock)
Shock Corridor (US, Samuel Fuller)
The Haunting (US, Robert Wise)
Billy Liar (UK, John Schlesinger)
Lord of the Flies (UK, Peter Brook)
An Actor’s Revenge (Japan, Kon Ichikawa)
The Servant (UK, Joseph Losey)
Ladybug Ladybug (US, Frank Perry)
This Sporting Life (UK, Lindsay Anderson)
The Silence (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
The Big City (India, Satyajit Ray)
Charade (US, Stanley Donen)
From Russia With Love (UK, Terence Young)
The Great Escape (US/UK, John Sturges)
Cleopatra (US, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Bye Bye Birdie (US, George Sidney)
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (US, Stanley Kramer)
Jason and the Argonauts (UK, Don Chaffey)
The Nutty Professor (US, Jerry Lewis)
Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Italy, Vittorio de Sica)
La Baie des Anges (France, Jacques Demy)
Tom Jones (UK, Tony Richardson)
X--The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (US, Roger Corman)
The Cool World (US, Shirley Clarke)
Flaming Creatures (US, Jack Smith)
These are the Damned (UK, Joseph Losey)
Love with the Proper Stranger (US, Robert Mulligan)
Lilies of the Field (US, Ralph Nelson)
The Pink Panther (US, Blake Edwards)
The List of Adrian Messenger (US, John Huston)
The Cardinal (US, Otto Preminger)
Irma La Douce (US, Billy Wilder)
The Day of the Triffids (US, Steve Sekely)
Johnny Cool (US, William Asher)
Black Sabbath (Italy, Mario Bava)
Dementia 13 (US, Francis Coppola)
Blood Feast (US, Hershel Gordon Lewis))

ACTOR: Marcello Mastroianni, 8½ (2nd: Paul Newman, Hud, followed by: Toshiro Mifune, High and Low; Richard Harris, This Sporting Life; Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor; Dirk Bogarde, The Servant; Kazuo Hasegawa, An Actor’s Revenge; Ray Milland, X--The Man with the X-Ray Eyes; Gunnar Bjornstrand, Winter Light)



ACTRESS: Julie Harris, THE HAUNTING (2nd: Ingrid Thulin, Winter Light, followed by: Ingrid Thulin, The Silence; Tippi Hedren, The Birds; Sophia Loren, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow; Rachel Roberts, This Sporting Life; Audrey Hepburn, Charade; Madhabi Mukherjee, The Big City; Natalie Wood, Love With the Proper Stranger)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Melvyn Douglas, HUD (2nd: Rex Harrison, Cleopatra, followed by: Walter Matthau, Charade; Larry Tucker, Shock Corridor; Robert Shaw, From Russia With Love; James Best, Shock Corridor; Roddy McDowall, Cleopatra; John Huston, The Cardinal; Paul Lynde, Bye Bye Birdie)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Neal, HUD (won as Best Actress) (2nd: Ethel Merman, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, followed by: Julie Christie, Billy Liar; Ann-Margret, Bye Bye Birdie; Lilia Skala, Lilies of the Field; Joyce Redman, Tom Jones; Diane Cilento, Tom Jones; Sandra Milo, 8½; Suzanne Pleshette, The Birds)



DIRECTOR: Federico Fellini, 8½ (2nd: Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt, followed by: Martin Ritt, Hud; Ingmar Bergman, Winter Light; Luchino Visconti, The Leopard; Elia Kazan, America America; Akira Kurosawa, High and Low; Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds; Samuel Fuller, Shock Corridor; Ingmar Bergman, The Silence)

NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: 8½ (Italy, Federico Fellini) (2nd: Contempt (France, Jean-Luc Godard); High and Low (Japan, Akira Kurosawa); The Leopard (Italy/US, Luchino Visconti); Winter Light (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman); An Actor’s Revenge (Japan, Kon Ichikawa); The Silence (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman); The Big City (India, Satyajit Ray); Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Italy, Vittorio de Sica); La Baie des Anges (France, Jacques Demy))

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT (US, Robert Drew) (2nd: The Cool World (US, Shirley Clarke))

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, Tulio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi, 8 ½ (2nd: Samuel Fuller, Shock Corridor, followed by: Ingmar Bergman, Winter Light; Eleanor Perry and Lois Dickert, Ladybug Ladybug; Elia Kazan, America, America)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Irving Ravetch and Harriett Frank Jr., HUD (2nd: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryuzo Kikushima and Eijiro Hisaita, High and Low, followed by: Harold Pinter, The Servant; David Storey, This Sporting Life; Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, Billy Liar)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: THE HOUSE IS BLACK (Iran, Forugh Farrokhzad) (2nd: Showman (US, Albert and David Maysles), followed by: Towers Open Fire (UK, Antony Balch); What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (US, Martin Scorsese); The Five Cities of June (US, Walter de Hoog and Bruce Herschensohn))


 
ANIMATED SHORT FILM: MOTHLIGHT (US, Stan Brakhage) (2nd: Labyrinth (Poland, Jan Lenica), followed by: The Critic (US, Ernest Pintoff); Automania 2000 (UK, John Halas); Le Nez (France, Alexander Alexeieff, Claire Parker))

BLACK-AND-WHITE CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gianni di Venanzo, 8½ (2nd: James Wong Howe, Hud, followed by: Sven Nykvist, Winter Light; Haskell Wexler, America America; David Boulton, The Haunting)
 

COLOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: Raoul Coutard, CONTEMPT (2nd: Leon Shamroy, Cleopatra, followed by: Giuseppe Rotunno, The Leopard; Robert Burks, The Birds; Walter Lassally and Manny Wynn, Tom Jones)

BLACK-AND-WHITE ART DIRECTION: THE HAUNTING, 8½, Hud, America America, Love with the Proper Stranger

COLOR ART DIRECTION: CLEOPATRA, The Leopard, Tom Jones, The Cardinal, Contempt 

BLACK-AND-WHITE COSTUME DESIGN: 8½, The Stripper, Love with the Proper Stranger, America America, Toys in the Attic

 COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: CLEOPATRA, The Leopard, Tom Jones, The Cardinal, Irma La Douce 

FILM EDITING: 8 1/2, Hud, The Great Escape, The Birds, America America 



SOUND: THE BIRDS, The Haunting, Bye Bye Birdie, The Great Escape, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World



ORIGINAL SCORE: Georges Delerue, CONTEMPT (2nd: Nino Rota, 8½, followed by: Henry Mancini, The Pink Panther; John Barry, From Russia with Love; John Addison, Tom Jones; Elmer Bernstein, Hud)



ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: John Green, BYE BYE BIRDIE (2nd: Andre Previn, Irma La Douce)




ORIGINAL SONG: "More" from MONDO CANE (Music by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero, lyrics by Norman Newell) (2nd: "Bye Bye Birdie" from Bye Bye Birdie (Music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams), followed by: "A Gringo Like Me" from Gunfight at Red Sands (Music by Ennio Morricone, lyrics by Dicky Jones); "Call Me Irresponsible" from Papa's Delicate Condition (Music by James Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn); "Charade" from Charade (Music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny Mercer))



SPECIAL EFFECTS: JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, The Birds, Cleopatra

  MAKEUP: CLEOPATRA, 8 1/2, The List of Adrian Messenger

The Encyclopedia of Cinematography (G-H)

Just as a reminder: in the spirit and thrust of this series, the names beside the titles are of the PHOTOGRAPHER of the film, and not of the director.  

Gallipoli (Russell Boyd, 81) 
The sandy dunes of WWI Turkey, set opposite the vast spread of Australia, with only dupes as its players.

Giant (William C. Mellor, 56)
This, amongst many in George Stevens' film, is one of the king images in all of American cinema. Taking this single shot in, it's impossible to think of anything other than America's hugest possibilities, and its bitter downfalls. Giant is filled with such luminous work. 

Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Gary Weis, 70)
The blood red of it all; the last of an era; the perfect shot.  The ultimate in documentary cinematography. 

Glory (Freddie Francis, 89)  
This particular image...it's like a stupefying painting--as are many in this landmark, underrated film, shot by an unconditional master of the art form.

The Godfather (Gordon Willis, 72)
This says it all. I mean...it changed the look of movies forever.  Still, to this day, in movies, darkness is treasured over brightness because of this one title.  Willis was a true maverick and, while he profited from his willingness to go there, he suffered, too. 

The Godfather, Part II (Gordon Willis, 74)
This says it all, too.  In both sections of this massive mob tale, Gordon Willis made history, and set a deeply felt visual tone for decades of subsequent filmmaking.  And this is an understatement. 
 

Gone with the Wind (Ernest Haller [and Lee Garmes], 39) 
Though it's really a product of special effects, this combination of live action and matte painting somehow illustrates everything one needs to know about this landmark film. 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Tonino Delli Colli, 66) 
A threesome, at each other's throats, and out for blood.  One stupendous film, in one single shot. 

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Tonino Delli Colli, 64)
A rebel, amongst a band of followers.  And a movie that stands as an inspiration, with its astounding photography as one of its greatest attributes. Still, Delli Colli might be the least talked-about genius of motion picture photography.
 

The Graduate (Robert Surtees, 67)
With this, the veteran Surtees never matched his mastery of bright and dark.  His athletic playfulness here with lighting and focus is something of wonder, even for a photographer as well-versed as he.  

Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki, 2013) 
A absolutely unbeleiveable melding of so many diverse filmmaking crafts, all with the immaculate look of the film as the ultimate goal.  The greatest 3D movie ever made; it makes you feel as if you've never really experienced the whole of the process before. And the attention to cinema detail is just incredible, in all moments.  
  

Great Expectations (Guy Green, 46)
The blending of lights and darks, of art direction and costuming--it's all the evocation of impressive, deeply felt emotion towards and adoration of Dickens' story well told. 

The Greatest Story Ever Told (William C. Mellor and Loyal Griggs, 65)
Widescreen at its most inconceivably brilliant (even if the film is extremely difficult to get through). 

The Green Ray (Sophie Maintigneux, 86) 
A woman's crippling loneliness, seen at its dazzling pinnacle, and then at its brilliant relief.  In my opinion, director Eric Rohmer's most seriously affecting achievement.
 

The Grey Fox (Frank Tidy, 82)
An old cowboy, in a new land. Every wrinkle in our lead's face tells a tale. 

Gun Crazy (Russell Harlan, 50)
One of the great early indie movies, and one that still resonates more than 60 years later as an influence on modern photography.   Its famous single shot of a bank robbery (taken outside the bank) remains a marvel.  

La Haine (Pierre Aim, 95) 
Street thugs in France, in snappily framed black-and-white. Extra exciting! 

 Hair (Miroslav Ondriecek, 79) 
All sides of the late 60s, seen with a dreamy, dynamic feel.

Harakiri (Yoshiro Miyajima, 62) 
The ultimate in samurai epics, transmitted with suitably breathtaking imagery.
 

Hard Boiled (Wing-Hung Wong, 92)
Action cinematography at its very best. Pure chaos. 
 

The Haunting (Davis Boulton, 63)
Indescribable terror.  In each and every shot, Boulton's lighting works in tandem with the expertly insane art direction to convey an overwhelming sense of unrest. 

 Heat (Dante Spinotti, 95)
Law and order battle it out, with a light-dappled L.A. as background.  
 

Heaven’s Gate (Vilmos Zsigmond, 80)
All the way through, even with the negative buzz, one has to marvel at its look!

The Heiress (Leo Tover, 49) 
Absolutely unforgettable in its dark portrayal of a stolen life. 
 

The Hill (Oswald Morris, 65)
Stark and driven, with a perfect use of wide lenses and a stunning sense of of lighting.  

Holy Mountain (Rafael Korkidi, 73)  
Scene after scene, this is one movie that offers the sort of bizarre images that we can barely even dream of.  
 

The Honeymoon Killers (Oliver Wood, 69)
An indie masterpiece, perhaps chiefly because of Wood's grainy, stupendously lit tableaus. 

Hope and Glory (Phillippe Rousselot, 87) 
Britain in WWII splendor, with an appropriately dialed-down color palette.  
 

Hour of the Wolf (Sven Nykvist, 68)
Nykvist pulls out all of his tricks, in service of an insurmountable horror show. 
 

The House of Mirth (Remi Adefarasin, 2000)
This is a trip back in time, all the way through.

Howards End (Tony Pierce-Roberts, 92) 
A painting in movement. 

How Green Was My Valley (Arthur Miller, 41)  
How gorgeous is this? And the entire movie reaches this peak.

Hud (James Wong Howe, 63) 
Oh my god...Howe's work here is beyond reproach, all the way through...absolutely one of the best black-and-white movies ever filmed. 

Hugo (Robert Richardson, 2011) 
Turn-of-the-20th-Century, in Paris, regal and in sumptuous 3D

The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd, 2008) 
The perfect blend of shaky-cam documentary-style and a more grounded narrative-aimed photography. 

The Hustler (Eugene Shuftan, 61) 
A man minus pluck, arriving to shoot against his most respected rival.  Shuftan's expressive widescreen black-and-white photography here is without equal.