1953--The Year in Review

1953 marked an extraordinary explosion of filmic activity around the world, most notably in Japan, France, Sweden and Italy. Ozu, Fellini, Bergman, Tati, Kinugasa, Mizoguchi, and Clouzot all dwarfed the American output, and the cinematic world was never the same. Ozu's elegant look at family dynamics would rival none in its wake. Fellini's examination of youth would ripple in effect for decades to come. Bergman's breakthrough with two films would mark the near-beginning of a gorgeous career (his elegiac Summer with Monika would also introduce brief nudity to big screens). And Anthony Mann's The Naked Spur would connote a new era in Westerns--one with detailed characterizations and complex moral consequences. Musicals, too, would progress, with Minnelli's The Band Wagon leading the way (and with George Sidney's 3-D musical Kiss Me Kate and Roy Rowland's insane The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T tending towards other crazy directions). The Little Fugitive would stand as a earnest landmark in American indie filmmaking. Ida Lupino would become among the first female filmmakers to work for studios, arriving with two superb noir selections. Max Ophul's Madame De... would beget many imitators, while George Pal's The War of the Worlds would transform the science-fiction genre forever. And, finally, Chuck Jones would again stun us with numerous short films, chief among them a hysterical 8-minute irritation aimed at Daffy Duck. And, after all of that, Cinemascope was introduced by 20th Century Fox, giving TV-bound moviegoers the thrill of widescreen opulence, delivering the kind of visually dazzling Biblical epic that would subsequently obsess the American movie industry for a decade. As far as the Academy was concerned, it was another year to pay tribute to the past war effort with their selection of From Here to Eternity. But now, as good as Zinnemann's film is, save for one heated beachfront romantic interlude between Lancaster and Kerr, only Frank Sinatra's committed supporting performance (and maybe Donna Reed's Oscar-winning role) really make any waves presently. Finally, A newcomer makes the independent cinema scene: some guy named Stanley Kubrick. 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: TOKYO STORY (Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
(2nd: The Naked Spur (US, Anthony Mann), followed by:
Madame de… (France, Max Ophuls)
The Band Wagon (US, Vincente Minnelli)
I Vitelloni (Italy, Federico Fellini)
Shane (US, George Stevens)
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (France, Jacques Tati)
Gate of Hell (Japan, Teinosuke Kinugasa)
The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (US, Roy Rowland)
The Big Heat (US, Fritz Lang)
Summer With Monika (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
Ugetsu Monogatari (Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi)
From Here to Eternity (US, Fred Zinnemann)
The Wages of Fear (France, Henri-Georges Clouzot)
Voyage to Italy (Italy, Roberto Rossellini)
The Little Fugitive (US, Morris Engel, Ray Ashley and Ruth Orkin)
Julius Caesar (US, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
Pickup on South Street (US, Samuel Fuller)
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Mexico, Luis Buñuel)
Beat the Devil (UK, John Huston)
The Hitch-Hiker (US, Ida Lupino)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (US, Howard Hawks)
The Bigamist (US, Ida Lupino)
The Blue Gardenia (US, Fritz Lang)
How to Marry a Millionaire (US, Jean Negulesco)
Kiss Me Kate (US, George Sidney)
Fear and Desire (US, Stanley Kubrick)
Roman Holiday (US, William Wyler)
Sawdust and Tinsel (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
The Robe (US, Henry Koster)
Stalag 17 (US, Billy Wilder)
House of Wax (US, Andre De Toth)
The War of the Worlds (US, Byron Haskin)
Titanic (US, Jean Negulesco)
Call Me Madam (US, Walter Lang)
It Came from Outer Space (US, Jack Arnold)
Calamity Jane (US, David Butler)

ACTOR: Chishu Ryu, TOKYO STORY (2nd: James Stewart, The Naked Spur, followed by: Alan Ladd, Shane; Marlon Brando, Julius Caesar; William Holden, Stalag 17; Yves Montand, The Wages of Fear; Montgomery Clift, From Here to Eternity; George Sanders, Voyage to Italy; Kazuo Hasegawa, Gate of Hell)

ACTRESS: Harriet Andersson, SUMMER WITH MONIKA (2nd: Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Story, followed by: Maggie McNamara, The Moon is Blue; Ingrid Bergman, Voyage to Italy; Danielle Darrieux, Madame de…; Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday; Jean Arthur, Shane; Ethel Merman, Call Me Madam; Deborah Kerr, From Here to Eternity) 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Frank Sinatra, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (2nd: Robert Ryan, The Naked Spur, followed by: Jack Palance, Shane; Hans Conreid, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T; Lee Marvin, The Big Heat; Jay Robinson, The Robe; Brandon De Wilde, Shane; Peter Lorre, Beat the Devil; Louis Calhern, Julius Caesar) 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gloria Grahame, THE BIG HEAT (2nd: Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Story, followed by: Janet Leigh, The Naked Spur; Kyoko Kagawa, Tokyo Story; Thelma Ritter, Pickup on South Street; Donna Reed, From Here to Eternity; Geraldine Page, Hondo; Grace Kelly, Mogambo)



DIRECTOR: Yasujiro Ozu, TOKYO STORY (2nd: Max Ophuls, Madame de…, followed by: Anthony Mann, The Naked Spur; Federico Fellini, I Vitelloni; Vincente Minnelli, The Band Wagon; George Stevens, Shane; Teinosuke Kinugasa, Gate of Hell; Jacques Tati, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: TOKYO STORY (Japan, Yasujiro Ozu) (2nd: Madame de… (France, Max Ophuls), followed by: I Vitelloni (Italy, Federico Fellini); Gate of Hell (Japan, Teinosuke Kinugasa); Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (France, Jacques Tati); Summer With Monika (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman); Ugetsu Monogatari (Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi))


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom, THE NAKED SPUR (2nd: Kogo Noda and Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story, followed by: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Panelli, I Vitelloni; Morris Engel, Ray Ashley and Ruth Orkin, The Little Fugitive; Adolph Green and Betty Comden, The Band Wagon)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Marcel Auchard, Max Ophuls, Annette Wademant, and Marcel Achard, MADAME D... (2nd: A.B. Guthrie Jr. and Jack Sher, Shane, followed by: Henri-Georges Cluzot and Jerome Geronimi, The Wages of Fear; Sydney Boehm, The Big Heat; Daniel Taradash, From Here to Eternity)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: THE ELEPHANT WILL NEVER FORGET (UK, John Krish);  O Dreamland (UK, Lindsay Anderson); The End (US, Christopher MacLaine); The Pleasure Garden (UK, James Broughton)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: DUCK AMUCK (US, Chuck Jones) (2nd: Bully for Bugs (US, Chuck Jones), followed by: The Tell-Tale Heart (US, Ted Parmelee); From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (US, Chuck Jones); Don’t Give Up the Sheep (US, Chuck Jones); Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (US, Ward Kimball, August Nichols); The Unicorn in the Garden (US, William T. Hurtz)

BLACK-AND-WHITE CINEMATOGRAPHY: Yuharu Atsuta, TOKYO STORY (2nd: Christian Matras, Madame de…, followed by: Charles B. Lang, The Big Heat; Burnett Guffey, From Here to Eternity; Kazuo Miyagawa, Ugetsu Monogatari)



COLOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: Loyal Griggs, SHANE (2nd: Leon Shamroy, The Robe, followed by: Frank Planer, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T; William C. Mellor, The Naked Spur; Henry Jackson and George J. Folsey, The Band Wagon)

BLACK-AND-WHITE ART DIRECTION: MADAME DE..., Tokyo Story, Titanic, Roman Holiday, Gate of Hell

COLOR ART DIRECTION: THE ROBE, The Band Wagon, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, How to Marry a Millionaire, Knights of the Round Table 

BLACK-AND-WHITE COSTUME DESIGN: MADAME DE..., Gate of Hell, Roman Holiday, Titanic, Tokyo Story

COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: THE ROBE, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Band Wagon, Call Me Madam, Kiss Me Kate
 
FILM EDITING: THE NAKED SPUR, The Big Heat, Shane, From Here to Eternity, The War of the Worlds

SOUND: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, From Here to Eternity, The Band Wagon, Kiss Me Kate, Calamity Jane



ORIGINAL SCORE: Alfred Newman, THE ROBE (2nd: Victor Young, Shane, followed by: Nino Rota, I Vitelloni; Bronislau Kaper, The Naked Spur; Alain Romans, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday)

ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Frederic Hollender and Morris Stoloff, THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T (2nd: Adolph Deutsch, The Band Wagon, followed by: Andre Previn and Saul Chaplin, Kiss Me Kate; Alfred Newman, Call Me Madam; Ray Heindorf, Calamity Jane)



ORIGINAL SONG: "That's Amore" from THE CADDY (Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Jack Brooks) (2nd: "That's Entertainment" from The Band Wagon (Music and lyrics by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz); "Because We're Kids" from The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (Music by Frederic Hollender, lyrics by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)); "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane (Music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Paul Francis Webster); "Ten Happy Fingers" from The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (Music by Frederic Hollender, lyrics by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss); "Sadie Thompson's Song (Blue Pacific Blues)" from Miss Sadie Thompson (Music by Lester Lee, lyrics by Ned Washington)

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS