Best Original Story 1945

1927/28 through 1997
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What was the best Original Story of 1945?

The Affairs of Susan (Laszlo Gorog, Thomas Monroe)
0
No votes
A Medal for Benny (John Steinbeck, Jack Wagner)
0
No votes
The House on 92nd Street (Charles G. Booth)
4
50%
Objective, Burma! (Alvah Bessie)
2
25%
A Song to Remember (Ernst Marischka)
2
25%
 
Total votes: 8

Big Magilla
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Re: Best Original Story 1945

Post by Big Magilla »

Well, you could buy it here under $10 if you wanted to.

http://www.zeusdvds.com/a-medal-for-benny-1945-dvd/

I kind of remember The Affairs of Susan as being another of those films that played incessantly on local New York TV in the 50s, but I've long forgotten it.

I vividly remember seeing The House on 92nd Street under the same circumstances. My young self was quite shocked by the ending. I can't say why without spoiling it for the uninitiated. Suffice to say it's a humdinger and the best part of the whole movie. For that alone it deserves its win.
Mister Tee
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Re: Best Original Story 1945

Post by Mister Tee »

This is a can't-vote year for me, because I've been long unable to track down A Medal for Benny. Damien and Magilla tell me it used to be part of the WNEW library during the 60s, and it's possible I never noticed because, until 1970, I didn't have the full list of acting nominees that would have alerted me to it. I can vouch it hasn't turned up for me anywhere in the years since (it does seem to now be available on one of those "give us your credit card" YouTube sites, but I'll pass there.)

Of the other four:

A Song to Remember is excruciating, even by the low standard of composer biographies. And it contains the most insufferable performance of Paul Muni's career.

Affairs of Susan is another one it took me a long time to unearth -- I only caught it on YouTube in the past year. It's a mostly innocuous romantic comedy. I imagine the writers singled it out because of its three-part structure, with each suitor meeting a "different" Susan...but I thought that brought about the film's fatal flaw: that no coherent human being could possibly contain all those personae in what seems just a few years. Not painful to watch, but certainly note vote-worthy.

I only caught up to Objective: Burma during this year's TCM Memorial Day war-a-thon (up till now I'd been ignoring it as not in my wheelhouse). It's very much a war film, but a relatively interesting one -- at least, the logistics of the plot kept me quite engaged. Notable fact: not one but two blacklisted writers contributed to the script.

Of the films I've seen, I'd have to say Oscar voters made the correct choice: The House on 92nd Street may not be any great shakes, but it's a thoroughly gripping spy thriller. In the context of this limp list, it wins by a knockout.
Big Magilla
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Best Original Story 1945

Post by Big Magilla »

The poll is open.
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