Best Cinematography 1959

[Sabin]

dws1982 wrote
Tee has been around some lately, although I don't think he's posted out of the Current Events in a few weeks. I do worry that Bj is gone for good, however. He hasn't logged in to the board since the day before the Oscars, and hasn't posted since about three weeks before. I sent him a message after he indicated that he was leaving but I never got a reply, or any indication that he had even read it.

Tee wrote a post less than a week ago in Current Events. He's still with us. BJ appears to be gone. He hasn't read my responses either. I believe Marco is gone as well.

[dws1982]

Looks like we lost Mister Tee and BJ...or they're real late joining back in.

Tee has been around some lately, although I don't think he's posted out of the Current Events in a few weeks. I do worry that Bj is gone for good, however. He hasn't logged in to the board since the day before the Oscars, and hasn't posted since about three weeks before. I sent him a message after he indicated that he was leaving but I never got a reply, or any indication that he had even read it.

[nightwingnova]

Looks like we lost Mister Tee and BJ...or they're real late joining back in.

[Greg]

The Nun's Story covers a lot of territory and would have been a fine winner if it were not up against Ben-Hur. Robert Surtees' Oscar was the only one of that fim's eleven wins that I wouldn't take away.

You don't think the chariot race warranted its award for Film Editing?

Magilla's reply: I thought North by Northwest should have won that one.

[Precious Doll]

At least Sirk's films were box-office hits in their day unlike most of Samuel Fuller's whose films usually ended up on the second half a double bill at neighborhood theatres if they were shown at all. The Crimson Kimono, for example, ended up as the second half of a double bill with Gigi when the Oscar winner ended its two-year New York run to become the 1960 New Year's attraction at the nabes in the New York area.

That was certainly the saving grace for Sirk in the 1950's. I believe that Imitation of Life became the highest grossing film that Universal had ever released in the history of the studio in 1959. Wish he had gone on to direct Lana Turner again in Madame X a few years later - it's an enjoyable film but Sirk would have given it way more class.

[Big Magilla]

The Crimson Kimono, for example, ended up as the second half of a double bill with Gigi when the Oscar winner ended its two-year New York run to become the 1960 New Year's attraction at the nabes in the New York area.

It's hard to think of two movies that have less in common than The Crimson Kimono and Gigi. Was it standard practice to put two diametrically-opposite movies on double bills together?

No. That was probably the most unusual pairing, which is why I've never forgotten it. Others I have to check the ads in the New York Times archives to see if I'm remembering them correctly.

Some other odd ones: The remake of My Man Godfrey and Slaughter on 10th Avenue; Night Passage and Joe Butterfly.

[dws1982]

The Crimson Kimono, for example, ended up as the second half of a double bill with Gigi when the Oscar winner ended its two-year New York run to become the 1960 New Year's attraction at the nabes in the New York area.

It's hard to think of two movies that have less in common than The Crimson Kimono and Gigi. Was it standard practice to put two diametrically-opposite movies on double bills together?

[Big Magilla]

Major omissions (some not eligible) include Imitation of Life, The Key, A Summer Place, Good Morning, The Crimson Kimono & Compulsion. And speaking of Douglas Sirk, who directed some of the most beautifully looking films of the 1950's, it absolutely astonishing that not one of his films received a nomination for cinematography. I know he wasn't highly regarded back then and time has been very kind but his films are amongst the best looking for the era.

Russell Metty, who was the cinematographer of Sirk's Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind and Imitation of Life as well as Welles' Touch of Evil, finally received a nomination and a win for Spartacus, followed by a second nomination for Flower Drum Song.

At least Sirk's films were box-office hits in their day unlike most of Samuel Fuller's whose films usually ended up on the second half a double bill at neighborhood theatres if they were shown at all. The Crimson Kimono, for example, ended up as the second half of a double bill with Gigi when the Oscar winner ended its two-year New York run to become the 1960 New Year's attraction at the nabes in the New York area.

[Precious Doll]

B&W

A close call for Anatomy of a Murder & Some Like It Hot for me but I voted for AOAM probably because I recently saw the film again recently (thank you to Criterion for their brilliant release) and I haven't sent Some Like it Hot since 1984 (on the big screen), though I am eager to revisit it.

I've only seen The Diary of Anne Frank once, on the big screen about 30 years ago so my memory of the film is hazy, but overall I was disappointed in it. I have only ever seen The Young Philadelphians on VHS which did it no favours visually. I don't recall Career but I know I saw it on the small screen.

Colour

Ben-Hur was an easy choice (seen by me on the big screen). I don't recall anything visually special about The Nun's Story (viewed on TV). I have no recollection of The Five Pennies (seen on cable TV). And given that I have only seen The Big Fisherman & Porgy and Bess on bootleg DVD that did them no justice it's simply not possible to judge their visual look.

Major omissions (some not eligible) include Imitation of Life, The Key, A Summer Place, Good Morning, The Crimson Kimono & Compulsion. And speaking of Douglas Sirk, who directed some of the most beautifully looking films of the 1950's, it absolutely astonishing that not one of his films received a nomination for cinematography. I know he wasn't highly regarded back then and time has been very kind but his films are amongst the best looking for the era.

[Big Magilla]

Robert Surtees' Oscar was the only one of that fim's eleven wins that I wouldn't take away.

What about the Oscar won by Miklós Rózsa for the film's magnificent score? Unless you prefer the Franz Waxman score for The Nun's Story?

A close call, but yeah, I prefer Waxman. Both had won two Oscars before that, but Waxman somehow missed a nomination for Peyton Place two years earlier when that score was second only to The Bridge on the River Kwai among the year's best.

[Reza]

Robert Surtees' Oscar was the only one of that fim's eleven wins that I wouldn't take away.

What about the Oscar won by Miklós Rózsa for the film's magnificent score? Unless you prefer the Franz Waxman score for The Nun's Story?

[Big Magilla]

Black-and-White

Anatomy of a Murder, Career and The Young Philadelphians are all worthy nominees although a case could be made for both Compulsion (William C. Mellor) and On the Beach(Giuseppe Rotunno) but Mellor's lensing of Diary of Anne Frank in tight spaces and Charles Lang's eye-pleasing lensing of Some Like It Hot were the cream of the crop this year. I voted for Lang.

Color

I'm bewildered that North by Northwest (Robert Burks), Journey to the Center of the Earth (Leo Tover) and The Hanging Tree (Ted McCord) failed to receive nominations over three of the actual nominees.

Porgy and Bess is one of the greatest musicals of all time and Leon Shamroy is certainly one of the greatest cinematographers in film history, but why he was nominated for this disappointing film version is a puzzlement. Forced to film every scene in long or medium shots by director Otto Preminger so that producer Sam Goldwyn couldn't easily perform his legendary cuts to scenes, it may have looked OK on the wide Todd-A-O screen, but it keeps the audience at arm's length when seen on washed-out bootlegged DVDs which are the only way to see the film since both the Gershwin and Goldwyn estates would be happy if the film disappeared off the face of the earth and have never allowed a legitimate home video release.

The Big Fisherman is another film that has never been officially released on home video but shows up from time to time on TCM. A rather dull biblical drama about St. Peter, there is nothing notable about the cinematography other than the fact that it was it was done by the legendary Lee Garmes.

The Five Pennies is a fine biographical drama about the life of the long forgotten 1920s cornet man, Red Nichols, played by Danny Kaye at his best. It's a decent nomination but not over any of the films I mentioned above.

The Nun's Story covers a lot of territory and would have been a fine winner if it were not up against Ben-Hur. Robert Surtees' Oscar was the only one of that fim's eleven wins that I wouldn't take away.

[Big Magilla]

We take up where we left off, going backwards from 1959.