1957 - The Bridge On The River Kwai: "Queer bird...even for an American"

1957 Best Picture Winner

Premiered December 18, 1957 in New York

Budget $3 Million

Gross $33.3 Million

I (Joel) feel that this is the best movie we've seen so far. My two favorites so far have been Rebecca and Casablanca, however this one gets the edge because this film has such a great message. The film has many redeemable qualities to it: courage, honor and the message that you should work hard at everything put in your path. The theme of the movie really spoke to me as a man. 

The acting is excellent, the script is great and the ending is the most exciting and suspenseful that we've encountered yet. We recommend this movie to everyone, especially if you've never seen it. 

Joel

Favorite: The theme of the movie resonated with me.

Least Favorite: I wanted a purely honorable character. All of them were flawed: Nicholson began to go insane, Shears was a coward at times, Clipton was pessimistic but was the closest to being "pure"

Callie

Favorite: The last 10 minutes were tense and exciting. 

Least Favorite: It was too long.

1956 - Around The World In 80 Days: "Follow that ostrich"!

1956 Best Picture

Premiered October 17, 1956 in New York

Budget $6 million

Gross $42 million

This was the first epic film we've seen since Gone With The Wind. Everything about the film is big: The Special effects, the sets, the acting. The movie was very entertaining and the scenes moved along rather quickly even though the movie is quite long. They just tried to pack as much story into the film as possible. It is a good, entertaining movie, not a great movie. 

Joel

Favorite: I am glad to see that Hollywood had finally figured out that each scene does not have to drag on and on. Each scene showed the essentials and then moved on.

Least Favorite: The film started out with a cartoon about the universe. Callie made me check to make sure that I really put the right movie into the DVD player.

Callie

Favorite: It was action packed and quick moving. 

Least Favorite: Fogg rescues the princess but she doesn't play a role in moving the story forward after that scene, she is just present in every scene after that.

1955 - Marty: "College girls are one step from the street I tell you"

1955 Best Picture

Premiered April 11, 1955 in New York

 Budget $343,000

Gross N/A

Marty was a nice, sweet innocent movie. It follows a bachelor and his quest to find love. He is rejected time and time again until he finally finds his match. It is entertaining to follow his whirlwind romance, then to see his friends who try to talk him out of it and the the sweet ending.

It surprised us that it won because it is such a light movie. It doesn't have a political message. It doesn't have much serious content at all. It is just a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night. 

Joel
Favorite: I like the innocence of it all.

Least Favorite: The movie was still in black and white. 

Callie: I felt for Marty. The director did a good job making me like the main character.
Least Favorite: I didn't like the ending. I wanted more closure. 

1954 - On The Waterfront: "I Could've Been A Contender"

1954 Best Picture Winner

 

Premiered July 28, 1954

 

Budget $910,000

 

Gross $9.6 million

 

The great movies were all ahead of their time. Rebecca introduced the Hitchcock type suspense to the world, Casablanca took acting to a new level, It Happened One Night brought Romantic Comedy to to Hollywood. This was a great crime drama before the era of great crime dramas in the 1970s. The action and suspense make it a film worth watching. It also worked to expose the corruption of unions in blue collar industires.

 

Joel

Favorite: I really liked the performance of Marlon Brando. He is the best actor we've seen since Clark Gable.

Least Favorite: I liked everything about the film.

 

Callie

Favorite: The plot was good and the movie had a nice pace to it.

Least Favorite: It was hard to follow the characters and who was who.





1953 - From Here To Eternity: "I don't want to be an officer. I'm happy where I am"

 

1953 Best Picture Winner

Premiered August 5, 1953 in New York

Premiered: $1.7 Million

Gross: $30.5 Million

 

This was a movie that had a very progressive plot, meaning that I could imagine a movie with the same script hitting theatres today. It was also a plot that would not have made it into a movie ten years prior to the release date either. The movie centers around an adulterous affair and it romanticizes the relationship. Again, we see the evolution of what is seen as acceptable from a moral perspective.

 

The film was quick moving and compelling. We also liked the way that it built toward the attack on Pearl Harbor. We saw how the attack affected all of the main characters.

 

Joel

Favorite: I liked the fact that they casts Frank Sinatra in the film and didn't make him sing!

Least Favorite: I did not like the fact that the main love story was actually an affair.

Callie
Favorite: It has fun to see the time period depicted in Pearl Harbor.
Least Favorite: The attack on Pearl Harbor only took up the last five minutes of the movie. 

1952 - The Greatest Show On Earth: "Grab your waterwings girls, here comes a big wave"

1952 Best Picture Winner

Premiered January 10, 1952 in New York

Budget: $4 Million

Gross: $14 Million

 

This movie was a spectacle. It was fun to see the different acts from the circus. However, it was a good movie, not a great movie. The film was entertaining but it did not advance the art of film making.

 

If you miss the old big top circus days, this is a movie that you would enjoy. The movie takes a lot of time showing the acts, in many cases, in their entirety. That reason caused the film to drag a little bit. Overall though, it was a solid film.

 

Joel

Favorite: I liked seeing Jimmy Stewart as "Buttons" the clown.

Least Favorite: I did not like the female lead, "Holly". I did not like the way the writers scripted her character.

Callie

Favorite: I liked the whole spectacle of the film. The animals, real trapeze artists, it was like watching a real circus.
Least Favorite: The length. It was way too long and they showed the entire acts and they could have just showed a portion of each act.

1951 - An American In Paris: "I'm a concert pianist. That is a pretentious way of saying that I'm unempoyed"

 

1951 Best Picture Winner

Premiered October 4, 1951 in New York

Budget: $2.7 Million

Gross: $4.5 Million

 

We did not like this movie at all. This film had good music and dancing but the screenplay was so bad that the movie became a disappointment. It took almost 30 minutes for the plot to get going. The music was well written but did not always fit the context of the film.

 

Joel

Favorite: Some of the Gershwin songs were fun to hear. I really liked "Who Could Ask For Anything More"

Least Favorite: I hated the ending. It was a 20 minute song and dance that did not make any sense at all.

Callie
Favorite: The storyline was interesting. I also liked the romance.
Least Favorite: Everything else. The last dancing scene was terrible and I still can't figure out what was happening.