90% Winner: On the Waterfront 108 min, Not Rated, [Crime, Drama, Thriller] [Elia Kazan] [22 Jun 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 82%, Rotten Tomatoes: 98%, Metacritic: 91%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 8 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 9 nominations.
Actors: Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger
Writer: Budd Schulberg (screenplay), Budd Schulberg (based upon an original story by), Malcolm Johnson (suggested by articles by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Terry Malloy dreams about being a prize fighter, while tending his pigeons and running errands at the docks for Johnny Friendly, the corrupt boss of the dockers union. Terry witnesses a murder by two of Johnny's thugs, and later meets the dead man's sister and feels responsible for his death. She introduces him to Father Barry, who tries to force him to provide information for the courts that will smash the dock racketeers.
Rotten Tomatoes: This classic story of Mob informers was based on a number of true stories and filmed on location in and around the docks of New York and New Jersey. Mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) rules the waterfront with an iron fist. The police know that he's been responsible for a number of murders, but witnesses play deaf and dumb ("plead D & D"). Washed-up boxer Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) has had an errand-boy job because of the influence of his brother Charley, a crooked union lawyer (Rod Steiger). Witnessing one of Friendly's rub-outs, Terry is willing to keep his mouth shut until he meets the dead dockworker's sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint). "Waterfront priest" Father Barry (Karl Malden) tells Terry that Edie's brother was killed because he was going to testify against boss Friendly before the crime commission. Because he could have intervened, but didn't, Terry feels somewhat responsible for the death. When Father Barry receives a beating from Friendly's goons, Terry is persuaded to cooperate with the commission. Featuring Brando's famous "I coulda been a contendah" speech, On the Waterfront has often been seen as an allegory of "naming names" against suspected Communists during the anti-Communist investigations of the 1950s. Director Elia Kazan famously informed on suspected Communists before a government committee -- unlike many of his colleagues, some of whom went to prison for refusing to "name names" and many more of whom were blacklisted from working in the film industry for many years to come -- and Budd Schulberg's screenplay has often been read as an elaborate defense of the informer's position. On the Waterfront won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Brando, and Best Supporting Actress for Saint. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
79% Nominee: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 102 min, G, [Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance, Western] [Stanley Donen] [06 Aug 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, Rotten Tomatoes: 88%, Metacritic: 75%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.
Actors: Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall
Writer: Albert Hackett (screenplay), Frances Goodrich (screenplay), Dorothy Kingsley (screenplay), Stephen Vincent Benet (story "The Sobbin' Women")
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Adam, the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly to marry him that same day. They return to his backwoods home. Only then does she discover he has six brothers - all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness.
Rotten Tomatoes: Based extremely loosely on the Stephen Vincent Benet story Sobbin' Women," Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the best MGM musicals of the 1950s. Most of the story takes place on an Oregon ranch, maintained by Adam Pontabee (Howard Keel) and his six brothers, played by Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Mark Platt, Matt Mattox, and Jacques d'Amboise (it is no coincidence that five of those six boys are played by professional dancers). When Adam brings home his new bride Milly (Jane Powell), she is appalled at the brothers' slovenliness and sets about turning these unwashed louts into immaculate gentlemen. During the boisterous barn-raising scene, the brothers get into a scuffle with a group of townsmen over the affection of six comely lasses: Virginia Gibson, Julie Newmeyer (later Newmar), Ruth Kilmonis (later Ruth Lee), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, and Norma Doggett (yep, most of the girls are dancers, too). Yearning to become husbands like their big brother, they ask Adam for advice. Alas, he has been reading a book about the abduction of the Sabine Women (or, as he puts it, the Sobbin' Women); and, in order to claim their gals, Adam explains, the boys must kidnap them--which they do, after blocking off all avenues of escape. Vowing to remain on their best behavior, the boys make no untoward advances towards their reluctant female guests--not even during one of the coldest winters on record. Comes the spring thaw, the angry townsfolk come charging up the mountain, demanding the return of the stolen girls (who, by this time, have "tamed" their men). A happy ending is ultimately had by all in this delightful if politically incorrect concoction. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
85% Nominee: The Caine Mutiny 124 min, Not Rated, [Drama, War] [Edward Dmytryk] [24 Jun 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 78%, Rotten Tomatoes: 92%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 6 nominations.
Actors: Fred MacMurray, Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson
Writer: Stanley Roberts (screen play), Michael Blankfort (additional dialogue), Herman Wouk (based upon the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: During the World War II, the crew of a small insignificant ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet experience an event unlike any event ever experience by the United States Navy. A Ship's Captain is removed from command by his Executive Officer in an apparent outright act of mutiny. As the trial of the mutineers unfold, it is learned that the Captain of the ship was mentally unstable, perhaps even insane. The Navy must decide if the Caine Mutiny was a criminal act, or an act of courage to save a ship from destruction at the hands of her Captain?
Rotten Tomatoes: Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny was the source of both a play and a film. The play, also written by Wouk, concentrates only on the court-martial which provides one of the story's many climaxes. The film attempts to telescope the entire book into two hours, and does an admirable job, despite the censorial measures taken to insure cooperation from the US Navy. The central character is Ensign Willie Keith (Robert Francis), who in the early months of World War II is assigned to the Caine, a battered minesweeper. Dismayed by the slovenliness of the crew and the seemingly lackadaisical attitude of Captain DeVries (Tom Tully), Keith is delighted when DeVries is replaced by "All Navy" Captain Phillip Francis Queeg (Humphrey Bogart). A strict disciplinarian, Queeg rapidly whips the Caine into shape. Unfortunately, he's been in combat far too long, and is nearing the end of his tether. Increasingly paranoid, Queeg makes foolish mistakes at sea while misdirecting his attention towards such details as untucked shirts and unworn hats. Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray), one of Queeg's officers, rails against the captain's erratic behavior to his fellow officers. He convinces Lt. Maryk (Van Johnson) that Queeg is a danger to himself and his men, and that Maryk should consider usurping Queeg's authority. During a storm at sea, the beleaguered Queeg panics, and Maryk, acting upon Keefer's suggestion, stages a mutiny and assumes command, with Keith standing by Maryk's decision. A court-martial follows, with Navy attorney Lt. Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) reluctantly defending Maryk and Keith. During the testimony, Keefer, who has managed to avoid any tangible connection with the mutiny, lies about his complicity. Greenwald's only hope at this point is to discredit Queeg--which he does by bringing up an incident wherein the obsessive Queeg forced his officers to conduct an extensive search for some missing strawberries. Queeg cracks under questioning, and the defendants are cleared. At a victory celebration, a drunken Greenwald rails against the "summer sailors" who ruined an essentially courageous but worn-out man like Queeg, ending his tirade by throwing a glass of champagne in the treacherous Keefer's face. Major changes in transferring the novel to the screen included Greenwald's curtain speech, which originally brought up the lawyer's Jewish heritage; also, the novel's Captain Queeg is not forcibly retired after his breakdown, but instead transferred to stateside duty, where the press lauds him as a hero! Humphrey Bogart delivers one of his most memorable (and most often imitated) performances as the neurotic Queeg, though playgoers with long memories insist that Lloyd Nolan, who played Queeg on Broadway, gave a far more powerful accounting of this complex role.
79% Nominee: The Country Girl 104 min, Unrated, [Drama, Music] [George Seaton] [17 May 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 86%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 11 nominations.
Actors: Anthony Ross, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden
Writer: Clifford Odets (play), George Seaton (written for the screen by)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Washed up singer/actor Frank Elgin has a chance to make a come-back when director Bernie Dodd offers him the leading role in his new musical. Frank however is very insecure, turns to alcohol and shuns even the smallest of responsibilities, leaving everything up to his wife Georgie who finds it harder and harder to cope with her husband's lack of spirit. Bernie tries to help Frank regain his self-confidence, believing that it is Georgie who's the cause of his insecurity.
Rotten Tomatoes: This adaptation of Clifford Odets' play stars Bing Crosby as Frank Elgin, a once-famous Broadway star who's hit the skids. Hotshot young director Bernie Dodd, a longtime admirer of Elgin, tries to get the old-timer back on his feet with a starring role in a new play.
63% Nominee: Three Coins in the Fountain 102 min, UNRATED, [Drama, Romance] [Jean Negulesco] [01 May 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 63%, Rotten Tomatoes: 63%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.
Actors: Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan
Writer: John Patrick (screen play), John H. Secondari (from a novel by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Italian Country: USA
Plot: Three American women working in Rome, Italy, share a spacious apartment and the desire to find love and marriage, each experiencing a few bumps in their journeys to romance.
Rotten Tomatoes: A movie with more ambiance than actual substance, this remains a classic romance movie nonetheless, receiving numerous production awards. Beginning with three women who throw coins in the Fountain of Trevi in Rome, the movie follows them through the romances garnered by their wishes.