I can't believe they picked Gentleman's Agreement over this for Best Picture. I saw Gentleman's Agreement twice and for the life of me, I can't see how it was so great or why it beat out Miracle on 34th Street for Best Picture. It's ridiculous.
shareI haven't seen Gentleman's Agreement, but I wouldn't worry about the award. We see these almost 70 year old films through 21st century eyes and mores. Tastes change.
FWIW, Miracle (1947) is one of my favorite films of all time.
I'm glad Miracle on 34th Street at least won for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Writing, Original Story, and Best Writing, Screenplay. But it deserved Best Picture. It lost to such an inferior movie. I don't recommend Gentleman's Agreement at all. It was far from great and it was very dull. Especially dull in comparison to Miracle on 34th Street.
I saw it twice and for the life of me, I could not figure out how it beat such a great movie like Miracle on 34th Street. It's one of my favorite movies too. I make sure I watch it every Christmas Eve or Christmas. For me, it doesn't completely feel like Christmas until I watch Miracle on 34th Street and my all-time favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life.
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It lost to Gentleman's Agreement because of that film's subject matter---antisemitism in modern American life. The film is indeed dull and full of moralizing. Just two years after the war, Hollywood still felt it needed to display some sense of social responsibility by awarding films with the best thematic messages. Miracle on 34th Street may be a perennial.classic and far more fondly remembered now than Gentleman's Agreement, but it's too much of a fun time at the movies for it to have nabbed Best Picture that year. That's not how they vote.
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That makes a lot of sense, particularly the timing right after the war.
Uh...as it is now, so it shall be for the future...you make any movie about da' Jews or Holocaust you will be blessed with gold.
shareMany times the Academy goofed; sometimes I think they are persuaded by Billboard ads to vote for certain films and there are suggestions they are somehow bribed to vote a certain way. We will never know. A list could be made of goofs the Academy made for many awards, especially Best Song and Best Picture. The most memorable films rarely win for Best Picture. Remember ET lost to Gandhi; they prefer high-brow films to films which appeal to most audiences.
shareThere is always campaigning by studios to see their favorite win the Oscars.
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