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Retroactively give Best Picture to Singin' in the Rain for 1952

posted 10 years ago by nielw
17 replies | jump to latest

Reading up on all the posts about how this film is the worst Best Picture winner ever, I got thinking about how crappy the Best Picture award is at gauging how well a movie will be remembered years later. It's time to revisit all these previous winners and have a Do-Over Academy Awards.

My dream: Find some way to get all the current Academy members to review the major films of each year since 1927, and see which ones are the most highly regarded, and have had the most cultural impact. They could submit nominees for each year, and vote again to give the Do-Over Oscar to those that deserve it. It wouldn't nullify the original prize. It would just be an additional retroactive prize. Some films would win the original Oscar as well as the Do-Over Oscar. I would REALLY love to see how some of these movies would be regarded by today's Academy.

Some items on my Best Picture Do-Over list (my picks are not just based on movie quality, but cultural impact):
1939: Wizard of Oz (over Gone With the Wind)
1941: Citizen Kane (over How Green Was My Valley)
1946: It's a Wonderful Life (over The Best Years of Our Lives)
1950: Sunset Boulevard (over All About Eve)
1952: Singin' in the Rain (over Greatest Show on Earth)
1956: The Ten Commandments (over Around the World in 80 Days)
1964: Mary Poppins (over My Fair Lady)
1967: The Graduate (over In the Heat of the Night)
1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey (over Oliver!)
1971: A Clockwork Orange (over French Connection)
1977: Star Wars (over Annie Hall, at least as far as cultural impact is concerned)
1979: Apocalypse Now (over Kramer vs. Kramer)
1980: Raging Bull (over Ordinary People)
1989: Dead Poets Society (Driving over Miss Daisy)
1990: Goodfellas (over Dances with Wolves)
1994: Shawshank Redemption (over Forrest Gump)
1998: Saving Private Ryan (over Shakespeare in Love)

Looking at that list, I can't believe that not a single one of those won Best Picture (some weren't even nominated). Again, Best Picture is a crappy gauge of cultural significance. Which is why we need a Do-Over oscar!

Obviously your list will be different than mine, so no point in telling me I'm stupid. Just reply with your Do-Over list.

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[–] OswaldshotKennedy 10 years ago

"2001: A Space Odyssey" is easily the most over-rated movie ever made. It is actually unwatchable!

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[–] nielw 10 years ago

The first time I saw it, I thought it was good, but not amazing. The more I watch it though, the more I get it. It gets more watchable with each watch. I've never experienced this with any other movie.

Mirror inspector is a job I could really see myself doing.

[–] bond_98 10 years ago

I Notice That Crap Shack American Beauty is not on your list.

[–] nielw 10 years ago

I didn't touch anything after 1998, because my list is mostly about cultural impact of movies. Besides, 1999 was a pretty weak year for best picture nominees. The Green Mile and the Sixth Sense are the only movies that have held up much from that year. Out of those two, I'd have to give it to the Green Mile, because, well, Shyamalan doesn't deserve Oscars. Even then, I wouldn't say the Green Mile has much cultural impact on us today.

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[–] Clyburn 10 years ago

I disagree with almost all of OP's overrides however I would vote for Singin' in the Rain over TGSOE.

[–] nielw 10 years ago

Cool. Post your list if you don't mind. I'd love to see yours.

Mirror inspector is a job I could really see myself doing.

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[–] valis1984 9 years ago

Of the 5 nominees for best picture of 1952 three are set in the past (Ivanhoe, High Noon, Moulin Rouge) and three are set in foreign countries (i.e. outside the U.S.A.) (Ivanhoe England, Moulin Rouge France, The Quiet Man Ireland). The Greatest Show on Earth is the only one with a contemporary American setting, it was also the biggest box office hit of the year in both America and Britain (at the time only 6 films had ever been that successful in America and only 10 films more successful in Britain). It must be borne in mind that the Oscars are first and foremost a commercial tool to boost ticket sales and there have been a number of times when the top award has gone to the most commercially successful film of the year e.g. Grand Hotel, Gone With the Wind, Ben-Hur, The Sound of Music, The Godfather, Dances With Wolves, Titanic. From a perspective of 62 years many of us (me included) may consider other films of that year to be superior, however, as a cultural artifact The Greatest Show on Earth remains fascinating (and quite entertaining).

P.S. My vote for best film of 1952 goes to (drum roll) Singin' in the Rain.

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[–] hammer4 9 years ago

I personally haven't paid much attention to Academy Award winners for many years. This also goes for older films like GSOE.

I really don't care who or what won this award or that award. All I care about is whether I consider a film to be good or not.

[–] pad264 8 years ago

While some of those are debatable, I think you're just dead wrong on All About Eve. It's one of the greatest screenplay's ever written and equally good, if not better, than Sunset Blvd. It's odd to me to quibble over two highly regarded masterpieces.

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[–] andrewdavies748 8 years ago

1944: Double Indemnity over Going My Way
1951: Ace in the Hole over An American in Paris
1952: Singin' in the Rain over The Greatest Show on Earth
1956: The Searchers over Around the World in 80 Days
1958: Vertigo over Gigi
1966: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly over A Man For All Seasons
1967: Bonnie and Clyde Over In the Heat of the Night
1973: Cries and Whispers over The Sting
1982: Blade Runner over Gandhi
1985: Ran over Out of Africa
1988: The Last Temptation of Christ over Rain Man
1989: Do the Right Thing over Driving Miss Daisy
1990: Goodfellas over Dances With Wolves
1996: Hamlet over The English Patient
1998: The Thin Red Line over Shakespeare in Love
2010: The Social Network over The King's Speech
2011: The Tree of Life over The Artist

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[–] sarahb2 8 years ago

1989: Glory over Driving Miss Daisy.

DMD has aged horribly - a sentimental favorite at the time, now it comes across as cloying and embarrassingly condescending toward both black people AND the elderly. 'Glory' should have won that year, and it wasn't even nominated!

[–] !!!deleted!!! (33407653) 8 years ago

The Tree of Life over The Artist? What drugs are you on anyway? The Tree of Life is the mot pretentious piece of garbage to ever be filmed by a "major" director, who is not a major director anymore. It is not even a movie, just some crap thrown on the screen by a wildly overrated director. Get a clue. Junk. And justly forgotten, as is Malick's reputation.