1953

BEST PICTURE NOMINEES

*High Noon
*The Greatest Show On Earth
*Moulin Rouge
*Ivanhoe
*The Quiet Man

AND "MY" WINNER IS... High Noon
AND "THE" WINNER IS... The Greatest Show on Earth

High Noon (1952) directed by: Fred Zinnemann
Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Ian McDonald and Lloyd Bridges

On the day of his wedding and retirement from being the town Marshall, Will Kane (Cooper) recieves a telegram that Frank Miller (McDonald), a man he sent to prison years before is coming back to town on the noon train seeking to extract his revenge. Once Will recieves the telegram he decides he must stay and face Miller. Will tries to round up a posse, but all the town people are either to scared of Frank or are his friends. Deputy Marshall Harvey (Bridges) says he will only fight Miller if he can be Marshall upon Kane's retirement, but someone has already been hired to replace Kane. So Harvey refuses to help Kane as well. Kane finds himself all alone to face Miller and his gang. Great music in this western, great movie, I highly recommend you see this one! I shall be making a trip to the DVD shop for this one!

RATING: 9/10

THE ACADEMY'S PICK

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorthy Lamour and Jimmy Stewart

Circus Manager Brad (Heston) wants to ensure a full profitable season for his circus staff, so he hires The Great Sebastian (Wilde) who only works center rings. Which means Brad's girlfriend and acrobat Holly ( Hutton) will be booted from center ring, after working three years to gain the prestigious spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a very dangerous game of one- upmanship duel in the ring, while Sebastian persues Holly romantically on the ground. There is also Buttons the clown (Stewart) and his secret past, and the rackateers who are trying to move in on the gaming concessions. Not really that great of a movie for me, it was to long and drawn out. There were some decent parts, but not enough to keep me interested. The best part was the great costumes.

RATING: 6/10

BEST OF THE REST

RUNNER- UP:

Ivanhoe (1952) directed by: Richard Thorpe
Main Cast: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Finlay Currie and George Sanders

Upon his return from the crusades in the Holy Land, Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) learns that King Richard the Lionheart is imprisioned in Austria. Ivanhoe discovers the ransom for King Richard is 150,000 marks of Silver. Once back in England Ivanhoe joins forces with Robin of Locksley to try to raise the ransom, all the while trying to re-establish the relationship with his father, who had disowned him years before. This one starts off kind of slow, then picks up about half way through. If you can stick it out through the first half, it is definitely worth it!

RATING: 7/10

HONORABLE MENTION

The Quiet Man (1952) directed by: John Ford
Main Cast: John Wayne and Maureen O' Hara

Sean Thorton ( Wayne) a boxer decides to retire and return to Ireland and reclaim his homestead which is owned by the widow Tillane (Mildred Natwick) Mrs. Tillane sells Thorton the cottage but when he goes to claim it he finds Mary Kate (O' Hara) there cleaning it, as a good christian act. Thorton and Mary Kate fall in love quickly but it turns out her brother wanted the cottage and is upset that Thorton got it. He refuses to let his sister marry Thorton , and Mary Kate must have his approval since her father is deceased. Will they ever get the approval to be married? I can say this one was a little to drawn out for me.

RATING: 6/10

MOULIN ROUGE (1952) directed by: John Huston
Main Cast: Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Colette Marchand

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Ferrer) frequently visits the Moulin Rouge where he drinks cognac and sketches the dancers and singers, Henri's legs were badly deformed in an accident as a child, leaving him in tremendous pain, which he copes with by drinking. Henri is trying to deal with his alcoholism, his painting career and his very unhappy love life, all while coping with his family name and position. Will he ever make it to be a famous painter or will the alcohol lead to his demise.

RATING: 4/10

For 1953 as a whole I would have to say it ended up being a pretty good year for me. There were some letdowns, but there were also some definite surprises.

RATING for 1953 as a whole: 6/10

NEXT UP: 1999 - which includes Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, Shakespeare in Love and The Thin Red Line

October 10, 2009 5:19pm