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               ‘Patton’ was the movie that won in the Best Picture category at the 43rd Academy Awards. ‘Patton’ was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, and written by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North. It was based on the life of General George S. Patton. The movie stars George C. Scott in his most iconic role as the General.

               The film concerns Patton as he leads the American forces during World War II. On the battlefield, he is a competent commander, respected by both sides. Off the battlefield, Patton is full of ego, and has a volatile temperament.

               The film received ten Academy Awards nominations and won seven major awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. When Scott’s performance won him an Oscar for Best Actor, he famously refused to accept it. He cited a dislike of the voting process and the concept of acting competitions.

               ‘Patton’ was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.

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               ‘Midnight Cowboy’ is a 1969 American drama film. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.

               The movie tells the story of Joe Buck, a dishwasher in a rural Texas diner. One day, Buck decides to dress like a rodeo cowboy and move to New York City with socially inappropriate intentions. The movie received a lot of criticism due its bold and indecorous content. However, it is now seen as one of the defining movies of its era.

               The film won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. In 1994, the film was deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. John Barry, who supervised the music, and composed the score, won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Theme.

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               The movie ‘Oliver!’ that won the Best Picture award at the 41st Academy Awards was an adaptation of a novel. It was astonishing when Charles Dickens’ famous novel ‘Oliver Twist’, was made into a big-budget musical film, directed by Sir Carol Reed.

               The extraordinary screenplay was written by Vernon Harris. The film includes such musical numbers as ‘Food, Glorious Food’, ‘Consider Yourself’, ‘As Long as He Needs Me’, ‘You have Got to Pick a Pocket or Two’, and ‘Where Is Love?’ The music and lyrics were contributions of Lionel Bart.

               The movie was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, and won six, including Best Picture, Best Director for Reed, and an Honorary Award for choreographer Onna White. ‘Oliver!’ was the last movie musical to win the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year until ‘Chicago’ thirty-four years later. The British Film Institute ranked ‘Oliver!’ the 77th greatest British film of the 20th century.

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               ‘In the Heat of the Night’ is a mystery drama film, adapted from a 1965 novel of the same name by John Ball. It was directed by Norman Jewison. It stars Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, and was produced by Walter Mirisch. The screenplay was by Stirling Silliphant.

               The movie is about Philadelphian Virgil Tibbs, who gets arrested on suspicion of the murder of a factory owner in Sparta, Mississippi, due to the simple circumstance of being black, and having money in his pocket.

               However, while the police are questioning him, he reveals that he is, in fact, a police officer himself. When he has Police Chief Bill Gillespie contact his department for verification, he is told by his superiors that he should assist the locals in solving the case, partnering with the same, casually racist Gillespie.

               ‘In the Heat of the Night’ received seven Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Picture, Actor (Steiger), Editing (Hal Ashby), Adapted Screenplay, and Sound.

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               ‘A Man for All Seasons’, a British biographical drama film based on Robert Bolt’s play of the same name, is the film that won at the 39th Academy Awards. The film and play both depict the final years of Sir Thomas More, the 16th century Lord Chancellor of England who refused to take an oath of supremacy declaring King Henry VIII supreme head of the Church of England.

               The screenplay, well adapted by Robert Bolt himself, is intelligent.  It was directed by the already very famous Fred Zinnemann. The movie won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Paul Scofield).

               In 1995, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Vatican listed it among the greatest movies of all time. In 1999, the British Film Institute named ‘A Man for All Seasons’ the 43rd greatest British film of all time. In 2008, it came 106th on Empire magazine’s ‘500 Greatest Movies of All Time’ list.

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               The two top 1965 films in the Best Picture Oscars race were ‘The Sound of Music’ and ‘Doctor Zhivago’. Both the movies had ten nominations each, and also won five Oscars respectively. ‘The Sound of Music’ won Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Wise), Best Musical Score, Best Editing, and Best Sound Recording.

               The movie was adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway musical. It was the real life story of a spirited postulant Maria, who left Austria’s Nonnberg Abbey, and became governess to seven motherless Von Trapp children. She eventually helped to lead the singing family out of Nazi-occupied Austria to Switzerland

               ‘The Sound of Music’ was a successful film at the time of its release. The movie also topped ‘Gone with the Wind’ as the most money-grossing film to date - thereby saving its studio, 20th Century Fox from bankruptcy.

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               ‘My Fair Lady’ is a 1964 musical film from Warner Bros., adapted from the popular play of the same name. ‘My Fair Lady’ stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, and Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins. The film was very well received, winning eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.

               The exquisite picture is extraordinary-and is a unique gem of filmmaking. The screenplay was written by Alan Jay Lerner and the movie was directed by George Cukor. Cukor and Lerner have not done the conventional treatment of a stage play made into a movie, i.e., erratically moving scenes outdoors for greater playing area, or into bigger settings than the stage could manage.

               The film depicts Eliza’s transformation from a poor flower seller to a proper lady, as she takes speech lessons from Professor Higgins. In 1998, the American Film Institute named this movie the 91st greatest American film of all time.

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             The smash hit period comedy, ‘Tom Jones!’ (1963), winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture was based on Henry Fielding’s classic novel – ‘The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling’ (1749).The screenplay was adapted by playwright John Osborne.

               The movie stars Albert Finney as the titular hero. It was one of the most critically acclaimed comedies of its time, winning four Academy Awards. The film was directed by Tony Richardson.

               The movie tells the story of Tom Jones, a country boy living in England. Over the course of the film, Jones tries to amass his own fortune, and win the heart of Sophie.

               ‘Tom Jones!’ is the only film in the history of the Academy in which three actresses were nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

               However, all three nominations were unsuccessful.

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               ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is an epic, historical film directed by David Lean, about British officer T.E. Lawrence’s activities leading the Arab revolt against the Turks during World War I.

               The film depicts Lawrence’s experiences in the Arabian Peninsula during World War I, and in particular, his attacks on Aqaba and Damascus, and his involvement in the Arab National Council.

               Producer Sam Spiegel bought the rights to Lawrence’s 1922 autobiography ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, which mainly portrays his experiences in the Middle East. It took two years to shoot the entire movie, in locations like Jordan, Morocco and Spain.

               When finally released in 1962, the movie won a host of awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture, and remains highly-regarded by most critics, even decades later.

               ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ had ten Academy Award nominations, and won seven, including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Colour Cinematography, Best Colour Art Direction Score and Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Music Score, and Best Film Editing.

 

               ‘West Side Story’ is a 1961 American musical. It is a romantic tragedy directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. ‘West Side Story’ is still one of the best film adaptations of a musical ever created, and the finest musical film of the 60s.

               Veteran director Robert Wise was chosen to direct and produce this movie, because of his experience with urban New York dramas such as ‘Odds against Tomorrow’ (1959). Since he had no experience directing a musical, Wise agreed that Jerome Robbins, who had directed the stage version of ‘West Side Story’ would direct the musical and dance sequences. This movie arrived at a time when the silver screen was facing tremendous competition from TV, and other genres of cinematic entertainment.

               The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture, becoming the record holder for the most wins for a movie musical. The film has been deemed “culturally significant” by the United States Library of Congress.

 

 

               ‘The Apartment’, released in 1960, stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, and was directed, produced, and co-written by Billy Wilder,

                The film follows C.C. Bud Baxter, an insurance company clerk who permits his bosses to use his Upper West Side apartment for things which are against societal norms. The sophisticated, yet cynical film of the early 60s is a bleak assessment of corporate America, big business and capitalism, success, and work ethics.

               It won five major Academy Awards out of ten nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (co-written by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond), Best Art Direction and Set Decoration, and Best Film Editing. It was a triple win for Wilder as director, producer, and screenplay writer. Wilder’s previous ‘The Lost Weekend’ had also won Best Picture and Best Director.

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               Originally a novel by Lewis Lew Wallace, a Union general in the American Civil War, and the Governor of New Mexico, ‘Ben-Hur’ was published in 1880. It was later adapted for the stage, and there are at least three film versions: one classic silent film in 1925, another classic in 1959, and one remake in 2016.

               The 1959 film, directed by William Wyler, starring Charlton Heston, is by far the best known version. This colourful version was the most expensive film ever made up to its time, and the most expensive film of the 50s. It took six years to prepare for the film shoot, and had over six months of on location work in Italy, with thousands of extras.

               At the Academy Award ceremony in 1960, ‘Ben-Hur’ made a clean sweep. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 11, missing only Adapted Screenplay. The film won Best Picture, Wyler won Best Director, Heston won Best Actor, and Hugh Griffith took home Best Supporting Actor. The 11 Oscars set a record, since matched by ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ but still not beaten.

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               The 1958 MGM movie, based on the 1944 novella by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette of the same name, was directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay was written by Alan Jay Lerner, and the music by Frederick Loewe, following their success with ‘My Fair Lady’. Starring Leslie Caron as the eponymous Gigi, and Maurice Chevalier as the narrator Honore, the film won all nine of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, breaking the record set by ‘Gone with the Wind’. The record was short-lived, however, as ‘Ben-Hur’ broke the record with eleven Oscars the following year.

               The movie tells the story of Gaston, a rich man, who wants to break from the absurd traditions of his family. He finds refuge in spending his time with Gigi, a young girl raised by her aunt and grandmother, to be a rich man’s courtesan.

               Louis Jourdan plays Gaston. The movie takes a Gaston falls in love with Gigi, and asks her to be his wife.

 

               ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ won in the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards of 1958.

               It is a World War II film, directed by David Lean, about the construction of a bridge over the River Kwai, although it’s heavily fictionalised. It’s based on the French novel ‘Le Pont de la Riviere Kwai’ (1952) by Pierre Boulle. The movie stars William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Alec Guinness, and also features Sessue Hayakawa. The movie worked basically on the theme of the futility and insanity of war.

               ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ was shot in the colourful, dense tropical jungles of Sri Lanka. The film was the number one box-office success of the year, and it won critical acclaim as well - eight Academy Award nominations, and seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best music, scoring, and Best Film Editing.

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            ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ is a movie starring David Niven and Cantinflas. The epic picture was directed by Michael Anderson. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It is also one of the few Best Picture winners not to be nominated in any acting category.

            The movie was based on the famous escapist adventure book by Jules Verne. It was created with Todd-AO, a special wide-screen format. David Niven played the role of an eccentric traveller, Phileas Fogg. The music score was composed by Victor Young.

            The film also used 140 sets, built at six studios, and was shot at locations in England, Hong Kong and Japan.

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