Let's open with a painful truth - the Academy Awards are a crock. I love Oscar time, and spend countless hours handicapping nominees and second-guessing Academy voters. But, for me, Oscar time is a game, an innocuous pastime that has nothing to do with gauging films on excellence. Here's why: The Academy has a long history of passing out statues to poor films and performances and shunning classic cinema. Skeptical? Here is a list of outstanding films that not only never won an Oscar, but were never nominated.
FRANKENSTEIN (1931): Hollywood has never considered the monster movie to be serious cinema, which is probably why this fright fable was ignored by voters. In retrospect, this bold and beautiful film ranks among the highlights of the early days of sound. Not only did James Whale take full advantage of the new audio technology, punctuating the action with timely groans, creaks and thunderclaps, he also forged a bold, expressionistic visual style that stands up today.
BRINGING UP BABY (1938): Just because lost dinosaur bones, a straying leopard cub and a pack of pratfalls are essential elements in Howard Hawk's classic screwball comedy doesn't mean it isn't exemplary cinema. That Mr. Hawks could combine these elements while coaxing blistering comic performances from Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant would seem to make this movie a picture-perfect target for honorifics. Instead, its nominations were handed out to all-but-forgotten films such as Test Pilot, Algiers and If I Were King.
FANTASIA (1940): This year, Academy Awards will be handed out for the first time in the animated feature category. It seems that Fantasia, still considered a high-water mark in the world of animation, was just a little ahead of its time. This movie's appeal can be measured by the numerous times it has been rereleased since Walt Disney first rolled it out. In the 1960s, it was even marketed as a "trip" movie for a pharmaceutically enhanced generation.
PATHS OF GLORY (1957): Legendary director Stanley Kubrick's searing indictment of class and war put him on the Hollywood map, but that did him little good come Oscar time. The World War I drama stars Kirk Douglas as a rebellious officer who considers the lives of his men more important than the final outcome of a futile battle. Mr. Kubrick and Mr. Douglas collaborated again on the 1960 film Spartacus, which made up for the Paths oversight with six nominations and four awards.
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958): Actor/director Orson Welles made this film under duress. He felt burned by the studio system and approached the project as an avenue out of an unreasonable contract. What he produced is a slick film noir that transcends the bad-business-in-a-border-town material. The opening tracking shot, which sets the varied plot-lines in motion, might be the finest five minutes of Mr. Welles' distinguished career.
Other never-nominated films of note include the Charlie Chaplin one-two punch of City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936), King Kong and Duck Soup, both released in 1933, and the John Wayne Western epic The Searchers (1956).
On the other side of the Academy Award coin, here are some film follies that, despite being a bit threadbare in terms of quality, went on to win the Best Picture Award: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Gigi (1958) and Tom Jones (1963).
Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com
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