Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on March 17, 2004 at 10:26:57

In Reply to: Re: "The Greatest Show on Earth" posted by rico on March 17, 2004 at 07:01:51:

BTW, sorry about the inaccuracies, but my resource material was incomplete and recollections of The Greatest Show on Earth at 3 AM weren't up to snuff.

Also, due to the lateness of the hour there were some glaring omissions:

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - You Can't Take It With You won, but Capra had a much better achievement in It Happened One Night several years earlier and this beautifully filmed adaptation of the Robin Hood legend stands as an example of perfect casting and direction; it may not be historically accurate, but as a fanciful romanticized vision of another heroic bygone era it ranks second to none.

Citizen Kane (1941) - How Green Was My Valley won, but in my humble estimation, that decision should be considered in retrospect as a BIG collective "Ooooops!" from Academy voters as clearly no film artistry has placed higher than Orson Welle's masterpiece on so many lists among film lovers, historians, students and collectors. Of course, the Academy's decision was understandable considering how much power and influence William Randolph Hearst had at the time.

Double Indemnity (1944) - Going My Way won, but Billy Wilder's direction of his and Raymond Chandler's snappily paced, sexy-innuendo laced screenplay adapted from James M. Caine's short novel is a magnificent exercise in film noir well deserving of the Academy's grand prize, IMO.

Cheers,
AuPh