Rank 'Em: The Best Picture Winners of the '50s

Decade by decade, I'm ranking the winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture.  From greatest to least great, here's the '50s.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - The start of David Lean's great run of epics beat out "12 Angry Men" and "Witness for the Prosecution" for Best Picture.  It remains one of the most beloved British films of all time, a gripping war drama about power struggles in a Japanese POW camp in Thailand.  "River Kwai" also gave Alec Guinness his Best Actor Oscar and revived the career of silent film star Sessue Hayakawa, who played the villain.  

Marty (1955) - I'm so glad this won, not just because it's a delightful movie, but because so many of the other nominees of that year are just lousy.  For years, "Marty" was the go-to example of the romance for the average joe, starring lovers who didn't look like movie stars, but still elicited great emotion and sympathy.  Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky would go on to a long and successful career, while star Ernest Borgnine kept us entertained into his 90s.

All About Eve (1950) - One of the iconic show business films, which famously beat out "Sunset Boulevard" for Best Picture, but its leading ladies lost out on the acting statuettes.  And it's such a shame, because this movie is all about its fantastic performances, featuring two high-powered actresses played by Bette Davis and Anne Baxter vying for fame, and supported by Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter.  It's on my list of films that is definitely overdue for a rewatch.  

An American in Paris (1951) - There's really no plot - just a few romantic encounters to connect Gene Kelly's spectacular song and dance sequences.  This is one of the very best of Arthur Freed's MGM musical spectaculars, with Kelly at the height of his powers, and the whole finale taken up with a dialogue-free 17 minute ballet dream sequence.  It's only real competition at the Oscars was a movie Hollywood may not have been ready for - "A Streetcar Named Desire."

On the Waterfront (1954) - Between the iffy behavior of director Elia Kazan and the excellent performances of Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Eva Marie Saint, this is where I landed with the gritty crime drama "On the Waterfront."  I feel like the politics have overshadowed a film that still works pretty well dramatically, and has other topics and themes on its mind, notably systemic corruption.  In hindsight, it may also be the high water mark of Brando's impressive career. 

Ben-Hur (1959) - I'm certainly not immune to spectacle, and there are few religious spectacles of this era that can match up to "Ben-Hur," with its chariot races and slave galleys, and Charlton Heston battling mightily for his Oscar statuette.  I'd have picked "The Nun's Story" for Best Picture, personally, but there was no stopping the momentum of "Ben-Hur."  It was not only a massive box office hit, but won a record eleven Oscars in a single ceremony - a feat that's never been topped.  

From Here to Eternity (1953) - I don't really understand the love for this film, which is a wartime drama set on Oahu, just before the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The soldiers being subject to the whims of a barbaric system full of sadistic individuals is all well and good - but the romances that take up so much of the story fell completely flat for me.  Still, between the work of a strong cast, and a stellar production, it still has enough strong elements to be worth a watch.

Gigi (1958) - Here's where we start getting to the winners that have aged badly.  I liked "Gigi" quite a lot when I was younger, as a musical romance, but the questionable premise just gets more uncomfortable with every passing year.  I mean, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" comes from this movie!  The production is still gorgeous, but I think we'd all have felt a lot better if the 1958 Best Picture had gone to "The Defiant Ones," "Auntie Mame," or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Around the World in 80 Days (1956) - How this beat "The Ten Commandments," and "The King and I," I have no idea.  I don't dislike this version of "Around the World in 80 Days" at all, but it's such a frivolous comedic affair, loaded down with famous stars and cameos.  I can appreciate it as a huge logistical achievement that only Hollywood could have gotten made at the time, but its careless caricatures of different cultures and peoples make this one a curiosity at best to modern eyes.

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) - This box office smash is widely considered one of the worst Best Picture winners, because so much of it is simply a filmed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show, with some stale melodrama tacked on.  This has plenty of historical value, but much less entertainment value.  "High Noon" and "The Quiet Man" are favorites that it beat out for the statuette.  

---