1956's Oscar Nominees

Ten Commandments by some distance

(Poll spurred by the realization I didn't catch this year's annual Ten Commandments airing on ABC.)

You missed out. (It was great as always.)

Huh, realizing the only one of these I haven't seen is Friendly Persuasion. Any good?

Totally allergic to De Mille so I’ll go with Giant even though I suspect there were far better films in 1956

I haven't seen Friendly Persuasion, which is odd because I rate Wyler and it boasts peak Anthony Perkins

I made it all of 20 minutes into Around the World in 80 Days. Honestly, the 2004 remake is better.

https://i.giphy.com/media/3o7TKAhFvFIdd3WaIM/giphy.webp

Oscar bait just wasn't what it used to be.

I think the idea that this slate was a direct response to Marty winning the year before holds some water

Maybe it was The Searchers getting ignored here that caused John Wayne to lobby so hard for the far inferior The Alamo in 1960.

Highest-grossing films of 1956
Rank	Title	Studio	Domestic rentals
1	The Ten Commandments	Paramount Pictures	$34,200,000
2	Around the World in 80 Days	United Artists	$22,000,000
3	Giant	Warner Bros. Pictures	$12,000,000
4	Seven Wonders of the World	Cinerama Releasing Corporation	$9,300,000
5	The King and I	20th Century Fox	$8,500,000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7P6UQvYLIE

An impressively unappealing group of films for sure.

DeMille was beaten out by someone who did a DeMille film worse than him

Obviously don't expect the dullards in the academy to recognize the genius in something like Forbbiden Planet or The Girl Can't Help It, let alone Aparajito, Bob Le Flambeur, Burmese Harp etc etc but why no nom for Bigger Than Life? Oscar bait but vastly superior to the actual nominees.

The one that maybe had an outside shot I wish had been included is Written on the Wind.

Giant I guess? Liz Taylor and a bunch of gay men in Texas. Haven't seen the Wyler or DeMille.

"Around" is fun enough. A good movie to watch a half hour of while flipping channels.

This bunch is as heavy as a meal of beef Wellington. The Ten Commandments is by far the best of a blah bunch.

I do like Giant, but The Ten Commandments was a family ritual, and it's one of my favourite--maybe top of the list--pieces of junk ever. I love to quote it. Haven't seen the other three.

I don't think it's junk, unless we define junk differently. "Junk" implies tossed-off, indifferent, none of which apply to TTC. "Kitsch"? Sure -- a stubborn, stupid, beautiful example of kitsch. But it has too many well-composed and thoughtful moments; this is Hollywood schlock at its most disciplined.

I have pretty genuine love for Commandments … unless it’s just genuine indoctrination

You lying adder!

Is it good on any other day than Easter after you’ve had a few drinks?

Especially so.

I still haven't watched The King & I.

Giant is an ungainly attempt to mix Hudson and Taylor's conventional acting + Stevens' trad mise-en-scene and Dean's unhinged performance in the second half. It's not dull, but it's not very good either.

I kind of agree with that, it’s no better or worse than Cleopatra but I reckon it did inspire the TV show Dallas which is superior to any of these films

Not at home, so I don't have Sarris on hand, but my favourite American film of the year isn't The Searchers, great as it is; it's The Harder They Fall, Bogart's last film. Not much to look at, but I think Bogart and Steiger are great, and as an attempt to more or less revisit Waterfront, successful.

I don't think it's junk, unless we define junk differently. "Junk" implies tossed-off, indifferent, none of which apply to TTC. "Kitsch"? Sure -- a stubborn, stupid, beautiful example of kitsch. But it has too many well-composed and thoughtful moments; this is Hollywood schlock at its most disciplined.

True. Its genius touch is having both utterly over the top moments and incredibly quiet ones that both work in context and as part of the whole.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Hmmm

Absolutely crazy. Today the Texas Senate passed a bill to force every public school classroom in the state to prominently display a copy of the Ten Commandments.

They also passed a bill to set prayer and bible reading times during the school day. pic.twitter.com/3gSb3Ibj1j

— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) April 21, 2023

You'd think they'd want to honor GIant somehow

Well fwiw the mandatory commandments display is in fact required to be quite giant

So let it be written
So let it be dumb

Even the Constitutional violations are bigger in Texas

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Makes sense (the overall lack of votes, I mean)