The nominees were ...
... when they should have been ...
And the Oscar went to ...
... when they should have been ...
And the Oscar went to ...
All the King's Men. There were two other strong nominees for this award: The Heiress and A Letter to Three Wives, both of which today are more highly regarded than the winner. Joseph L. Mankiewicz was a double winner for screenplay and directing for A Letter to Three Wives. Did the Academy feel it had to make it up to Robert Rossen, the producer, director, and writer of All the King's Men, by giving him the Oscar for best picture? Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge also won, as actor and supporting actress respectively.
... when it should have gone to ...
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| The Bicycle Thief |
More properly Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette), this small masterpiece by Vittorio De Sica is one of the most celebrated films in history. It was a surprise hit in America, and the Academy gave it its then-honorary award for outstanding foreign-language film. David O. Selznick was so impressed by it that he wanted to remake it with Cary Grant in the role played by Lamberto Maggiorani, a non-professional whom De Sica recruited from the streets of Rome. Amazingly, the film stirred controversy when the Production Code Administration refused its seal of approval because of a scene set in a brothel and another in which the small boy urinates against a wall. The ridicule directed at the enforcers for this decision helped undermine the Code's credibility and authority, leading to further challenges throughout the 1950s.
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