And the Winner Is — 1943

  Our family is working our way through Oscar winners and whichever nominees take our fancy. Also as they are available, since these early films continued to be hard to find.

Nominated films that we didn't watch either because we'd scouldn't find them were The Pied Piper and Wake Island.

WINNER

it shows how the life of an unassuming British housewife in rural England is affected by World War II.

Simply stunning in the way that it takes you into this family's life and then shows the effects of war on the British as WWII breaks out. Definitely deserved to win.

 NOMINEES

The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Wonderfully made but with a story I really hated.

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.

I didn't care for having encapsulated versions of Cohan shows dropped in everywhere but that is how this form of musical genre works. The Ziegfeld Follies did it best. Alexander's Rag Time Band did it worst. This falls just between the two.

The story of the life and career of the baseball hall of famer, Lou Gehrig.

An affectionate, straight-forward telling of Lou Gerig's life. Not especially Oscar worthy except, perhaps, as a sentimental favorite because of the subject.

Five young adults in a small American town face the revelations of secrets that threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams.

I liked it much more than I thought I would, certainly more than The Magnificent Ambersons which had Orson Welles' wonderful style but a drag of a story. And Ronald Reagan did a great job.

A German U-boat is sunk in Canada’s Hudson Bay. Hoping to evade capture, a small band of German soldiers led by commanding officer Lieutenant Hirth attempts to cross the border into the United States, which has not yet entered the war and is officially neutral.

We were surprised at how much we liked this. It was much more propagandistic than winner Mrs. Miniver, but it was still really good. Thus proving, I suppose, that top notch talent can elevate and improve upon a basic message. In a sense it was somewhat like a mystery, watching which of the group of Nazis trying to get back to Germany would be picked off next and by whom.

Hilarity ensues when a falsely accused fugitive from justice hides at the house of his childhood friend, which she has recently rented to a high-principled law teacher.

A lot more interesting than the description made it sound. We really enjoyed it.

Wandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.

An extremely frustrating amnesia plot. Good amnesia plots provide character growth by forcing the victim to begin anew. This one was just a huge soap opera full of inexplicably missed chances to help Smithy remember a crucial 3 years. It's a real waste of wonderful actors. So annoying.

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All the Oscar viewing is here.