18. The Lost Weekend (1945)

Director: Billy Wilder

Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman

Other Oscar Wins: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ray Milland), Best Director, Best Writing

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Score

Favourite Line: "Don't wipe it away, Nat. Let me have my little vicious circle. You know, the circle is the perfect geometric figure. No end, no beginning."

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend.

 The Lost Weekend is an absolutely incredible film, full of wonderful cinematography, moving performances, and brilliant storytelling. The film, based on a novel of the same name, shows, quite harshly, the tragedy and struggle of a man dealing with alcoholism, and the toll it takes on those around him as well as himself.

The filming itself is very impressive in this picture, and there are a number of beautiful and very interesting shots. The script is also brilliant, and so it is no surprise that this film took home an Oscar for the screenplay. However, the most compelling and stunning part of The Lost Weekend, is the performance by Ray Milland as the films lead. All the performances were wonderful, to be sure, but Milland's is of special note. He is breathtaking, and so invested in his role, that you feel so strongly for the character and his struggle, even when he does wrong again and again. In fact, director Billy Wilder guessed, upon completion of the film, that Milland would win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance. His guess was right, and the award was well deserved.

Art by Olly Moss.

Here are my few fun facts about The Lost Weekend. Before the film's release, the studio was frequently attacked by the alcohol industry, demanding the film not be released, as it presented alcohol in such a bad light, and they feared sales would decrease. At the same time, other groups tried to stop the film's release as they thought it would encourage drinking. Another interesting fact about The Lost Weekend is that it is the first film to feature the theremin (a musical instrument) on the soundtrack. The strange sound was so effective for the nightmarish atmosphere of the film, that the theremin became very commonly used in science-fiction film scores.

Overall, The Lost Weekend is a brilliant film that must be seen. It is well deserving of it's Best Picture award.

17. Going My Way (1944)

Director: Leo McCarey

Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald

Other Oscar Wins: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bing Crosby), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Barry Fitzgerald), Best Director, Best Writing (Story), Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Original Song (“Swinging on a Star”)

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Barry Fitzgerald), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing

Favourite Line: "It wouldn't be a church without a mortgage."

Bing Crosby and the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir in Going My Way.

First of all, I would like to apologize for the very long delay between films recently. I just became very busy at work, and have now moved to a new city for school, but I am now settling down, and will try to get back on track.

Going My Way is the heartwarming and charming story of a young priest who is assigned to a well established, but rather poor church. He and the long time head of the church don't see eye to eye at first, but come to understand each other, as the young priest cant help but touch the hearts of all he meets with his kindness and his music.

This was a very charming, but albeit somewhat cheesy film, and although it has some fine acting, there's really not much of a plot to speak of. I was actually surprised when the movie ended because I kept waiting for a story to develop. The most impressive part of this film is the music, which was very lovely. One of its songs, "Swinging on a Star", actually won the Oscar that year for Best Original Song. I was especially a fan of the scene in which Bing Crosby (who plays the young priest) and his newly formed boys choir sing "Ave Maria". It was stunning. Of course, the choir was very talented, but I was already a fan of Bing Crosby, and so it doesn't take much to impress me when it comes to his singing. That man could sing the phone book, and I'd still swoon.

Art by Olly Moss.

Here are a couple fun facts that I found interesting about this picture. In the film, Barry Fitzgerald plays a catholic priest, but in real life he was a protestant. Evidence of this can be found in the film, as he apparently crosses himself in the wrong direction. Another thing I found interesting was that because this film was released during WWII, there were metal shortages, and so when Barry Fitzgerald was given the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, the statue was made of plaster, rather than gold, as they usually are. He accidentally broke the statue a few weeks after he won.

Over all, Going My Way provides an entertaining and lighthearted movie viewing experience, despite not being as impressive as some of the other Best Picture winners.