The Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Total US Gross = $93,600,000



1956 BAFTA Awards: 1 Nomination – 0 Wins
NOM - Best Animated Film - USA



The 1950s were a time that Disney entered a very self-conscious period of trying to make their animated films ‘art’ - most notably evident with Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). Amidst this Lady and the Tramp comes as an unalloyed and wholly unpretentious joy. Here Disney’s penchant for dewy-eyed anthropomorphism and talking animals is at its most outrightly enjoyable. For this reason alone this is perhaps the most unassumingly enjoyable of all Disney talking animals films. It is impossible not to be enchanted by the frolicking and plaintive delights during the first few minutes with Lady forlornly whimpering locked in a room, finding the joy of chasing birds and burying bones, and getting the paper shredded while trying to bring it in through the doorflap. And equally it is hard not to be moved by Lady’s abandonment - left alone, trying to pass between a sea of legs at a baby christening, her momentary joy in seeing the baby in its crib.

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Total US Gross = $51,600,000



1960 Academy Awards: 1 Nomination – 0 Wins
NOM - Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture

1959 Grammy Awards
NOM - Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television



"Wondrous to see... Glorious to hear... A magnificent new motion picture!"
-Original "Sleeping Beauty Tagline

Those were Disney's words for "Sleeping Beauty" when it premiered in Hollywood on January 29, 1959, and like most of Disney's words, they are spoken with the absolute truth. "Sleeping Beauty," his 16th animated film, is an exquisite, elegant, and virtually stunning landmark of animation; a film so charming, memorable, and beautiful that it has been hailed as the most incomparable film in the animated genre. And it is; six years, six million dollars, detailed backgrounds, glorious colors, outstanding visuals and beautiful music are all contributing factors to the grandeur pageantry that "Sleeping Beauty" enthralls on us. Viewing it again for the first time in five years is like being reunited with an old friend.

Up until the recent few years, "Sleeping Beauty" was actually considered one of the few Disney 'failures.' That is, a poor box-office success. But that was 1959. Since then, the film, like "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia," has returned to theaters many times and made way on video for new generations to enjoy, earning large estimates of money and critical praise, not to mention being the most requested Disney film on video after "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" and "The Lion King." It was re-released to the Masterpiece Collection on home video last September, and looking back on it, how can one even believe for a second that this was considered a failure? It is not simply a movie that tells a great story in a great way; it is elegantly portrayed with rich textures and stunning animation; to say the least, the movie erupts like a visual volcano.

WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

BOX OFFICE = $43,656,822



West Side Story (1961) is an energetic, widely-acclaimed, melodramatic musical - a modern-day, loose re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy of feuding families, although the setting is the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1950s. West Side Story is still one of the best film adaptations of a musical ever created, and the finest musical film of the 60s. It arrived at a time when the silver screen was realizing tremendous competition from TV and other genres of cinematic entertainment.



The ground-breaking, dynamic film of 1961 was based on the successful Broadway hit - a staged musical play (opening in 1957) by writer Arthur Laurents and directed/choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The play reworked the traditional love story material (of lovers that crossed racial/ethnic barriers) and translated it, in a radical, novel and revolutionary style for a musical, to include racial strife between rival New York street gangs (newly-arrived Puerto Ricans and second-generation Americans from white European immigrant families), juvenile delinquency and inner-city problems of the mid-twentieth century - in exhilarating musical and dance form. To capture the realism of the social tragedy and its urban environment, some of the film was shot on location in Manhattan (in abandoned West Side tenements around 110th St., and other settings), but most of it was actually filmed on sound stages with stylized, artificial studio sets.

WEST SIDE STORY (1961)



1962 Academy Awards: 11 Nominations - 10 Wins
WON - Best Picture
WON - Best Director - Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins (First time Directing award has been shared)
WON - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - George Chakiris
WON - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Rita Moreno
WON - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
WON - Best Cinematography, Color
WON - Best Costume Design, Color
WON - Best Film Editing
WON - Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
WON - Best Sound

NOM - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1962 Golden Globes: 3 Nominations - 3 Wins
WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical
WON - Best Supporting Actor - George Chakiris
WON - Best Supporting Actress - Rita Moreno

1963 Guild Awards of America
WON – Directors Guild of America (DGA) - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
WON – Writers Guild of American (WGA) - Best Written American Musical

1963 BAFTA Awards - 1 Nomination - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Film from any Source - USA

1962 Grammy Awards - 1 Nomination - 1 Win
WON - Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Original Cast from Motion Picture or Television



The much-praised, box-office blockbuster for United Artists received eleven Academy Award nominations and won all but one - Best Adapted Screenplay. Its achievement as a ten Oscar winner has only been surpassed by three films (each with eleven Oscars): Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and ROTK (2003).

West Side Story's Oscar awards include: Best Picture, Best Director (Wise and Robbins - the first time that awards went to co-directors), Best Supporting Actor and Actress (George Chakiris in his first major film role and Rita Moreno), Best Color Cinematography, Best Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Film Editing, and Best Color Costume Design. Robbins was also awarded a special statuette for "his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film." Robert Wise won his second directorial Oscar for The Sound of Music (1965). Natalie Wood was un-nominated for West Side Story, but she was competing for a Best Actress Oscar (that she lost to Sophia Loren for Two Women) for her role in Spendor in the Grass (1961)

MY FAIR LADY (1964)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $72,000,000



My Fair Lady (1964) was experienced director George Cukor's film musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1912 play Pygmalion that had played successfully on Broadway from March 15, 1956 to 1962. Shaw's plot was derived from Latin poet Ovid's story (in the Metamorphoses) about a character named Pygmalion who fell in love with a beautiful ivory statue of a woman. In later Greek tradition, his prayers to Venus that the beloved statue - Galatea - would come to life came true so that they could marry.

Warner Bros.' musical romantic comedy was expensive-to-produce (at $17 million) - their most expensive film to date, partially due to the fact that the studio had to pay $5.5 million for film rights to the popular Broadway hit. It turned out to be one of the top five most successful films in 1964 - a combination of clever lyrics and singable tunes, with a great lead and supporting cast, and lavishly-designed theatrical sets and costumes. Alan Jay Lerner, who was responsible for the screenplay, co-wrote the music and lyrics with Frederick (Fritz) Loewe. Producer Jack Warner's will prevailed and the Cockney flower vendor character played by little-known Julie Andrews on Broadway was replaced by well-known, non-singing 'Cinderella' actress Audrey Hepburn (whose voice was dubbed by Marnie Nixon although Hepburn sang her own tracks) - to guarantee greater box-office business.



The title credits and musical overture from the film are accompanied by colorful, dazzling close-ups of spring flowers - which happen to line the stairway of the Covent Garden Opera house. Elegantly-dressed, high-society opera-goers are leaving after a performance and heading for horse-drawn cabs and motorized vehicles. They begin bustling about to find shelter when rain begins to fall. Street vendors cover their wares in the marketplace. Young Freddie Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett) collides with Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), a disheveled Cockney flower vendor, while looking for a cab for his mother Mrs. Eynsford-Hill (Isobel Elsom). Eliza accuses both of them of ruining her "full day's wages" of scattered violets that are now trod in the mud: "Well, if you'd done your duty by him as a mother should, you wouldn't let him spoil a poor girl's flowers and then run away without payin'."

MY FAIR LADY (1964)



1965 Academy Awards: 12 Nominations - 8 Wins
WON - Best Picture
WON - Best Director - George Cukor
WON - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Rex Harrison
WON - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
WON - Best Cinematography, Color
WON - Best Costume Design, Color
WON - Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment
WON - Best Sound

NOM - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Stanley Holloway
NOM - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Gladys Cooper
NOM - Best Film Editing
NOM - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1965 Golden Globes: 5 Nominations - 3 Wins
WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
WON - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Rex Harrison
WON - Best Motion Picture Director - George Cukor

NOM - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Audrey Hepburn (LOST to Julie Andrews, Marry Poppins)
NOM - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture - Stanley Holloway (LOST to Edmond O'Brien, Seven Days in May)

1966 BAFTA Awards: 2 Nominations – 1 Win
WON - Best Film from any Source

NOM - Best British Actor - Rex Harrison

1966 Guild Awards of America
WON – Directors Guild of America (DGA) - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

NOM – Writers Guild of American (WGA) - Best Written American Musical

---

It was a very tough year at the 1965 Golden Globes. The Musical and Comedy section featured two of the key frontrunners: with Marry Poppins and My Fair Lady going head to head in all major categories.

Ironically, Julie Andrews was awarded a Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Disney's competing film Mary Poppins, and Hepburn failed to receive a nomination for her part. [During her acceptance speech, Andrews thanked Jack Warner "for making this possible."] Rex Harrison reprised his legendary stage performance on celluloid as the linguistics professor with a unique 'non-singing' vocal style. Lerner and Loewe's score for the musical includes some of the best known songs and lyrics ever: "The Rain in Spain," "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live," "I'm Getting Married in the Morning," "With a Little Bit of Luck," and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face."

George Cukor, a veteran 'women's director,' made a sumptuous, glamorous, brilliant Technicolor film with well-loved tunes - it was honored with twelve Academy Award nominations and eight wins, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Rex Harrison), Best Director (Cukor's only Best Director award in his career), Best Color Cinematography (in widescreen 70 mm), Best Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Score (Andre Previn), and Best Color Costume Design (Cecil Beaton). The four losing categories were Best Supporting Actor and Actress (Stanley Holloway and Gladys Cooper), Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Film Editing. In the decade of the 60s, My Fair Lady joined two other highly praised, big box-office films when it won the Academy Award for Best Picture (as did West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965)).

MARY POPPINS (1964)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $31,000,000 ($102,272,727 Lifetime)



The film that saved Disney Studios from financial ruin is a magical family fantasy from beginning to end. A banker's children get the nanny they want (Julie Andrews) and she goes about using magic to help them explore their world. The increasingly disapproving father has to come to grips with his own distance from his family.

The first Mary Poppins novel, written by P L Travers, was published in 1934 and soon found its way into the hands of Walt Disney. In 1938 he started negotiations to turn the tales into a film but his offers were only eventually accepted by Travers in the very late 1950s. Cannily, the author wanted certain concessions from the famed filmmaker, concessions that included script approval and live-action over cartoon. When these requirements were met (and the sales of the original books were falling) the deal for film rights was accepted and so one of the most popular family films in existence started its journey to the silver screen, where it was eventually released in 1964 to mass critical acclaim that is still relevant today.



Adventures in this film include jumping through a pavement chalk drawing into the world it represents, mixing with animated people and animals, walking the rooftops of London with smoke for a staircase and supping tea at just below ceiling level. But throughout, Mary Poppins is helping Jane and Michael learn some useful life lessons, such as kindness and compassion. The film is also well and truly a musical – apparently the first original film musical since Gigi in 1958 – and the songs that crop up throughout fit the film so well that it's hard to imagine P L Travers not approving of many of them. Ironically, in a time when stage musicals (such as Evita, Chicago and Phantom of the Opera) are being transformed for the screen, the London stage version of Mary Poppins has just received its premiere (December 15th 2004). This snippet of information only really serves once again to highlight the enduring charm and appeal of Mary Poppins to a wide audience and the strength of the songs written and composed by Robert and Richard Sherman, who won the Best Song Oscar for 'Chim Chim Cheree'.

MARY POPPINS (1964)



1965 Academy Awards: 13 Nominations - 5 Wins
WON - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Julie Andrews
WON - Best Effects, Special Visual Effects
WON - Best Film Editing
WON - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Chim Chim Cher-ee"
WON - Best Music, Score - Substantially Original

NOM - Best Picture
NOM - Best Director - Robert Stevenson
NOM - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
NOM - Best Cinematography, Color
NOM - Best Costume Design, Color
NOM - Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment
NOM - Best Sound
NOM - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1965 Golden Globes: 4 Nominations - 1 Win
WON - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Julie Andrews

NOM - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy (LOST to My Fair Lady)
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Dick Van Dyke (LOST to Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady)
NOM - Best Original Score - Robert B. Sherman / Richard M. Sherman (LOST to The Fall of the Roman Empire, Dimitri Tiomkin)

1965 BAFTA Awards: 1 Nomination – 1 Win
WON - Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles - Julie Andrews

1965 Grammy Awards:
WON - Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show

1965 Guild Awards of America
WON – Writers Guild of American (WGA) - Best Written American Musical
WON – American Cinema Editors (ACE) - Best Edited Feature Film

NOM – Directors Guild of America (DGA) - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

--

Although Mary Poppins did win its fair share of the awards in 1965, it was shut out of all major categories except Best Actress for Julie Andrews. Although it lead in nominations (13 vs. My Fair Lady's 12), Marry Poppins only picked up 5 awards.....mostly in techies.....and for the song "Chim Chim-cheree"

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $158,671,368



The Sound of Music (1965) was an exceptionally successful film in the mid-1960s - at the time of its release, it surpassed Gone With the Wind (1939) as the number one box office hit of all time. It was the high-point of the Hollywood musical. [In 1978, the film's status as the most successful life-action musical was finally surpassed by Grease (1978). However, it was earlier ousted by the box-office epic The Godfather (1972).]

This wholesome production from producer/director Robert Wise (of the previously popular West Side Story (1961) for which he won the same two Oscars) and 20th Century Fox has become one of the most favorite, beloved films of moviegoers. It is a joyous, uplifting, three-hour adaptation of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1959 hit Broadway stage musical (that starred Mary Martin). [This was the well-known partnership's last collaboration]. The story follows a good-natured, flighty novitiate (Andrews) who is hired to care for the seven children of a militaristic, icy, widowed Austrian captain (Plummer). She ultimately wins the heart of the children - and the captain, but their lives are threatened by the encroachment of Nazis.

Marketing slogans cried: "The Happiest Sound in All the World." Ernest Lehman's screenplay was based on the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. That book was in turn based on Baroness Maria von Trapp's 1949 autobiography (The von Trapp Family Singers) about the exploits of the family of singers and their escape from the Nazis in Austria in 1938. The first film version was a German film titled Die Trapp-Familie (1956), with a sequel Die Trapp-Familie in Amerika (1958). After the 1965 film's enormous success, Fox Studios unwisely invested millions in three more, less profitable, blockbuster musicals in the late 60s - Dr. Doolittle (1967), Star! (1968), and Hello, Dolly! (1969).



The opening sequence of The Sound of Music is a much-heralded, breath-taking piece of film-making. With a sweeping aerial view, the film opens with a left-to-right camera pan through the clouds and across rocky, snow-covered mountains. The camera dips into a green, wooded valley with steep cliffs that descend into a snow-fed lake. Reflections of the hills are viewed in the mirror-like images on the water's surface. As the camera moves over the European landscape and village, it discovers an open, green area nestled between the peaks. It moves closer and zooms into the green field, where it suddenly finds a happy and joyous Maria (Julie Andrews), a novice Salzburg Austrian nun, walking across the wide expanse of land. With open-armed appreciation of the beauty of the surrounding majestic peaks and vistas of the Austrian Alps, she twirls and sings the title song. For her: "The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)



1966 Academy Awards: 10 Nominations - 5 Wins
WON - Best Picture
WON - Best Director - Robert Wise
WON – Best Film Editing
WON – Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment
WON - Best Sound

NOM - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Julie Andrews
NOM - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Peggy Wood
NOM - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
NOM - Best Cinematography, Color
NOM - Best Costume Design, Color

1966 Golden Globes: 4 Nominations - 2 Wins

WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
WON - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Julie Andrews

NOM - Best Motion Picture Director - Robert Wise
NOM - Best Supporting Actress - Peggy Wood

1966 BAFTA Awards: 1 Nomination – 0 Wins
NOM - Best British Actress - Julie Andrews

Guild Awards of America
WON – Directors Guild of America (DGA) - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
WON – Writers Guild of American (WGA) - Best Written American Musical
WON – American Cinema Editors (ACE) - Best Edited Feature Film

---

The star of the film was the previous year's Best Actress Academy Award winner, a fresh-faced Julie Andrews in a similar role as her governess performance in Mary Poppins (1964). She is accompanied by her lovely singing voice, glorious, on-location travelogue views of Salzburg, Austria filmed in 70 mm, and melodic, memorable sing-along tunes, including "Maria," "The Sound of Music," "My Favorite Things," "You Are Sixteen, Going On Seventeen," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do-Re-Mi," and "Edelweiss."

The sentimental, entertaining musical was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and came away with five major wins: Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise), Best Sound, Best Score (Irwin Kostal), and Best Film Editing (William Reynolds). Its other five nominations were for Best Actress (Julie Andrews who lost to Julie Christie in Darling), Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Wood), Best Color Cinematography (Ted McCord), Best Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Color Costume Design.

OLIVER! (1968)



Oliver! (1968) was as magical as any musical film could hope to be. It dazzled in all departments, with unforgettable performances by Ron Moody as Fagin and young Jack Wild as the precocious Artful Dodger. British director Carol Reed and American choreographer Onna White fashioned a lasting triumph. The film received six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director.

Oliver was the fourth musical in ten years to win Best Picture – no previous decade had seen more than two musicals cop the top prize. It would be thirty four years before the Academy Award went to another musical.



Oliver! is a filmed version of the Broadway play of the same name, which is a musical version of Charles Dickens' literary classic, Oliver Twist. The spectacular cast includes the heartrending Mark Lester as Oliver Twist, Harry Secombe as the stuffy Mr. Bumble, Shani Wallis as Nancy, and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger. Oliver Reed makes one of the most chilling screen villains of all time out of his performance as Bill Sikes. And Ron Moody, the piece de resistance, is an unbridled delight as Fagin, a character that can be shifty, hilarious, menacing, or meek, and supremely convincing at all. His exaggerated eye rolls and snake-like hands are greatly entertaining mannerisms of his delicious scene-stealing performance.

In spite of the songs, the story is told faithfully, not just in what happens but in the way it happens. The recreation of old England is spectacular and expansive and, when the scene shifts to the poorer districts, not always pleasant. (Fagin's hideout is as slipshod and grimy as he is.) The harshness and poignancy of Oliver's troubles, and the sweetness and relief of the end of his quest for love are starkly vivid.

With such fascinating characters, great performances, the strength of Dickens' original story, fine musical numbers, skilled direction and editing, effective sets and costumes, and high production values, Oliver! is a truly wonderful film in every sense. It's a classic

OLIVER! (1968)



1969 Academy Awards: 11 Nominations - 5 Wins
WON - Best Picture
WON - Best Director - Carol Reed
WON - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
WON - Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation)
WON - Best Sound

NOM - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Ron Moody
NOM - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Jack Wild
NOM - Best Cinematography
NOM - Best Costume Design
NOM - Best Film Editing
NOM - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1969 Golden Globes: 5 Nominations - 2 Wins
WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
WON - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Ron Moody

NOM - Best Motion Picture Director - Carol Reed
NOM - Best Supporting Actor - Hugh Griffith
NOM - Most Promising Newcomer - Male - Jack Wild

1969 BAFTAs: 8 Nominations - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Film
NOM - Best Direction - Carol Reed
NOM - Best Actor - Ron Moody
NOM - Best Art Direction
NOM - Best Costume Design
NOM - Best Film Editing
NOM - Best Newcomer - Jack Wild
NOM - Best Sound Track

1969 Guild Awards of America
NOM - American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film
NOM - DGA - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures

--

This "Musical adaptation about an orphan who runs away from an orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor" - was the last of the 1960s Golden Musicals to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It would take another 36 years for the genre to be praised as Best Picture, that of course being Chicago.

While Ron Moody won at the GGs, he was stopped at the Academy Awards by Cliff Robertson (Charly) - in a highly competitive year which included Peter O'Tool for The Lion In Winter (who won Best Actor - Drama at the GGs)

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)



Fiddler on the Roof, based on the short story "Tevye and His Daughters" by Sholom Aleichem, was one of the first musicals to defy Broadway's established rules of commercial success. It dealt with serious issues such as persecution, poverty, and the struggle to hold on to one's beliefs in the midst of a hostile and chaotic environment. Criticized at first for its "limited appeal", Fiddler on the Roof struck such a universal chord in audiences that it became, for a time, the longest running production in the history of Broadway.

Set in 1905, Fiddler on the Roof takes place in Anatevka, a small Jewish village in Russia. The story revolves around the dairyman Tevye and his attempts to preserve his family's traditions in the face of a changing world. When his eldest daughter, Tzeitel, begs him to let her marry a poor tailor rather than the middle-aged butcher that he has already chosen for her, Tevye must choose between his own daughter's happiness and those beloved traditions that keep the outside world at bay. Meanwhile, there are other forces at work in Anatevka, dangerous forces which threaten to destroy the very life he is trying to preserve.



Enhanced by musical numbers that move the story from light-hearted to heart wrenching, Fiddler on the Roof captures the universal struggle to preserve faith, family, and friendship. While these complex themes, some violence connected with the political conflict, and the fantastical depiction of a nightmare may be too much for very young viewers, for the rest of the family this film's inspiring celebration of the tenacity of the human spirit is sure to appeal to Jew and Gentile alike.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)



1972 Academy Awards: 8 Nominations - 3 Wins
WON - Best Cinematography
WON - Best Sound
WON - Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score

NOM - Best Director - Norman Jewison
NOM - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Topol
NOM - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Leonard Frey
NOM - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
NOM - Best Picture - Norman Jewison

1972 Golden Globes: 4 Nominations - 2 Wins

WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
WON - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Topol

NOM - Best Director - Motion Picture - Norman Jewison
NOM - Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Paul Mann

1972 BAFTA: 3 Nominations - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Cinematography
NOM - Best Film Editing
NOM - Best Sound Track

1972 Guild Awards of America
WON - Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing - Dialogue

NOM - American Cinema Editors - Best Edited Feature Film
NOM - Writers Guild of America - Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium

--

In a year where The French Connection dominated all key Awards, Fiddler on the Roof only won 3 of its 8 nominations...French Connection won 5 awards from 8 nominations.

CABARET (1972)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $41,326,446



In the year of "The Godfather," "Cabaret" managed to win eight Oscars, including Best Director, Actress and Supporting Actor. Under Bob Fosse's ultrastylized direction, "Cabaret" also dragged the Hollywood musical into the modern era. Liza Minnelli, in her first filmed singing role, is a thrill as the starry-eyed Sally Bowles, an American in 1931 Berlin performing at the tawdry Kit Kat Klub, where the divinely decadent entertainment parallels the rise of Nazism outside. Integrating social satire with smashing production numbers (including "The Money Song" and the showstopping title number), Fosse created a landmark film from a genre most thought dead.

Much more that just a terrific musical, Cabaret delves naturally into the politics surrounding Hitler's rise to power. In Berlin, 1931, Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) is the so-called international star of the Kit Kat nightclub. This is something of an exaggeration, though she's probably in a better position than most of the inhabitants of her boarding-house (since they're mostly street-walkers). One day Brian Roberts (Michael York) intrudes upon Sally's world, hoping to take the vacant room opposite hers. A quiet, reserved Englishman, studying at Oxford, Brian is unprepared for the ball of life and energy that is Sally. An American by birth, she lives each day hoping to break into the movies and each night performing at the club.



Through effective application of montage, the stage routines provide a sharp counterpoint to the real-life drama, a commentary on events. Thus the brushes of the Kit Kat club owner with the ever more powerful Nazi's and the financial lure of Maximilian are themes echoed vividly in song and dance. The choreography of these stylish shows is exquisite, complemented by fine camera-work which captures the essence perfectly. Equally impressive is the performance of Minnelli, awesome on the stage and naively convincing off of it. Matching her, the entrancing Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) injects humour and pathos, effervescence and solidity into the proceedings.

CABARET (1972)



1973 Academy Awards: 10 Nominations - 8 Wins
WON - Best Director - Bob Fosse
WON - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Joel Grey
WON - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Liza Minnelli
WON - Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
WON - Best Cinematography
WON - Best Film Editing
WON - Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation
WON - Best Sound

NOM - Best Picture
NOM - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

1973 Golden Globes: 9 Nominations - 3 Wins
WON - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
WON - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Liza Minnelli
WON - Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture - Joel Grey

NOM - Best Director - Motion Picture - Bob Fosse
NOM - Best Original Song - For the song "Mein Herr".
NOM - Best Original Song - For the song "Money, Money".
NOM - Best Screenplay - Jay Presson Allen
NOM - Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture - Marisa Berenson
NOM - Most Promising Newcomer - Female - Marisa Berenson

1973 BAFTAs: 11 Nominations - 7 Wins
WON - Best Film
WON - Best Direction - Bob Fosse
WON - Best Actress - Liza Minnelli
WON - Best Newcomer - Joel Grey
WON - Best Art Direction
WON - Best Cinematography
WON - Best Sound Track

NOM - Best Supporting Actress
NOM - Best Costume Design
NOM - Best Film Editing
NOM - Best Screenplay

1972 Guild Awards of America
WON - American Cinema Editors
WON - Writers Guild of America - Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium

NOM - Directors Guild of America - Directors Guild of America

--

Undoubtedly, one of the most competitive years of All-Time - with Godfather going head to head against Cabaret. Although Cabaret came home with the most Wins, it didn't win the main award, Best Picture

Liza Minelli however won for her thrilling performance, edging out Diana Ross, Maggie Smith, Liv Ullman and Cicey Tyson..

Outside of the Oscars, Cabaret also notched up big wins in the Golden Globes and also the BAFTAs

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973)



The second Biblical epic to be turned into a musical by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, this box-office disappointment recounts the last week in the life of Jesus Christ in rock-opera format and from the surprising point of view of Christ's betrayer, Judas Iscariot. Carl Anderson stars as Judas, who has begun to believe that Jesus (Ted Neeley) has sold out and started buying into the mythology that's quickly springing up around him. Particularly disturbing to Judas is the relationship between Jesus and his friend Mary Magdalene (Yvonne Elliman), a prostitute. When Jesus throws a temper tantrum at the moneylenders in a temple, Judas determines to work with the Pharisees who want to put Jesus on trial as a false prophet. Following his success with the adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), director Norman Jewison experimented with a hippie-influenced sensibility on Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Among such touches are depictions of the cast arriving via bus to mount the show, modern high-tech weaponry in the hands of the ancient Romans, and on-location filming in Israel



An innovative example of modern techniques in moviemaking, this famous rock opera depicts the last week of Christ's life. Norman Jewison (MOONSTRUCK; IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT) directed this thrilling adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, starring Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson as Judas Iscariot. Among the classic songs in the film are "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Hosanna," and "King Herod's Song (Try It and See)." The song score was nominated for an Academy Award.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973)



1974 Academy Awards: 1 Nomination - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation

1974 Golden Globes: 6 Nominations - 0 Wins

NOM - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Carl Anderson
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - Ted Neeley
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Yvonne Elliman
NOM - Most Promising Newcomer - Male - Carl Anderson
NOM - Most Promising Newcomer - Male - Ted Neeley

1974 BAFTAs: 3 Nominations - 1 Win
WON - Best Sound Track

NOM - Best Cinematography
NOM - Best Costume Design

--

Andrew Lloyd's Webber's first movie connection was a real dissapointment at the Awards. It picked up only 1 nomination at the Academy Awards........for Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation (ALW) which it lost to The Sting the big winner of the year over The Exorcist and American Grafitti.

GREASE (1978)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $159,978,870 ($188,389,888 Lifetime)



Travolta co-starred with Australian singer Olivia Newton-John in Randal Kleiser's popular, spirited, nostalgic 50s film Grease (1978), a former hit Broadway musical that brought two big hit songs, "Summer Nights" and "You're The One That I Want", to the charts. (The film's only nomination was Best Song for "Hopelessly Devoted to You.") It was about two white-trash lovers who enjoyed a summertime romance but had to adapt to new roles back in their high school cliques, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. Its popularity made it one of the highest grossing movie musicals ever.

Where the stage version stressed period spoof, the film stressed the love story involving a leather jacketed grease-headed boy and a squeaky-clean "Sandra Dee"-type girl. Ingratiating performances by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John and a spirited production charmed audiences, making the film a pop-culture landmark and the highest grossing film musical up to that time.



With all Grease's faults and weaknesses, it's hard not to like it. The songs alone are rousing enough to elicit forgiveness for its shortcomings, and the atmosphere of the fifties, though heavily glamorized by an overzealous memory, is rich. So if you're looking for some musical fun without a lot of excess baggage like plot, Grease is the perfect place to turn.

GREASE (1978)



1979 Academy Awards: 1 Nominations - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Hopelessly Devoted to You"

1979 Golden Globes: 5 Nominations - 0 Wins

NOM - Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy - John Travolta
NOM - Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy - Olivia Newton-John
NOM - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "You're the One that I Want".
NOM - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "Grease

--

Like Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease didn't fair much better at the awards. It was also shut out of the Oscars, only 1 nomination for Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Hopelessly Devoted to You"....which it lost to "Thank God It's Friday" For the song "Last Dance".

Grease of course turned into a classic, loved by all ages and remembered by everyone - the same can't be said for Thank God It's Friday or Deer Hunter (which won Best Picture).... :wink:

THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $84,355,863 ($111,543,479 Lifetime)



Disney's The Little Mermaid was the first in a series of blockbusters that restored the venerable firm's reputation as the world's premiere animated-feature factory.

Walt Disney's animation brings to life Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale about a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince. In this version, the heroine is a headstrong teenager named Ariel who dreams of the human world above water. When she meets a conniving sea witch, she trades her beautiful voice for the chance to become human and meet Prince Eric, the man of her dreams

14 years before 'Finding Nemo' splashed into cinemas, 'The Little Mermaid' had already taught us that it is indeed better, down where it's wetter.



This delightful Disney-fied adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's tale of the same name still holds its own after all these years of advancements in animation. It's partly because the studio really pushes the boat out, as it were, when it comes to getting the visuals right. But it's also because this is a great story, with a strong female lead, a nice array of supporting characters, suspense and romance in all the right places and some better-than-decent tunes.

The colourful and imaginative backdrops make for a visual treat, particularly in the underwater scenes, whilst the characters are much better written than many of their counterparts from other Disney flicks of the period. Perhaps the only exception to that is witchy woman Ursula, who's a bit like Madam Mim from 'The Sword and the Stone' only without the comedy value. And you can't help but wonder why, if she's such a great sorceress, she doesn't use some of that magic to make herself vaguely presentable instead of living her life as some sort of aquatic Grotbags.

THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989)



1990 Academy Awards: 4 Nominations - 2 Wins
WON - Best Music, Original Score
WON - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Under the Sea"

NOM - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Kiss the Girl"

1990 Golden Globes: 4 Nominations - 2 Wins

WON - Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Alan Menken
WON - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "Under the Sea"

NOM - Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
NOM - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "Kiss the Girl"

1990 Grammy Awards: 3 Nominations - 1 Win
WON - Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television - For the song "Under the Sea".

NOM - Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television
NOM - Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television - For the song "Kiss the Girl".

1990 Guild Awards of America
WON - Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature

--

After Grease, the market was swamped by huge dissapointments such as Can't Stop the Music, Grease 2, Annie and A Chorus Line. The early 1980s was a disaster for the genre, with big-budget losses everywhere.....it was over,

Surprisingly, the genre made a comback in the late 1980s, incorporated into a totally different medium - that of Animation. Disney's ascension began with the surprise box-office smash (and the one which first caught my attention) The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Boasting two of the Best Songs in Animation history and a kickass soundtrack, Little Mermaid won 2 Oscars from 3 nominations, the 2nd Golden Period of Disney Animation has begun.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST (1991)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $145,863,363 ($171,350,553 Lifetime)



The famous tale of the beautiful girl who eventually falls in love with the cursed beast was brought to life by Disney in Beauty and the Beast - their 30th Animated Feature, released in the US in 1991 and in the UK in 1992. Preceding Aladdin, The Lion King and Pocahontas, it became a box-office phenomenon and was the first animated feature film ever to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture! Up against four other (live-action) contenders it didn't scoop the award, but went on to win a Golden Globe and Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Song, and it ushered in the latest 'Golden Age' of Disney Feature Animation...

Considered by many (and me!) to be one of Disney's finest films - if not the finest - Beauty and the Beast combined the Disney standards of strong story and music with some of the very best character animation and production ever seen in animated film. Extremely high-quality character animation led the field, and once again showcased the talents of Glen Keane (the supervising animator and creator of Beast). In addition, some inspiring use of digitally-rendered backgrounds created one of the most visually extravagant scenes in the film, where Belle and Beast dance together in the magnificent ballroom...




It cost US$30 million to produce. In its first 42 weeks of its US release, it grosses US$145 million
Released on video 30-Oct-1992. One million copies were sold by the end of the first day.

Believe It Or Not...

* Beauty and the Beast contained 1,295 painted backgrounds, 120,000 drawings...
* 370 men and women were involved in the film's production ...of whom, 43 were animators.
* Songs take up twenty-five minutes of the film... ..only five minutes were without any musical score at all.
* Lumiere's 'flames' required around 19,000 separate drawings... ...while the Ballroom was a photorealistic CGI computer model. The crystal chandelier shown at the start of the Ballroom sequence is also a 3D digital construct, containing 158 individual light sources to simulate candles.

ALADDIN (1992)

BOX OFFICE GROSS = $217,350,219



Robin Williams's dizzying and hilarious voicing of the Genie is the main attraction of Aladdin, the third in the series of modern Disney animated movies that began with 1989's The Little Mermaid and heralded a new age for the genre.

With Aladdin, Disney took their animated feature films in a new direction. With the previous year's Beauty and the Beast, Disney had given a well-known story reverend treatment with Disney's unique, magical twist. Disney's Aladdin, however, is not a serious retelling of the famous Arabian Nights tale, but severely updated for the nineties, punched up with Robin Williams' comic personality let loose. While it would be a terrible thing if Disney had decided to produce all of their future animated films this way, Aladdin is nevertheless sheer delight



After a sultan (Douglas Seale) gives his daughter, Jasmine (Linda Larkin), three days to find a husband, she escapes the palace and encounters the street-savvy urchin Aladdin (Scott Weinger), who charms his way into her heart. While the sultan's Vizier, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), weaves a spell so that he may marry Jasmine and become sultan himself, Aladdin discovers the Genie's lamp in a cave, rubs it, and sets the mystical entity free, leading the Genie to pledge his undying loyalty to the dazzled youth. Aladdin begins his quest to defeat Jafar and win the hand of the princess, with the Genie's help. Monsters, Disney's trademark talking animals, and a flying carpet all figure into the ensuing adventures, but Williams' Genie, who can change into anything or anybody, steals the show as he launches into one crazed monologue after another, impersonating figures from Ed Sullivan to Elvis Presley.

BEAUTY & THE BEAST (1991)



1992 Golden Globes: 6 Nominations - 2 Wins
WON - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Beauty and the Beast".
WON - Best Music, Original Score

NOM - Best Picture
NOM - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Be Our Guest".
NOM - Best Music, Original Song - For the song "Belle".
NOM - Best Sound

1992 Golden Globes: 4 Nominations - 3 Wins
WON - Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
WON - Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Alan Menken
WON - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "Beauty and the Beast"

NOM - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - For the song "Be Our Guest"

1992 BAFTAs: 2 Nominations - 0 Wins
NOM - Best Original Film Score
NOM - Best Special Effects

1992 Grammy Awards: 2 Nominations - 2 Wins
WON - Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television
WON - Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television - For the song "Beauty and the Beast".

1992 Guild Awards of America
WON - Motion Picture Sound Editors - Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature

--

Disney's New Golden period has begun, and one could say Beauty & The Beast was really the one that did it....it was a much bigger commercial success than Little Mermaid and did much better at the awards.

This intimate story which is mirrored in Phantom of the Opera took home 2 music awards from 6 nominations. It was nominated 3x in Best Original Song (could be a record, not sure), and won for the heartbreaking "Beauty and the Beast", one of the best songs ever and could well be Disney's best.

--

Beauty and the Beast returned the Disney animation studios to their former glory. It was also the second Disney film to combine its famous hand-drawn animation with computer graphics (The Rescuers Down Under (1990) was the first), as well as the first Disney animated movie to use a fully-developed script prior to animation. After this, Disney would release more huge traditionally animated hits in the summer, both commercial and critical, such as Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Mulan (1998) and The Emperor's New Groove (2000), before deciding to close their hand-drawn animation wing in 2003. Academy Award Nominations: 6, including Best Picture, Best Song--"Belle," Best Song--"Be Our Guest," Best Sound. Academy Awards: 2, including Best Music Score, Best Song--"Beauty and the Beast."