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Post by topbilled on May 4, 2023 16:03:21 GMT
"Twelve O'Clock High" would have gotten my best Oscar vote, but it was a very competitive year. I would have chosen THE HEIRESS. I think it's nearly flawless and truly one of the best pictures of the decade.
It's interesting to see how well the Jolson sequel did, especially when sequels were not the norm in Hollywood at this time.
I should add that technically the year's highest grosser was SAMSON AND DELILAH which initially made $9 million, significantly more than JOLSON SINGS AGAIN did at $5 million. However, S&D only had one showing the third week of December, a sneak preview, and it did not go into wide release until mid-January, so its box office take has historically been counted as part of 1950's stats. SAMSON AND DELILAH would benefit from re-releases over the years, so when all was said and done, its final haul was in excess of $25 million.
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Post by Fading Fast on May 4, 2023 16:07:54 GMT
"Twelve O'Clock High" would have gotten my best Oscar vote, but it was a very competitive year. I would have chosen THE HEIRESS. I think it's nearly flawless and truly one of the best pictures of the decade.
It's interesting to see how well the Jolson sequel did, especially when sequels were not the norm in Hollywood at this time.
I should add that technically the year's highest grosser was SAMSON AND DELILAH which initially made $9 million, significantly more than JOLSON SINGS AGAIN did at $5 million. However, S&D only had one showing at the end of December, a sneak preview, and it did not go into wide release until early January, so its box office take has historically been counted as part of 1950's stats. SAMSON AND DELILAH would benefit from numerous re-releases over the years, so when all was said and done, its final haul was in excess of $25 million. I would never have guessed either as the top box-office grossers. That said, Jolson, being 15-20 years past his peak, was in the sweet spot for a nostalgia surge, just like we often get TV shows set 15 to 20 years ago.
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Post by topbilled on May 4, 2023 16:12:29 GMT
I would have chosen THE HEIRESS. I think it's nearly flawless and truly one of the best pictures of the decade.
It's interesting to see how well the Jolson sequel did, especially when sequels were not the norm in Hollywood at this time.
I should add that technically the year's highest grosser was SAMSON AND DELILAH which initially made $9 million, significantly more than JOLSON SINGS AGAIN did at $5 million. However, S&D only had one showing at the end of December, a sneak preview, and it did not go into wide release until early January, so its box office take has historically been counted as part of 1950's stats. SAMSON AND DELILAH would benefit from numerous re-releases over the years, so when all was said and done, its final haul was in excess of $25 million. I would never have guessed either as the top box-office grossers. That said, Jolson, being 15-20 years past his peak, was in the sweet spot for a nostalgia surge, just like we often get TV shows set 15 to 20 years ago. My theory is that because SAMSON AND DELILAH did so well and had become such a huge favorite, it's why DeMille's next film, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, received the Oscar for Best Picture. By most accounts, GREATEST SHOW is a fairly bloated offering, not exactly one of DeMille's best...but I think he was riding a wave of newfound popularity after S&D plus he had that memorable cameo in SUNSET BLVD.
I agree with your observation that Jolson was a comfortable throwback...nostalgia for the masses. But Larry Parks did an excellent job dramatizing Jolson's life in both pictures.
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Post by topbilled on May 5, 2023 15:09:32 GMT
I will start posting the 1950s this weekend.
As I said previously, I will continue forward to 1959, then I will go back and do 1930 to 1939. In a way, this is an interesting approach because we will conclude with what is considered Hollywood's "greatest year."
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