1942's Oscar Nominees

The Magnificent Ambersons
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The Talk of the Town

I've never seen The Pied Piper or Random Harvest, but they can't have any scenes as awesome as Greer Garson karate chopping a Nazi in her kitchen.

I've only seen Ambersons. Mrs. Miniver feels like my most significant blindspot here. Yankee Doodle Dandy as well, though I've always avoided it, as the title seems to promise jingoism.

You're avoiding a fun, goofy picture!

Eh, I'll give it a shot one of these days. It's Cagney + Curtiz, after all.

Also, I always mix up Mrs. Miniver and Mildred Pierce. Is anyone a fan of the former?

All I've seen is The Magnificent Ambersons, but I can't imagine voting for anything else even if I were to see the other nine. (I'm the rare person who doesn't even mind the studio ending.) I believe Random Harvest is the unnamed film that Holden Caulfield mercilessly ridicules in The Catcher in the Rye.

The scenes of rural English life have a storybook glow and Richard Ney, Garson's future husband, is twink-hot. That's all I can summon.

Greer Garson (1904–1996), married July 24, 1943, although the couple previously stated that the wedding would not take place until after the war ended.[11] Ney and Garson divorced on September 25, 1947,[12] the actress claiming that her husband was "morose and critical of her acting."

i saw random harvest on TCM years ago and enjoyed it for what it was. it's ambersons, of course.

Ney and Garson divorced on September 25, 1947,[12] the actress claiming that her husband was "morose and critical of her acting."

well, yeah

hmm, will have to think about this. between the two Teresa Wright movies - Mrs. Miniver or The Pride of the Yankees. leaning towards the latter.

ive seen all of these except Pied Piper (aninmated? i don't even remember what it is) and Wake Island.

I find the Ambersons idolators a little tiresome bcz the butchered, flawed film is all we've got to judge, but it is likely best. Would probably go with 49th Parallel as runnerup.

My impression was that Brits found the Hollywoodization of English life in Miniver hilarious. (or just Leslie Halliwell?)

Gary Cooper isn't much like Lou Gehrig, I suspect. That also has the line "Is it three strikes, Doc?"

Kings Row was worse than I expected when I caught it a decade ago, even Reagan.

Final rankings:

Ambersons
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The Talk of the Town
The 49th Parallel
Yankees

Kings Row is a smalltown melodrama, better than average

I find the Ambersons idolators a little tiresome bcz the butchered, flawed film is all we've got to judge

What's the problem? Even in its butchered state, it's among his or anyone's best films.

iirc, the first 45 minutes or so of ambersons were left more or less intact, w/ only minor deletions -- you can feel the choppiness taking over in the last half (prob cause this sadder part of the film is what allegedly left preview audiences complaining it was a "downer"), but even that has plenty of remarkable moments

anyway, i eagerly await the day when some fanatical welles scholar finds the whole thing in a closet in the ruins of some long-abandoned hotel in brazil

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.