The Film Experience

The Supporting Actress Smackdown 1963 Edition arrives on Monday so let's talk context since we haven't revisited as much of 1963 as we'd hoped to. 1963 started off hopeful (this was the year of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream " speech, but things quickly got tragic. JFK was assassinated and America became more embroiled in the Vietnam War.

But let's talk movies and entertainment...

Great Big Box Office Hits: 1) Cleopatra 2) How the West Was Won 3) It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 4) Tom Jones 4) Irma La Douce 6) Son of Flubber 7) The Birds 8) Dr No 9) The VIPs 10) McClintock!

Oscar's Best Pictures: Tom Jones (10 noms / 4 wins), Cleopatra (9 noms / 4 wins), How the West Was Won (8 noms / 3 wins), Lilies of the Field (5 noms / 1 win), America America (4 noms / 1 win) Our theory as to what was just outside the Best Picture shortlist plus more '63 goodies follow...

Nathaniel's Top Ten of 1963

Paul Newman as HUD

Famous Films That Didn't Win Statues or Become Blockbusters: Bye Bye Birdie, Charade, The Great Escape, Move Over Darling, Come Blow Your Horn

Mostly Forgotten Films That Awards Bodies Liked: Captain Newman MD (3 Oscar nods, 4 Golden Globe nods), The Caretakers (1 Oscar nod, 3 Golden Globe nods)

1963 was one of those rare years when the Best Director and Best Picture fields did not see eye to eye at all, matching only 2/5. We can deduce that voting was probably very tight for Best Picture. Just outside the shortlist and surely missing by a smidgeon of votes were probably the Best Director nominated trio: Martin Ritt's masterwork Hud (7 noms | 3 wins), Federico Fellini's iconic 8½ (5 noms | 2 wins), or the Oscar baity Otto Preminger pic The Cardinal (6 noms) . Beyond those three had there been 9 or 10 nominees it's anyone's guess but the Shirley Maclaine hit Irma La Douce (3 noms | 1 win) and the Natalie Wood hit Love with the Proper Stranger (5 noms) were probably close by.

Magazine Covers for Context:

You couldn't escape Liz & Dick, Muhammad Ali, or the Kennedys that year in popular culture and magazines used to always reflect what people were talking about. Ann-Margret was a hot new star, Judy Garland was reinventing herself, Edith Piaf and JFK both died, and so on... Another new star (not pictured) on a lot of magazine covers that year was Richard Chamberlain who was suddenly hot on television. Some of them have now funny headlines, like this Movie Life above "Chamberlain & Chakiris - we do not share girls". Of course they didn't; they were both closeted gay stars.

Mix Tape (Huge-Ass Hits of '63): "I Will Follow Him," Little Peggy March; "If You Wanna Be Happy," Jimmy Soul; "It's My Party," Lesley Gore; "My Boyfriend's Back," The Angels; "Blue Velvet," Bobby Vinton; "Walk Like a Man," The 4 Seasons; "Everybody Loves Somebody," Dean Martin

Music: The Beatles hit #1 for the first time in the UK, and then again, and then again, and then again (it's quite a fame skyrocket year for the Fab Four - they'll repeat the trick the following year in the US). The popular term "Beatlemania" was coined this year and proved utterly true the following year; Patsy Cline died at the peak of her career in a plane crash; the musicals 110 in the Shade starring Inga Swenson and She Loves Me starring Barbara Cook (RIP) premiered on Broadway

"Drowning Girl" by Roy Lichtenstein

Other Arts: It was a huge year for pop art - Roy Lichtenstein debuted several new works including the melodramatic "Drowning Girl" (which displays at MoMA) and Andy Warhol debuted several new pieces including "Silver Car Crash" which sold a few years ago for a new Warhol record of "$105.4 million; In comic books, the iconic supporting characters J Jonah Jameson and Agent Nick Fury, and the villain The Vulture made their debuts. The Amazing Spider-Man got his own series as well though he first appeared in 1962; Astro Boy became the first manga to go to animated series in Japan;

Spawn of Celebrity (Born in 63)
Actor Ryan O'Neal (one year away from stardom) and Joanna Moore welcomed Tatum O'Neal into the world. Ten years later she'd become the youngest Oscar winner of all time for her incredible work in Paper Moon; John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon welcomed son Julian into the world. He would inspire two classic songs "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Hey Jude"

Baby Brad PittVintage '63 (Stars Born in 63)
Brad Pitt, George Michael (RIP), Johnny Depp, Lisa Kudrow, Emmanuelle Béart, Donnie Yen, Edie Falco, Elisabeth Shue, Lori Petty, Demián Bichir, Rupert Graves, Mark Strong, Ming-Na Wen, Jason Isaacs, Vanessa Williams, David Thewliss, Phoebe Cates, John Carroll Lynch, Helen Hunt, Mike Myers, Natasha Richardson, Dermot Mulroney, Marc Maron, Benjamin Bratt, Conan O'Brien, Coolio, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Paul Mercurio, Cannes-winning Best Actor Olivier Gourmet, Tony-winner Alice Ripley, Ally McBeal singer Vonda Shepard, and Billy Baldwin

Vintage '63 (Behind the Scenes)
Directors: Quentin Tarantino, John Cameron Mitchell, Steven Soderbergh, Gaspar Noé, Jean-Marc Vallée, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Rich Moore (Zootopia), Park Chan-wook, Debra Granik, James Mangold, David Yates, Gavin O'Connor, Sylvain Chomet, and Neil LaBute; Crafts: Oscar winning composer Dario Marianelli, Screenwriter David Koepp, award-winning writer Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop), Oscar nominated screenwriter Susannah Grant, Emmy-winning makeup artist Greg Nicotero, Emmy winning cinematographer Dana Gonzales, Emmy winning composer Jeff Beal, novelist Michael Chabon, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg, and composer Jon Brion.

Showtune to Go: Ann-Margret becomes an instant star in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie