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Ranking 1941 Best Picture Nominees

1941 was a solid year for the Academy, but having in mind that the year at large was much weaker than the previous two years, that reflected the Best Picture slate as well. It is a diverse slate with many renowned classics, but also some rather forgotten, dated flicks. The winner was obviously undeserved, but a couple of nominees are some of my favorites from this year. But there are also two movies on this list that I find highly overrated too.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

10. One Foot in Heaven

The values of church and state collide as a devout minister and his wife have to deal with the modern world. That is the premise behind One Foot in Heaven, a dated movie that has some rather interesting themes regarding religion and tradition, but it doesn’t fully develop them nor is it ever a particularly engaging watch. It’s all rather slow in pace, uneventful and predictable in most of its plot points. The acting by its solid cast was pretty good, but everything else was undoubtedly quite subpar, leading to the weakest nominee in this slate.

9. Blossoms in the Dust

This is another dated biopic that is centered on a woman who helped many orphan children become legitimate in the eyes of the law. It’s one of those movies from this time period that are about an issue and figure that are all but obsolete nowadays, making for a rather odd viewing experience. Greer Garson was terrific as she always has been, but her great performance wasn’t enough to save this movie from its melodramatic and overly emotionally manipulative approach to storytelling.

8. How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley famously won Best Picture over Citizen Kane and it is easy to see why people would hate it for that, but it is a solid flick overall, certainly far from bad, but also definitely not great. It lies squarely in the middle as this overly emotionally manipulative movie that is typical Oscar bait, though its cinematography, directing and production design are outstanding. It has its sweet moments and it’s truly lovely to look at, but it did obviously did not fare as well with time as some of the other nominees on this list.

7. Sergeant York

Sergeant York is one of those overly patriotic American movies that honestly get on my nerves. I do cut it some slack for having come out during WWII, but still its second half was overly preachy and manipulative. The first half was much better and even quite epic and cinematic in some of its qualities. The directing from Howard Hawks and the acting from Gary Cooper were both fantastic. It’s a competent movie for sure, but it would have been much better had it had a better and less clichéd second half.

6. Hold Back the Dawn

In order to get a green card, Charles Boyer’s former girlfriend asks him to marry an American and later divorce her. But their plan fails as he marries Olivia de Havilland and falls in love with her. Both of these famous actors did such a good job here that they elevated this obviously rather predictable and typical romantic comedy of sorts. The movie is never exceptional at anything that it does, but when it comes to this genre, it’s solid enough and particularly charming due to its magnetic stars.

5. Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is overly complicated in its plot and too reliant on dialogue, but it’s still better than the remake as the acting is stronger, all actors were very well cast and the film’s cinematography is excellent. It is a bit too complex for its short runtime, but it’s quite memorable regardless. Still, for such an interesting fantastical storyline, none of the two renditions of the story were particularly strong, which was baffling to me, but the original still takes the cake as the best version.

4. Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is still regarded as the best movie of all time, but I unfortunately continue to have a hard time sitting through its entirety. Yes, it is technically polished and advanced for its time. Yes, it has some interesting themes and strong acting. However, the movie’s slow pace robbed it of any momentum while too many newsreels, dull dialogue and many uninteresting plot points made it very boring to watch. I like the first and the third act, but the second act really is tedious and lifeless.

3. The Maltese Falcon

Mary Astor and Humphrey Bogart are so incredible in this movie, delivering some of their career-best work. Their scenes are electric and just superb. The movie has well written characters and dialogue, but is rarely anything more than its dialogue as it is overwritten and complicated to a fault. The cinematic qualities are almost non-existent here and the story lacks momentum to be honest. I know that I am in the minority here, but The Maltese Falcon is one of the more overrated noir pictures despite its obvious strengths.

2. Suspicion

A woman marries a charming playboy, but quickly learns that he has no money and is a liar and a gambler. She eventually starts suspecting that he is a murdered and that he wants to kill her. This was one of the more different and lightweight stories for a Hitchcock movie and I was genuinely surprised by its very charming, energetic and even funny first half. But the screwball comedic sensibilities get squashed in the more suspenseful and dangerous second half. It’s one of the better Hitchcock movies for sure. Joan Fontaine was iconic in the main role.

1. The Little Foxes

For my number one for this year I have to go with The Little Foxes. I adore 40s melodramas when they were done right and this one was easily among the best of the genre. Bette Davis has rarely been better than she was playing this despicable woman as she was born to play villains. Regina is one of the best and most memorable villains in cinema history. The film is wildly entertaining and even quite emotional in some scenes while the ending is striking. It’s a shame that this melodrama isn’t talked about more these days as it has stood the test of time gloriously and is still just as fun to watch as it was before.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Sullivan’s Travels – Sullivan’s Travels was entirely snubbed by the Academy, which ranks among one of their worst omissions in history. This is an iconic comedy that is all about the importance of laughter, especially during harsh periods. It’s so moving and so inspirational that I cannot think of anybody who wouldn’t absolutely adore it.

Dumbo – The Academy did not care for animation during this period, but Dumbo should have been nominated simply for its immense charm and simplicity that worked in its favor. The movie is so much fun while also having excellent songs, wonderful characters and a terrific message.

Ball of Fire – This is a terrific parody of sorts of Snow White. Though predictable, it is so much fun. Both Cooper and Stanwyck excelled and the romance really worked. This is actually one of the best screwball comedies of the forties and one of the most memorable performances from Stanwyck as she is a true star throughout this movie.