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Ranking 1947 Best Picture Nominees

1947 was a very solid year for cinema, but the Academy’s slate didn’t quite reflect on that. Yes, these choices range from solid to great with no bad movie present, but they missed on nominating a couple of undeniable classics, which was unfortunate. Two social dramas, two family-friendly spiritual movies and one literary adaptation made up this rather homogenous, but interesting list.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. Crossfire

Anti-Semitism was the main issue that Hollywood chose to tackle in 1947 as evidenced by two BP nominees dealing with this issue on this slate. The first and the weaker of the two is Crossfire. The film benefits from strong acting performances across the board, solid dialogue and particularly effective scenes where the men just conversed with each other. However, the pacing was problematic, the third act was too preachy and the movie was never as engaging or as atmospheric as it should have been. It’s a film that would have been much better off with the original source material’s subject intact. In a very solid slate, it sadly gets the last spot.

4. The Bishop’s Wife

Another main theme was religion and the weaker of the two movies dealing with this subject is The Bishop’s Wife. The story is about an angel played by Cary Grant who comes to help the bishop and his wife solve their problems. It’s not a great film as it is technically and narratively uneven and too familiar, but it succeeds mostly thanks to its evident charm and childlike innocence as well as very likable and charming characters and superb acting performances with Grant being terrific in what was a very unusual role for him.

3. Great Expectations

David Lean’s Great Expectations is a very good, though far from great adaptation of the eponymous Charles Dickens classic. It wasn’t well cast at all with some actors not being believable in their roles, but John Mills as the adult Pip was the major highlight. The look and sound of the film are fantastic as Lean here made a very cinematic, ambitiously scaled take on this oft-told story. I just wish that the editing and pacing were better as the film, although faithfully adapting major plot points, felt too condensed at just two hours of runtime.

2. Miracle on 34^th Street

The only movie that is still regularly watched today out of all these five films is of course Miracle on 34^th Street, which is an absolute holiday classic. While the courtroom drama elements were far from effective, the family drama at its core was so well done and quite moving. The ending is inspirational and beautiful. The film is superbly scored and wonderfully acted while benefitting from a particularly beautiful central idea about the importance of believing in something bigger than yourself.

1. Gentleman’s Agreement

And I have to agree with the Academy this time around by putting Gentleman’s Agreement on my number one sport on this year’s slate. While the film is definitely quite tame by today’s standards, it’s still a very moving, sophisticated and subtle social drama that dealt with an important issue daringly for its era. Gregory Peck, John Garfield and Dorothy McGuire all did a splendid job while Elia Kazan’s directing was terrific too. The film features excellent, believable dialogue and a very powerful ending. It’s a genuinely great movie that ranks among the most underrated Best Picture winners.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Black Narcissus – Gorgeously shot and superbly written, acted and directed, Black Narcissus is such an intriguing film about sexuality and religion and how the two impact each other. The ending is quite shocking and intense. This is by far the most artistic and best film of the year, so its Oscar snub remains very unfortunate.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir – Beautifully scored, gorgeously shot, so well directed and fueled by Gene Tierney’s wonderful, powerhouse performance, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is an underrated, marvelous fantasy romance that I simply adore. It’s a poetic and effective genre-bender and one of the most underrated movies of 1947.

Out of the Past – Out of the Past features one of the finest protagonists of its time period with Robert Mitchum being so memorable in this great role, but it also has superb cinematography, a great script and excellent dialogue. It’s one of the best noir movies out there and another big snub this year. All three of these movies should have been nominated for sure.