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There may not be a musical movie in existence with such a wealth of talent as there is in 1956's High Society, a rom-com musical directed by Charles Walters and produced by MGM. The film stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra as the main characters, with none other than Louis Armstrong featuring as himself as well. The mostly-original score was created by star composer Cole Porter, the great musical satirist of the rich and wealthy. Even the editing was done for the film by Ralph E. Winters, one of the great editors of the 50s and 60s with multiple Academy Awards to his name. If the old Hollywood studio system was a car factory, High Society would be about as Rolls-Royce a film as you can get.

A three-way tie exists for the most Oscar wins, held by Ben-Hur, Titanic, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The iconic films share an emphasis on high production value, great actors, and brilliant directors who brought home the Oscars. While Ben-Hur, Titanic, and Lotr may have 11 Oscars each, West Side Story (1961) holds close with an impressive 10 wins.

Every spring the Academy Awards showcase the most celebrated, prestigious films of the previous year, but which movie has the most Oscars under its belt? There are countless standouts that have been acknowledged and praised for their awards, and while the main focus tends to be on celebrities who win Best Actor/Actress or Director, the other categories shouldn't be overlooked. Across 23 categories, everything from sound to costumes to art direction — everything that goes into making a movie incredible — is rewarded.

Across its history, the number of Oscars categories has changed,...

Most noted for its troubled production background, this hospital-set murder thriller turns a doctor into a detective: James Coburn’s medico undertakes an amateur investigation of a crime involving an illegal abortion, and the cover-up thereof. Although tangled up in the crazy James Aubrey-Kirk Kerkorian regime at MGM, Blake Edwards’ film can boast a strong supporting cast: Jennifer O’Neill, Pat Hingle, Elizabeth Allan, Dan O’Herlihy, James Hong, Michael Blodgett, Regis Toomey and John Hillerman.

The Carey Treatment

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date May 10, 2022 / 21.99

Starring: James Coburn, Jennifer O’Neill, Pat Hingle, Skye Aubrey, Elizabeth Allan, Dan O’Herlihy, James Hong, Michael Blodgett, Regis Toomey, Jennifer Edwards, John Hillerman, Alex Drier, Robert Mandan, Melissa Tormé-March.

Cinematography: Frank Stanley

Art Director: Alfred Sweeney

Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters

Original Music: Roy Budd

Screenplay by “James P. Bonner” and...

Dino De Laurentiis took a lot of flack for his underwhelming remake of the incomparable 1933 horror classic, which he promoted into a monster-sized hit. Nothing could eclipse the original but the good casting still appeals. An honest ad campaign would have leaned on two points: See Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin carry an insultingly ugly production like real stars! See ‘newcomer’ Jessica Lange play a sexualized ditz so well that she retains her dignity! …and most importantly, See the biggest special effects fraud ever perpetrated on movie screens! Umbrella Entertainment from Australia puts this one back in print, on Blu-ray.

King Kong (1976)

Region B Blu-ray

Umbrella Entertainment

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date November 4, 2020 / Available at Umbrella Enertainment 19.95 (au)

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, Rick Baker, Rene Auberjonois, Julius Harris, Jack O’Halloran, Ed Lauter, John Agar.

Cinematography: Richard Kline

Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters

Production design: Mario Chiari,...

The Little Song ‘n’ Dance Show that Could, this over-achieving Jack Cummings production is a bright exception to the dull waning days of the MGM musical, due to many factors but especially Michael Kidd’s athletic choreography. And it’s been restored in both of its simultaneously-filmed versions, flat-widescreen and CinemaScope.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Two- disc Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1954 / Color / 1:77 widescreen + 2:55 anamorphic 16:9 (separate versions) /

102 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d’Amboise, Julie Newmeyer (Newmar), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kilmonis (Lee), Norma Doggett.

Cinematography: George Folsey

Choreography: Michael Kidd

Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters

Original Music: Gene de Paul, Johnny Mercer

Written by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin’ Women by Stephen Vincent Benet

Produced by Jack Cummings...

Hollywood glamour strikes the crime genre, with a bank robbery tale that concentrates on high living and high fashion. Superstars Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway play a coy game of thief and investigator. This expensive show is not really in fashion anymore, but in 1968 it was high-class filmmaking, with Norman Jewison solidifying his position as a smart maker of solid mainstream entertainment.

The Thomas Crown Affair

Blu-ray

Kino Lorber

1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date February 13, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston, Biff McGuire, Astrid Heeren, Gordon Pinsent, Yaphet Kotto, Bruce Glover.

Cinematography: Haskell Wexler

Film Editor: Hal Ashby, Byron Brandt, Ralph E. Winters

Montage and title design: Pablo Ferro

Original Music: Michel Legrand

Written by Alan R. Trustman

Produced and Directed by Norman Jewison

Ah, 1968 was a good movie year. I remember my father returning from a car hunt (before he bought...

Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.

Avanti!

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.

Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller

Film Editor: Ralph Winters

Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli

Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.

Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder

When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...

Broadway’s delightful — but wickedly accurate — satire of big business was brought to movie screens almost intact, with the story, the stars, the styles and dances kept as they were in the long-running show that won a Pulitzer Prize. This is the place to see Robert Morse and Michele Lee at their best — it’s one of the best, and least appreciated movie musicals of the 1960s.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Robert Morse, Michele Lee, Rudy Vallee, Anthony Teague, Maureen Arthur, Sammy Smith, Robert Q. Lewis, Carol Worthington, Kathryn Reynolds, Ruth Kobart, George Fennemann, Tucker Smith, David Swift.

Cinematography: Burnett Guffey

Film Editor: Allan Jacobs, Ralph E. Winters

Original Music: Nelson Riddle

Art Direction: Robert Boyle

Visual Gags: Virgil Partch

From the play written by Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows,...

MGM's show is a surprising powerhouse musical bio about the personality clash between an ambitious singer and the powerful enabler who wants her in his bed. Doris Day and James Cagney are at their best in an only slightly compromised telling of the real-life showbiz relationship of 'twenties star Ruth Etting and the domineering mobster Martin Snyder. Love Me or Leave Me Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Keith, Tom Tully, Harry Bellaver, Richard Gaines, Peter Leeds, Claude Stroud, Audrey Wilder, John Harding. Cinematography Arthur E. Arling Art Direction Urie McCleary, Cedric Gibbons Film Editor Ralph Winters Original Music Nicholas Brodszky, Percy Faith, George E. Stoll Written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart Produced by Joe Pasternak Directed by Charles Vidor

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

MGM's early CinemaScope musical bio holds up extremely well,...

John Flynn's The Outfit (1974), a brutally efficient bit of business based glancingly on Richard Stark’s procedurally inquisitive and poetic crime novel of the same name, is a movie that feels like it’s never heard of a rounded corner; it’s blunt like a 1970 Dodge Monaco pinning a couple of killers against a Dumpster and a brick wall. I say “glancingly” because the movie, as Glenn Kenny observed upon The Outfit’s DVD release from the Warner Archives, is based less on the chronologically unconcerned novel than an idea taken from it. On the page Stark's protagonist, the unflappable Parker, his face altered by plastic surgery to the degree that past associates often take a fatal beat too long to realize to whom it is they are speaking, assumes the detached perspective of a bruised deity, undertaking the orchestration of a series of robberies administered to Mob-run businesses...

The sequel to the epic Julie Andrews road show picture wasn't a hit, but it tells a good story of its own. Charlton Heston is okay but the central character is a Chinese immigrant played by Tina Chen. Against all odds, the peasant matriarch survives plagues and leprosy to found a family dynasty for the new Hawaii. The Hawaiians Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Charlton Heston, Tina Chen, Geraldine Chaplin, Mako, John Phillip Law, Alec McCowen, Miko Mayama, Virginia Ann Lee, Chris Robinson, Naomi Stevens, Keye Luke, Khigh Dhiegh, Mary Munday, Harry Townes, Lyle Bettger, James Hong, James Gregory, Harry Holcombe, Victor Sen Yung Cinematography Lucien Ballard, Philip Lathrop Film Editor Byron Brandt, Ralph Winters Original Music Henry Mancini Written by James R. Webb from the novel by James A. Michener Produced by Walter Mirisch Directed by...

Now this is a list that could result in a lot of fascinating dissection and thanks to HitFix it comes to our attention almost three years after it was originally released back in 2012, celebrating the Motion Picture Editors Guild's 75th anniversary. Over at HitFix, Kris Tapley asks, "Is this news to anyone elsec" Um, yes, I find it immensely interesting and a perfect starting point for anyone looking to further explore the art of film editing. In an accompanying article we get the particulars concerning what films were eligible and how films were to be considered: In our Jan-feb 12 issue, we asked Guild members to vote on what they consider to be the Best Edited Films of all time. Any feature-length film from any country in the world was eligible. And by "Best Edited," we explained, we didn't just mean picture; sound, music and mixing were to be considered as well.

A random bit of researching on a Tuesday night led me to something I didn't know existed: The Motion Picture Editors Guild's list of the 75 best-edited films of all time. It was a feature in part celebrating the Guild's 75th anniversary in 2012. Is this news to anyone else? I confess to having missed it entirely. Naturally, I had to dig in. What was immediately striking to me about the list — which was decided upon by the Guild membership and, per instruction, was considered in terms of picture and sound editorial as opposed to just the former — was the most popular decade ranking. Naturally, the 1970s led with 17 mentions, but right on its heels was the 1990s. I wouldn't have expected that but I happen to agree with the assessment. Thelma Schoonmaker's work on "Raging Bull" came out on top, an objectively difficult choice to dispute, really. It was so transformative,...

Disregard the online fanboy rants that will tell you X-Men Origins: Wolverine is some kind of awful piece of cinema. While I will admit it's far from perfect and the special effects and the film's finale leave a little to be desired, for the most part Wolverine is actually quite fun. Fun enough to buy? No, but certainly enough fun to rent and should you decide to add it to your collection there is no reason to hide your face in shame. But Wolverine is fighting an uphill battle from the start in my opinion. While Wolverine is probably the most popular of the X-Men heroes, I don't think he is a character that translates well from the pages of the comics to the bigscreen and never has. Essentially this is just a disgruntled guy with short blades coming out of his hands. What can a filmmaker do with that and still fulfill superhero expectations?...

As I'm writing this, Intrada's release of Charles Bernstein Mr. Majestyk is already down to 150 copies. Or is it 100 copies? Man, these limited edition CDs are flying fast! Basically this is your last chance to get the music for this unusual picture about a renegade watermelon farmer who stands up for the small men in true Charles Bronson fashion.

In order to make up your mind, here's a short interview with composer Charles Bernstein who explains some of the finer details behind this unusual score. Do people love this score because of its unusual orchestration? Trumpet, nine violins, four cellos, three guitars, three keyboards, fender bass, drums, percussion and more exotic instruments such as the bouzouki and the harmonica... Or do they simply love Charles Bronson handing out justice? Let's find out!

How did you get to work on Mr. Majestyk?

I was hired by producer Walter Mirisch, probably on...