On the Waterfront: 1954 Best Picture

“On the Waterfront” was nominated for 12 Oscars at the 27th Academy Awards, one less than “Gone with the Wind” and “From Here to Eternity”. It won 8 Oscars, the same number as both of those films. And there was another big difference: Marlon Brando won Best Actor, while Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster did not in their blockbusters. Some also say that Brando’s win for “Waterfront” this year was the reverse of what happened at the 24th Academy Awards when Bogart won Best Actor for “The African Queen” when Brando was nominated for his role as Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Others believe Brando should have won both times. There was no lead actress in the film. Eva Marie Saint won Best Supporting Actress.

In the Supporting Actor field, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger and Lee J. Cobb were all competing against Edmond O’Brien (“The Barefoot Contessa”) and Tom Tully (“The Caine Mutiny”). O’Brien was the winner.

“On the Waterfront” continues to be rated one of the best films of the 20th century. It is on the Vatican’s 1995 list of Great Films, under the category “Values”.

The other Best Picture nominees were:
“The Caine Mutiny” — 7 nominations, no wins
“The Country Girl” — 7 nominations, 2 wins: Best Actress (Grace Kelly) and Best Writing, Screenplay (George Seaton)
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” — 5 nominations, 1 win: Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Adolph Deutsch, Saul Chaplin)
“Three Coins in the Fountain” — 3 nominations, 2 wins: Best Cinematography, Color and Best Original Song (Three Coins in the Fountain)

Here are some Jeopardy! clues for “On the Waterfront”
CINEMA OF MY YOUTH $400: The idea for this 1954 Elia Kazan film came from a series of newspaper articles about corruption on the docks
WATER WORKS $400: Leonard Bernstein composed the soundtrack for this 1954 Marlon Brando film that won 8 Oscars
’50S FILM FACTS $400: Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden & Rod Steiger were all Oscar contenders for this 1954 Marlon Brando film
“WATER” $400: Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint each won one of this 1954 films 8 Oscars
1950s MOVIE HOUSE $2,200 (Daily Double): 1954 Best Picture Oscar winner set in part on the docks of New York

More 1954 film clues:
MOVIE ENDING LINE OF THE DECADE $4,000 (Daily Double): 1950s: “I now pronounce you men & wives”
GRAIL MIX $1000: In a 1954 film Paul Newman is a sculptor who must cast the grail in precious metal–make it “The Silver” this, if you will
BOGEY MEN $1000: 1954: Linus Larrabee becomes interested in the chauffeur’s daughter
MOVIES WITH SUBTITLES $1600: This Italian director’s 1954 film “La Strada” won the Foreign Language Film Oscar
CLASSIC FOREIGN FILMS $3,800 (Daily Double): A 16th century Japanese village is the main setting for this 1954 foreign film classic
ACTORS ON LOCATION $2000: At the spot seen here, Dorothy McGuire & Jean Peters wish for love in this 1954 film
ROMAN AROUND AT THE MOVIES $400: This sexpot nicknamed “La Lollo” lolled around with lots of men in the 1954 film “Woman of Rome”
“BLACK” & “WHITE” MOVIES $1600: This classic 1954 horror film about a humanoid amphibian monster practically saved Universal from bankruptcy
THE SOPRANOS $800: American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne did the singing for this actress in the 1954 film “Carmen Jones”
CALL ME HARRY $1200: In the 1954 film “Carmen Jones” this male singer starred with Dorothy Dandridge
JUDY $200: Her losing the Oscar for 1954’s “A Star is Born” was called “the biggest robbery since Brinks”
ON LOCATION $2000: The 1954 Barbara Stanwyck movie “Cattle Queen of” this state was filmed on location in Glacier National Park
AROUND THE OFFICE BUILDING $2000: This type of office area is the title of a 1954 William Holden-Barbara Stanwyck movie
WE GET LETTERS $100: Dial this “for Murder” in the title of a 1954 film
COMPOSERS & THEIR WORKS $400: He wrote the score for the 1954 film “On the Waterfront” 3 years before his Broadway smash “West Side Story”
A STEW OF STEWARTS $200: This man played the title bandleader in the 1954 film “The Glenn Miller Story”
MOVIES BY THE NUMBERS $300: James Mason played Captain Nemo in this 1954 Disney film
ACTORS & ACTRESSES $500: In her last years, this chic star of the 1954 film “Sabrina” was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF
LEONARD NIMOY FILMS $800: The giant mutant ants in this 1954 film make it easy to overlook Nimoy’s tiny role at the teletype
TV STARS ON FILM $300: This creator of “Jeopardy!” appeared in the 1954 3-D horror film “Phantom Of The Rue Morgue”
FILM FACTS $1000: Elizabeth Taylor found passion on a plantation before it was pulverized by pachyderms in this 1954 film
MOVIE TRIVIA $500: Marlon Brando and his motorcycle pals ganged up on a small town in this 1954 film
EUROPE ON FILM $800: In this 1954 film, 3 women wished for romance at Rome’s Fontana di Trevi
“7” MOVIES $500: “The Magnificent 7” was based on this 1954 Japanese film
CLASSICAL MUSIC $400: The 1954 Dorothy Dandridge/Harry Belafonte film “Carmen Jones” was based on this composer’s opera
THE ACADEMY AWARDS: In 1954 he won a record 4 Oscars, including one for “Best Documentary Feature” for a film set in the American desert
ANIMALS: The world’s largest invertebrate, it plays a prominent part in an 1870 French novel & a 1954 film
THE MOVIES: 1937 film whose 1954 & 1976 musical remakes each produced soundtracks that hit No. 1
FEMININE WORDS $800: A type of Italian noblewoman, like the “Barefoot” one in a 1954 movie
MARILYN MONROE $500: Marilyn sang a sexy rendition of “Heat Wave” in this 1954 movie musical
MOVIE QUOTES $600: “Do you Alice, Ruth, Martha, Liza, Sarah, Dorcas, take these men to be your lawfully married husbands?”