Best Films of 1955: Shameless (but stylishly made) tearjerker Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing immensely helped by Jennifer Jones
The guilty pleasure of all guilty pleasures. An unabashedly sentimental story about East meets West, a bland performance by leading man William Holden (Sunset Blvd., Network), an awful (and awfully long) title. That’s 20th Century Fox’s Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing.
Yet the film does offer gorgeous locations (Hong Kong and surrounding areas), superb color cinematography (Leon Shamroy), a rousing, romantic score (Alfred Newman), several good directorial touches (Henry King), and a beautifully modulated performance by leading woman Jennifer Jones (The Song of Bernadette, Carrie).
A major hit at the time of its release, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is the type of movie that will either make you sick or touch you profoundly. Come to think of it, chances are it’ll work both ways.
Best Film
All That Heaven Allows – Dir.: Douglas Sirk; Scr.: Peg Fenwick
Le amiche – Dir.: Michelangelo Antonioni; Suso Cecchi D’Amico & Alba de Cespedes
The Art of Getting Along / L’arte di arrangiarsi – Dir.: Luigi Zampa; Scr.: Vitagliano Brancati & Luigi Zampa
Bad Day at Black Rock – Dir.: John Sturges; Scr.: Millard Kaufman
Lady and the Tramp
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing – Dir.: Henry King; Scr.: John Patrick
The Rose Tattoo – Dir.: Daniel Mann; Scr.: Tennessee Williams
The Seven Year Itch – Dir.: Billy Wilder; Scr.: Billy Wilder & George Axelrod
Summertime – Dir.: David Lean; Scr.: David Lean & H. E. Bates
Best Actress
Julie Adams – The Private War of Major Benson
Eleonora Rossi Drago – Le amiche
Susan Hayward – I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Katharine Hepburn – Summertime
Jennifer Jones – Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Anna Magnani – The Rose Tattoo
Marilyn Monroe – The Seven Year Itch
Eleanor Parker – Interrupted Melody
Barbara Stanwyck – The Violent Men
Jane Wyman – All That Heaven Allows
Best Actor
Ernest Borgnine – Marty
Tom Ewell – The Seven Year Itch
Glenn Ford – Blackboard Jungle
Glenn Ford – Trial
Cary Grant – To Catch a Thief
Preben Lerdorff Rye – The Word / Ordet
Frank Sinatra – The Man with the Golden Arm
Alberto Sordi – The Art of Getting Along
Spencer Tracy – Bad Day at Black Rock
Best Supporting Actress
Vivian Blaine – Guys and Dolls
Nana Bryant – The Private War of Major Benson
Valentina Cortese – Le amiche
Chumbala Devi – Pather Panchali
Virginia Grey – The Rose Tattoo
Katie Johnson – The Ladykillers
Jessie Royce Landis – To Catch a Thief
Rosalind Russell – Picnic
Jo Van Fleet – East of Eden
Jo Van Fleet – I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Best Supporting Actor
Louis Calhern – Blackboard Jungle
Tim Hovey – The Private War of Major Benson
Arthur Kennedy – Trial
Henrik Malberg – The Word
Arthur O’Connell – Picnic
Robert Ryan – Bad Day at Black Rock
Rod Steiger – The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
Peter Ustinov – Lola Montès
Best Cinematography
Guys and Dolls – Harry Stradling
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing – Leon Shamroy
Picnic – James Wong Howe
The Rains of Ranchipur – Milton Krasner
Sissi – Bruno Mondi
Smiles of a Summer Night / Sommarnattens leende – Gunnar Fischer
Summertime – Jack Hildyard
Trial – Robert Surtees
The Trouble with Harry – Robert Burks
The Word – Henning Bendtsen
Best Original Score
All That Heaven Allows – Frank Skinner
Le amiche – Giovanni Fusco
Lola Montès – Georges Auric
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing – Alfred Newman
Pather Panchali – Ravi Shankar
Sissi – Anton Profes
Summertime – Alessandro Cicognini
Best Short Film
Night and Fog / Nuit et brouillard – Dir.: Alain Resnais