Set in a 17th-century Danish village, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s masterful Day of Wrath / Vredens dagis a stark, but deeply felt indictment against religious fanaticism and intolerance. Moving performances by ingénue Lisbeth Movin and accused witch Anna Svierkier add a touch of humanity to the horrors shown on screen. It is not a coincidence that Day of Wrath was made in 1943, a time when Denmark was under Nazi occupation. The parallels – and the interconnectedness – between political and religious control are made quite clear in this harrowing masterwork.
Best Film
Heaven Can Wait, dir.: Ernst Lubitsch; scr.: Samson Raphaelson.
I Walked with a Zombie, dir.: Jacques Tourneur; scr.: Curt Siodmak & Ardel Wray.
Northern Pursuit, dir.: Raoul Walsh; scr.: Frank Gruber & Alvah Bessie.
The Song of Bernadette, dir.: Henry King; scr.: George Seaton.
This Land Is Mine, dir.: Jean Renoir; scr.: Dudley Nichols.
Titanic, dir.: Herbert Selpin & Werner Klingler; scr.: Herbert Selpin & Walter Zerlett-Olfenius.
Day of Wrath / Vredens dag, dir.: Carl Theodor Dreyer; scr.: Carl Dreyer, Poul Knudsen & Mogens Skot-Hansen.
Best Actress
Jean Arthur, The Lady Takes a Chance.
Ingrid Bergman, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Greer Garson, Madame Curie.
Jennifer Jones, The Song of Bernadette.
Lisbeth Movin, Day of Wrath.
Teresa Wright, Shadow of a Doubt.
Best Actor
Gary Cooper, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Charles Laughton, This Land Is Mine.
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Collinge, Shadow of a Doubt.
Veronica Lake, So Proudly We Hail.
Carmen Miranda, The Gang’s All Here.
Una O’Connor, This Land Is Mine.
Katina Paxinou, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Anna Svierkier, Day of Wrath.
Dame May Whitty, Lassie Come Home.
Best Supporting Actor
Charles Coburn, Heaven Can Wait.
Laird Cregar, Heaven Can Wait.
Helmut Dantine, Northern Pursuit.
Rex Ingram, Sahara.
Erich von Stroheim, Five Graves to Cairo.
Best Cinematography
Carl Andersson, Day of Wrath.
Edward Cronjager, Heaven Can Wait.
Roger Hubert, The Eternal Return / L’éternel retour.
J. Roy Hunt, I Walked with a Zombie.
Arthur C. Miller, The Song of Bernadette.
Nicholas Musuraca, The Seventh Victim.
Joseph Ruttenberg, Madame Curie.
John F. Seitz, Five Graves to Cairo.
Harry Stradling, The Human Comedy.
Joseph A. Valentine, Shadow of a Doubt.
Charles Van Enger, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death.
Best Original Score
Max Steiner, Watch on the Rhine.
Herbert Stothart, Madame Curie.