Best Picture Winners: 1947 - 1949

And the last quick recaps from films viewed in Feburary 2008:

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Gregory Peck stars as a journalist who poses as a Jewish man to write a magazine article about antisemitism. He encounters it everywhere from where he works, to private clubs, to swanky dinner parties - even maybe in his own girlfriend! It's shocking to realize that as recently as the 1940s people could be so overt about their bigotry, and thus the film is still compelling today, even if it seems self-congratulatory in its telling.

Hamlet (1948)

Sir Laurence Olivier directed himself to a Best Actor Oscar in this riveting adaptation of one of Shakespeare's best-know plays. Young Hamlet is told by the ghost of his father that his death was murder, and Hamlet must figure how to avenge the crime. The photography and art direction make this feel like a film noir, and given the outcome that's entirely appropriate.

All the King's Men (1949)

Broderick Crawford stars as Willie Stark, a man so fed up with corrupt politicians that he enters politics himself, and becomes just as corrupt. Loosely based on Louisiana senator Huey Long, this story of how power corrupts is just as relevant today as it was sixty years ago, with a mesmerizing performance by Crawford at its core.