A fast paced action movie, with a fair amount of drama, a wrong court decision, and the need to get revenge (and clear his name) were some of the parts that made The Fugitive a very famous and commercially successful movie. The movie was nominated for a clutch of Oscars, and also earned more than $500 million worldwide. It helped that it starred 2 famous actors in the person of Harrison Ford (very famous for Star Wars and Indiana Jones), and Tommy Lee Jones. The movie also got good reviews from critics, making it really successful (it is not always seen for a movie to be both commercially successful and earn praise from critics).
The movie was released in 1993, and was based on a television series that aired on ABC between 1963 and 1967. The series ran for 4 years (interestingly, the first 3 seasons were in black and white, and the fourth season was in color). The movie has the same premise, where a doctor is charged for the murder of his wife, and escapes in order to prove his innocence.

The movie has principally 2 characters – Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble, and Tommy Lee Jones as Deputy United States Marshal Samuel Gerard. Dr. Kimble has been charged for the murder of his wife, based on the fact that his wife made a call to 911 which apparently led to Dr. Kimble being blamed for the murder. In addition, there was no evidence to back the claim of Dr. Kimble that a man with an artificial hand was responsible for the murder (there were no signs of somebody breaking into the house, there were no other fingerprints on the gun). Dr. Kimble was charged for murder, and convicted by a jury, sentenced to die.
However, on the way to prison in a bus (along with other convicts), there is a disturbance inside the bus that causes the bus to fall onto the path of an oncoming train. In the disturbance. Dr. Kimble manages to run away and is now being pursued by the United States Marshal service, led by officer Samuel Gerard. Kimble manages to change out of his prison uniform, shave, and alter his appearance, but Gerard is soon on the chase, and manages to corner him inside a storm drain inside a dam. The only option for Kimble to survive is by jumping into the flow of water falling from the dam, and he does so in a fairly spectacular shot.
Now, Kimble is on a mission to find people who have received a prosthetic arm, while striving to be hidden from the police who is chasing him. In the middle of this, while hidden in a hospital, he even saves a boy by altering the diagnosis and sending him to emergency surgery. Kimble even heads to the jail to try to find the one-armed man, but is not able to find him. He eventually gets into the home of a former police office called Frederick Sykes (Katsulas). Sykes was there in Kimble’s list since he had received a prosthetic arm. It is in Sykes’s home that Kimble finds evidence of what could have caused the attacks at Kimble’s home, as well as the involvement of somebody close to Kimble. Can Kimble save himself from the police, and expose the involvement of others ?

The Fugitive was nominated for 7 Oscars:
Won: Best Supporting Actor – Tommy Lee Jones
Best Picture (lost to Schindler’s List)
Best Cinematography (lost to Schindler’s List)
Best Sound Effects Editing (lost to Jurassic Park)
Best Film Editing (lost to Schindler’s List)
Best Original Music Score (lost to Schindler’s List)
Best Sound (lost to Jurassic Park)

There are many movies that have been adapted from screenplays or from books, and West Side Story is one of the most successful of the lot. The movie was adapted from a running screenplay of the same name, which was adapted from a very famous piece of work by Shakespeare called ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The movie credits the direction by 2 people – Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Jerome Robbins was the first director, and he was also the director of the stage version, as well as being responsible for planning and directing all music and dance sequences in the film, as well as all the fight scenes. However, when around 60% of the movie had been shot, the producer of the movie (Robert Wise) felt that the costs had not been in check, and Robbins was fired. In the end, when the movie earned 10 Oscars (out of a total of 11 Academy Awards nominations), Robbins got a special award.

The concept of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is an extremely old concept, valid in different cultures and across geographies. The theory that a girl and boy from 2 rival clans meet, fall in love, and fall victim to the enmity between their clans (and getting killed due to this rivalry) is something that finds mention in a lot of different cultures. This movie is also based on the same concept, with the clans being modified to be 2 different gangs set in New York in the 1950′s. These are 2 rival gangs called the American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks (and these are composed of members from different racial backgrounds), fighting for supremacy over the New York neighborhoods in which they operate.
The romantic duo are Tony (Richard Beymer), who is a former member of the Jets gang (and also its co-founder), and Maria (Natalie Wood), who is the sister of Bernardo (George Chakiris), the head of the rival Puerto Rican immigrants gang, the Sharks. These 2 meet at a dance, to which Tony has gone to convey a message about a challenger between the 2 gangs, something that would decide the rivalry once and for all.
The movie is a musical, so there are several song and dances about the tension in the gangs as they proceed to a final rumble (the challenge) between them, along with the excitement in the life of Tony and Maria as their love increases. The story climaxes when Maria requests Tony to stop the rumble, and Tony is subject to ridicule from the gang members when he tries to stop them. His attempts are met with scorn, and the Jets head Riff cannot stand to see this ridicule of his close friend and starts fighting with Bernardo. In this tussle, Bernardo kills Riff, and Tony kills Bernardo in revenge. At this point, the police arrive and the gang members disperse.
Maria is informed by another gang member Chino (Jose DeVega) about the fight and about Tony killing her brother. When Tony arrives, Maria is very angry, but Tony manages to convince her by detailing what happened at the fight, and by offering to surrender to the police. However, the story happens in tragedy when Tony and Maria are about to meet, Chino comes in and shoots Tony. It is in this tragedy that the gangs unite, when member of both gangs carry Tony’s body.

Academy awards:

Wins:

Academy Award for Best Picture – Robert Wise, producer
Academy Award for Directing – Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – George Chakiris
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Rita Moreno
Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Set Decoration, Color) – Victor A. Gangelin and Boris Leven
Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Color) – Daniel L. Fapp
Academy Award for Costume Design (Color) – Irene Sharaff
Academy Award for Film Editing – Thomas Stanford
Academy Award for Original Music Score of a Musical Picture – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal, and Sid Ramin
Academy Award for Sound – Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD), and Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

Nominations

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – Ernest Lehman

Henry Fielding had written a classic novel, called ‘The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling’ way back in 1749. The story of an illegitimate man, his love, his relationship with others, the hatred towards him by a rival, and how he gets saved right in the nick of time near the end; all of these make this a great story. The movie was acclaimed as a great comedy, was award winning, and was covered in a cover story by Time Magazine when it was released in 1963.
The movie was directed by Tony Richardson and starred Albert Finney in an Oscar nominated role (Albert however did not get the Best Actor Oscar). The movie was also interesting in terms of Academy Award since it was the first and only time in which 3 actresses were nominated for ‘Best Actress in a supporting role’.

The movie is the story of Tom Jones. He was found by a Squire in his bed after he returned from a long trip, and the Square suspected that the was the illegitimate child of his servants. The good natured Squire decides to raise the bastard child like his own son (he had already kicked out the servants whom he suspected of giving birth to this child). The child, under this care, grows up to be a dashing and kind good man who can win hearts all around. However, in this society, he is still an illegitimate man, and cannot hope to marry the one whom he truly loves Sophie Western (Susannah York); she is from a much higher part of society. She loves him back, but cannot show this.
Her parents have somebody else in mind, somebody who would be more suitable for her. This person is Blifil (David Warner), the son of the Squire’s sister. He is the exact opposite of Tom Jone, since he is of respectable birth, but otherwise possessing values that certainly do not endear him to Sophie. He is not particularly fond of Tom Jones, and after his mother’s death he manages to convince the Squire to turn Tom Jones out (Blifil has also intercepted a letter from his mother to the Squire – and the content of this letter is not revealed till the end).
In his journey outside, Tom Jones goes through many experiences; he is robbed of his legacy, has to fight for the good name of Sophie, meets the persons who are supposed to be his parents, meets ladies out to get him, and eventually ends up in Jail, waiting to be hanged (since he has been framed by Blifil for robbery and attempted murder). He is facing the end, and this is when things start to turn right for him. The Squire rescues him, and finally they also learn that Tom Jones is in fact the illegitimate son of the Squire’s sister, and not of servants. The Squire also learns that Blifil knew all this and yet concealed it, leading to disgrace for him. And so things end well for Tom Jones.
The movie won and was nominated for the following Oscars:

Won:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Music, Score – Substantially Original (John Addison)
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Nominated:
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Albert Finney)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hugh Griffith)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Diane Cilento)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Dame Edith Evans)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Joyce Redman)
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Ralph W. Brinton, Ted Marshall, Jocelyn Herbert, Josie MacAvin)

The musicals had a great season in American celluloid in a period of the 40′s and 50′s; and one of the greatest musicals of all time was ‘Singing In the Rain’ (released in 1952). The movie is also acknowledged to be Gene Kelly’s greatest work (with An American in Paris released in 1951 being another great movie). This was a movie that Gene Kelly had thrown his heart and soul into, with not only delivering a great acting role, but also co-directing, and being the choreographer. The movie had some great dances, with the dance on the title song where Gene Kelly danced with an umbrella, with water pouring, dancing in puddles, and generally having a good rain soaked dance being one of the greatest. It is even more admirable due to the fact that the dance happened when Gene Kelly had 103 fever.
The movie also picturised the transition that the American film industry had from the age of silent movies, to the age of movies with sound. This was a major change, and impacted not only the art of film-making, but also had an impact on the film stars of the silent era. Singing in the Rain captures the transition of some of the stars, while others failed to make the transition, and also heralded the appearance of new stars who were more suited for the sound era.

The movie is about a popular star of the silent era, Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly). He has risen through the industry while doing all sort of jobs, and is now the leading star. His leading lady is Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen); Don cannot stand Lina, while she feels that they have an ongoing romance (something created by the studio for more publicity). Once, Don gets to suddenly meet a lady Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds) (he jumped into her car to escape from some fans); and after some initial back-and-forth, they start falling into love.
However, there is a major disturbance – a new talking film called ‘The Jazz Singer’ has been released by a rival studio and becomes a success. This forces a change of plans, with the studio boss R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) deciding to convert the upcoming Don – Lina film into a talkie. However, it wasn’t so easy, and they eventually decide to get Kathy to dub for Lina, and to make the movie into a musical. Lina does not like Kathy and her romance with Don, and makes sure that Kathy cannot get screen credit for her voice-over; however, in the premiere, after some delay, the inevitable happens. It is revealed that Kathy is the voice, and also the upcoming star.