Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 1952

The Contenders:

5 Fingers
The Bad and the Beautiful (winner)
High Noon
The Man in the White Suit
The Quiet Man

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Director 1952

The Contenders:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz: 5 Fingers
Cecil B. DeMille: The Greatest Show on Earth
Fred Zinnemann: High Noon
John Huston: Moulin Rouge
John Ford: The Quiet Man (winner)

Watching Oscar: 5 Fingers

Film: 5 Fingers
Format: Streaming video from Hulu+ on laptop.

Everyone has an actor or two that he or she loves and will always watch. Barbara Stanwyck is one of mine. James Mason is another. When I saw that Hulu was losing the rights to Mason’s 5 Fingers, I knew it was time to watch. Even if I didn’t love the movie, I knew I’d appreciate Mason, and I was right in that opinion. Of course, it helps that the film was good enough for a couple of Oscar nods, but it’s really all about James Mason for me, with Michael Rennie as an added bonus.

The opening moments of the film suggest that what we are about to see is a true story of espionage from World War II, and as far as I know, this is the truth. Like many a good story of spying during wartime, this film takes place not in one of the belligerent nations, but on neutral territory, Turkey, in this case. Since declaring itself neutral in the conflict, both Axis and Allied powers maintain embassies, and there is a great deal of maneuvering around the idea of getting aid both official and unofficial from the Turkish government.