The 24th Academy Awards (1952)
Nominations: 12
Wins: 4
Like Ben-Hur last year, most of my frame of reference for A Streetcar Named Desire comes from the Simpsons. In this case, it’s the episode “A Streetcar Named Marge” where Marge is cast as Blanche DuBois in a musical adaptation of Tennessee William’s play called “Oh, Streetcar!” Here’s a recap if you don’t recall.
3rd Academy Awards (1930)
Nominations: 4
Wins: 2
Like last year, I’m taking advantage of a remake of a best picture winner being nominated for best picture as an opportunity to see both films for the first time. Unlike last year, instead of doing that in one post, I’m planning on doing it in two! That is, unless I find I’ve used up most of what I’ve got to say about this subject here, in which case, don’t worry, I’ve got a backup plan. So then, let us head back in time, nearly a century ago, to the third ever Academy Awards. There, an anti-war film called All Quiet on the Western Front made history as the first ever to win both Best Picture and Best Director, which, by the way, also made its director, Lewis Milestone, the first person to win two Oscars (he also won Best Director – Comedy at the First Academy Awards for Two Arabian Knights). This triumph capped off a whirlwind of success for this story, which began as a novel published in English only a year prior. But does it hold up?
