Oscar's Favorite Tunes Revisited: The 1950s

1950: “Mona Lisa” (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) from Captain Carey, U.S.A.. The composers’ second Oscar win is for a song made popular by Nat King Cole’s rendition (heard in the clip).

1951: “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer) from Here Comes the Groom. Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman perform this song in a clip from the film. It was Mercer’s second win.

1952: “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) from High Noon. Washington’s second Oscar is for this classic Western song, originally performed by Tex Ritter.

1953: “Secret Love” (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) from Calamity Jane. Doris Day starred in the film and performs the song in this clip from it. Could be one of the dullest tunes ever to win the Oscar though.

1954: “Three Coins in the Fountain” (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) from Three Coins in the Fountain. Frank Sinatra sang it in the movie, but here’s Dean Martin performing it during the 1955 Oscars telecast, after a brief introduction by Jerry Lewis.

1955: “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) from Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. The composers’ second win is a real crooner favorite, performed in this clip by Andy Williams (added bonus for karaoke fans…).

1956: “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Qué Será, Será)” (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) from The Man Who Knew Too Much. The composers’ third win is an immortal, bittersweet classic, performed in this clip by (who else?) Doris Day.

1957: “All the Way” (James Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) from The Joker is Wild. The sound quality is poor, but here’s Frank Sinatra singing a part of the song in the movie. This was the composers’ second win.

1958: “Gigi” (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner) from Gigi. “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” is the song you may remember from the movie, but the title tune won the Oscar. The clip shows Louis Jourdan singing it in the movie.

1959: “High Hopes” (James Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) from A Hole in the Head. The composers’ third win is one of the most positively annoying songs in the history of the Oscars. Here’s Frank Sinatra and a bunch of kids.

film movies

Published by Stefan Hedmark 2009-05-24 05:26

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