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Ranking 1946 Best Picture Nominees

1946 wasn’t the greatest year for cinema, but it still had its fair share of classics to offer. The Academy’s Best Picture slate for this year is a pretty good one. It contains one family-friendly charmer, one Shakespeare adaptation, one bloated epic and two iconic masterpieces that were unfortunately pitted against each other in the same year. Ranking them was quite easy for me, so here we go.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

5. The Razor’s Edge

The Razor’s Edge is a bloated epic drama that was obviously based on a novel, but it didn’t quite turn out as well as they’d hoped it would on the big screen. It’s a thematically rich movie that is also populated by well fleshed out characters that were wonderfully performed by its competent cast. While this was an undeniably worthy effort, the film left a lot to be desired in terms of strong storytelling, clear direction and focus or point of view. It gets the last spot on this list of nominees that is stronger than your average Best Picture slate.

4. The Yearling

The Yearling is way too long with a very odd structure, but it is so moving and with such a heartbreaking ending. The film benefits from an awesome score as well as lush scenery. It is thematically rich with the mother’s character being fascinating. This is one of those wonderful family-friendly flicks that are nowadays either absent or are relegated to the animation medium. It is a perfectly solid and charming flick in its own right, but it had no reason being nominated, especially in this strong slate.

3. Henry V

In this version of Henry V, Laurence Olivier did an amazing dual role here as both actor and director, in particular excelling in the latter role. His decision to frame the movie as a real stage play as it must have been like back in 1600 was brilliant and this made the movie truly unique, though his failure to stick with this format throughout the entire runtime was its biggest hurdle. It’s not quite as strong as the Kenneth Branagh adaptation, but it’s still a very good Shakespeare feature that benefits from beautiful costumes and stunning sets.

2. The Best Years of Our Lives

The Best Years of Our Lives is truly the quintessential WWII drama that explores the aftermath of this war and what the returning veterans went through in very realistic detail. Dana Andrews, Harold Russell and Fredric March all gave outstanding performances in perfectly written and believable roles. Watching this classic, still very moving and timeless drama, you don’t ever feel its epic length, which is a testament to its raw power. It remains one of the greatest Best Picture winners of all time, but it did not get the number one spot on this list due to this year containing an even bigger masterpiece.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life

Yes, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life should have won an Oscar, but when all is said and done, I am happy how things turned out due to the above movie being a more timely winner thematically for 1946. With that being said, this is an iconic tale that is life-affirming and deeply heartfelt as Capra teaches us about the importance of living your life to the fullest and never giving up. Featuring an outstanding James Stewart performance that was his career-best and gorgeous cinematography, the movie functions as a moving drama and as a charming fantasy story that has stood the test of time with flying colors and is still widely enjoyable to this date.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Notorious – Notorious is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most elegant and stylish, but also suspenseful movies. It is phenomenally performed by its very talented cast, but it’s also chockfull of iconic scenes throughout its runtime. It’s so technically polished and obviously great that it’s ridiculous that the Academy snubbed it this year.

A Matter of Life and Death – Astonishing sets, great costumes, fantastic editing and terrific world building made A Matter of Life and Death a glorious technical achievement. Although it lacks in terms of emotion, romance and drama, it compensates that with excellent humor as many scenes are very funny, especially some hilarious lines of dialogue.

My Darling Clementine – This movie is one of the most refreshing and different westerns from this period. Instead of action, it focuses a lot on dialogue, it is character-driven and oh so charming. This picture exudes charm in its every frame as the cinematography is among the best of the genre.