1. Sweet Smell Of Success
2. Wild Strawberries
3. Throne Of Blood
4. Nights of Cabiria
5. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
6. Mother India
7. The Seventh Seal
8. Kanal
9. 12 Angry Men
10. The Cranes Are Flying

BIL’S BEST ACTOR

The most exciting and vital performance of the year comes from the scrappy Tony Curtis as the reporter with dubious morals in Alexander Mackendrick’s superb The Sweet Smell Of Success.

Honour Roll:  Anthony Franciosa, A Hatful Of Rain; Andy Griffith, A Face In The Crowd; Toshiro Mifune, Throne Of Blood; Victor Sjostrom, Wild Strawberries

BIL’S BEST ACTRESS

Federico Fellini had one of the most successful careers of any non-American director in the history of cinema, particularly for one who never made a single film in English. One of the jewels of his oeuvre is Nights Of Cabiria, in which the director gave his wife Giulietta Masina her most plum role as a feisty, optimistic and strangely asexual prostitute whose faith and hope constantly lead to her downfall. Oscar was yet to show much interest in non-English performances (even though the film won the award for Best Foreign-Language film, Fellini’s 2nd of a still-held record of 4), but she was justifiably touted at Cannes with a prize for her work.

Honour Roll: Setsuko Hara, Tokyo Twilight; Patricia Neal, A Face In The Crowd; Eva Marie Saint, A Hatful of Rain; Joanne Woodward, The Three Faces Of Eve

BIL’S BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Bring Lee J. Cobb back in to do his shouting and screaming and he once again gives a film such an injection of life. Twelve Angry Men features twelve terrific performances, the angriest being Cobb as a juror whose frustrations with his own personal life prevent his being impartial in his judgment of the young man on trial.

Honour Roll: Red Buttons, Sayonara; Burt Lancaster, The Sweet Smell Of Success; Robert Loggia, The Garment Jungle; George Macready, Paths of Glory

BIL’S BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Funny Face is a silly distraction, mainly an excuse to sing Gershwin songs and watch Audrey Hepburn being gorgeous while swishing around in beautiful Givenchy dresses (and, inexplicably, giving her romantically to an aged Fred Astaire). One point of great inspiration, it has, however, is Kay Thompson‘s hilarious turn as the fashion magazine editor who encourages her readers to “Think Pink!” Thompson had quite the varied career as writer (including the “Eloise” stories), singing coach (to Judy Garland, among others) and sometimes actress, and Stanley Donen’s colourfully splashy musical is the best opportunity she had for the last of those talents.

Honour Roll: Hope Lange, Peyton Place; Eva Marie Saint, Raintree County; Gia Scala, The Garment Jungle; Isuzu Yamada, Throne Of Blood

BIL’S BEST DIRECTOR

John Huston is probably most famous for tough guy movies like The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre, but he actually had a highly varied career that included adventures, comedies, a musical (Annie–yikes!) and literary adaptations. Somewhere between gung-ho war movies and female dramas was one of his most intelligent and sensitive films, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, about the unlikely romance between a grizzled soldier (Robert Mitchum) and a nun (Deborah Kerr) on a Pacific Island. It’s basically a reworking of African Queen, but it’s better.

Honour Roll: George Abbott, Stanley Donen, The Pajama Game; Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal; Sidney Lumet, Twelve Angry Men