According to IMDb: 30 Worst Oscar Documentary Winners
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- DirectorTerry BishopStarsE.R. ChadwickHarford AnerobiFanny ElumezeThis 47-minute documentary, financed by HRH's government, won an Oscar in the special category, and most of it was later edited into a 1953 two-segment documentary called "Savage World" by the same crew of film-makers listed on this film. The story here is about an African tribe that is working to build a maternity hospital, with the aid of government officials, and against the opposition of some tribal members.(Y)
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsKent SmithHans ConriedAn Academy Award winner for best documentary, the film opens with a notice that..."Exhibition of confiscated Japanese film material authorized by permission of the Alien Property Custodian in the public interest under License No. LM 979"...and was assembled from hundreds of captured newsreels, historical dramas and propaganda films. While revealing the steps that Japan took that led to Pearl Harbor, it goes back 700 years to the feudal caste system, a peasant revolt suppressed after the Samurai murdered over 40,000 people, to Admiral Perry forcibly opening Japan to foreign trade, to the perversion of converting the Shinto religion of nature-worship to that of a fanatic state creed that preached the Japanese were a Master Race and the Emperor was a sun-god to be blindly obeyed. The film carried no credit for a director, while Richard Fleischer shared the Producer credit with Theron Warth.
- DirectorJames AlgarStarsWinston HiblerVolmer SørensenThe wildlife of the arctic is explored in this true-life adventure.
- StarsPeter BathurstDamien ParerCameraman Damien Parer has just returned from the front in New Guinea, where he's documented Australian troops in action. He explains this to us in a prolog. We then see air drops of supplies, wounded men being carried on stretchers by native porters, and men leaving camp to go to the front. There's a tiny bit of possibly staged combat footage. A narrator explains that the Japanese soldiers are expert at disguise, and how important support from the home front is.(Y)
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsRobert FrostJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonAcclaimed poet Robert Frost reminisces on his career. He is also seen giving lectures at Amherst and Sarah Lawrence Colleges, in daily life at his rural Vermont home, and receiving the Congressional Gold Medal from President Kennedy.
- DirectorEmile ArdolinoStarsJacques d'AmboiseJudy CollinsKevin KlineJacques d'Amboise, a noted former American ballet star who had dancing roles in such films as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Carousel (1956), and who later became a New York dancing instructor.
- DirectorJerome HillStarsBurgess MeredithFredric MarchAlbert SchweitzerThis biographical drama/documentary narrative written by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and spoken by Fredric March, traces the life of Dr. Schweitzer (with actors playing the characters), from his birth in France up to about the age of 30 when he makes the decision to go to French Equatorial Africa and build his jungle hospital. The latter half of the film encompasses a full day in the hospital-village following the 80s-plus Samaritan in his daily rounds.(Y)
- DirectorAllie LightIrving SarafStarsWilliam S. JonesWinner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, this film is a hilarious and affectionate look at the path to stardom inside the competitive world of opera.
- DirectorRichard KaplanStarsArchibald MacleishEric SevareidCorinne Alsop ColeRichard Kaplan documents the life of one of America's most influential first ladies. Orphaned at age 10, Eleanor Roosevelt marries her fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1905. His election in 1932 allows Eleanor to step up to national prominence, battling for civil rights and visiting troops during World War II. After her husband's death, Roosevelt continues to advocate for human rights at the U.N., proving herself one of America's great humanitarians.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellLogan RamseyThe Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.(Y)
- DirectorIrwin AllenStarsDon ForbesTheodore von EltzOscar-winning documentary based on Rachel L. Carson's pioneering study of ocean life chronicled in her award-winning and best-selling 1951 book of the same name.
- DirectorVictoria MuddStarsMartin SheenBuffy Sainte-MarieBurgess MeredithDocumentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.
- DirectorLee GrantStarsLee GrantJeff FarmerBob HansonA recession in the mid-1980s affects Minnesota farm workers, unemployed urban workers and the newly homeless in Los Angeles and New York.
- DirectorLouis Clyde StoumenStarsMarlene DietrichAdolf HitlerThe rise and fall of Nazi Germany in part through the use of classical allegory.
- DirectorRoy BoultingDavid MacDonaldStarsHarold AlexanderWinston ChurchillAdolf HitlerThe Allied campaign to drive Germany and Italy from North Africa is analysed, with the major portion of the film examining the battles at El Alamein, including a re-enactment.(Y)
- DirectorArnold SchwartzmanStarsElizabeth TaylorOrson WellesSimon WiesenthalOrson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor compassionately narrate this harrowing documentary about Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany, which soon turned into a notoriously industrious plan to wipe them from existence.
- DirectorIlya KopalinLeonid VarlamovStarsN. DubravinEdward G. RobinsonJoseph StalinA number of frontline cameramen shot the footage used in this documentary of the Battle of Moscow, between October 1941 and January 1942,in which a people's war against the German invaders, whose atrocities are shown in graphic detail, is begun, with echoes of traditional Russian heroism and an appeal to save the country's religious and cultural monuments.(Y)
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsKim AtwoodMarty AtwoodMike AtwoodDorothy and Bob DeBolt's tale of the struggles and joys involved in their 19 adopted children, many of who are physically disabled war orphans.
- DirectorPierre SchoendoerfferStarsJoseph B. AndersonStuart WhitmanThe director, a French veteran of the Indochina war (La 317e Section), returned to follow a platoon of American soldiers for six weeks at the height of fighting in Vietnam in 1966. The documentary discusses the background and fate of the soldiers and emphasizes how much American culture pervades the soldiers' behaviors in the midst of jungle life and fighting.
- DirectorBill McGawStarsCarl RogersRichard FarsonJerryThe film portrays a 16-hour group-therapy session for eight well-adjusted people who had never met before.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyRichard LyfordCurt OertelStarsFredric MarchThe life and works of the great artist Michelangelo Buonarroti are shown against the historical background of his time. It begins with his earliest artworks, and follows his life and career as he achieves lasting fame. The documentary includes detailed looks at some of the artist's most renowned creations.
- DirectorPierre-Dominique GaisseauStarsGerard DelloyeTony SaulnierHerve de MaigretIn September, 1959, six Europeans leave Cook's Bay on the southern coast of Dutch New Guinea, now West Papua or Irian Jaya, to trek north to the far side of the island. The journey (450 miles, as a crow flies) across unmapped territory took seven months; three Muyu porters died. Near both coasts, the expedition met villagers who invited them to observe rituals and live with them. In the interior, all villagers kept them at bay, and they depended on air lifts from Hollandia for food and supplies. They climbed above 10,000 feet, built 14 bridges, and fought leeches and malaria. The narrator focuses on describing Stone Age savages, headhunters, and cannibals.
- DirectorEdward SteichenWilliam WylerStarsRobert TaylorCharles BoyerJoseph J. ClarkAn in-depth look at aircraft carrier combat operations during World War II. Real combat footage. Very strong and compelling.
- DirectorGarson KaninCarol ReedStarsDwight D. EisenhowerLeslie BanksWinston ChurchillA documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsWalter HustonVictor Bulwer-LyttonKai-Shek ChiangThe official World War II US Government film statement defining the various enemies of the Allies and why they must be fought.
- DirectorGérard PatrisFrançois ReichenbachStarsArtur RubinsteinEliahu InbalPaul KletzkiAn Oscar winning look at the life of Albert Rubinstein shortly after he turned 70. It contains some home movies of him and his family, but is primarily him talking and demonstrating his great skill as a pianist.
- DirectorNancy HamiltonStarsKatharine CornellHelen KellerPolly ThompsonThis documentary chronicles the life of Helen Keller, who was struck by an illness as a young child that left her both blind and deaf. Aided by her devoted teacher, Anne Sullivan, Keller is able to develop ways to communicate and becomes an author and advocate. Made when Keller was 72 years old, this film, directed by Nancy Hamilton and narrated by actress Katharine Cornell, features old and recent footage of Keller as her remarkable journey leads her to meet President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- DirectorSusan RaymondStarsSusan RaymondDeanna BurneyClary JanssonFilmmakers Alan Raymond and Susan Raymond document Philadelphia teachers facing challenges at an inner-city school.
- DirectorFreida Lee MockStarsMaya LinA film about the work of the artist most famous for her monuments such as the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Civil Rights Fountain Memorial.
- DirectorWalon GreenEd SpiegelStarsLawrence PressmanConlan CarterIan McShaneA scientist explains how the savagery and efficiency of the insect world could result in their taking over the world.