75th Anniversary Golden Globe Winners Countdown

Stanley Kramer’s win for Best Comedy or Musical was neither a critical nor box office success, even though it was based on a best-selling novel.  But the award served as a fitting close to a glorious career of one of Hollywood’s most creative producers.

After the victory of The Lion in Winter in 1968, once again a British historical drama about the king and his kingdom, Anne of the Thousand Days, was a big winner, taking four Golden Globes out of seven nominations. This time around the focus is on Henry VIII of England (Richard Burton) at odds with his wife, Catherine of Aragon (Irene Papas), who has failed to produce a male heir; he discards her in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn (French actress Geneviève Bujold).

It was a banner year for movies: Rosemary’s Baby, Planet of the Apes, The Lion in Winter, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Faces, Closely Watched Trains, The Odd Couple, Funny Girl, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Night of the Living Dead,  Stolen Kisses, Teorema, The Bride Wore Black, Once Upon a Time in the West, Bullit, Yellow Submarine and The Thomas Crown Affair: All movies that have stood the test if time. And the surprising winner? Oliver!,.

Period pictures featuring real historical characters always enjoyed great popularity, but in the 1960s they literally triumphed at the movies. It is the case of The Lion in Winter, winner of two Golden Globes (Best Drama and Best Actor, Peter O'Toole once more!), out of seven nominations.

Dustin Hoffman has called this Golden Globe winner for best comedy or musical, if not the best film he ever made, certainly the best directed. And in fact, he owes his career to director Mike Nichols, who cast him to play a role which was described as an all-American pretty boy in the novel on which it was based, a role which might’ve gone to Robert Redford.

1968 was Sidney Poitier’s big year: he was the protagonist of two films that made the cinematic history and were both nominated by the HFPA for Golden Globes: In Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Never black and white relations in America were dissected and analyzed as in that season, thanks to those two great films, and of course to the social and political environment, ready for a serious discussion.

Although it was based on a novel by Nathaniel Benchley, the son of famed humorist Robert, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! had the imprint of William Rose. Rose was an American screenwriter who volunteered to join the war effort in England long before Pearl Harbor.

It was the grand time of period films set in old England with political and religious overtones: A Man for All Seasons won four Golden Globes out of five nominations: Best Picture – Drama, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Best Actor – Drama (Paul Scofield) and Best Screenplay by Robert Bolt, who adapted his own theater play. Supporting Actor nominee Robert Shaw was the only “loser” at the Globes that year (Richard Attenborough won, forThe Sand Pebbles).

20th Century Fox premiered The Sound of Music in early March of 1965, and it quickly became the world’s most loved movie and remains so for many today. By the end of the year, it had become the biggest money earner of all time so it was a good likelihood that it would win the Golden Globe as Best Musical or Comedy that year.

Other than being one of the most famous films of all times, David Lean's Doctor Zhivago holds the distinguished record of being the cleanest sweep in Golden Globe history, winning every nominated category: five nominations, five wins. Moreover, co-star Geraldine Chaplin was named Best Promising Newcomer – Female (Elizabeth Hartman was the winner that year for A Patch of Blue).