The Moonlight Awards: 1953

The 1950s is a great period for movies - but not so much for American movies, as the Red Scare is driving many great artists out of the business. European and Japanese filmmakers are thriving, though, so this year they dominate the spotlight. Will we have our first non-English-language winner since Bicycle Thieves in '48? There's a four-out-of-five chance... Join Rachel Schaevitz and Aaron Keck as they discuss the year in cinema, the Hollywood blacklist, the poor man's Cary Grant, the greatness of Audrey Hepburn, what makes a film "feminist" or "anti-war," Hitchcock's theory of suspense, the generation gap, the menace of bad titles, and what happens when the original gaslighter gets gaslit - and then we dig into the data and the numbers (and our expert panel votes) to identify the best picture of 1953. The nominees are The Earrings of Madame de..., Roman Holiday, Tokyo Story, Ugetsu, and The Wages of Fear. Who wins the Moonlight?