13 Oscar-Winning Movies With a Tie to Wisconsin
Originally published on Milwaukee Magazine 3/7/24The 96th Academy Awards airs on March 10. To celebrate, we’re taking a look back at some Best Picture winning films that have connections to the dairy state.
1931 | Cimarron
This 1931 film was the first Western to take home the big award. Though released nearly 100 years ago, the story remains timely. One of this year’s nominees for Best Picture, Killers of the Flower Moon is about the same Oklahoma land and the Osage people as Cimarron. The movie, which follows a couple during the Oklahoma land rush of 1889, is based on a novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. Ferber was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but moved to Appleton at the age of 12. She started her career as a reporter for the Appleton Daily Crescent at the age of 17 and went on to write for the Milwaukee Journal, eventually publishing her first novel Dawn O’Hara about a female reporter in Milwaukee. In 2002, The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp for Ferber, as a part of their “Distinguished American” series.
Theatre Magazine Company; Nickolas Muray, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1943 | Mrs. Miniver
This Best Picture winner shares the story of a middle-class British family during World War II. The film touches on the horrors of war – the son, Clem, volunteers for the Dunkirk evacuation and a wounded German pilot takes the mom hostage – as well as the complexities of family life during at the time. Its original score was created by Herbert Stothart who was born in Milwaukee in 1885. Stothart studied music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught as a music instructor. He was later hired by producer Arthur Hammerstein (uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II) to serve as the musical director of several Broadway shows. Afterward, he worked for MGM studios, where he composed the score of several notable films including for The Wizard of Oz, Anna Karenina, A Tale of Two Cities and Mrs. Miniver.
1947 | The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives was another war-focused Oscar winner. The story follows three soldiers returning from WWII. As they re-assimilate, their experiences in the military clash with the realities of their lives back home. One of the soldiers is a war hero who can’t compete with skilled workers and has to return to a low-paying soda jerk job. Another lost both hands in the war and struggles to believe that his fiancé is still in love with him. The third soldier is Al, played by Fredric March, who returns to his job as a bank executive, but struggles with alcohol abuse, and is caught offering favorable loans to veterans. March is a Racine native. Before heading to Broadway, he studied at the UW-Madison.
1951 | All About Eve
This classic Hollywood story follows character Margo Channing (played by Bette Davis), a Broadway star who worries about her career as she turns 40. During one of her performances, she meets Eve Harrington, a fan from Wisconsin who just lost her husband. Margo offers Eve a job, and Eve quickly works her way into Margo’s life. Overtime, she tries to de-throne Margo and emulate the star’s lifestyle. Eventually, Eve becomes a star herself. She then meets Phoebe, a fan who will go on to do to Eve what Eve did to Margo. Eve Harrington is played by Anne Baxter, the granddaughter of Wisconsin’s own Frank Lloyd Wright. Though she didn’t grow up in Wisconsin, she is buried in the family plot in Spring Green.
Bette Davis and Anne Baxter (right). 20th Century Fox / Photographer not credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1961 | The Apartment
The Apartment is a romantic comedy that not only won best picture, but was also the highest-grossing film of 1960. The story is about one man who, in an effort to get noticed at work, allows his coworkers to use his apartment for their extramarital affairs. He soon falls in love with the elevator operator at the building, but she’s having an affair with the personnel director at his job, Jeff Sheldrake. Sheldrake is played by Fred MacMurray, who grew up in Madison. He moved to Beaver Dam, where his mother was born. He received a full-ride scholarship to Carroll College in Waukesha, where he performed in many local bands as a saxophone player before moving to Chicago and starting his acting career.
1967 | A Man for All Seasons
Famous Wisconsin native Orson Welles stars in this Oscar-winning film about Sir Thomas More. Welles plays Cardinal Wolsey, who was trying to obtain a Papal annulment for the marriage of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon after they did not produce a male heir (thereby allowing Henry to marry Anne Boleyn). More, the film’s protagonist, refuses to accept Henry’s new marriage as valid. Welles was born in Kenosha and partially schooled in Madison where his nascent genius was recognized by the Capital Times. Welles would go on to carve an incredible career across many mediums including radio, theater, fine art, writing, acting and directing. He is best known for his seminal film, Citizen Kane.
1985 | Amadeus
The period drama follows the life and career of legendary composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from the antagonistic viewpoint of his rival Antonio Salieri. Mozart’s life turns to shambles due to his addiction to alcohol, but his career continues to thrive while Salieri’s withers. Tom Hulce, who played the titular character, may have picked up a few of his acting skills right here in Wisconsin! The actor was born in Michigan, and went to the University of North Carolina School of Arts before earning his B.A. from Beloit College.
Tom Hulce. George Long, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1987 | Platoon
Oliver Stone’s Platoon helped skyrocket beloved Appleton native Willem Dafoe to stardom. The film is touted as a seminal film about the Vietnam War, and also features Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Depp and Tom Berenger. This was Dafoe’s first high-profile role. He played Elias Gordon, a staff sergeant who served as a mentor for the film’s protagonist. Dafoe attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for 18 months before he left to start his career in New York. He returned to UWM, where he earned an honorary doctorate and gave a commencement speech to the class of 2022.
1997 | The English Patient
A decade after Platoon won Best Picture, another movie featuring Willem Dafoe won the sought-after award. Another war-focused film, The English Patient sets up the story of one man’s experience, told in flashbacks. After being completely burned during an attack from Germans, the protagonist is rescued by a combat nurse. Dafoe plays David Caravaggio, a Canadian Intelligence operative who was a victim of German interrogation. Caravaggio questions the unknown patient, and the story starts to unfurl.
Willem Dafoe; Sasha Kargaltsev, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
1998 | Titanic
This blockbuster rehashed the tragedy of the Titanic, but it also created one of the most famous love stories of all time. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio famously play the lovers Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson. Rose is pressured to marry her wealthy fiance Caledon “Cal” Hockley, played by Billy Zane, who grew up in Chicago, but does have a tie to the Badger State. He went to the Harand Camp of the Theater Arts in Elkhart Lake, which actors Jeremy Piven and Virginia Madsen also attended. And it’s worth noting that, the fictional Jack Dawson is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
2003 | Chicago
Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-uh, Cicero, Lipschitz! This timeless musical follows a murder scandal in the Windy City. The film, based on the longest-running musical of the same name, features an unstoppable ensemble cast that follows the trial of a Chicago housewife after she murders her husband. The film was directed by a cheesehead – Rob Marshall was born in Madison. He went on to direct Mary Poppin Returns, Into the Woods and most recently, the remake of The Little Mermaid.
2014 | 12 Years a Slave
The groundbreaking film 12 Years a Slave was written by Milwaukee-born John Ridley, who also founded Milwaukee’s Nō Studios. The screenplay was based on the memoir of Solomon Northrup, a man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. and sold into slavery. Ridley attended Homestead High School before starting at Indiana University, then transferring to New York University. He became a successful stand up comedian before he began to write for shows including Martin and The Fresh Prince of BelAir. He went on to write his own novels and screenplays, penning several while also writing for NPR. After the smashing success of 12 Years a Slave, which won him a screenwriting Oscar, he worked on several projects, including the new Black Panther comics. Recently, he announced his latest film, Shirley, will premiere at the Oriental Theatre on March 14. He will host a reception at Nō Studios following the viewing.
2016 | Spotlight
The most recent Best Picture winner with ties to Wisconsin is 2016’s Spotlight, which features Kenosha native Mark Ruffalo, who is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor this year for his role in Poor Things. Spotlight follows the true story of the Boston Globe‘s investigation into the Catholic Church, which unearthed decades of covered up child abuse at the hands of priests across the Boston diocese.
Mark Ruffalo; Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Common
