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The extremely small group of Nobel laureates who have earned Academy Award nominations grew today by 33. Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the world’s most feted contemporary writers, earned his first Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay for the film “Living,” which also earned a Best Actor nomination for Bill Nighy. How many other Nobel prize winner have pulled off this feat? And will it help Ishiguro pull off a victory in this competitive category?

Ishiguro is now the fourth winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to earn an Oscar nomination. The first was George Bernard Shaw, who received the Nobel in 1925 for, in the words of the Nobel committee, “his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.” He won the Best Screenplay prize in 1939 for adapting his own play “Pygmalion,” sharing the Oscar with Ian Dalrymple,...

Few ’30s classics have held up as well as this MGM blockbuster, a costume thriller that in spirit is quite faithful to the great Charles Dickens novel. Heroes don’t come more sophisticated or noble than Ronald Colman’s Sydney Carton, nor as vile as Basil Rathbone’s Marquis St. Evrémonde. David O. Selznick’s impeccable production hits all the right notes and even downplays the ‘save the royals’ sentiments. This is the one where the Bastille gets stormed and a chortling hag cheers every drop of a guillotine blade. The show even has a connection to producer Val Lewton. Just remember that activities like capitol-storming and public executions need to stay back in the 18th century where they belong.

A Tale of Two Cities

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 126 min. / Street Date February 9, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Donald Woods,...

One of the first full Technicolor features is a romantic fantasy about an innocent beauty’s encounter with an equally innocent fugitive monk … all surrounded by sensuous, confected Hollywood exotica, courtesy of producer David O. Selznick. Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer steam up the screen, but dancer Tilly Losch steals the show with just one scene.

The Garden of Allah

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1936 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 79 min. / Street Date January 9, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith,

Tilly Losch, Joseph Schildkraut, John Carradine.

Cinematography: W. Howard Greene

Film Editor: Hal C. Kern

Art Directors: Edward G. Boyle, Sturges Carne, Lansing C. Holden, Lyle R. Wheeler

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by W.P. Lipscomb, Lynn Riggs, from the novel by Robert Hichens

Produced by David O. Selznick

Directed by Richard Boleslawski

David O. Selznick’s personally produced movies combine canny commercial judgment...

Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart, Ray Jackson, Ronald Hines, Sean Barrett, Roland Curram, Meredith Edwards, Michael Bates, Maxine Audley, Lionel Jeffries | Written by David Divine, W.P. Lipscomb | Directed by Leslie Norman

While this year’s Dunkirk brought an intensity to the screen conveying the horrors of what was experienced by the soldiers at Dunkirk, there was a version of that same story that was released back in 1958. Now digitally restored and available on DVD and Blu-ray, this Dunkirk is an interesting look at how the true events affected many people.

When Nazi Germany invaded France, the British army found themselves in retreat. Making their way to Dunkirk which was the only means of escape, Operation Dynamo was put into action to get the soldiers out of France and home.

What is interesting about this version of Dunkirk is the fact it is a darker look at...