Most of my favourites have already been nominated. But for me there can be only one winner, The Ladykillers. What a masterpiece! I speak of the original made at Ealing in the fifties, not the recent remake.
Why? Several reasons: first, it is arguably the ultimate black comedy. Hilarious every time one of the bad guys is killed off. Secondly, it had a superb cast and every one of them deserved an Oscar. Alec Guinness as the oleaginous “Professor”, blunt instrument Herbert Lom, Cecil Parker as the cowardly con man, Danny Green as “One Round”, the dumb muscle man with a heart of gold and of course Peter Sellers as a (he was young then) Teddy boy. The third reason is the performance of the wonderful Katy Johnson, a real pensioner who it is said, had never acted in anything before. She played the naïve old lady who wins out in the end.
The film was made on a budget that today would be regarded as impossibly mean. If I could screen the original Ladykillers in a cinema today, I would fill the place with aspiring script writers and actors, so that they can see how excellent lines delivered with perfect timing by accomplished professionals can be achieved at a modest cost.