Much more than also-rans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicks off “Great to Be Nominated: Part Two” Monday evening with a new restored print of one of the most admired movies of the last century, 1940’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.

But some of the titles in the 18-week series, which honors films that in their given year got the most Oscar nominations without winning for best picture, are rarely seen -- movies such as “Wilson,” the 1944 Technicolor biography of Woodrow Wilson, or the 1948 drama for which Jane Wyman received a best actress Oscar, “Johnny Belinda,” about a deaf-mute woman who is raped.

Academy programmer Randy Haberkamp admits it may be difficult to fill the 1,000-seat Samuel Goldwyn Theatre with the likes of “Wilson,” which even 61 years ago wasn’t a commercial hit. “I have never seen it,” he says. “They are restoring it here. But there are people who love that movie.”

And Haberkamp claims the sentimental 1943 religious drama “The Song of Bernadette,” for which Jennifer Jones won best actress, “will be helped by the big screen.”

But then again, he says, being seen in a theater will be a boon to all the films in the series, which covers 1940 to 1957.

“The thing that is really fun is trying to get people to see these films on the screen,” he says. “You lose so much on home video, and they were not designed [for the small screen]. And then there’s the communal experience.”

Besides the feature, each screening will include trailers, outtakes, newsreels and two short subjects from that year.

Special guests appear on some evenings; Fonda’s grandson actor Troy Garity is scheduled to introduce “Grapes of Wrath” on Monday. Darryl Hickman and Shirley Mills, who were just kids when they appeared in the film, are also set to attend.

At the screening of “Sergeant York” on April 18, female lead Joan Leslie will be on hand to talk about working with Gary Cooper in the drama for which he won his first Oscar.

Although Hollywood tended to shy away from topics considered too dicey to pass the censors, several of the films tackled taboo themes such as disabilities and racial prejudice.

Both 1955’s “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” and 1957’s “Sayonara” examine prejudice between whites and Asians, and 1956’s “Giant” tackles discrimination against Latinos.

“You have these racial and cultural barriers being bandied about in softer ways,” Haberkamp says. “But it was a real strong undercurrent going on in [these films]. Looking at these movies today, some of their power is gone by the passage of time, but when you put them in context, you see they were much more daring than you would think.”

The films in the festival showcase some of the biggest stars of the era at the peaks of their careers, including Fonda; Cooper, who appears in “York,” 1942’s “The Pride of the Yankees” and 1952’s “High Noon”; Gregory Peck, who stars in 1946’s “The Yearling” and 1953’s “Roman Holiday”; Bing Crosby, who headlines 1945’s “The Bells of St. Mary’s” and 1954’s “The Country Girl”; William Holden, featured in 1950’s “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Country Girl” and “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing”; James Dean, Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor of “Giant”; and Marlon Brando, who stars in 1951’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Sayonara.”

For “Streetcar,” Haberkamp opted to show director Elia Kazan’s cut of the film, which restores a few scenes that were deleted to satisfy censors back in 1951. “I figured it was better to show the director’s cut and then explain to people what was taken out so they could understand the power of censorship and what was going on at the time,” he says.

“Usually, I prefer whenever possible to show the original release, but in this case, showing the director’s version would be more informative than not.”

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‘Great to Be Nominated’

Where: Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

When: 7 p.m. Mondays

Ends: Aug. 22

Price: $30 for a series pass. Individual tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for students with valid ID.

Contact: (310) 247-3600

Monday: “The Grapes of Wrath”

April 18: “Sergeant York”

April 25: “The Pride of the Yankees”

May 2: “The Song of Bernadette”

May 9: “Wilson”

May 16: “The Bells of St. Mary’s”

May 23: “The Yearling”

June 6: “Great Expectations”

June 13: “Johnny Belinda”

June 20: “The Heiress”

June 27: “Sunset Boulevard”

July 11: “A Streetcar Named Desire”

July 18: “High Noon”

July 25: “Roman Holiday”

Aug. 1: “The Country Girl”

Aug. 8: “The Rose Tattoo,” “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing”

Aug. 15: “Giant”

Aug. 22: “Sayonara”