“Suddenly, Last Summer,” is one of the few films in which two women, Katharine Hepburn and Liz Taylor, were nominated for the Best Actress award, just like “All About Eve,” in 1950, or “The Turning Point” in 1977. French thespian Simone Signoret won the Best Actress Oscar for the British drama “Room at the Top”; Signoret would again be nominated in 1965 for “Ship of Fools.”

“Shane” was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and Director for George Stevens, winning one, Color Cinematography for Loyal Griggs.

At 50, Daniel Day-Lewis is at the top of his form. This year, he's the front-runner for the Best Actor Oscar for his stunning, tumultuous performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's uniquely American epic, “There Will Be Blood.” If Day-Lewis receives a Best Actor nod, it will be his fourth nomination, having won the Oscar in 1989 for “My Left Foot,” and having been nominated for Jim Sheridan's “In the Name of the Father,” in 1993, and exactly a decade later for Scorsese's “The Gangs of New York.” All of these films have also been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

“The Robe” was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Richard Burton, winning two: Costume Design (color) and Art Direction-Set Decoration (color).

Three of the Best Actress nominees, Sally Field, Jessica Lange, and Sissy Spacek, were nominated for playing strong wives-mothers in rural dramas, past and present, prompting journalists to label them as “Hollywood Farm Trilogy.”