Oscars: Every Best Picture Winner Ever Ranked From Worst To Best

57. Hamlet (1948)

It's pointless attempting to argue against Laurence Olivier's unwavering commitment to William Shakespeare's material, yet his screen adaptation of Hamlet is at once fatally beholden to its origins on stage, and controversially truncates much of the Bard's text down to reside within a bearable 155 minutes (an understandable and merciful decision, really).

Hamlet was up against bonafide classics The Red Shoes and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which don't really help its case, though the persuasive pull of Olivier's central performance is significant.

It doesn't so much feel like a leap from the stage to the screen as it does a limp, albeit an enthusiastic one on Olivier's part. Cinematically, though, it is quite lacking, even factoring in its age.