A historical look at our favorite men's Oscar fashion moments ... from wonderful to wacky

By Kathleen Murphy
Special to MSN Movies

I COULDA BEEN A CONTENDER! Marlon Brando, 27th Annual Academy Awards, 1955
During the '50s, perhaps his most productive acting period, Brando owned every movie he starred in, muscling out all competition. His Stanley Kowalski practically stank of thwarted machismo in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951, Oscar nom), his torn-T-shirt sexuality driving fragile Blanche Dubois over the edge. From passionate Mexican revolutionary ("Viva Zapata!", 1952, Oscar nom) to iconographic biker rebel ("The Wild One," 1953) to noble Roman senator ("Julius Caesar," 1953, Oscar nom), Brando worked the magic of his suggestive drawl, physical authority and dramatic smarts to stun audiences into awed submission. Both Frank Sinatra and Montgomery Clift were up for the part of Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront" (1954), until Brando was finally persuaded to sign on, giving the character of the doomed stevedore persuasive visual and dramatic heft. Out of T-shirt and biker leather for once, the buff Method actor displayed surprising sartorial splendor as he received -- with unabashed delight -- his first Oscar. (Bettmann/Corbis)

Also: Oscar's Glamorous Gals