After the closely spaced successes of "Marty" and "Friendly Persuasion," the US didn't score another Palme d'Or winner for 13 years, and by the time it did, a bold new generation of filmmakers had announced itself. One of the few outright comedies to take the festival's top prize, Robert Altman's loose, ribald Vietnam satire wasn't a universally popular choice at the time, but it remains the best-remembered title out of a politics-heavy Competition lineup. It went on to score five Oscar nominations, including Altman's first. While it was too offbeat to wrestle the top prize from a more strait-laced war film, "Patton," it received its compensation in the form of a writing award -- to this day, the Academy's routine treatment for Best Picture nominees that color a little outside the lines.