I'm pretty good at remembering what won the Oscar in any given year. You give me a year and I can tell you what won in the top 5 categories. This is a year I always have trouble with. The Life Of Emile Zola just doesn't feel like a Best Picture winner. Even the title is a little dull, and it's not very accurate, the movie is mainly about The Drefyus Affair (a much better title). The lame choices spread to all the categories, Spencer Tracy and Luise Rainer win for playing racially offensive caricatures and the supporting wins were good performances but really not memorable in a historical sense. It's a year I usually forget about.
You can see my GABBY winners and nominees HERE
Best Picture
10. One Hundred Men And A Girl is a Deanna Durbin musical that somehow got nominated for Best Picture. Not to be confused with Three Smart Girls which is the Deanna Durbin musical from 1936 that got nominated for Best Picture. This nomination is a bit of a mystery. I guess this film is enjoyable, if you like teenage girls who can sing opera, but it is just a corny film. When I think of musicals from this era I think of Fred Astaire (Shall We Dance and A Damsel In Distress were eligible this year). Those movies are just a joy to watch. To see him do things with his legs I could only dream of doing is a marvel. This film is a hokey 'gotta put on a show' plot that is basically just there so Deanna Durbin can sing a song or two. If you like that sort of thing, then this movie succeeds (and it was a big hit at the time) but it's nowhere near Best Picture quality.
9. The Good Earth is a movie about Chinese farmers. Wow, how progressive of Hollywood to make a film about Chinese workers in this era...they're played by white people? Of course they are. Paul Muni and Luise Rainer star as Wang Lung and O-Lan and they...walk around for 2 hours. I found this movie so dull and boring. It probably didn't help matters that I couldn't watch it without feeling bad for my country. This is like watching David Schwimmer star in Malcolm X.
8. In Old Chicago is a film that is very similar to a movie I watched the year before this, San Francisco and it is also very similar to another movie I watched this year, The Hurricane. Hollywood had this down to a formula, you take a cast of attractive people you write some dialogue for them, who cares what it's about because the real reason the butts are in the seats is because of the disaster that ends the movie. San Francisco ends with an earthquake, The Hurricane ends with a hurricane and this movie ends with The Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It's about 57 minutes before you get to the fire so if you get bored just skip to then. The special effects in the movie are pretty impressive when you get to the end. It looks like people are running away from real flames, which I don't know, they might have been. It makes you wish the first hour was interesting at all.
7. Captains Courageous is basically Chris Elliott's Cabin Boy. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that this is the film that was being parodied in that cult classic but there you go. Freddie Bartholomew plays a spoiled rich kid who falls off a cruise ship. He is rescued by Spencer Tracy, playing a Portuguese fisherman (we'll get to that later) and taken on a gross fishing boat. He refuses to follow orders for a while and expects to be pampered but eventually he learns the value of hard work. It's a pretty decent film, there are some good action set pieces and it's well done for what it is. There are a few problems with the film, it drags in spots and there's Tracy with a ridiculous accent but it's worth a watch.
6. The Life Of Emile Zola is partly a biopic, partly a courtroom drama. It starts out being about Emile Zola, played by Paul Muni in a performance that would have won him an Oscar if he hadn't won last year. He's a writer in France with a lot of success. Then it goes in to the Dreyfus Affair which was a huge political scandal. A Jewish French officer is accused of treason and sent to Devil's Island. Two years later the government finds out that he's innocent but to save face they cover it up, exonerate the guilty man and leave the innocent man in prison. Zola takes it upon himself to fight for the case to be reopened so justice can be served. It's actually a pretty decent film. I have a natural aversion to biopics but this and Muni's film last year about Louis Pasteur don't lean in to heavy to the tropes and really try to get to the heart of the story. It doesn't hold up as a Best Picture winner at all, but it's worth a watch, especially if you're a history buff.
5. Dead End is a precursor to Angels With Dirty Faces, in a lot of ways. First off it's a story about a gangster returning to his old stomping grounds but it also has much of the same cast. The movie features The Dead End Kids who were a group of young actors who appeared in the play version of this film. When they were turning the play into a movie they were flown to Hollywood to be in it and continued to make movies for 20 years, eventually turning into The Bowery Boys. I always thought that this was a silly nomination because I associated The Bowery Boys with silly comedies but make no mistake, this movie is bad ass. It's got everything you want from a gritty gangster movie. It's got Bogart, wonderful direction from William Wyler and The Dead End Kids provide the comic relief.
4. Stage Door is a movie that takes place in a boarding house for aspiring actresses. I was always unclear as to what the actual living arrangements were in this film. I was under the impression it was a holding pen for actresses but that doesn't make sense. It must just be a cheap apartment house in New York where the tenants all happen to be actresses. Anyway, it's a really good film. Katharine Hepburn is the daughter of a wealthy family who wants to try her hand at acting. Ginger Rogers is a dancer/actress in the house and Lucille Ball has a small role as another one of the actresses. The movie is about the rivalry between the girls. There is a producer who wants to sleep with most of them (the movie isn't dated a bit when it comes to some of the backstage politics), Katharine gets a part because of her family that should have gone to another actress and she's terrible in the rehearsals, one of the actresses can't find work after a successful show. There a lot of vignettes about working life as an actress. It's a really good film.
3. Lost Horizon is a movie I saw for the first time on Turner Classic Movies about a year ago. I had no idea what it was about, I just knew it was a Frank Capra movie, it got a Best Picture nomination and it was an expensive movie at the time that resulted in a financial loss for the studio. I didn't know it was like a movie version of Lost. I really liked this film. An airplane is hijacked and crashes in the Himalayan mountains, the survivors are rescued and taken to a mysterious place, Shangri-La. There they discover a utopia where the inhabitants don't age. Some of the people want to stay and some thing it's all hogwash and want to leave. The leader is a wise High Lama who is finally dying and asks one of the newcomers to take his place. It turns out that their plane crash was no accident, they were summoned here. So, it's almost exactly like Lost. Speaking of lost, several minutes of the movie are lost and have never been recovered so those scenes have been replaced with stills over the soundtrack. Even with 10 minutes missing I was enthralled the whole time.
2. The Awful Truth is a comedy about divorce. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne star as a married couple who separate from each other. He starts seeing a nightclub singer and she starts dating a cattle rustler from Oklahoma. They realize that they still have feelings for each other and they try to sabotage the other's relationship in order to get the other one back. It's a truly great comedy. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are two of the most charming people to ever appear in films and their chemistry is wonderful.
1. A Star Is Born is a movie that has been remade 3 times but this is the original and by far the best (I haven't seen the Lady Gaga version yet but I'm still gonna stand by that statement). A young girl from North Dakota moves to Hollywood to become an actress and is instantly hit with rejection. She had no idea that it would be hard. She gets a job as a waitress for a Hollywood party and she meets Norman Maine, an alcoholic movie star. He sees something in her and gets her a screen test at the studio he works for. She gets a small part in a film, has her name changed and eventually a lead role next to him which rockets her to stardom. While she is on the rise, his fame begins to dwindle and he starts to drink more. The movie builds to a climax where she wins an Oscar and he storms in drunk. It's a terrific film and if like movies about movie making then this is one of the best.
Oscar Winner: The Life Of Emile Zola
My Vote: A Star Is Born
GABBY Winner: A Day At The Races
Best Actor
Best Actor
5. Charles Boyer plays Napoleon in the historical romance Conquest. The film focuses a lot on Napoleon's relationship with his Polish mistress. It is, how do you say, not that good. It's very dull and was an expensive flop for the studio. Boyer plays Napoleon like every other Charles Boyer character a lump of no charisma with a French accent.
4. Spencer Tracy plays Manuel, a Portuguese fisherman in Captains Courageous. There's a couple things wrong here. First, this is really a supporting part. He's a big part of the film but it's hard to call him the lead. Secondly, did I mention Spencer Tracy plays a Portuguese fisherman? He wears brown makeup and a ridiculous wig and he has an accent that is more reminiscent of Chico Marx than anything I would call a realistic Portuguese accent. The really crappy thing about this is that the character of Manuel is a really good one. If this was cast appropriately it could have been a star making role for the right actor. He's the guy who finds the young boy lost at sea, befriends him and he has an emotional death scene. Now I hate to say this but, Tracy does an all right job considering his limitations. There were moments where I really liked the way he approached the character but it's too much of an obstacle to get past the fact that you are the wrong race to play this part.
3. Paul Muni just won an Oscar last year for The Story Of Louis Pasteur so it's hard to vote for his title role in The Life Of Emile Zola. It's a shame too as if he hadn't won last year he would be a shoo-in to win here and we would have been spared Spencer Tracy in blackface winning. Muni is really good in the role, the movie becomes a courtroom drama and he delivers his monologues with a passion that livens up the film. It's definitely an Oscar level performance, I would go as far as to say it is second Oscar good in a weak year. However, he just won last year. It would have to be a really weak year for me to vote for someone two years in a row.
2. Robert Montgomery plays a charming murderer in Night Must Fall. He's a nice young man who befriends old women, murders them and steals all their money. We catch up with him as he's about to pull one of these jobs on an unsuspecting old woman. I think what was so revolutionary about this performance at the time was that Montgomery wasn't playing the character as a mustache twirling villain. He was a nice guy who you wouldn't think twice about inviting into your home or bringing over to meet your mother. Behind that sweet demeanor he is a cold blooded killer. Watching it now, it is pretty obvious that he's the killer but I can imagine people at the time being shocked that this sweet man could murder an old lady.
1. Fredric March plays Norman Maine, an alcoholic movie star who marries an aspiring actress from North Dakota in A Star Is Born. He is very famous but his career is starting to take a downward turn. His movies aren't making as much money as they once did and his drinking is starting to take a toil, the higher ups are beginning to notice that he's a drunk. One day at a party he meets Esther Blodgett and he is instantly smitten, they get married and he gets her a screen test. She eventually gets cast opposite him in a film and she becomes a star while the public starts to lose interest in him. Then he has the great scene at the end where he ruins her Oscar speech by running in drunk. It's a tragic character, ruined by drink and his need for fame. March is terrific here and would easily be my vote if he hadn't won before, but still is my vote because this category is on the weak side.
This category comes down to who do I want to win a 2nd Oscar. Boyer is out because I thought the movie was boring and Montgomery is good but this type of role has been done much better since so it looks tame in comparison. Tracy is gonna win next year, Muni just won last year and March has won before and will go on to win again in 1946. There's nothing I can do about Tracy winning next year but if March wins here then maybe, just maybe, he doesn't win for The Best Years Of Our Lives. I know that's a big maybe because that movie was so huge but if he's out that year then Jimmy Stewart could win for It's A Wonderful Life. Even though he's won before, March was my favorite performance and there's no way I can vote for Tracy. The dude's in blackface and his accent is unconvincing. I honestly have no idea how he won for this. By his own account he wasn't that good. Tracy himself was surprised that he won and though Lionel Barrymore should have been nominated instead. At least he can rest assured that he wasn't the MOST racially offensive Oscar winner this year, may I present to you our Best Actress race.
Oscar Winner: Spencer Tracy
My Vote: Fredric March
GABBY Winner: The Marx Brothers for A Day At The Races
Best Actress
Best Actress
5. Luise Rainer plays O-Lan, wife of a Chinese farmer in The Good Earth. Come on. First off, Luise Rainer is a white lady in yellowface, how could I vote for this? Second, Luise Rainer just won last year, for a movie she shouldn't have even been nominated for. How the hell did she win this? Over Dunne, Garbo, Stanwyck and Janet Gaynor, no less. This is quite possible, and I know I may have said this before but I really mean it this time, worst Oscar decision ever made. The sucky part is, I almost get it. Just like with Spencer Tracy this year, there were moments where I forgot about the whitewashing and just started enjoying the performance. She's really good in the role, except for the fact that it is completely racist.
4. Greta Garbo stars in Camille which is a romantic costume drama. Oof baboof. This was hard to get through. Garbo is stunningly beautiful and this is apparently one of the most romantic movies ever made. It did not pierce my heart.
3. Barbara Stanwyck plays the title character in Stella Dallas. I am not embarrassed to say that I cried like a baby at the end of this film. The movie is about Barbara Stanwyck who wants to better herself socially. She marries a guy from a wealthy family, he's in love with someone else from his social class but marries Stella basically because his heart is broken. They have a daughter and Stella devotes all her energy to her little girl. The husband ends up marrying the girl who broke his heart leaving Stella alone with the child. Stella realizes that she can't give her daughter the life she wants her to have so she arranges that she live with her father. So she sacrifices her happiness for her daughter and it ends with Stanwyck watching her daughter get married from a window. It's a straight up sad melodrama and I loved it. Stanwyck is so beautiful and she's fantastic in this movie.
2. Janet Gaynor plays aspiring actress Esther Blodgett who gets her name changed to the more marquee friendly Vicki Lester in A Star Is Born. Gaynor was the first winner for Best Actress back in 1927 but I would not mind if she won again here because she is simply sublime in this role. She has the look of a naturally talented movie star. She gets off the bus from North Dakota to Hollywood with dreams of becoming famous and you just kinda assume it will happen for her. She's got that "it" factor that movie stars just have. Her performance is wonderful in this film she's hopeful and naive at the beginning and then sympathetic as the man she loves is hurting as her career is taking off.
1. Irene Dunne stars as a woman who divorced her husband and then fights to get him back in The Awful Truth. I can't begin to explain how much I love Irene Dunne. She is one of the most beautiful and talented stars of her time. Every movie I see of hers makes me fall in love with her a little more. This is a straight up screwball comedy performance and normally I may vote for someone who did a little more of the 'pull on your heartstrings' type acting but I love her so much and this is really my only chance to vote for her.
Worst. Decision. Ever. This just baffles me. First off, she just won last year. Secondly, she just won last year for a performance she shouldn't have won for. She won for lead in The Great Ziegfeld even though she is clearly a supporting role. It's like if you got a promotion at work then you lost the company a bunch of money and they're like, you're president now. Thirdly, and this should be the biggest one, she is a white lady playing a Chinese peasant. Gaynor already had one but her performance was worthy. Rainer was the worst choice in the category. Garbo, Dunne and Stanwyck never ended up winning, so that makes the decision all the more worse. My vote is Irene Dunne just because I love her so much and I'll take any chance I get to vote for a worthy comedic performance. But literally, anybody would have been a better decision than who they chose.
Oscar Winner: Luise Rainer
My Vote: Irene Dunne
GABBY Winner: Irene Dunne
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actor
5. H.B. Warner plays Chang, a mysterious Chinese man who welcomes a group of plane crash survivors to Shangri-La in Lost Horizon. Warner had a very long career in Hollywood but is probably best remembered as Mr. Gower, the drug store owner in It's A Wonderful Life. In this film he's like Ben Linus from Lost, he's the island's second in command. He is not of Asian descent and my rule is that I can't vote for someone playing a different race. The real issue here is that there's no real reason he has to be Asian. It makes sense geographically, but considering that people have been coming to this place for years he really could have just been a white guy. Or they could have cast an Asian actor. Wow, three categories in a row where someone is playing a racially offensive caricature. Way to go Hollywood.
4. Thomas Mitchell is one of the people in danger of The Hurricane. This is a disaster movie that is really only good for the disaster part. In line with movies like The Towering Inferno or Earthquake, this movie has a pretty dull story but then the disaster hits and you perk up. You can actually just fast forward to the hurricane part, you don't really need any context to enjoy that scene, which is what I did while watching this dreadfully boring film. Still, the movie is worth it for that hurricane scene it, it's still pretty impressive. As for Mitchell, he's really not in it that much. I was surprised because I thought for sure his character would stand out but he just kinda exists. He'll win his Oscar in 2 years so it's good he didn't get this one.
3. Ralph Bellamy plays the naive Oklahoman who falls for Irene Dunne after her separation from Cary Grant in The Awful Truth. He's basically in the movie to be a bland and boring guy that drives Dunne back to her husband. Bellamy is really funny here as he's playing a lame and boring guy but still getting laughs. He's such a sweet bumpkin that you want him to be happy but you also want him out of the picture so Dunne can get back with Grant. It's almost like his character is too nice. He seems to be in love with her but when she realizes that marrying him will mean she has to move to Oklahoma, live on a ranch and be with this boring dude she flees. It's a difficult part to play as you have to be dull without being too dull that your character is uninteresting.
2. Joseph Schildkraut plays Alfred Dreyfus the man at the center of the Dreyfus Affair that is the main plot of The Life Of Emile Zola. He's a Jewish officer who is pinned as a scapegoat for treason. He is sent to prison but then found innocent. The story doesn't end there as the French army doesn't want to look like they sent an innocent man to prison so they try to cover it all up and keep him in jail. Emile Zola takes the case and tries to get him freed. Schildkraut's performance is one of those where it is more important to the film more than it is a great performance. When you watch the movie you think he's great because of what his character means to the film and the fact that he ages with the character and when you see an innocent man behind bars, you really feel for him. He actually doesn't have that much to do in the film though. They basically cut to him a few times and he says he's innocent. Still, it's an important role, he handles it well and I completely understand why he won.
1. Roland Young plays the title role in Topper. It's kind of a lead role but it also makes sense that he's in this category. Cary Grant and Constance Bennett take top billing, and rightfully so. There's no way he would ever get nominated as lead so I'm glad he could fit in here. Topper is about a married couple that are incredibly carefree. They're rich, get drunk every night and live their life with total abandon. One night they drive their car into a tree and die. So now their ghosts and they think if they help their lawyer out of his monotonous rut they can get into heaven. Cosmo Topper is the lawyer and he's a stuffy old man who lives a life with no excitement. The movie is a comedy about this old fuddy duddy having his life interrupted by these playboy spirits and is very funny. Young is great in the role and has a great piece of physical comedy when he's passed out drunk and the two ghosts carry him but since they're invisible Young is doing all the work himself. Like I said, he's kind of a lead role but this is one instance where I can approve of a slight bit of category fraud.
Oscar Winner: Joseph Schildkraut
My Vote: Roland Young
GABBY Winner: Roland Young
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actress
5. Claire Trevor is only briefly in Dead End, actually she's only in one scene and it's about 4 minutes long. It's hard for me to justify a nomination for such a small amount of screen time but at the same time it's also hard to argue against it. She's only in one scene but it's a hell of a scene. Bogart is a big time gangster coming back to his childhood home and he meets up with his old girlfriend in one scene, played by Trevor. They instantly rekindle their emotions for each other and then she reveals that she's a prostitute. Sickened, Bogart gives her some money and tells her to scram. That's the scene, but it's much more than I made it out to be. Bogart and Trevor are both fantastic playing off each other. There's no way I can vote for 4 minutes but it is a nice nomination.
4. Anne Shirley plays the daughter of Stella Dallas. Barbara Stanwyck plays Stella and she wants her daughter to have a better life than she does and she is willing to sacrifice anything to get it for her. Shirley plays the daughter and she has some nice moments but if I'm not voting for Stanwyck I can't really vote for her. She loves her mother but then doesn't recognize how much she's sacrificed. It's a nice nomination but not good enough for a win.
3. Dame May Whitty plays an old lady who is too close to a killer in Night Must Fall. This is the kind of role that got Ethel Barrymore a buttload of nominations. She's a sweet but feisty old lady who sits in a chair all movie until she either dies or stands up to her assailant. This woman is actually not an invalid but she pretends to be, I think just because she likes being taken care of. Whitty is very good for what the role calls for but a lot of old ladies could have played this role.
2. Alice Brady plays Mrs. O'Leary, the woman whose cow, allegedly, started the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 in In Old Chicago. She's a strong Irish woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind. She's a definite bright spot in the film and you wish she was in it more because the film stars Tyrone Power and Don Ameche, not the most charismatic pair. She has a fun energy and she gets to end the film with a message of hope for the city. Brady also gets into the Oscar record books as being the first person to win a supporting Oscar after a previous nomination.
1. Andrea Leeds is the only part of the immense Stage Door ensemble to earn a nomination. Ginger and Katharine take top billing but Leeds is certainly the most tragic character in the film. The movie is about a bunch of actresses living together, all of them dreaming about getting their big break. Leeds got good reviews for a play she was in but hasn’t worked since. She tries to get a meeting with a producer but passes out due to malnutrition. Then she finds out that the dream role she thought she was sure to get went to Katharine Hepburn because her father put money into the show. Discouraged, she kills herself which prompts Katharine to act her heart out. It’s the most sympathetic part in the film and Leeds is really good at conveying the emotions of a desperate actress.
Alice Brady should have won last year for My Man Godfrey so her winning this year is a good makeup award. It's not the strongest category so the decision here is a bit of a toss up. If I'm voting for stature, I pick Brady. If I'm voting performance, I pick Leeds. The tie goes to the better movie and that's Stage Door. Leeds blends into the ensemble for a majority of the film but when it is time for her big scenes she is simply heartbreaking. Then after she's gone, her presence is still felt.
Oscar Winner: Alice Brady
My Vote: Andrea Leeds
GABBY Winner: Margaret Dumont for A Day At The Races
Best Director
Instead of William Dieterle for Best Picture winner, The Life Of Emile Zola they went with Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth. He said in his acceptance speech that he won for the wrong film as he preferred the other film he did this year, Make Way For Tomorrow. Both are really good films and completely different tones so I approve of the win. If I was picking the best directorial achievement of the year I would probably go with William Wellman for A Star Is Born.
Instead of William Dieterle for Best Picture winner, The Life Of Emile Zola they went with Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth. He said in his acceptance speech that he won for the wrong film as he preferred the other film he did this year, Make Way For Tomorrow. Both are really good films and completely different tones so I approve of the win. If I was picking the best directorial achievement of the year I would probably go with William Wellman for A Star Is Born.
Best Original Story/Best Adaptation
Like I said, A Star Is Born is such a good story that they keep remaking it over and over and over again. It wins Best Original Story over a weak category that included In Old Chicago and One Hundred Men And A Girl. The Life Of Emile Zola wins Best Adaptation. Oddly enough it was also nominated for Best Original Story. I have no idea how that happened, I'm guessing there was a rule change eventually so this wouldn't happen again. A Star Is Born also got nominated in both categories.
Best Scoring
15 nominees in this category, including Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, but One Hundred Men And A Girl wins. I guess because the movie is about music?
Best Song
The Bing Crosby tune 'Sweet Leilani' from Waikiki Wedding wins. Nothing from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs gets nominated. 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' from Shall We Dance does score a nomination but I'm pretty sure George and Ira Gershwin already had a win at this point.
Best Sound Recording
The Hurricane rightfully wins. I was really impressed with the final set piece when the actual hurricane hits.
Best Art Direction
Lost Horizon creates that magical land of Shangri-La and is the best in the category.
Best Cinematography
The Good Earth wins. A Star Is Born won a special Oscar for color cinematography so this category is just black and white films. The way Dead End uses light and shadows really should have been victorious here.
Best Film Editing
It's weird that Lost Horizon won this category seeing that some of the film is lost and the only version you can watch now includes still photographs of the actors for some scenes. Movies of this era weren't usually exceptionally well edited. Film was expensive so a lot of movies were shot with as few takes as possible. The win here should have either gone to Lost Horizon or Captains Courageous. For some reason One Hundred Men And A Girl sneaked into this category too.
Best Dance Direction
This now defunct category went to A Damsel In Distress which is a Fred Astaire musical so you know it's gonna have some good dance scenes. There is one scene where Fred plays drums with his feet, it's incredible. Part of me wishes they would have picked A Day At The Races just so a Marx Brothers movie could be an Oscar winner but when it comes to dancing, you gotta pick Astaire.
Best Assistant Director
Another now defunct category. I couldn't begin to figure out how to vote for this. In Old Chicago wins which makes sense when you think about it. Most of the fire scenes at the end were probably done by a second unit.
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