1936--The Year in Review

Charles Chaplin remains king, even after the advent of sound and after he so steadfastly refused to adhere to such progress. Even so, his newest film is resolutely improved with sonics, being adorned with his brilliantly crafted score.Yet this particular movie is actually a silent one, as labels go, just as it's also a work that looks baldly forward, vision-wise. Fritz Lang's well-informed blitz against mob rule is Chaplin's clearest competitor for the top spot, sporting some of the year's best acting with the superb Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney. Then we see the first glimpse of a glowing, gem-like shine--Sweden's Ingrid Bergman--who'd adorn filmmaking for some time to come, recreating her own debut performance for Hollywood (and in English) only a few years later. Bubbling under are works by masterful directors like Frank Capra, William Wyler, and George Stevens. Somehow mirroring the top narrative feature, experimental filmmaker Lenny Lye contributes work that's insanely ahead of its time--to the point where it would be rebooted (without note) for Apple computer commercials in the late 90s (even looking at it now, it seems absolutely nuts--it's the most brilliant movie of the year). Meanwhile, the forward-thinking FDR administration delivers one of the finest and most famous documentary shorts ever made. It should be noted that Disney and Warner Brothers (headed here by the great Tex Avery, whose catchy I Love to Singa is a fan favorite) make terrific strides this year. And I love the villainous play by the young and supremely dupicitous Bonita Granville and, yep, that boldly iconic supporting turn by Paul Robeson as he sings the only version of "Ol' Man River" that could ever really be sung. Meanwhile, both the disaster movie San Francisco and the futuristic Things to Come are instant landmarks for the special effects craft. And it should be noted that William Cameron Menzies' art direction for Things to Come would clearly influence architecture in real life for decades to come. The future, it seems, was electric in the 1936 air.  NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and they are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.

PICTURE: MODERN TIMES (US, Charles Chaplin)
(2nd: Fury (US, Fritz Lang), followed by:
Dodsworth (US, William Wyler)
Mr Deeds Goes to Town (US, Frank Capra)
Swing Time (US, George Stevens)
Things to Come (UK, William Cameron Menzies and Alexander Korda)
Intermezzo (Sweden, Gustaf Molander)
Show Boat (US, James Whale)
The Petrified Forest (US, Archie Mayo)
The Green Pastures (US, William Keighley and Marc Connelly)

ACTOR: Spencer Tracy, FURY (2nd: William Powell, My Man Godfrey, followed by: Charles Chaplin, Modern Times; Walter Huston, Dodsworth; Gary Cooper, Mr Deeds Goes to Town; Rex Ingram, The Green Pastures; Charles Laughton, Rembrandt)
 

ACTRESS: Ingrid Bergman, INTERMEZZO (2nd: Carole Lombard, My Man Godfrey, followed by: Sylvia Sidney, Fury; Jean Arthur, Mr Deeds Goes to Town; Irene Dunne, Theodora Goes Wild; Greta Garbo, Camille; Luise Rainer, The Great Ziegfeld) 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Paul Robeson, SHOWBOAT (2nd: Humphrey Bogart, The Petrified Forest, followed by: Walter Brennan, Come and Get It; Mischa Auer, My Man Godfrey; Oscar Homolka, Sabotage; Akim Tamiroff, The General Died at Dawn)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Bonita Granville, THESE THREE (2nd: Alice Brady, My Man Godfrey, followed by: Gale Sondergaard, Anthony Adverse; Mary Astor, Dodsworth; Helen Morgan, Showboat; Elsa Lanchester, Rembrandt)

 

DIRECTOR: Charles Chaplin, MODERN TIMES (2nd: Fritz Lang, Fury, followed by: William Wyler, Dodsworth; George Stevens, Swing Time; William Cameron Menzies and Alexander Korda, Things to Come; Frank Capra, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)



SCREENPLAY: Fritz Lang, Bartlett Cormack and Norman Krasna, FURY (2nd: Charles Chaplin, Modern Times, followed by: Lillian Hellman, These Three; Morrie Myskind and Eric Hatch, My Man Godfrey; Robert Riskind and Clarence Budington Kelland, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; Charles Kenyon and Delmer Daves, The Petrified Forest)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS (Pare Lorentz, US), followed by: Disorder in the Court (The Three Stooges; Preston Black) ; Night Mail (Harry Watt and Basil Wright, UK)



ANIMATED SHORT FILM: RAINBOW DANCE (Lenny Lye, US) (2nd: I Love to Singa (Tex Avery, US) (2nd: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor (Dave Fleischer, US), followed by: The Country Cousin (Wilfred Jackson, US); Thru the Mirror (David Hand, US); Elmer Elephant (Wilfred Jackson, US)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: David Abel, SWING TIME (2nd: John J. Mescall, Showboat, followed by: Ira H. Morgan and Roland Totheroh, Modern Times; Joseph Ruttanberg, Fury; Tony Gaudio, Anthony Adverse)



ART DIRECTION: THINGS TO COME, Dodsworth, The Great Ziegfeld, Anthony Adverse

COSTUME DESIGN: SWING TIME, The Great Ziegfeld, Anthony Adverse, Rembrandt
  
ORIGINAL SCORE: Charles Chaplin, MODERN TIMES (2nd: Heinz Provost and Robert Henning, Intermezzo)

VISUAL EFFECTS: THINGS TO COME (2nd: San Francisco)

1935--The Year in Review

Easily the most entertaining film of a nondescript year, Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is a constant surprise. It begins and ends in stunning fashion, and even though Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will is clearly the most influential movie of its time, Hitchcock's finest British production is obviously the narrative movie of the year--it's just as exciting now as it was when it was made. But James Whale's The Bride of Frankenstein came close to eclipsing it with the sheer force of its performances and design (it's at the top as one of the greatest sequels produced). With animation, Disney continues to contribute beautiful work with The Band Concert, which would prove to be among Mickey Mouse's finest moments. Still, in the end, it is Riefenstahl's images that will live forever, even if they live in infamy. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and they are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.

PICTURE: THE 39 STEPS (US, Alfred Hitchcock)
(2nd: The Bride of Frankenstein (US, James Whale), followed by: 
Triumph of the Will (Germany, Leni Refenstahl)
Top Hat (US, Mark Sandrich)
Captain Blood (US, Michael Curtiz)
Mutiny on the Bounty (US, Frank Lloyd)
A Night at the Opera (US, Sam Wood)
Ruggles of Red Gap (US, Leo McCarey)
Sylvia Scarlett (US, George Cukor)
David Copperfield (US, George Cukor)
The Man on the Flying Trapeze (US, Clyde Bruckman)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (US, William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt)
A Tale of Two Cities (US, Jack Conway))

ACTOR: Charles Laughton, RUGGLES OF RED GAP (2nd: Ronald Colman, A Tale of Two Cities, followed by: Boris Karloff, The Bride of Frankenstein; Peter Lorre, Mad Love; Victor McLaglen,  The Informer; W.C. Fields, The Man on the Flying Trapeze; Groucho Marx, A Night at the Opera; Clark Gable, Mutiny on the Bounty; Charles Laughton, Mutiny on the Bounty; Paul Muni, The Story of Louis Pasteur; Will Rogers, Steamboat Round the Bend)

ACTRESS: Katharine Hepburn, SYLVIA SCARLETT (2nd: Jean Arthur, The Whole Town‘s Talking, followed by: Bette Davis, Dangerous; Ginger Rogers, Top Hat; Katharine Hepburn, Alice Adams; Greta Garbo, Anna Karenina; Miriam Hopkins, Becky Sharp)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ernest Thesiger, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (2nd: Mickey Rooney, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, followed by: W.C. Fields, David Copperfield; Franchot Tone, Mutiny on the Bounty; Basil Rathbone, Captain Blood; Edward Everett Horton, Top Hat)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Elsa Lanchester. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (2nd: Edna May Oliver, David Copperfield, followed by: Mary Boland, Ruggles of Red Gap; Florence Eldridge, Les Misérables; Zasu Pitts, Ruggles of Red Gap; Jessie Ralph, David Copperfield)

DIRECTOR: Leni Riefenstahl, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (2nd: James Whale, The Bride of Frankenstein, followed by: Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps; Michael Curtiz, Captain Blood; George Cukor, Sylvia Scarlett; John Ford, The Informer)

SCREENPLAY: Charles Bennett and Ian Hay, THE 39 STEPS (2nd: William Hurlbut and John L. Balderson, The Bride of Frankenstein; W.P. Lipscomb and S.N. Behrman, A Tale of Two Cities; George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, James Kevin McGuinness, A Night at the Opera; Dudley Nichols, The Informer; Gladys Unger, John Collier, and Mortimer Offner, Sylvia Scarlett)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: CAB CALLOWAY'S JITTERBUG PARTY (Fred Waller) (2nd: Tit for Tat (Laurel and Hardy; Charles Rogers); Uncivil Warriors (Three Stooges; Del Lord); Three Little Beers (Three Stooges; Del Lord)




ANIMATED SHORT FILM: THE BAND CONCERT (Wilfred Jackson and Walt Disney) (2nd:  Colour Box (Lenny Lye), followed by: Three Orphan Kittens (David Hand and Walt Disney)



CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hal Mohr, A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM (2nd: Sepp Allinger, Triumph of the Will, followed by Bernard Knowles, The 39 Steps)

ART DIRECTION: TOP HAT, The Dark Angel, Anna Karenina, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Bride of Frankenstein

COSTUME DESIGN: CAPTAIN BLOOD, Top Hat, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield

1934--The Year in Review

One year after his masterful Zero for Conduct, Jean Vigo once again stands tall against all comers. His visionary, dreamlike romance completely overtook the flowering of the Hollywood screwball comedy with Twentieth Century, It Happened One Night (which would go on to win all the major awards), and W.C. Fields' It's A Gift (the funniest of these films). Vigo's early death deprived cinema of what might have been, but his one-of-a-kind feature still rings thoroughly ahead of its time. Still, the robust performances leading Hawks' comedy masterpiece ring even louder (there's nothing in film entire like seeing Barrymore imitating a camel). Meanwhile, in the shorts categories, the looming appeal of color transforms the very nature of attending the cinema. And, in cinematography, James Wong Howe makes great strides in converting black-and-white into realism with his creative work in service of a totally unrealistic, utterly charming crime-fighting couple, Nick and Nora Charles (the "thin man" refers to the villain they were chasing in the first film, though "The Thin Man" became shorthand for the couple themselves). As a result of his work and the efforts of smart screenwriters Hackett and Goodrich, the witty repartee between William Powell and Myrna Loy would forever transform the speedy character of the best movie (and television) dialogue. Also not to be forgotten: the extremely gorgeous images in Von Sternberg's The Scarlet Empress, Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and De Mille's Cleopatra. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.

PICTURE: L'ATALANTE (France, Jean Vigo)
(2nd: Twentieth Century (US, Howard Hawks), followed by:
It Happened One Night (US, Frank Capra)
The Scarlet Empress (US, Josef von Sternberg)
It's A Gift (US, Norman Z. McLeod)
The Thin Man (US, W.S. Van Dyke)
Imitation of Life (US, John Stahl)
The Man Who Know Too Much (UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Death Takes a Holiday (US, Mitchell Leisen)
The Merry Widow (US, Ernst Lubischt)
Of Human Bondage (US, John Cromwell)
Our Daily Bread (US, King Vidor)
Judge Priest (US, John Ford)
Babes in Toyland (US, Charles Rogers and Gus Meins)
Tarzan and His Mate (US, Cedric Gibbons and Jack Conway)
Cleopatra (US, Cecil B. DeMille)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (US, Sidney Franklin)
The Black Cat (US, Edgar Ulmer))

ACTOR: John Barrymore, TWENTIETH CENTURY (2nd: W.C. Fields, It's a Gift; followed by: Clark Gable, It Happened One Night; William Powell, The Thin Man; Frederic March, Death Takes a Holiday; Will Rogers, Judge Priest)



ACTRESS: Carole Lombard, TWENTIETH CENTURY (2nd: Bette Davis, Of Human Bondage, followed by: Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night; Myrna Loy, The Thin Man; Dita Parlo, L'Atalante; Claudette Colbert, Imitation of Life; Marlene Dietrich, The Scarlet Empress)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michel Simon, L'ATALANTE (2nd: Edward Everett Horton, The Gay Divorcee, followed by: Peter Lorre, The Man Who Knew Too Much; Charles Laughton, The Barretts of Wimpole Street; Sam Jaffe, The Scarlet Empress; Frank Morgan, The Affairs of Cellini)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kathleen Howard, IT'S A GIFT (2nd: Louise Beavers, Imitation of Life, followed by: Louise Dresser, The Scarlet Empress; Alice Brady, The Gay Divorcee; Joan Blondell, Dames; Una Merkel, The Merry Widow)

DIRECTOR: Jean Vigo, L'ATALANTE (2nd: Howard Hawks, Twentieth Century, followed by: Josef von Sternberg, The Scarlet Empress; W.S. Van Dyke, The Thin Man; Frank Capra, It Happened One Night; Norman Z. McLeod, It's a Gift)



SCREENPLAY: Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, THE THIN MAN (2nd: Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur, Twentieth Century, followed by: Robert Riskin, It Happened One Night; Jean Vigo, Albert Riera, and Jean Guinee, L'Atalante; Jack Cunningham, It's A Gift; William Hurlbut, Imitation of Life)



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: LA CUCARACHA (Lloyd Corrigan; early Technicolor) (2nd: Men in Black (Ray McCarey (The Three Stooges)), followed by: Punch Drunks (Lou Breslow (The Three Stooges))



ANIMATED SHORT FILM:  THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE (Wilfred Jackson and Walt Disney) (2nd: The Big Bad Wolf (Burt Gillett and Walt Disney); The Grasshopper and the Ant (Wilfred Jackson and Walt Disney))

CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Wong Howe, THE THIN MAN (2nd: Louis Berger, Jean Paul Alphen, and Boris Kaufman, L'Atalante, followed by: Bert Glennon, The Scarlet Empress; Victor Milner, Cleopatra)

ART DIRECTION: THE SCARLET EMPRESS, The Thin Man, The Gay Divorcee, Cleopatra

COSTUME DESIGN: CLEOPATRA, The Scarlet Empress, The Thin Man, The Barretts of Wimpole Street