1936 like many of the earlier years of cinema was entirely new to me as I had previously seen none of the films I eventually saw when revisiting the year. Like I mentioned in the title 1936 was the first year acting prizes separated leading and supporting performances which in retrospective really should've been done since the beginning of the institution. 1936 like many earlier years had 10 eventual nominees for best picture with the final prize going to Robert Z. Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld. This best picture choice is rather questionable as having now seen this film it is quite a weak choice. Sure Luise Rainer is great but outside of her rather small part this film inspires nothing of opulence and grandeur that the film makers might believe it does as they tell the story of the beginnings of the american Broadway. The others nominees for best picture that year were Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities & Three Smart Girls. I've only seen 5 of them and other then Mr. Deeds, and especially Dodsworth the ones I watched are rather stale and of a time that I dispice seeing in cinema as films should be for all time rather then for one time. So really what I'm trying to say with 1936 is that the academy had a film like Dodsworth sitting there and yet they chose Great Ziegfeld as their choice for it's scale.
There actually were some great films outside of Dodsworth and Mr. Deeds making my top 5 picture lineup that just were overlooked. The obvious answer and deserving choice for the best film of 1936 is Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. Chaplin was a genius in his own time and a master of all time with Modern Times being yet again another exquisite silent picture from Chaplin who stoke to the dying medium that was silent film. His film just is crafted expertly and the comedy is timeless that I just fell hard in love with it. Dodsworth which unlike Modern Times was nominated is a less discussed William Wyler film that is so strong that I can't help but wonder why people do not discuss it as much. The cast and creatives are strong especially Ruth Chatterton in the role of Fran Dodsworth who should've taken the best actress prize but unlike male co-star wasn't even nominated for the oscar. The other greatly underrated William Wyler film from this year is These Three which is an adaptation of the stage play which is probably more none for the 1961 adaptation The Children's Hour. This is the better adaptation for me and features what should've been the supporting actress winner Marcia Mae Jones who at 12 years old was an early example of how children can act and continue to act sometimes greater then their adult co-stars. My Man Godfrey one of the great screw ball comedies was embraced by the academy other then the important picture nod but really should've been included for how ingenious it is. It's one of the great Lombard performances and seen throughout is a cast of actors having truly great fun. The final film to complete my best picture lineup is Mr. Deeds which was up for the prize and deservedly so as this is one of the many Capra films that worked now and still work then no matter how much people seem to look down on Capra nowadays.
22 is the number of films I was able to find and watch because sadly some just seemed impossible to find to due to passing of time and not proper documenting. There are some great films that I watched but there are also some horribly dated ones too that the film year is overall average at best but still an standout for actually rewarding your typical awards from present days. Below is the list of what should've been and what I dearly wish had been the 1936 oscars.
OUTSTANDING PICTURE:
1. Modern Times (Produced by Charlie Chaplin)
2. Dodsworth (Produced by Samuel Goldwyn & Merritt Hulburd)
3. These Three (Produced by Samuel Goldwyn)
4. My Man Godfrey (Produced by Charles R. Rogers)
5. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Produced by Frank Capra)
6. Swing Time
7. Libeled Lady
8. The Petrified Forest
9. Rembrandt
10. Things to Come
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:
Charlie Chaplin for Modern Times
Fritz Lang for Fury
George Stevens for Swing Time
William Wyler for Dodsworth
William Wyler for These Three
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:
Fred Astaire as Lucky Garnett in "SWING TIME"
Charlie Chaplin as Factory Worker in "MODERN TIMES"
Gary Cooper as Longfellow Deeds in "MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN"
Walter Huston as Sam Dodsworth in "DODSWORTH"
Charles Laughton as Rembrandt van Rijn in "REMBRANDT"
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:
Ruth Chatterton as Fran Dodsworth in "DODSWORTH"
Irene Dunne as Theodora Lynn in "THEODORA GOES WILD"
Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock in "MY MAN GODFREY"
Luise Rainer as Anna Held in "THE GREAT ZIEGFELD"
Ginger Rogers as Penny Carroll in "SWING TIME"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Mischa Auer as Carlo in "MY MAN GODFREY"
John Barrymore as Mercutio - Kinsman to the Prince and Friend to Romeo in "ROMEO AND JULIET"
Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee in "THE PETRIFIED FOREST"
Walter Brennan as Swan Bostrom in "COME AND GET IT"
Charley Grapewin as Gramp Maple in "THE PETRIFIED FOREST"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Mary Astor as Mrs. Edith Cortright in "DODSWORTH"
Helen Broderick as Mabel Anderson in "SWING TIME"
Bonita Granville as Mary Tilford in "THESE THREE"
Marcia Mae Jones as Rosalie Wells in "THESE THREE"
Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock in "MY MAN GODFREY"
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers & George Oppenheimer for Libeled Lady
Charlie Chaplin for Modern Times
Eric Hatch & Morrie Ryskind for My Man Godfrey
Pierre Collings & Sheridan Gibney for The Story of Louis Pasteur
Mary McCarthy & Sidney Buchman for Theodora Goes Wild
OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Screenplay by Sinclair Lewis; Based on Dodsworth by Sidney Howard, Dodsworth
Screenplay by Robert Riskin; Based on Opera Hat by Clarence Budington Kelland, Mr. Deed Goes to Town
Screenplay by June Head and Lajos Bíró; Based on a story by Carl Zuckmayer, Rembrandt
Screenplay by Howard Lindsay & Allan Scott; Based on "Portrait of John Garnett" by Erwin S. Gelsey, Swing Time
Screenplay by Lillian Hellman; Based on The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman, These Three
OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:
Art Direction by Anton Grot for Anthony Adverse
Art Direction by Richard Day for Dodsworth
Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons & Eddie Imazu for The Great Ziegfeld
Art Direction by Vincent Korda for Rembrandt
Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase for Swing Time
OUTSTANDING ASSITANT DIRECTOR:
William Cannon for Anthony Adverse
Carter DeHaven for Modern Times
Scott R. Beal, Fred Frank & Nate D. Slott for My Man Godfrey
Joseph M. Newman for San Francisco
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:
Paulette Goddard (Modern Times)
Bonita Granville (These Three)
Gertrude Lawrence (Rembrandt)
Marcia Mae Jones (These Three)
Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld)
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Rudolph Maté for Dodsworth
George J. Folsey, Karl Freund, Merritt B. Gerstad, Ray June & Oliver T. Marsh for The Great Ziegfeld
Ira H. Morgan & Roland Totheroh for Modern Times
Georges Périnal for Rembrandt
David Abel for Swing Time
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:
Milo Anderson for Anthony Adverse
Adrian Adolph Greenburg for The Gorgeous Hussy
Adrian Adolph Greenburg for The Great Ziegfeld
Adrian Adolph Greenburg & Oliver Messel for Romeo and Juliet
Bernard Newman for Swing Time
OUTSTANDING DANCE DIRECTION:
Seymour Felix for The Great Ziegfeld
Agnes de Mille for Romeo and Juliet
Vals Raset for San Francisco
Hermes Pan for Swing Time
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:
Dodsworth (Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor, Kathryn Marlowe, David Niven, Gregory Gaye, Maria Ouspenskaya, Odette Myrtil, John Payne, Spring Byington, Harlan Briggs)
Follow the Fleet (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, Astrid Allwyn, Betty Grable, Harry Beresford, Russell Hicks, Brooks Benedict, Ray Mayer, Lucille Ball, Tony Martin, Jane Hamilton, Doris Lloyd)
My Man Godfrey (William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Eugene Pallette, Jean Dixon, Alan Mowbray, Mischa Auer, Pat Flaherty, Robert Light)
The Petrified Forest (Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Genevieve Tobin, Dick Foran, Joe Sawyer, Porter Hall, Charley Grapewin, Paul Harvey, John Alexander, Eddie Acuff, Gus Leonard)
These Three (Merle Oberon, Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, Alma Kruger, Bonita Granville, Marcia Mae Jones, Catherine Doucet, Margaret Hamilton)
OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:
Daniel Mandell for Dodsworth
Williams S. Gray for The Great Ziegfeld
Charlie Chaplin & Wilard Nico for Modern Times
Ted J. Kent & Russell F. Schoengarth for My Man Godfrey
Jerome Kern for Swing Time
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold for Anthony Adverse
Alfred Newman for Dodsworth
Werner Janssen for The General Died at Dawn
Charlie Chaplin for Modern Times
Alfred Newman for These Three
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:
Born to Dance, "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter)
Follow the Fleet, "Let Yourself Go" (Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin)
Follow the Fleet, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin)
Swing Time, "A Fine Romance" (Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields)
Swing Time, "The Way You Look Tonight" (Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:
Gary Cooper (Desire, The General Died at Dawn, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Plainsman)
Leslie Howard (The Petfrified Forest, Romeo and Juliet)
Carole Lombard (Love Before Breakfast, My Man Godfrey, The Princess Comes Across)
William Powell (The Great Ziegfeld, Libeled Lady, My Man Godfrey)
Spencer Tracy (Fury, Libeled Lady, San Francisco)
OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:
Louis Mesenkop & Harry D. Mills for The General Died at Dawn
Douglas Shearer & James Brock for The Great Ziegfeld
John P. Livadary for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Douglas Shearer for San Francisco
George Marsh & Hugh McDowell Jr. for Swing Time
Next time on revisit a film year will be my first revisit of the 80's The decade that is on reflection is considered by many not to be what many remember it being. The first 80's year I'll revisit is 1982 the year in which actor turned director Richard Attenborough directed the supposed epic Gandhi to oscar gold. Was I overpowered by the epic or was there better films for me to love.
No comments:
Post a Comment