Best Pictures #45: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards: My Pick for Outstanding Production

by A.J.

Best Pictures #45: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards 

My Pick for Outstanding Production

According to 85 Years of Oscar by Robert Osborne, by the time the 4^th Academy Awards for films released in the Los Angeles area between August 1^st, 1930-July 31^st, 1931 was held on November 10^th, 1931, the awards had gained notoriety beyond the Hollywood community. Winners were still announced to the press before the ceremony, but the time between the announcement and the ceremony was shortened. There seems to be a greater consistency in categories and nominees from the previous year’s awards. The Academy Awards were beginning to fall into a nice groove, though there was still a hiccup or two to work out. Norma Shearer, Best Actress winner at the previous year’s Oscars for The Divorcee, was chosen to present the Best Actress award at the 1931 ceremony. However, she was also a nominee. The uncomfortable and awkward situation of Shearer announcing her own name as the winner was thankfully avoided when Marie Dressler won for Min and Bill. To prevent this type of situation from happening again, at the next year’s Oscars, and every ceremony since, the previous winner for Best Actress would present the award for Best Actor, and vice versa. 

The Outstanding Production nominees do not feel as diverse or exciting as the nominees from the previous year (1929-30). Cimarron and Trader Horn are certainly the biggest and most ambitious productions of the nominated films. Both are about (white) men overcoming wild, untamed lands. The difference between the two films thematically is that Cimarron is about a man conquering and taming a frontier, while Trader Horn is about a man existing and surviving in, but not changing, a wild exotic land. Neither treats the native peoples of those lands well. Both Yancey in Cimarron and Horn in Trader Horn treat the native people well but the overall view of Indians and tribal Africans, respectively, is severely lacking by today’s standards. It likely didn’t even cross the minds of most people at the time. Both films are the type of big budget epic productions that the Academy tends to acknowledge (Trader Horn’s sole nomination was for Outstanding Production), and sometimes honor (Cimarron was the big winner of the night). Cimarron has an edge over Trader Horn because while Trader Horn is simply a big adventure, Cimarron is a dramatization of recent history, Hollywood style. It is the story of the founding of Oklahoma, a state that was hit especially hard by the Great Depression. It is a story of triumph; history told the way grandparents tell their small grandchildren. It’s hard to keep in mind that the time span of Cimarron, from the Land Rush to 1929, from the Old West towns of wood to modern cities of steel and concrete is a period of only 40 years. Many people that were alive at the time of the film’s opening scene in 1889 were likely still around to see the film in 1931. 

I can only speculate on how East Lynne factored into that year’s decision on a winner. It is a period adaptation of a stage play and novel with good performances (according to reviews of the time) and costumes that, obviously, could not go without note. 

The Front Page sticks out amongst the nominees because it is the only subtly subversive film of the bunch. It makes witty social commentary on politics  and the media, showing likely authentic portrayal of both. 

My Pick for Outstanding Production of 1930-31: Skippy

I wasn’t expecting it, but Skippy is easily the film I enjoyed the most of the five Outstanding Production nominees and the one I would most readily watch again. I wasn’t expecting a film with a sentimental, dated tone to have such affecting pathos, especially coming from such a young actor. Jackie Cooper remains the youngest Best Actor nominee at 9 years old. Skippy, the adaptation of a comic strip about a privileged, but mischievous boy, becomes more than a light children’s/family movie as the story progresses.

The Great Depression had fully reared its ugly head by 1931, but none of the Outstanding Production nominees portray the Depression or its effects except for Skippy, though the film does so indirectly. Skippy spends his time is Shantytown, where his new friend Sookie lives. He has no prejudices or reservations about the kids that live in the shacks of Shanytown or spending his time there. Skippy is quick to offer Sookie $3 for the license fee to keep his dog. When his parents stop him from cracking open his piggy bank, he puts his mischievous mind to good use to try to raise the money for his friend. The comic strip on which Skippy is based began in 1925 well before the Depression but I’m sure that the conditions of Shanytown were not dissimilar from those many Americans found themselves in after 1929. Also, I’m sure that Shantytown conjured up the sights of Hoovervilles, a term coined in 1930 to described the shacks people found themselves living in under the term of President Hoover.

Skippy had gags that made me laugh and effective emotional moments that tugged on my heartstrings. It also has a positive message, and, I hope, got across the idea that helping people down on their luck, as Skippy does, should be second nature, as it is to Skippy. This is undoubtedly a simple and sentimental film with scenes and aspects that are undeniably dated, but more than enough of the film works for me now, as I’m sure it did for audiences back then. 1930-31 was not a very strong year for its Best Picture nominees, but Skippy is the film most worth watching and mostly likely to still entertain and connect today. Unfortunately, Skippy is a rare film and is not available on DVD/Blu-ray or streaming services but airs occasionally on TCM. If you should come across it in the TCM schedule I certainly recommend watching this enjoyable and rare classic film. 

Best Pictures #44: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Winner Cimarron (1931)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #44: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Winner

Cimarron (1931)

Cimarron, RKO’s big budget western that was the Academy’s choice for Outstanding Production of 1930-31, has not aged well. It was well received by critics at the time, but a modern viewer would be likely to disagree. I know I did. As of 2017, Cimarron holds a 53% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, based on only 17 reviews. It did not perform well at the box office and actually lost money for RKO in its initial theatrical release. Its poor box office performance was more than likely due to the onset of the Great Depression, which was in full effect by 1931. It was rereleased in 1935 and made back most of its money. 

Cimarron tells the decades spanning story of 19^th century newspaper editor Yancey Cravat who settles his family in the boom town of Osage, Oklahoma just after the Land Rush. Richard Dix plays Yancey and though he received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, his performance comes across as overly grandiose and exaggerated even for an era with heightened acting styles. Dix uses big gestures the way a silent film actor would, and one must keep in mind that talkies were only three years old when Cimarron was made. Yancey is determined to settle on a piece of one of the last frontiers of the United States. In the most exciting scene in the movie, Yancey takes place in the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. This reenactment took one week to film, used 5000 extras, and required 28 cameramen to shoot. We see horses and covered wagons at the starting line waiting for the starting pistol. Despite not getting any land in the Rush, Yancey moves his family to Osage against the protestations of his wife, Saba, played by Irene Dunne. Yancey is set on building a new home in a new land for his family. 

As a modern-day viewer, I found Cimarron old fashioned and dated, and not in a charming way. The very first thing we see and hear in the movie is a couple of cowboys yelling at some American Indians, calling them “redskins.” Yancy’s wife, Saba, is especially repulsed by the native peoples, calling them “dirty” and “filthy” and scolds her son for playing with a Native American boy. It is mentioned briefly by another character that Yancey is sympathetic to Native Americans, which does not win him any favor with the white settlers. However, aside from naming his son Cimarron, there is only one scene showing his sympathy for Native Americans when Yancey objects to a businessman’s scheme to steal Native American land on which oil was recently discovered. This scene takes place in 1907 when Yancey is running for governor. He jeopardizes his campaign by printing an editorial that states: “the time has come to give the redman full citizenship.” 

A young black boy named Isiah moves with Yancey to Osage and Yancey is kind to him, but he also points out a watermelon patch to Isiah when they first arrive in Osage. Isiah is the most servile character in the movie and is meant to be comic relief; this character portrayal is one of many things that has not aged well. His scenes would make a modern audience cringe. However, at least Isiah is a character. There are no Native Americans with speaking parts in a film called Cimarron. The portrayal of the treatment of blacks and Native Americans is unfortunately period appropriate, but does not enhance the film with any sense of realism. 

Female characters fair only slightly better in terms of portrayal and treatment in Cimarron. In a scene which I was only able to half enjoy, Sabra marches right up to the town bully and scolds him for shooting her husband’s hat off his head—bullets were more accurate back then, I guess. Yancey marches up to her and tells her not to interfere in a “friendly shootout” between two men. He tells her that it will all over town that he hides behind his wife’s petticoat. Yancey may be out to tame the west but it is Sabra that runs the home and the newspaper on the many occasions when Yancey gets “wanderlust” and leaves his home and family at the drop of a hat to take part in a new land rush or settle new lands. We’re supposed to accept and even admire that he cannot set down roots for more than a few years. He disappears for years at a time without a word sent home which is something I cannot admire, no matter much land there is to tame. In her husband’s absence Sabra becomes a congresswoman, but the film barely pays attention to that. At least Irene Dunne received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Sabra.

Despite Cimarron’s epic scope, it does not have breathtaking visuals or memorable set pieces aside from the Land Rush scene at the opening of the film. The cinematography was nominated for an Oscar and while I’ll concede that what is on screen is well photographed, there is no distinct visual style or flair to any scene of the movie. Cimarron did win an Oscar for Art Direction, which is an impressive element of the movie. RKO bought 89 acres of land outside of Encino, CA to build the “boomer town” of Osage. The sets and look of the town make the shots of the crowded downtown area impressive. The set design likely helped the cinematography get a nomination, but much more likely the Academy voters liked the film so much they nominated it for every category for which it qualified. Cimarron had the most nominations of any film at the 4^th Academy Awards with a total of seven. It was the first film to be nominated for all of the “major categories” (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay). Cimarron would be the most awarded film of the night with 3 wins: Art Direction, Writing Adaptation, and Outstanding Production. It was the only film produced and released by RKO to win Best Picture. 

Cimarron is technically a Pre-Code film but has none of the daring or boldness associated with Pre-Code movies. It feels dull and bland today. Even with shoot outs and the Land Rush scene, this movie lacks thrills and excitement. The characters and dialogue are stock, stilted, and bland. Dix’s character is overblown. He is THE MAN in Osage; he runs the newspaper, shoots down outlaws, becomes the town minister, is known by everyone, shoots a whiskey bottle out of someone’s hand, and when he shoots an outlaw, the outlaw essentially thanks Yancey before he dies. It’s a bit much. Yancey is practically a superman and because of this I never felt any danger or concern for him or his family. There is no challenge that is not immediately and easily conquerable for Yancey, aside from the Land Rush. His character feels artificial, perhaps because Dix’s dated performance and the way the character is written. Yancey has a vision of taming the West that many male characters have in classic westerns, but Cimarron does not feel like a classic western. A film has no control over which elements will become dated and effect the way it is viewed by later audiences. There are countless films that have dated themes, acting styles, or dialogue but still retain their entertainment value and a sense of charm. Cimarron, however, is not one of those films. 

Nominee: RKO
Producer: William LeBaron
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Screenplay: Howard Estabrook, based on the novel by Edna Ferber
Cast: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor
Release Date: February 9^th, 1931
Total Nominations: 7, including Outstanding Production
Wins: 3, including Outstanding Production, Writing Adaptation-Howard Estabrook, Art Direction-Max Rèe
Other Nominations: Actor-Richard Dix, Actress-Irene Dunne, Director-Wesley Ruggles, Cinematography-Edward Conjager

Best Pictures #43: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee East Lynne (1931)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #43: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee

East Lynne (1931)

East Lynne is fortunately not a lost film, but it is unavailable to the general public. There is only one print of the film in existence and it is kept at the UCLA Film Archive. It is a non-circulating item, but can be viewed by appointment. I fully intend to make such an appointment to view East Lynne (along with the other Best Picture nominee that only exists in their archive, The White Parade (1934)) once a trip to Los Angeles fits my schedule and budget. Until then, what I know about East Lynne I have gathered from IMDB.com, Wikipedia, the blogs of people that have seen the film at UCLA, and, most importantly, the reviews from the New York Times and Variety from the film’s initial release. 

Produced and released by the Fox Film Corporation, East Lynne is a Victorian era set melodrama based on a novel by Ellen Wood. It stars Ann Harding as Lady Isabella Carlyle, Conrad Nagel as her husband Robert, Clive Book as Sir Francis Levison, who is in love with Isabella, and is directed by Frank Lloyd. The movie follows Lady Isabella, a member of society’s upper echelon, who suffers misfortune after misfortune including the sabotaging of her marriage, a divorce, and ostracization. The film’s finale has her rushing to see her son again before she goes completely blind. The story had been adapted as a play and the movie is based on the stage version as much as the novel though it makes changes to both. 

The review in Variety (the author credited is “Variety Staff”) published on December 31st, 1930 has the has the headline: “An excellent piece of work in taking a legendary meller [melodrama] play and transposing it into a screen drama of strength and charm.” In his review for the New York Times, published on February 21^st, 1931 just as the film was released nationwide, Mordaunt Hall writes, “Many a dainty handkerchief was dabbed on a pretty face during some of the episodes in the career of the unfortunate Lady Isabella; this alone was a testimonial to Miss Harding's impressive performance.” Hall goes on to praise Harding: “when Miss Harding appears, always attractively gowned, she captures one's full attention.” The Variety review agrees, stating that Harding gave an “outstanding performance.” Both praise the sets and interior design by Joseph Urban and have positive things to say about director Frank Lloyd. Both reviews are positive overall though each has one complaint. Variety states that the scene in which Isabella meets her father in Paris is a “false note.” The sole complaint of the Times’ review is: “The actual ending of the film is a trifle too melodramatic, but what happens just before is accomplished in an appealing fashion.”

The modern reviews from the blogs of other people dedicated to watching every Best Picture nominee range from very negative to mixed. The consensus from those reviews is that East Lynne is an outdated melodrama. It will be some time before I can concur or disagree with the modern reviews or the reviews from the movie’s theatrical release. As far as I can tell only from what I have read, it seems that East Lynne, being an adaptation of a well-known novel and play with decorative sets and costumes and heavy melodrama would be considered “Oscar bait” today. Even then the Academy couldn’t resist, but only gave it one nomination, for Outstanding Production. 

Nominee: Fox

Producer: William Fox
Director: Frank Lloyd
Screenplay: Tom Barry and Bradley King, based on the novel by Ellen Wood
Cast: Ann Harding, Conrad Nagel, Clive Brook
Release Date: March 31^st, 1931
Total Nominations: 1, including Outstanding Production
Other Nominations: N/A

Best Pictures #42: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee: The Front Page (1931)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #42: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee

The Front Page (1931)

You shouldn’t judge a remake by its earlier version. That would be ideal, but it’s hard to be ideal. Likewise, you shouldn’t judge a movie by its much more notable remake. In this case the remake is His Girl Friday, one of the prime examples of screwball comedy. Surprisingly, I didn’t think about His Girl Friday as much as I was afraid I would while watching The Front Page. 

Based on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, The Front Page was produced independently by Howard Hughes and released though United Artists. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, who had just won the Best Director award at the previous year’s Academy Awards. Milestone already had two Oscar wins for Best Director under his belt, for Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and picked up a nomination for his work on The Front Page. The last film I saw directed by Lewis Milestone that was based on a play was, The Racket (1928), an Outstanding Picture nominee at the 1^st Academy Awards. I did not care for the results, especially the staging of dialogue heavy scenes and bland visual style. That film was silent so the scenes of men dressed similarly talking to each other in rooms were a bit hard to follow. The reporters in The Front Page dress mostly the same, however, since this is a talkie, each actor’s voice helps to distinguish them in the many scenes in which the reporters are gathered together. Milestone and his cinematographer, Glen MacWilliams, are able to give visual flair to very verbal material. Visually interesting shots and camera movements are plentiful. The most interesting and oddest visual moment happens when the gang of reporters, gathered around a table in the press room, mock the Sheriff by singing at him derisively. Instead of just panning around the room to each reporter, the camera tilts quickly up and back down from one reporter to the next. 

The Front Page is a film that could not have been made just a few years before in the silent era. The fast paced dialogue and sharp, wry sense of humor are what make the movie. This material needs the technology of sound; a silent version of this movie would be rather dull. Though the stars of this movie are Adolphe Menjou as Burns and Pat O’Brien as Hildy, we spend a great deal of the film—the entire second act—with the gaggle of character actors as fellow reporters cramped together in the courthouse pressroom. The standout of that bunch is Edward Everett Horton with his very distinctive voice. All of the characters, including the two main characters, were based on real courthouse correspondents that Hecht and MacArthur spent time with while researching their play. The reporters are crass and acerbic about their jobs and subjects. Their utter contempt for anyone involved in the running of the city (especially the sheriff and the mayor) feels completely genuine. One character even gives the mayor the finger—this is a Pre-Code film after all.

The big story all these reporters are trying to get a scoop on is the imminent hanging of a convicted murderer and anarchist named Williams. Everyone calls him a Bolhevik, though he is actually an anarchist but no one listens or cares when he explains the difference. Walter Burns, the editor of the Post connives to keep his star reporter, Hildy Johnson, in town and on the story. All Hildy wants to do is get married and leave town, but he can’t pass up a good story, and the story gets even better when Williams escapes. As for the movie, despite the quick paced dialogue and acerbic humor, it feels like it is treading water whenever Menjou is offscreen. The reporters are literally sitting around biding time until execution and though they provide humor and social commentary (they accuse the mayor and the sheriff of moving up the execution to just before election day to nab votes), they are too undeveloped for how much time we spend with them. Menjou surprisingly has only a few scenes and is largely absent until he returns for the final act and dominates the film. The pace picks up significantly when Menjou is present. It’s no surprise that he received a nomination for Best Actor. Edward Everett Horton is eccentric and funny in his role, and Mae Clark gives a solid performance in the small role of Williams’s girlfriend.

With its limited sets and distinct acts, The Front Page feels undeniably of the theater, but director Milestone finds ways—some subtle, others less so—to keep the eye engaged while the fast, funny dialogue entertains the ear. This is an uneven film that perhaps could have benefitted from trimming some scenes but it manages to end strong thanks to Menjou. This is the beginning of what would grow into screwball comedy and would be an interesting film for fans of the genre to watch. The DVD print is readily available, but is not of the best quality. The audio track is mostly good but visual irregularities are present. The Front Page was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2010. I’m not a big fan of this movie, but I’m glad to know it is preserved and available.

The Front Page (1931) Academy Restoration-HD from California Film Institute on Vimeo.

Nominee: Caddo, U.A.

Producer: Howard Hughes, Lewis Milestone

Director: Lewis Milestone

Screenplay: adaptation by Bartlett Cormack, additional dialogue by Charles Lederer, based on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur

Cast: Adolphe Menjou, Pat O’Brien, Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton

Release Date: April 4^th, 1931

Total Nominations: 3, including Outstanding Production

Wins: N/A

Other Nominations: Actor-Adolphe Menjou, Director-Lewis Milestone

Best Pictures #41: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee: Skippy (1931)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #41: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee

Skippy (1931)

As of 2017, Skippy, released in 1931, has the distinction of being the only Best Picture nominee based on a comic strip, comic book, or graphic novel. I can’t say I’ve heard of the Skippy character or comic strip, but I have heard of Jackie Cooper, who received a nomination for Best Actor for his role as the title character. Cooper was nine years old making him the youngest person (as of 2017) to be nominated for Best Actor. Cooper does indeed give a pretty good performance, making this mischievous child of privilege lovable and endearing. Young Cooper’s acting style leans into exaggeration, but so do the performances of the other actors and actresses, child and adult alike. Movie acting styles were still adapting from the hyperbolic performances necessitated by the recently passed silent era. 

Skippy is the son of the director of the Board of Health and his family is obviously well off. There are two neighbor kids, Eloise and Sidney, that Skippy tolerates, but he gets along much better with the kids in Shantytown, the abjectly poor and dilapidated part of town that is literally on the other side of the tracks (railroad tracks). He meets Sookie, a Shantytown kid, and they quickly become friends after Skippy notices that Sookie was the only kid that didn’t run away when an adult came to break up a fight. When Sookie’s unlicensed dog is taken by the dog catcher, Skippy promises to help Sookie pay the $3 license fee before the dog is put down. 

Most, if not all, of this movie’s charm comes from its naturally cute and adorable child actors. Most of the child actors give one note performances, except for Cooper and Robert Coogan as Sookie, but that is all that is required of them. The adult performances are one note too, but I think this is forgivable since children Skippy’s age do not understand subtlety very well. So, Skippy’s loving mother is purely loving and the mean dog catcher is purely mean. Skippy’s father says that one day he’ll sit down and have a long talk with Skippy about responsibility and other grown up things. There’s a distance between Skippy and his father and it is ultimately the father’s actions, not a long talk, that show Skippy another side of his father and teach Skippy important life lessons. 

Skippy is the only child of a wealthy family, with a politically powerful father, but he is not spoiled. He treats being a kid like having a job. He is also clever. When his parents forbid him from going over the railroad tracks to Shantytown, he goes under the tracks through a drain pipe. Skippy does everything he possibly can to help raise money for the dog license. He could’ve just gone home and forgotten all about it, but Skippy is a good kid. Instead he hatches a number of schemes including a very funny sequence in which the kids put on a vaudeville show and charge for admission.

Director Norman Taurog took home the Oscar for Best Director and, at 32 years old, remained the youngest person to win the award until Damien Chazelle won for directing La La Land (2016). Skippy’s visual style is basic and straightforward. There are not many complex shots or stylistic flourishes, but thanks to the story and performances, Skippy is not visually boring. Taurog got Cooper (his nephew) and Coogan to cry convincingly for a scene by telling Cooper that his real dog had been shot and had an out of sight crew member fire a gun with a blank. This very likely was not the best way to get the kids to cry. According to some sources, Cooper never forgave his uncle for that trick. 

It's not easy to make a mischievous, wealthy child character likable and relatable but thanks to Jackie Cooper and a smart story this film succeeds at just that. Skippy is ultimately a coming of age story about the first time that two kids experience unexpected responsibility and heavy emotions. The plot moves into dramatic, even upsetting, territory, but still remains light and pleasant in its overall tone. Skippy, the film and the character, develops a big heart and surprising amount of pathos and depth for a movie based on a comic strip about cute kids. This movie may come across as dated because of its over the top performances and wholesome tone, but there is still plenty of charm to keep it watchable. Skippy is a rare film, unavailable on DVD/Blu-ray or streaming services, but, fortunately, it airs from time to time on TCM and is well worth watching.

Nominee: Paramount Publix

Producer: Louis D. Lighton

Director: Norman Taurog

Screenplay: Joseph L. Mankiewicz , Norman Z. McLeod, Sam Mintz, additional dialogue by Don Marquis, based on the comic strip by Percy Crosby

Cast: Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green

Release Date: April 5^th, 1985

Total Nominations: 4, including Outstanding Production

Wins: Director-Norman Taurog

Other Nominations: Actor-Jackie Cooper, Writing, Adaptation-Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Sam Mintz