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