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 #40: 1930-31 (4th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee: Trader Horn (1931)

by A.J.

Best Pictures #40: 1930-31 (4^th) Academy Awards Outstanding Production Nominee

Trader Horn (1931)

Trader Horn is an old-fashioned adventure film about men surviving, persevering, and adventuring in a strange, untamed land. Until recently Trader Horn was a rare film but now it is readily available on DVD from Warner Archive. It stars Harry Carey as Aloysius “Trader” Horn, a veteran white trader touring through Africa by river with his sidekick Peru (Duncan Renaldo), who wears a comically large pith helmet. The film is based on a book written by the real Aloysius Horn. Their adventures are mostly episodic until they encounter a missionary widow who is searching for her long-lost daughter that was kidnapped as a baby many years ago. After the missionary dies, Horn and Peru take up the search.

It’s safe to assume that Trader Horn’s nomination for Outstanding Production was meant to recognize and acknowledge its epic production. It received no other nominations. This was the first non-documentary film to be shot on location in Africa, which would have been a big deal at a time when nearly every scene of every movie made by every studio was shot on soundstages and backlots. The reason for keeping productions close to studio headquarters was to have control over the production and cut down on problems that might cause costly delays. The production of Trader Horn photographed authentic African landscapes and wildlife but suffered many troubles, some of them tragic. Several crew members were stricken with malaria, including director W.S. Van Dyke and co-star Edwina Booth. It would take Booth six years to recover from her case of malaria. She retired from acting, sued MGM, and settled out of court. Two crew members were killed during filming, both native Africans. One fell off a boat and was eaten by a crocodile. The other was killed by a stampeding rhinoceros. His death was caught on film and used in the movie. It’s a quick shot and not graphic at all—you would never guess it wasn’t just a visual effect—but knowing that the death is real makes it a most disturbing moment to watch. 

Harry Carey is believable as the experienced adventurer that knows his way around the wilds of Africa and the other main actors give good performances, though the characters are thin. An adventure film like this does not require overly complex characters or plot—though those could only help the movie—but underdeveloped characters and a simple plot mean that the action scenes and exotic locations are what is left to engage the audience. A typical scene in Trader Horn will have Horn and Peru in a boat or on a trail, then cut to the wild animals or vistas. For long stretches of the film the characters watch animals graze and hunt. Horn and Peru stroll through the savanna at one point and come across nearly every kind of African animal you’d hope to see if you were on safari. Horn points out and names all of the different animals to Peru like a zoo tour guide and the movie cuts to shots of these animals and the cuts don’t always match well.

I think what would have been most appealing to audiences about Trader Horn at the time of its release are the scenes of African animals, people, and the promise of thrilling adventure. There is some excitement to be found in Trader Horn, but not as much as you’d hope to find in an adventure picture. I must admit that I did feel a flourish of excitement when Horn and his native guide swung on vines like Tarzan over a pit of crocodiles (the first sound Tarzan film would be made a year later in 1932, starring Johnny Weissmuller). The scene in which Horn and Peru are about to be sacrificed by a native tribe by being crucified upside down is also suspenseful. However, the preceding scene of Horn and Peru in a hut listening to the tribal drums beat faster and faster goes on for far too long, well past the point of building suspense. There are a few other sequences that go on longer than needed dramatically but show off the footage shot in Africa. The most notable these scenes happens early in the film when Horn and Peru arrive in a native village to trade. Shots of the native villagers and their version of daily hustle and bustle goes on and on but shows quasi-documentary footage of an exotic, far away people that audiences normally would not have seen. Trader Horn, being a Pre-Code film, even gets away showing topless native women; something I did not expect to see in film made in 1931.

Trader Horn was directed by W.S. Van Dyke, who had worked on films shot in exotic locations before, but also had the nickname “One Take Woody” for shooting scenes as quickly and efficiently as possible. I can understand why MGM would hire “One Take Woody” to helm an expensive production shot in a faraway land where safety is not guaranteed, get the shots required to make an exciting adventure movie, and get out quickly and inexpensively. The result, however, is underwhelming. All of the scenes of African wildlife and landscape are shot from a still, motionless camera. There are some shots that are impressive because of what they show (like a raging waterfall), but many feel dull.

There are many aspects of Trader Horn that are dated by today’s standards and that modern audiences would find offensive. Horn’s native gun bearer, Rencharo (Mutia Omoolu) is a mostly mute and faithful sidekick who would be an interesting character if the film had thought to portray him as such. A rhinoceros is shot and killed, along with other exotic, now endangered, animals, and the close-up shot of the dying rhino’s face is incredibly depressing. Big game hunting was viewed differently in the 1930s, as exciting and manly, and the rights of animals on screen did not exist. According to the IMDB and Wikipedia pages for Trader Horn, many of the scenes of animals attacking other animals were shot in Mexico by a second unit. The reason for this is because in Mexico at the time laws regarding the treatment of animals were lax. The big cats were starved in order to ensure vicious attacks on other animals.

The most curious thing in Trader Horn is the White Goddess character (Nina, the missionary’s long-lost daughter played by Edwina Booth) that rules a native tribe. Peru implores her to help him and Horn when they’ve been captured by her tribe because she is white like them and white people should help each other. Booth herself is as good as she can be playing an over-the-top character that does not speak any English—none of her dialogue, or any native dialogue is subtitled. The trailer for the film advertises “See the cruelest woman in all Africa rule pagan tribes.” I’m not sure how to feel about this character, but I am sure this would not happen in an adventure film made today.  

I couldn’t help but think of Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness, nominated for Unique and Artistic Picture at the 1^st Academy Awards, which managed to make an exciting, entertaining film that treated native people respectfully, made them the stars of the movie, and worked with animals far better than in Trader Horn, even though both involved killing real animals. The most objectionable treatment of animals in Chang was the kidnapping of a baby elephant to get its mother to stampede and tear apart a hut, but the mother frees her baby and both return to the jungle. Leopards and tigers were killed in Chang and it is a sad thing to see, but these animals had been menacing the native Lao people and, as a result, death by big cats decreased in the following years. Trader Horn is MGM’s attempt to capture the thrill and excitement of exotic animals and locations, the danger and adventure of a quasi-documentary like Chang, and couch it in the more broadly appealing framework of a mainstream narrative. The result is a blend of fictional narrative and real nature documentary that has only some of the excitement it was it was aiming to capture. 

Nominee: MGM

Producer: Irving Thalberg

Director: W.S. Van Dyke

Screenplay: Richard Schayer, adaptation by Dale Van Every and John T. Neville, dialogue by Cyril Hume, based on the book by Alfred Aloysius Horn

Cast: Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, Duncan Renaldo

Release Date: May 23^rd, 1931

Total Nominations: 1, including Outstanding Production
Wins: N/A

Other Nominations: N/A