Oscar Look Back - 1938

I almost didn’t post this – I meant to watch some of the ones I missed, but kind of ran out of time. So, while I missed more than I would have liked, I decided just to go ahead and post it.

 

Best Picture

1.     Grand Illusion

2.     The Adventures of Robin Hood

3.     Pygmalion

4.     Jezebel 

5.     You Can't Take It with You - WINNER

6.     Boys Town

Not Seen By Me

Alexander's Ragtime Band

The Citadel

Four Daughters

Test Pilot

Why This Ranking: The further back you go, the harder it is to see every – out of the four I have not seen, Alexander’s Ragtime Band and Test Pilot have never been on my list, but The Citadel and Four Daughters has been for a longtime – but I couldn’t find them at one point, but they’re available now, so there’s no excuse. Out of what I have seen, Boys Town is almost embarrassingly old fashioned and schmaltzy. This was a great period in the career of Frank Capra – but although it’s fine You Can’t Take It With You is nowhere close to Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Jezebel is a Southern melodrama made with style and skill, and has some great performances and is the kind of thing they don’t make well anymore. Pygmalion is as a old story, told a thousand times, but man does it work in this film. The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the best old school action/adventure films and is a must see. But far and away the best film nominated – the first time they nominated a foreign language film ever – was Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion – his best known film (although not his best) – his WWI masterpiece.

What Was Overlooked: We could add a few other foreign masterpieces – Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky (my favorite of the Soviet master’s films) or Marcel Carne’s Port of Shadows for example – and technically Jean Renoir’s La Bete Humaine was a 1938 film as well. They were never going there though - but what about the Hitchcock classic The Lady Vanishes or two of the best screwball comedies of the 1930s – Holiday and especially Bringing Up Baby. Lots of great choices were available here.

 

Best Director

1. Angels with Dirty Faces - Michael Curtiz
2. You Can't Take It with You - Frank Capra - WINNER
3. Boys Town - Norman Taurog

Not Seen By Me

The Citadel- King Vidor

Four Daughters - Michael Curtiz

Why This Ranking: I loved both King Vidor and Michael Curtiz – so I need to see The Citadel and Four Daughters respectively. Of the nominees I have seen, I don’t get the nomination for Norman Taurog for Boys Town which is just so dull and predictable. I guess Frank Capra won for You Can’t Take It with You because it was a larger cast than normal, and he had to keep it all moving. Best of all was the rare Lone Director nomination – Michael Curtiz for Angels with Dirty Faces – a great 1930s gangster movie, that yes, has some clichés, but is so brilliantly pulls if off you don’t care.

Who Was Overlooked: I really wish the Academy had gone the whole way and nominated Jean Renoir for Grand Illusion to go along with the Best Picture nomination. Directing comedies doesn’t get nomination very often, so I would have loved to see Howard Hawks for Bringing Up Baby pick up a nomination – particularly because they also didn’t nominate him enough over the course of his career either.

Best Actor

1.     Angels with Dirty Faces - James Cagney

2.     Pygmalion - Leslie Howard

3.     Boys Town - Spencer Tracy - WINNER

Not Seen By Me

Algiers - Charles Boyer

The Citadel - Robert Donat

Why This Ranking: I’m really surprised that the Academy gave Spencer Tracy an Oscar for Boys Town – since he had just won the previous year, and there is nothing really that special about his work in the film as a kindly priest. The role of the stuffy professor in Pygmalion was the role that Leslie Howard was born to play, and he is wonderful. But of course, it’s James Cagney as the amoral gangster in Angels with Dirty Faces that really is one of the great performances of his career – especially his ambiguous final scene.

Who Was Overlooked: For me, you could argue that Cary Grant gave not just one but two performances this year better than anything nominated in screwball comedies in Holiday and Bringing Up Baby so they could take their pick. They also had their pick of great Jean Gabin performances – Grand Illusion, La Bete Humaine and Port of Shadows.

 

Best Actress

1.     Pygmalion - Wendy Hiller

2.     Jezebel - Bette Davis - WINNER

Not Seen By Me

Marie Antoinette  - Norma Shearer

Three Comrades  - Margaret Sullavan

White Banners - Fay Bainter

Why This Ranking: I’m sorry, but I know I’m not the only one who probably couldn’t tell you anything about Three Comrades or White Banners – which is why I haven’t seen Margaret Sullivan or Fay Bainter’s performances. I have heard about Marie Antoinette – but nothing all that good that would make me need to watch Norma Shearer in the film. As for the two I have seen, it’s not a bad do. I prefer Bette Davis when she has more bite than she does as the self-sacrificing heroine of Jezebel – but she’s still quite good. It is Wendy Hiller in Pygmalion though that is my favorite of the performances – it’s a hoot.

Who Was Overlooked: Much like Cary Grant in the Best Actor category, Katherine Hepburn perhaps gave two performances better than anything nominated in Bringing Up Baby and Holiday.

 

Best Supporting Actor

Not Seen By Me

Algiers - Gene Lockhart

Four Daughters - John Garfield

If I Were King - Basil Rathbone

Kentucky - Walter Brennan - WINNER

Marie Antoinette - Robert Morley

Why Think Ranking: Well, this is embarrassing – there are not many acting categories in any year of the Academy Awards where I have seen none of the nominees. This was the second of three wins for Walter Brennan – the first ever to do that, but of the three, Kentucky is the least talked about. I have always liked John Garfield – so I really should see Four Daughters. I liked Pepe Le Moko, so I probably should see Algiers – the American remake, with Gene Lockhart. Character actor Robert Morley got his only Oscar nomination for Marie Antoinette. As for If I Were King gave Sherlock Holmes Basil Rathbone, his second and last nomination.

Who Was Overlooked: I always enjoy Claude Rains – and he gives one of his best villain performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood. The great French actor Michel Simon is terrific in Port of Shadows.

 

Best Supporting Actress

1.     Jezebel - Fay Bainter - WINNER

2.     You Can't Take It with You  - Spring Byington

Not Seen By Me

The Great Waltz - Miliza Korjus

Merrily We Live  - Billie Burke

Of Human Hearts - Beulah Bondi

Why This Ranking: The year after she gave one of the best performances ever in Make Way for Tomorrow, Beulah Bondi was nominated for Of Human Hearts – a film I’ve never heard of. Glinda the Good Witch Billie Burke got her only Oscar nomination for Merrily We Live. Another film I don’t really know is The Great Waltz or Miliza Korjus. Of the two I have seen, it’s hard to fault them for nominating Spring Byington for You Can’t Take It with You who was quite good, and if you have to single out someone, why not her? But Fay Bainter was still probably a fine choice for Jezebel – if for no other reason than she became the first of the double nominees (Actress and Supporting Actress) – and usually they win something.

Who Was Overlooked: The wonderful Dame May Whitty is The Lady Vanishes in Hitchcock’s classic, and quite good. Michele Morgan is terrific in Port of Shadows.