You know, every once in a while you're faced with something so perfect—the Sistine Chapel, Secretariat at the Belmont, John Lennon's vocal on "Twist and Shout"—you can actually hear the music of the spheres as they move through the eternal ether.When I watch Astaire and Rogers dance, I reconsider the possibility that maybe there is a heaven after all.
PICTURE (Drama)
winner: The 39 Steps (prod. Michael Balcon)
nominees: Bride Of Frankenstein (prod. Carl Laemmle, Jr. and James Whale); The Informer (prod. John Ford); Mutiny On The Bounty (prod. Frank Lloyd and Irving Thalberg)
PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Top Hat (prod. Pandro S. Berman)
nominees: A Night At The Opera (prod. Irving Thalberg); Ruggles of Red Gap (Arthur Hornblow, Jr.)
PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: La kermesse héroïque (Carnival In Flanders) (prod. Pierre Guerlais)
ACTOR (Drama)
winner: Charles Laughton (Mutiny On The Bounty)
nominees: Ronald Colman (A Tale Of Two Cities); Robert Donat (The 39 Steps); Errol Flynn (Captain Blood); Boris Karloff (Bride Of Frankenstein)
ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: The Marx Brothers (A Night At The Opera)
nominees: Fred Astaire (Top Hat); W.C. Fields (The Man on the Flying Trapeze); Charles Laughton (Ruggles Of Red Gap)
ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Katharine Hepburn (Alice Adams and Sylvia Scarlet)
nominees: Greta Garbo (Anna Karenina)
ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Ginger Rogers (Top Hat)
nominees: Margaret Sullavan (The Good Fairy); Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel, Our Little Girl, Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel)
DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Alfred Hitchcock (The 39 Steps)
nominees: John Ford (The Informer); James Whale (Bride Of Frankenstein)
DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Sam Wood (A Night At The Opera)
nominees: Leo McCarey (Ruggles Of Red Gap); Mark Sandrich (Top Hat); William Wyler (The Good Fairy)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Edward Everett Horton (Top Hat)
nominees: W.C. Fields (David Copperfield); Charles Laughton (Les Miserables); Charlie Ruggles (Ruggles Of Red Gap); Franchot Tone (The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer and Mutiny On The Bounty); Ernest Thesiger (Bride of Frankenstein)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Elsa Lanchester (Bride Of Frankenstein)
nominees: Peggy Ashcroft (The 39 Steps); Mary Boland (Ruggles Of Red Gap); Una O'Connor (Bride Of Frankenstein and The Informer); Edna May Oliver (David Copperfield and A Tale Of Two Cities)
SCREENPLAY
winner: Dudley Nichols, from a story by Liam O'Flaherty (The Informer)
nominees: William Hurlbut (screenplay), adaptation by William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston (Bride Of Frankenstein); W.P. Lipscomb, from the novel by Victor Hugo (Les Misérables); George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, story by James Kevin McGuinness (A Night At The Opera); Charles Bennett (adaptation), Ian Hay (dialogue) and Alma Reville (continuity) (The 39 Steps)
SPECIAL AWARDS
John J. Mescall (Bride of Frankenstein) (Cinematography); Charles D. Hall (Bride of Frankenstein) (Art Direction-Set Decoration); Gilbert Kurland (Bride of Frankenstein) (Sound); Herbert Stothart (Mutiny on the Bounty) (Score); "Cheek To Cheek" (Top Hat) Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin (Song); Derek Twist (The 39 Steps) (Film Editing)
Whoo, Elsa! (And 39 Steps and Fred and Ginger. But mostly whoo, Elsa!)
ReplyDeleteI pretty much concur right down the line except your absence of Frederic March for Les Miserables.
ReplyDeleteIt is, sadly, a very weak year for lead actress in either category.
TOP HAT over NIGHT AT THE OPERA???
ReplyDeleteNever in my book, Dear Monkey friend. Never ever ever.
I like TOP HAT, too, but it's not even Fred and Ginger's best film...I mean, the whole thing get so silly before it's over.
NIGHT AT THE OPERA is damn near perfect.
And not just because I'm in a Marx Bros mood do I say this: I mean, I've seen every Fred and Ginger movie frontwards and backwards, and over and over, and on mute, and with sound...
Gonna give 'em the Oscar, I'd make 'em wait til next year, and give it to 'em for SWING TIME.
...
As for Katharine Hepburn: ALICE ADAMS. Not only is it one of her best performances, but also one of her most lovable. I'd say SYLVIA SCARLET borderlines on 'acquired taste'.
TOP HAT over NIGHT AT THE OPERA???
ReplyDeleteNever in my book, Dear Monkey friend. Never ever ever.
Anyone who argues so passionately for the Marx Brothers is always welcome at the Monkey!
Whoo, Elsa! (And 39 Steps and Fred and Ginger. But mostly whoo, Elsa!)
ReplyDeleteElsa is one of those actresses I can't understand why she didn't win an Oscar. Okay, so the Academy never gives awards to horror, but how about Witness for the Prosecution? Or any one of a dozen other great supporting roles. Well, what can you do. Oh, wait, you can give her a Katie Award! Way to go, Elsa!
Aw...and I thought You'd hate me.
ReplyDelete