I've chosen a best picture in three different categories (drama, comedy/musical and foreign language) but make no mistake, The Passion of Joan of Arc is the best picture of the year. It's not only the most modern looking movie of the silent era, it's the most modern looking movie of any era, and its subject matter—torture, capital punishment, political corruption and religious fanaticism of every stripe—is probably more relevant today than when Dreyer made it.Not to mention it's the most gripping courtroom drama ever made—better than Perry Mason, better than Law and Order, better than Witness for the Prosecution, Twelve Angry Men and A Few Good Men put together. It really is that good.
As for my choice of the year's best comedy, I'll grant you that Steamboat Bill, Jr. and The Cameraman are funnier. But Steamboat Willie had a much bigger impact. Not only did it give us Mickey Mouse, in practical terms, it gave us Walt Disney, too, because without this desperately needed hit, his fledgling studio would likely have gone under.
In any event, if The Simpsons can spoof it (as "Steamboat Itchy") without needing to explain the source, you know it is deeply embedded in the cultural conscience.
But Buster Keaton takes home the acting honors, as well he should. As thespians go, I'd stack him against a cartoon rodent any day.
PICTURE (Drama)
winner: The Wind (prod. Victor Sjöström)
nominees: Blackmail (prod. John Maxwell); The Docks Of New York (prod. J.G. Bachmann); The Iron Mask (prod. Douglas Fairbanks); The Wedding March (prod. Pat Powers and Erich von Stroheim)
Must-See Drama: Beggars Of Life; Blackmail; The Docks Of New York; The Iron Mask; Our Dancing Daughters; Piccadilly; The Wedding March; The Wind
PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Steamboat Willie (prod. Walt Disney)
nominees: The Broadway Melody (prod. Irving Thalberg, Harry Rapf and Lawrence Weingarten); The Cameraman (prod. Buster Keaton); Show People (prod. Marion Davies and King Vidor); Steamboat Bill, Jr. (prod. Joseph M. Schenck);
Must-See Comedy/Musical: The Broadway Melody; The Cameraman; Show People; Steamboat Bill, Jr.; Steamboat Willie; Two Tars
PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (prod. Société générale des films)
nominees: Un Chien Andalou (prod. Luis Buñuel); The Fall Of The House Of Usher (prod. Jean Epstein); Man With The Movie Camera (prod. VUFKU)
Must-See Foreign Language Pictures: Un Chien Andalou; The Fall Of The House Of Usher; Man With The Movie Camera; The Passion Of Joan Of Arc
ACTOR (Drama)
winner: George Bancroft (The Docks Of New York)
nominees: Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona); Douglas Fairbanks (The Iron Mask); John Gilbert (A Woman Of Affairs and Desert Nights); Erich von Stroheim (The Wedding March)
ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Buster Keaton (Steamboat Bill, Jr. and The Cameraman)
nominees: William Haines (Show People); Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (Two Tars)
ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Lillian Gish (The Wind)
nominees: Louise Brooks (Beggars Of Life); Betty Compson (The Docks Of New York); Maria Falconetti (The Passion Of Joan Of Arc); Greta Garbo (The Mysterious Lady, A Woman Of Affairs and Wild Orchids)
ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Marion Davies (Show People)
nominees: Bessie Love (The Broadway Melody)
DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion Of Joan Of Arc)
nominees: Victor Sjöström (The Wind); Josef von Sternberg (The Docks Of New York); Dziga Vertov (Man With The Movie Camera); Erich von Stroheim (The Wedding March)
DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner:Luis Buñuel (Un Chien Andalou)
nominees: Ub Iwerks (Steamboat Willie); Edward Sedgwick (The Cameraman); King Vidor (Show People)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Ernest Torrence (Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Desert Nights)
nominees: Wallace Beery (Beggars Of Life); Donald Calthrop (Blackmail); Lewis Stone (A Woman Of Affairs); Gustav von Seyffertitz (The Mysterious Lady and The Docks Of New York)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Anita Page (Our Dancing Daughters)
nominees: Olga Baclanova (The Docks Of New York); Mary Nolan (West Of Zanzibar); Zasu Pitts (The Wedding March); Anna May Wong (Piccadilly)
SCREENPLAY
winner: Frances Marion; from a novel by Dorothy Scarborough (The Wind)
nominees: Jules Furthman; story by John Monk Saunders; titles by Julian Johnson (The Docks Of New York); Joseph Delteil and Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion Of Joan Of Arc)
SPECIAL AWARDS
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks (the creation and marketing of Mickey Mouse); Douglas Shearer (The Broadway Melody) (Special Achievement In The Use Of Sound); "The Broadway Melody" (The Broadway Melody) (Best Song); Un Chien Andalou (prod. Luis Buñuel) (Best Short Subject); John Arnold (The Wind) (Cinematography)
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4 comments:
I love STEAMBOAT WILLIE and THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC....I wonder what that says about me.
Oh well, the truth is I'm not a BIG fan of the silents, but I watched the Joan of Arc film from beginning to end simply because I couldn't NOT watch. It was magnificent.
I've been meaning to watch some of Douglas Fairbanks silents too.
I do enjoy reading your posts, M.M.
I love STEAMBOAT WILLIE and THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC....I wonder what that says about me.
Personally, I'd say it means you have good taste.
I've been meaning to watch some of Douglas Fairbanks silents too.
If you've never seen one, I'd go with either one of his early pre-swashbuckling comedies (The Matrimaniac, a Harold Lloyd style comedy before even Lloyd had figured out what that meant, is probably my favorite), The Thief of Bagdad (it has an almost ballet-like gracefulness) or the Blu-Ray restoration of The Black Pirate, one of the very first color movies (unfortunately, I think the Technicolor version is only available on Blu-Ray).
But you can't really go too far wrong with any of Fairbanks's silent work. He was one of the true greats.
I personally like Douglas best as Robin Hood or Zorro.
Again, with eligibility questions. My top 4 films of the year are all Foreign films supposedly eligible this year: Nosferatu, October, Napoleon and The Fall of the House of Usher. And I had read that Passion of Joan of Arc was actually eligible to year before.
But I agree with The Wind as the best English language Drama of the year.
But I definitely go with von Stroheim for Best Actor (unless you count Schreck in Nosferatu or Dieudonne in Napoleon).
Again, with eligibility questions. My top 4 films of the year are all Foreign films supposedly eligible this year: Nosferatu, October, Napoleon and The Fall of the House of Usher. And I had read that Passion of Joan of Arc was actually eligible to year before.
You might actually be right about The Passion of Joan of Arc -- I think those first couple of years, I was working out of a hodgepodge of Inside Oscar, Imdb.com, Danny Peary and who knows what else. I thought about going back and tossing out what I'd chosen before and written about, but then decided to live with it as much as possible. The Crowd for screenplay in 1927-28, I couldn't live with since I had a distorted idea about film history when I wrote that. The other picks, well, they seemed like a good idea at the time.
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