You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that James Cagney's performance in The Public Enemy was some sort of line in the sand as far as acting in the sound era was concerned. Before it, actors were clearly influenced by the British stage actor model—reserved, refined and decidedly upper crust. Cagney was purely American—tough, urban, fast-talking, working class. He paved the way for Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and even Gary Cooper in his slow-talking, Western, but just as purely American way.PICTURE (Drama)
winner: The Public Enemy (prod. Darryl F. Zanuck)
nominees: The Big Trail (prod. Winfield R. Sheehan); The Dawn Patrol (prod. Robert North); Dracula (prod. Tod Browning and Carl Laemmle, Jr.); Morocco (prod. Hector Turnbull)
Must-See Drama: The Big Trail; The Dawn Patrol; Dracula; A Free Soul; Little Caesar; The Miracle Woman; Morocco; Night Nurse
PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: City Lights (prod. Charles Chaplin)
nominees: Animal Crackers (prod. Adolph Zukor); Bimbo's Initiation (prod. Max Fleischer); The Front Page (prod. Lewis Milestone); Min And Bill (prod. George W. Hill)
Must-See: Animal Crackers; City Lights; The Front Page
PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: M (prod. Seymour Nebenzal)
nominees: L'Âge d'Or (prod. Le Vicomte de Noailles); Le Million (prod. Frank Clifford); Prix de Beauté (prod. Romain Pinès); The Threepenny Opera (prod. Seymour Nebenzal)
Must-See Foreign Language Pictures: L'Âge d'Or; M; Le Million
ACTOR (Drama)
winner: James Cagney (The Public Enemy)
nominees: Gary Cooper (Morocco); Walter Huston (The Criminal Code); Bela Lugosi (Dracula); Edward G. Robinson (Little Caesar)
ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Charles Chaplin (City Lights)
nominees: Eddie Cantor (Whoopee!); Jackie Cooper (Skippy); René Lefèvre (Le Million); The Marx Brothers (Animal Crackers)
ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Marlene Dietrich (Morocco)
nominees: Joan Crawford (Dance, Fools, Dance); Irene Dunne (Cimarron); Norma Shearer (A Free Soul); Barbara Stanwyck (Night Nurse)
ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Jeanette MacDonald (Monte Carlo)
nominees: Virginia Cherrill (City Lights); Ina Claire (The Royal Family Of Broadway); Marie Dressler (Min And Bill); Lya Lys (L'Âge d'Or)
DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Fritz Lang (M)
nominees: Tod Browning (Dracula); Howard Hawks (The Dawn Patrol and The Criminal Code); Raoul Walsh (The Big Trail); William A. Wellman (The Public Enemy)
DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Charles Chaplin (City Lights)
nominees: Luis Buñuel (L'Âge d'Or); René Clair (Le Million); Lewis Milestone (The Front Page); G.W. Pabst (The Threepenny Opera)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Peter Lorre (M)
nominees: Dwight Frye (Dracula); Clark Gable (A Free Soul); Adolphe Menjou (The Front Page); Harry Myers (City Lights)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Joan Blondell (Sinners' Holiday, Other Men's Women and Night Nurse)
nominees: Margaret Dumont (Animal Crackers); Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera); Marjorie Rambeau (Min And Bill); Sylvia Sidney (An American Tragedy)
SCREENPLAY
winner: René Clair; from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemaud (Le Million)
nominees: Morrie Ryskind; from a play by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Burt Kalmar and Harry Ruby (Animal Crackers); Charles Chaplin (City Lights)
SPECIAL AWARDS
René Clair (Le Million) (Special Achievement In The Use Of Sound); "Makin' Whoopee" (Whoopee!) (Best Song); Fritz Arno Wagner (M) (Cinematography)
Again, spot-on. I didn't realize what a groundbreaking period 1930-1931 was: James Cagney, Public Enemy, Fritz Lang, Peter Lorre, M...dang. Like you said, both Cagney and Lorre brought new energy to their roles than previous film actors, both distinctively unique to their regions and personalities.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Peter Lorre's performance in M is one of the greatest performances by anybody, anywhere, at any time.
ReplyDeleteI think Cagney deserved to be nominated or awarded more than THE PUBLIC ENEMY actually deserved to be nominated or awarded...there were some pretty stiff biscuits in that movie. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd if you could only nominate one of the brothers for ANIMAL CRACKERS, which one would you pick?? Maybe Groucho for best actor, and one of the others for support??
Also: Hi! How are you? I'm back from the asylum. ;)
I've only read one post, and already I can tell, your blog and writing are as good as ever.
Hope you're well.
Again, with the damn Oscar years. M is supposedly eligible in 1932-33, where it almost sweeps my awards. But here, it's all about City Lights.
ReplyDeleteBut you really think of Menjou as supporting? After all, he was nominated for Best Actor, even if the supporting categories didn't exist then. I also go with Lorre as a lead.
And was Makin Whoopee written for Whoopee? I've always had such a hard time figuring out what songs were actually written for the early sound films.
Ginger Ingenue, you're back! We missed you! In fact, I mentioned you in a post last summer here, hoping you were okay and wishing you well.
ReplyDeleteThe dog is agitating for her morning walk, but when we get back I'll respond to you other comments. In the meantime, glad you're "back from the asylum."
And was Makin Whoopee written for Whoopee?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question, actually. Inside Oscar doesn't start mentioning song eligibility until the Academy actually started handing best song Oscars.
To be safe, I should probably call that award "Best Use of a Song in a Movie."
I think Cagney deserved to be nominated or awarded more than THE PUBLIC ENEMY actually deserved to be nominated or awarded...there were some pretty stiff biscuits in that movie. ;)
ReplyDeleteCan't argue with that. Among the worst performances is Jean Harlow, who was still a year away from figuring out what she was doing. But once she did, boy o boy, look out.
And if you could only nominate one of the brothers for ANIMAL CRACKERS, which one would you pick?? Maybe Groucho for best actor, and one of the others for support??
I think that's about right. Harpo was at his best in the first two movies, I think -- or was showcased best in any event. Groucho was always great. Chico I'd say was at his best in Duck Soup.
Again, with the damn Oscar years. M is supposedly eligible in 1932-33, where it almost sweeps my awards. But here, it's all about City Lights.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in terms of Oscar eligibility -- playing a week in a Los Angeles theater -- M was a 1933 picture.
In the old days, pre-blog, I kept a list of alternate Oscars much like yours -- inspired by Danny Peary's Alternate Oscars which I bought back in 1992, I think it was. The list was very strict about Oscar eligibility, no categories that didn't exist, tried to pick "best dance direction," etc.
M cleaned up in 1932-33.
When it came time to blog though, I gave up on Oscar eligibility and went instead with the film's release date. Mostly because it made it easier to deal with Ozu whose films didn't land in America until a decade after his death. But also because, as you point out in another comment, a bunch of foreign silent films such as Nosferatu were eligible in 1928-29. Ironically, I had little interest in silent movies when I started writing -- now I rarely write about anything else.
It's an addiction.
I used to do that. But since so much of my stuff is deliberately designed to counter what the Oscars did award, I felt I had to compare apples to apples. Especially in a period of say, 72-73, where Cries and Whispers came out in 72, but actually was Oscar nominated in 73.
ReplyDeleteEither way, in 57-58, I had to decide whether Seventh Seal knocked out Bridge on the River Kwai or Touch of Evil for Best Picture.
Where it backfires on me is that I do all of my lists based on eligibility, so I often have people commenting on certain years asking where certain films are that show up later.
In terms of Nosferatu, I was just glad to have such a great film available to win Best Picture - 1928-29 is such a wasteland, complete with by far the worst slate of Oscar nominees ever. If only someone could find The Patriot.