1937 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1937

The Awful Truth

Camille

Grand Illusion

✔ The Life Of Emile Zola

Lost Horizon

Make Way For Tomorrow

The Prisoner Of Zenda

★ Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Stage Door

A Star Is Born

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Best Actor of 1937

Ronald Colman (Lost Horizon and The Prisoner Of Zenda)

Jean Gabin (Pépé le Moko and Grand Illusion)

★ Cary Grant (The Awful Truth)

Fredric March (A Star Is Born and Nothing Sacred)

✔ Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous)

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Best Actress of 1937

Jean Arthur (Easy Living)

★ Irene Dunne (The Awful Truth)

Greta Garbo (Camille)

Janet Gaynor (A Star is Born)

Ginger Rogers (Shall We Dance and Stage Door)

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Best Director of 1937

William Dieterle (The Life Of Emile Zola)

Gregory La Cava (Stage Door)

✔ Leo McCarey (Make Way For Tomorrow and The Awful Truth)

★ Jean Renoir (Grand Illusion)

William A. Wellman (A Star Is Born)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1937

Edward Arnold (Easy Living)

★ Eric Blore (Shall We Dance and It's Love I'm After)

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (The Prisoner Of Zenda)

Adolphe Menjou (Stage Door and A Star Is Born)

Roland Young (Topper)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1937

✔ Alice Brady (In Old Chicago)

Andrea Leeds (Stage Door)

Anne Shirley (Stella Dallas)

Claire Trevor (Dead End)

★ Dame May Whitty (Night Must Fall)

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Special Award

Walt Disney (lifetime achievement)

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (song score) music by Frank Churchill, lyrics by Larry Morey

Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell & Robert Carson from a story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson (A Star Is Born) (original screenplay)

Erich von Stroheim (Grand Illusion) (best monocle)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

1936 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1936

Dodsworth

Flash Gordon

Fury

Libeled Lady

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town

★ Modern Times

My Man Godfrey

The Only Son

The Petrified Forest

Swing Time

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Best Actor of 1936

Charles Chaplin (Modern Times)

Walter Huston (Dodsworth)

✔ Paul Muni (The Story of Louis Pasteur)

★ William Powell (My Man Godfrey, Libeled Lady, After The Thin Man, The Great Ziegfeld and The Ex-Mrs. Bradford)

Spencer Tracy (Fury, San Francisco and Libeled Lady)

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Best Actress of 1936

Jean Arthur (Mr. Deeds Goes To Town)

Irene Dunne (Show Boat and Theodora Goes Wild)

Jean Harlow (Libeled Lady)

★ Carole Lombard (My Man Godfrey)

Myrna Loy (After The Thin Man and Libeled Lady)

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Best Director of 1936

✔ Frank Capra (Mr. Deeds Goes To Town)

★ Charles Chaplin (Modern Times)

Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey)

George Stevens (Swing Time)

William Wyler (Dodsworth)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1936

Mischa Auer (My Man Godfrey)

Humphrey Bogart (The Petrified Forest)

Peter Lorre (Secret Agent)

Eugene Pallette (My Man Godfrey)

★ Paul Robeson (Show Boat)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1936

★ Alice Brady (My Man Godfrey)

Paulette Goddard (Modern Times)

Bonita Granville (These Three)

Gail Patrick (My Man Godfrey)

✱ Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld)

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Special Award

James Basevi, Russell A. Cully, A. Arnold Gillespie, Max Fabian and Loyal Griggs (San Francisco) (special effects/visual effects)

Charles Chaplin (Modern Times) (score)

Charles D. Hall and J. Russell Spencer (Modern Times) (production design-art direction-set decoration)

"Just The Way You Look Tonight" (Swing Time) music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Dorothy Fields (song)

Popeye The Sailor Meets Sinbad The Sailor (short subject: cartoon)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

1935 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1935

Bride Of Frankenstein

Captain Blood

David Copperfield

The Informer

Les Misérables

✔ Mutiny On The Bounty

A Night At The Opera

Ruggles Of Red Gap

The 39 Steps

★ Top Hat

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Best Actor of 1935

★ Fred Astaire (Top Hat)

Robert Donat (The 39 Steps)

Boris Karloff (Bride Of Frankenstein)

Charles Laughton (Ruggles Of Red Gap, Les Misérables and Mutiny On The Bounty)

The Marx Brothers (A Night At The Opera)

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Best Actress of 1935

Greta Garbo (Anna Karenina)

Katharine Hepburn (Alice Adams)

★ Ginger Rogers (Top Hat)

Margaret Sullavan (The Good Fairy)

Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel, Our Little Girl, Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel)

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Best Director of 1935

✔ John Ford (The Informer)

Alfred Hitchcock (The 39 Steps)

Frank Lloyd (Mutiny On The Bounty)

★ James Whale (Bride Of Frankenstein)

Sam Wood (A Night At The Opera)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1935

W.C. Fields (David Copperfield)

★ Edward Everett Horton (Top Hat)

Charlie Ruggles (Ruggles Of Red Gap)

Ernest Thesiger (Bride of Frankenstein)

Franchot Tone (The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer and Mutiny On The Bounty)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1935

Mary Boland (Ruggles Of Red Gap)

Helen Broderick (Top Hat)

Elsa Lanchester (Bride Of Frankenstein)

Una O'Connor (Bride Of Frankenstein and The Informer)

★ Edna May Oliver (David Copperfield and A Tale Of Two Cities)

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Special Award

Shirley Temple (lifetime achievement)

"Cheek To Cheek" (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) (Top Hat) (song)

Charles D. Hall (Bride of Frankenstein) (art direction-set decoration)

John J. Mescall (Bride of Frankenstein) (cinematography)

monster and bride (Bride of Frankenstein) (worst wedding night ever)

Hermes Pan (Top Hat) (dance direction)

Universal Studios (artistic achievement) (early cycle of monster movies)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

1934 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1934

L'Atalante

The Black Cat

The Gay Divorcee

★ ✔ It Happened One Night

It's A Gift

The Merry Widow

Queen Christina

The Scarlet Empress

The Thin Man

Twentieth Century

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Best Actor of 1934

John Barrymore (Twentieth Century)

W.C. Fields (It's A Gift)

★ ✔ Clark Gable (It Happened One Night)

Leslie Howard (Of Human Bondage and The Scarlet Pimpernel)

William Powell (The Thin Man)

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Best Actress of 1934

✔ Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night, Imitation of Life and Cleopatra)

★ Bette Davis (Of Human Bondage)

Greta Garbo (Queen Christina)

Myrna Loy (Manhattan Melodrama and The Thin Man)

Dita Parlo (L'Atalante)

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Best Director of 1934

★ ✔ Frank Capra (It Happened One Night)

Howard Hawks (Twentieth Century)

Josef von Sternberg (The Scarlet Empress)

W.S. Van Dyke (The Thin Man)

Jean Vigo (L'Atalante)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1934

Walter Connolly (It Happened One Night and Twentieth Century)

Sam Jaffe (The Scarlet Empress)

Frank Morgan (Affairs of Cellini)

Erik Rhodes (The Gay Divorcee)

★ Michel Simon (L'Atalante)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1934

★ Louise Beavers (Imitation Of Life)

Alice Brady (The Gay Divorcee)

Louise Dresser (The Scarlet Empress)

Merle Oberon (The Private Life Of Don Juan and The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Fredi Washington (Imitation of Life)

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Special Award

Asta (lifetime achievement)

Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man series) (best on-screen marriage ever)

Hans Dreier (The Scarlet Empress) (art direction-set decoration)

Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, from the novel by Dashiell Hammett (The Thin Man) (screenplay)

"Night and Day" (The Gay Divorcee) (music and lyrics by Cole Porter) (song)

Sergei Prokofiev (Lieutenant Kije) (score)

Joseph Walker (It Happened One Night) (cinematography)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

1933 Alternate Oscars

Best Picture of 1933

Dinner At Eight

Duck Soup

42nd Street

Gold Diggers Of 1933

The Invisible Man

★ King Kong

Liebelei

Little Women

The Private Life Of Henry VIII

Zero For Conduct

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Best Actor of 1933

Nils Asther (The Bitter Tea Of General Yen)

★ ✔ Charles Laughton (The Private Life Of Henry VIII)

The Marx Brothers (Duck Soup)

Claude Rains (The Invisible Man)

Paul Robeson (The Emperor Jones)

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Best Actress of 1933

★ Jean Harlow (Dinner At Eight and Bombshell)

✔ Katharine Hepburn (Christopher Strong, Morning Glory and Little Women)

May Robson (Lady For A Day)

Mae West (She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel)

Fay Wray (King Kong)

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Best Director of 1933

Lloyd Bacon (42nd Street and Footlight Parade)

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack (King Kong)

★ George Cukor (Dinner At Eight and Little Women)

Leo McCarey (Duck Soup)

James Whale (The Invisible Man)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1933

★ John Barrymore (Dinner At Eight)

Edward Everett Horton (Design For Living)

Edgar Kennedy (Duck Soup)

Guy Kibbee (Gold Diggers of 1933, Lady For A Day and Footlight Parade)

Warren William (Gold Diggers Of 1933 and Lady For A Day)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1933

Spring Byington (Little Women)

Marie Dressler (Dinner At Eight)

★ Margaret Dumont (Duck Soup)

Ruby Keeler (42nd Street, Gold Diggers Of 1933 and Footlight Parade)

Elsa Lanchester (The Private Life of Henry VIII)

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Special Award

Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin (Duck Soup) (original screenplay)

Busby Berkley (42nd Street, Gold Diggers Of 1933 and Footlight Parade) (dance direction)

Willis O'Brien, Sydney Saunders and Linwood Dunn (King Kong) (visual effects)

Max Steiner (King Kong) (score)

"Kong" (King Kong) (worst weekend getaway ever, New York edition)

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My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.

1932 Alternate Oscars

What do you need to know about 1932?

(1) Ernst Lubitsch made movies that seemed to float in magnums of cold champagne and the floatiest of them all was Trouble in Paradise.

(2) Paul Muni made not one but two classic crime pictures (Scarface and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang).

(3) Joan Crawford turned in the best performance of her career in a movie not named Mildred Pierce.

Probably some other stuff, but I'll leave that for you to discover ...

Best Picture of 1932

Boudu Saved From Drowning

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

Freaks

✔ Grand Hotel

I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang

I Was Born But ...

The Music Box

Red Dust

Scarface

★ Trouble In Paradise

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Best Actor of 1932

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (The Music Box)

✔ Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde)

Herbert Marshall (Trouble in Paradise)

★ Paul Muni (Scarface and I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang)

Michel Simon (Boudu Saved From Drowning)

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Best Actress of 1932

Constance Bennett (What Price Hollywood?)

Joan Crawford (Grand Hotel)

★ Marlene Dietrich (Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus)

Kay Francis (Jewel Robbery, One Way Passage and Trouble in Paradise)

Jean Harlow (Red-Headed Woman and Red Dust)

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Best Director of 1932

Tod Browning (Freaks)

Howard Hawks (Scarface)

Mervyn LeRoy (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang)

★ Ernst Lubitsch (Trouble in Paradise)

Rouben Mamoulian (Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde and Love Me Tonight)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1932

John Barrymore (Grand Hotel)

★ Lionel Barrymore (Broken Lullaby and Grand Hotel)

Charles Laughton (The Old Dark House, The Sign of the Cross and Island of Lost Souls)

Tatsuo Saito (I Was Born But…)

Roland Young (One Hour With You)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1932

Ann Dvorak (Scarface and Three On A Match)

Glenda Farrell (I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang)

★ Miriam Hopkins (Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde and Trouble in Paradise)

Eva Moore (The Old Dark House)

Thelma Todd (Horse Feathers)

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Special Award

Wally Westmore (Dr Jekyll And Mr. Hyde) (special effects)

Lee Garmes (cinematography) (Scarface and Shanghai Express)

Laurel and Hardy (lifetime achievement)

Jean Harlow (Red Dust) (best nude scene, rain barrel category)

Grover Jones and Samson Raphelson; from a play by Aladar Laszlo (Trouble In Paradise) (screenplay)

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1931 Alternate Oscars

A great year for moving pictures. Charlie Chaplin, Fritz Lang and René Clair turned in the best work of their careers. James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Clark Gable, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre and Joan Blondell all went from bit players to stars. And Universal Studios launched its classic horror cycle with Frankenstein and Dracula ...

Best Picture of 1931

À Nous La Liberté

★ City Lights

Dracula

Frankenstein

Le Million

M

Mädchen in Uniform

Monkey Business

The Public Enemy

The Smiling Lieutenant

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Best Actor of 1931

James Cagney (The Public Enemy)

Charles Chaplin (City Lights)

René Lefèvre (Le Million)

Bela Lugosi (Dracula)

★ Edward G. Robinson (Little Caesar and Five Star Final)

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Best Actress of 1931

Mae Clarke (Waterloo Bridge)

Irene Dunne (Cimarron)

✔ Helen Hayes (The Sin of Madelon Claudet and Arrowsmith)

★ Norma Shearer (A Free Soul and Private Lives)

Dorothea Wieck (Mädchen in Uniform)

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Best Director of 1931

Charles Chaplin (City Lights)

René Clair (Le Million and À Nous La Liberté)

★ Fritz Lang (M)

Leontine Sagan (Mädchen in Uniform)

James Whale (Frankenstein and Waterloo Bridge)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1931

Dwight Frye (Dracula and Frankenstein)

Clark Gable (A Free Soul and Night Nurse)

Boris Karloff (The Criminal Code, Five Star Final and Frankenstein)

★ Peter Lorre (M)

Harry Myers (City Lights)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1931

★ Joan Blondell (Other Men's Women, Night Nurse and Blonde Crazy)

Virginia Cherrill (City Lights)

Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera)

Aline MacMahon (Five Star Final)

Sylvia Sidney (An American Tragedy)

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Special Award

Charles Chaplin (City Lights) (score)

René Clair (Le Million and À Nous La Liberté) (screenplay)

Charles D. Hall (Dracula and Frankenstein) (set design)

Harpo Marx (Monkey Business) (best bad Chevalier imitation)

Fritz Arno Wagner (M) (cinematography)

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1930 Alternate Oscars

As promised, I'll be reposting my alternate Oscar polls every other day or so until we catch up to the present. But rather than drag you through the silent era — an era which even many film buffs don't know well — I'm starting with 1930 and moving forward from there. (You can always follow these links and vote for the Silent Oscars: 1888 to 1909; 1910s; 1920s)

Most of the races in 1930 are blowouts, but the best actor contest is nip-and-tuck between the Marx Brothers in Animal Crackers and that smoked Nazi ham, Emil Jannings. If you love the Marx Brothers, this is their only realistic shot at an alternate Oscar — they trail badly in 1933 and 1935.

As for Emil Jannings, he's running away with the 1928 alternate Oscar ...

Best Picture of 1930

L'Âge d'Or

★ ✔ All Quiet On The Western Front

Animal Crackers

The Big Trail

The Blue Angel

Earth

Hell's Angels

Morocco

People On Sunday

Prix de Beauté

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Best Actor of 1930

Lew Ayres (All Quiet On The Western Front)

Wallace Beery (The Big House and Min and Bill)

Gary Cooper (Morocco)

Emil Jannings (The Blue Angel)

★ The Marx Brothers (Animal Crackers)

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Best Actress of 1930

Ina Claire (The Royal Family Of Broadway)

Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel and Morocco)

✔ Marie Dressler (Min And Bill)

★ Greta Garbo (Anna Christie)

✔ Norma Shearer (The Divorcee)

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Best Director of 1930

Luis Buñuel (L'Âge d'Or)

Aleksandr Dovzhenko (Earth)

✔ Lewis Milestone (All Quiet On The Western Front)

★ Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel and Morocco)

Raoul Walsh (The Big Trail)

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Best Supporting Actor of 1930

Fredric March (The Royal Family of Broadway)

Adolphe Menjou (Morocco)

Gaston Modot (Under the Roofs of Paris and L'Age d'Or)

Robert Montgomery (The Divorcee; The Big House and Our Blushing Brides)

★ Louis Wolheim (All Quiet On The Western Front)

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Best Supporting Actress of 1930

★ Marie Dressler (Anna Christie)

Margaret Dumont (Animal Crackers)

Beryl Mercer (All Quiet on the Western Front)

Marjorie Rambeau (Min And Bill)

Yuliya Solntseva (Earth)

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Special Award

Arthur Edeson (All Quiet On The Western Front) (cinematography)

"Hello, I Must Be Going" (Animal Crackers) (best song)

The Big Trail (technical achievement) (early use of 70 mm)

Hell's Angels (aerial stunts)

Earth (creative tractor maintenance)

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