Since I was so behind on this year, I didn't get images made for every category, but I did manage to do ten of them, including the top eight categories. I'll update the other categories later. Note: You can click on the images to enlarge them.
I still need to see films like Berlin Alexanderplatz, La Chienne, Mädchen in Uniform, Private Lives, An American Tragedy, Monkey Business, City Streets, Le Million, Night Nurse, Love and Duty, Trader Horn, Marius, East Lynne, Arrowsmith, Five Star Final, Mata Hari, Dishonored, Waterloo Bridge, The Guardsman, Svengali, Blonde Crazy, and The Criminal Code.
BEST FILM EDITING:
City Lights*
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
M
The Public Enemy
Tabu
BEST ART DIRECTION:
A Nous la Liberte
Dracula
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
M*
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Cimarron
Dracula
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
The Smiling Lieutenant*
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"A Nous la Liberte", A Nous la Liberte
"Toujours l'Amour in the Army", The Smiling Lieutenant*
"While Hearts Are Singing", The Smiling Lieutenant
BEST MAKEUP:
Dracula
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*
Frankenstein
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein*
Little Caesar
M
The Public Enemy
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Dracula
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein*
Some great films that year. I'd go with M for Best Pic and Cagney for Best Actor. What he does in The Public Enemy floors me. Same with M as a whole, and Lorre in his role. I want to give Little Caesar "something" since I'm a big fan of that movie, but just can't find an award it should justifiably win because of the quality of its competition. That takes into account the fact that I haven't even seen City Lights, yet.
ReplyDeleteCagney is excellent in The Public Enemy, so no argument from me. Plus, City Lights and M are in my top 40 films of all time. I love both of them, and I wish I could give M the win. Little Caesar would've won something in another year I'm sure. Hope you get to check out City Lights soon!
DeleteI never thought of the Smiling girls as Supporting, or Lorre for that matter. Now I feel like I need to rewatch them.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're another one who thinks that Hopkins was better than Colbert? Really? I guess I'm in the minority there. I love them both, but Colbert is one of my all time favorites there!
Well, the whole film goes on around Lorre. He doesn't have much screen time until that final scene, which I suspect elevates him to Lead for most people. You might want to give it another look at some point.
DeleteThe Smiling girls were always Supporting to me, but I could see putting them in a weak Best Actress lineup. (My Best Actress lineup is so fluid this year, actually. Stanwyck barely wins.) Hopkins and Colbert are *this* close. I could flip a coin and be happy with either win, but I give the slight edge to Hopkins, since she was also great in Dr. Jekyll and hadn't won a CinSpec. ;)
Yeah, Hopkins is my Supporting winner this year for Dr. Jekyll, and Colbert my Lead winner for Smiling ;-)
DeleteOoh, I love it!
DeleteAhh, City Lights and M, two of my favorite films. A tough call, but I think I'd give most everything to City Lights as well. I adore that film. So, so special.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're both in my top 40, but I can't deny the greatness of City Lights, which still flirts with a spot in my top 10 of all time. The multi-hyphenate Chaplin wins 6 CinSpecs for it, but at least I was able to give Lang a win in Adapted Screenplay (and a Director win for The Testament of Dr. Mabuse in '33).
DeleteLove City Lights, and M is perfect as well. 1931 was a strong year for performances in horror movies! (there's also Bela Lugosi in Dracula, besides Frankenstein, & Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde )
ReplyDeleteI've admired everything I've seen by F.W. Murnau, so I'm eager to see Tabu.
I wish we could get two films the caliber of City Lights and M every year. Yeah, I liked Lugosi's performance, but the film was a little underwhelming.
DeleteI watched Tabu because it won the Best Cinematography Oscar, and I was blown away! Hope you get to check it out soon.
Picture:
ReplyDeleteCity Lights
Frankenstein
The Front Page
Little Caesar
The Public Enemy-Winner
Five iconic films. Both Public Enemy and Little Caesar are prototypes for so many films that came after but Enemy feels a bit more kinetic.
Director:
Charlie Chaplin-City Lights
Fritz Lang-M
Mervyn LeRoy-Little Caesar
William Wellman-The Public Enemy
James Whale-Frankenstein-Winner
Almost impossible to chose between five trend setting masterpieces but Whale managed to take a genre that was viewed with derision and by looking at it in a fresh way revitalized it.
Actor:
John Barrymore: Svengali
James Cagney-The Public Enemy
Charlie Chaplin-City Lights
Bela Lugosi-Dracula
Edward G. Robinson-Little Caesar-Winner
Both Barrymore and Lugosi give vivid performances that are enjoyably over the top but border on camp. Extremely difficult to pick between Chaplin, Cagney and Robinson but I chose Edward G. since his performance stayed with me the longest.
Actress:
Mae Clarke-Waterloo Bridge-Winner
Greta Garbo-Mata Hari
Norma Shearer-Private Lives
Sylvia Sidney-Street Scene
Barbara Stanwyck-The Miracle Woman
Stanwyck as a veiled Aimee Semple McPherson is mesmerizing and Sidney is careworn but resolute in Street Scene. Garbo is perfectly cast in Mata Hari and Shearer shows more comedic skill than usual in Coward's Private Lives. It's Clarke in her peak year, really she was in everything, who is very moving as the sad prostitute in the pre-code Waterloo Bridge who deserves the prize.
Supporting Actor:
Lionel Barrymore-A Free Soul
Clark Gable-A Free Soul
Boris Karloff-Frankenstein-Winner
Peter Lorre-M-Winner
Lewis Stone-The Sin of Madelon Claudet
I was really torn between Lorre and Karloff for this but Karloff conveys the monster's anguish through layers of makeup. Not an easy task.
Supporting Actress:
Claudette Colbert-The Smiling Lieutenant
Miriam Hopkins-Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-Winner
Marian Marsh-Svengali
Una Merkel-Private Lives
Thelma Todd-Monkey Business
Todd, Merkel and Colbert, all expert comediennes, add immeasurably to their films and Marsh's Trilby manages to register against Barrymore's florid playing but Hopkins's Ivy is more compelling than them all.
Great picks. Sad to see City Lights shut out, but it loses to three worthy winners. Private Lives, Waterloo Bridge, and Mata Hari are high on my watchlist from this year. Can't wait to check them out!
Delete