Big Oscar Challenge Day 90-92: Catch-Up Part 3

The good thing about this Oscar Challenge is that I am able to watch films that I've never heard of but I really enjoy one of these is The Pied Piper a film about a man who is forced into action to get a group of children out of Nazi-occupied France and get them safely to the U.S. Monty Woolley was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the curmudgeonly Howard who begrudgingly takes the children of two parents at the same French resort where he is staying over the border, bit by bit they are joined by other European children and are captured by the Nazis as Woolley almost falls foul of Otto Preminger's German General. Although it wasn't a great film The Pied Piper had a nice tone to it and an enjoyable unstarry cast even though Roddy MacDowall did feature as one of the children. The Pied Piper was a few of the films that I watched during this period that were involved with World War 2. There was also 1944 nominee In Which We Serve, one of the first British films to be nominated for a plethora of Oscars it revolves around the crew of a ship during the war. It portrays these men as both dedicated to the war effort as well as normal down-to-Earth men. The cast is awfully impressive and includes Noel Coward, John Mills, Celia Johnson and Richard Attenborough in his first ever role. And from 1943 there was Wake Island a rather short film about the Pearl Harbour bombing and how it affected both the soldiers stationed on the island and the men working on a building site there also. The most impressive thing about Wake Island was the final scenes during the attacks by the Japanese for a film made in the 1940s the effects that are used are very real indeed. Another film that seemed like an also-ran inclusion in a year of 10 nominees, this was one that fell against Mrs Miniver a film that I haven't actually watched yet.

As well as the films showing the reactions to the war we also had the satirical reaction to the war courtesy of Mr Charlie Chaplin. The Great Dictator was the only Chaplin movieever to be nominated for Best Picture while the man himself also got nominated for both Best Actor and for his screenplay. The film was historic as it was the first time Chaplin ever spoke in a film and saw him took on a duel role both as a Jewish barber who is fighting in the war as a private and Adenoyd Hynkel a Dictator modelled on a certain Mr Hitler. Thanks to the farcical nature of the film Chaplin's two characters are mistaken for each other in hilarious circumstances. For a 1940s comedy it is very witty indeed and challenges Hitler's authority and his underlings in quite a strong manner. as the other generals are called Herring and Gerbitsch and if you think about it I'm guessing you could work out who they represent. Continuing the tradition of comedies not doing very well at the Oscars, The Great Dictator failed to pick up any of the five awards it was nominated for. Despite that I really enjoyed it and think that it is possibly one of the most influential comedy films of all time and is certainly better remembered than that year's winner the still marvellous Rebecca.