Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 104: Not Many Laughs

Today if you watched a film with the word comedy in it you would expect a laugh out loud romp, not so in 1944 and that year's Best Story Winner - The Human Comedy. The film deals with the adventures of the Macaulay family during World War II primarily focusing on the middle son Homer played by Mickey Rooney. I wasn't so sure about this film because of Rooney's previous performances in the two Spencer Tracey movies I'd seen him in, Captains Courageous and Boys Town, in which he'd either failed to make an impression or he'd gone over the top. However in The Human Comedy, in which he was nominated for Lead Actor, his wide-eyed innocence and over the top spirit were used well in the character of Homer. Despite the war raging and his brother fighting in battle he keeps a bright expression as he helps out his mother and goes to work at the telegram station. His relationship with the two other men he works with, Frank Morgan's Willie Grogan and James Craig's Tom Spangler, form some of the film's better scenes forming almost a surrogate family as the two men take the place of the father Homer has lost and the brother who is away. We also see the older brother, Marcus, at war conversing with a friend Tobey and reminiscing about how much he misses his hometown of Ithaca. While the youngest brother Ulysses is always seemingly getting into mischief but then he only seems to be about four. The whole thing is narrated by the deceased father of the Macaulay clan as he looks over to see that his family are alright.

Obviously shot and shown during the war this film would've been seen by people who were missing their loved ones while they were away fighting and it obviously gave them hope. There are some nice little scenes here including Spangler finding love and Rooney gaining the approval of his stern school mistress. However there are also some missteps for one part there is far too much singing and there is also a segment that lasts about ten minutes in which Ulysses and other boys from the town go to steal some apricots from an apricot tree, I'm sure this is what happened regularly in that neighbourhood but we still really don't need to see a blow by blow account of fruit theft. The end of the film is quite sad, but I suppose that's the point, things never go exactly as we plan them and if this set out to portray an accurate account of what life was like for families in the early 1940s in small town America then I think it did a good job and Rooney's performance in the last couple of scenes were deserving of his nomination, the film itself lost out to the far superior Casablanca but I think it was more than deserving of a place in that year's top 10 list.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 64: Lions and Tigers and Bears and Dead Wives Oh My!

So we're finally into the ten ceremonies that took place in the 1940s, in other words films that were released between 1939 and 1948, the first five ceremonies still had ten nominees but at the 1945 ceremony it retreated back to the original format of five nominees something that stayed the same until this year's ceremony where we went back to ten nominations. Anyway that's way in the future but what's quite exciting is that I own four DVDs of films nominated in this decade so that's where I'm going to start.

And first up is a classic that most of us have seen at one time or another yes it's The Wizard of Oz. I won't really go into the plot that much because if you don't know the story then you've lead a very sheltered life and your childhood was obviously very severe if no-one ever sat down with you and watched the film. What I will do is talk about some of the bits I'd forgotten and some of the segments that make it impressive at least from a filmic point of view. Obviously the first thing to say is the transformation between the sepia beginnings when Dorothy is still in Kansas and then the brilliant Technicolor scenes in Oz. In particular when Dorothy arrives in Oz the colours are so stark and it is so well filmed that at the time audiences must have been stunned. What I'd forgotten about is how good those pre-Oz scenes where and how well Judy Garland portrays a girl who really wants to escape the life she has. The other misconception I'd had was that this was a strong musical film however the second half of the film, from the first meeting with the Wizard onwards, contains no singing whatsoever. For a film released in 1939 the effects are really well done, the twister scene in which Dorothy's house flies through the air and encounters all the other characters is very well executed and later the scenes where the gang encounter the Wizard for the first time is also very well done. From the costumes, to the make-up and the acting the film is just excellent. Which makes it very odd that it was shown very little love at the 1940 Oscar Ceremony. Although it was included in the list of ten films that was nominated for Best Picture, it only got another four noms. From the 1940s some films were shot in colour while a lot remained in black and white, because of this the cinematography category was split into how the pictures were filmed and Wizard of Oz was nominated for colour cinematography as well as special effects both of which it should have won and didn't. There was success for the film in the Original Score and Song categories, the latter was for Over the Rainbow but that's it and that's a shame because there should've been at least a couple of acting nods. In particular Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of The West deserves a mention, from her opening scenes as the evil Miss Gulch to her terrifying presence after she dons the green make-up she steals the show from everyone else. One scene that still scares me to this day is the one in which Dorothy sees Aunt Em through the witch's crystal ball and as she is shouting her aunt's name the witch appears and taunts her, Hamilton should've got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and I would've also but The Wizard himself Frank Morgan in there as Supporting Actor. However director Victor Fleming wasn't that upset as his other picture released that year went onto win, you may have heard of it as it was a little film called Gone with The Wind.

Talking of winners the next year's ceremony saw the only Alfred Hitchcock film to win the award and it was Hitch's first major Hollywood picture - Rebecca. I will forgive anyone who doesn't know the plot of this film but basically it sees Joan Fontaine's character, who is never named, meet Laurence Olivier's widower Maxim De Winter while in Monte Carlo. After a whirlwind romance the two get married and return to Maxim's large stately home Manderlay. Soon the new Mrs DeWinter is told tales of the eponymous Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, who supposedly drowned during a boating accident. In particular Fontaine has many run-ins with Manderlay's housekeeper the chilling Mrs Danvers who starts by making subtle digs at her and soon is blatantly taunting her. Maxim also seems to be haunted by memories of his first wife and when his new wife appears in one of Rebecca's old dresses he becomes enraged and forces her to change into a new dress. The final third of the film discovers the mysterious circumstances in which Rebecca died but to talk about those would be to reveal the plot. What I will say is that Rebecca is an excellent film and in particular the filming of both the exterior and interior of Manderlay is what makes it particularly chilling. The film did win Best Cinematography, its only win apart from Best Picture, which is more than justified as the camerawork makes Manderlay another character in and of itself and evokes memories of Rebecca in all of the other characters. The nominated score also deserves a mention as a lot of the scenes feature Fontaine creeping around the large house trying to discover Rebecca's memories for herself. Olivier and Fontaine were both nominated for their lead performances but lost ot James Stewart and Ginger Rogers respectively. However the best performance in the film belongs to Judith Anderson as the cold, distant and ultimately wicked Mr. Danvers who has to be one of the best screen villains of all time. Anderson was nominated also nominated, as Supporting Actress, but also lost out. In all Rebecca got eleven nominations but only two wins, it was also the first of five nominations for Hitch who famously never won an Oscar for directing. This has to be one of the biggest snubs of all time and it's a damn shame that one of the finest directors of all time was never rewarded with accolades that he deserved.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 50 and 51: Making a Song and Dance Of It

As I'm trying desperately to get through the 1930s as I realise I'm way behind schedule I'm starting to group films together, the first four films are all musicals or related to musicals in a certain way.

First up another one starring frequent Maurice Chevalier contributor Jeanette MacDonald, who would later get her big break in San Francisco, here she plays the heroine but not exactly the title role in Naughty Marietta. MacDonald's character is in fact Princess Maria who, to escape a marriage to elderly statesman, swaps places with her uncle's servant Marietta and boards a boat bound for New Orleans. The boat is in fact full of women who are about to be wives to the men of New Orleans but en route the boat is captured by pirates before the pirates are challenged and defeated by a group of vigilantes lead by Nelson Eddy's Captain Warrington. To avoid being married off Maria/Marietta pretends to be a courtesan and is exiled and moved into a house looked over by Warrington. Soon Warrington and Marietta fall in love but things are complicated when her true identity is revealed. She is then taken back to her own palace and the wedding is to go ahead once again however Warrington dupes the nobility and is able to steal away with Maria. Naughty Marietta is an amiable enough film even though it does feel a bit dated in its portrayal of the sexes. Sure Maria is a pretty strong heroine in that she is able to fool most of the male characters, but at the same time she is defined by her relationships. Essentially the film is part screwball comedy part musical and the songs are always well performed if a little overly-theatrical at times, especially those involving the sailors and the pirates. Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald make a very believable couple, and have better chemistry than MacDonald ever had with Chevalier. But like with a lot of the musical entries this seems like an odd choice to be an Oscar contender, although it did win an award for its sound direction, it lost out on Best Picture to the far superior Mutiny on The Bounty.

One musical that didn't lose out on Best Picture was The Broadway Melody, which was in fact only the second film in history to win that accolade and the first sound film to do so. The story concerns The Mahoney Sisters Queenie and Harriet the latter of whom goes by Hank for most of the film. Hank also is accompanied by Eddie her romantic interest who soon falls for younger sister Queenie. Both sisters audition together but it is Queenie who the director is interested but she convinces him to take both of them. The rest of the film sees Eddie torn between his commitment to Hank and his burgeoning feelings for Queenie. Queenie meanwhile is courted by the well-off Jock who treats Queenie as just a plaything to pick up and use when he feels like it. Meanwhile during the show Hank feels that Queenie is holding her back and is jealous of the attention she is getting. Eventually Queenie and Eddie realise that they are in love and get married while Hank takes on one of the other dancers and tours The Mahoney Sisters act. For one of the very first talking pictures this was very interesting and was ultimately a combination of involving drama and traditional musical theatre. Some of the combinations feel a little jarring the transposition between some of the sisters more dramatic moments and the comedy lisping uncle doesn't really seem to make sense. But the Best Picture award certainly does with competition like The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and the patchy In Old Arizona, the all talking, all singing, all dancing Broadway Melody shed a light on the harsher elements of show-business.

As did one of the nominees for the Best Picture prize in 1934, that being 42nd Street. This film sees several different plot strands colliding. The first one involves Dorothy Brock, a star whose Sugar Daddy is financing a production of the show Pretty Lady, however Brock's real love is her old vaudeville partner Pat. The second story follows Julian Marsh, an extremely talented but harsh director whose manner has meant he has no friends, he is also dying and has lost a lot of money in the Wall Street Crash. The third and final strand looks at the fortunes of Peggy Sawyer a newcomer to Broadway who is cast in the show and after being teased initially by the other chorus girls soon becomes one of them. As the plot goes on Brock's Sugar Daddy learns of her infidelity and goes to confront her and she ends up spraining her ankle. Peggy eventually steps into the breach and one of the film's best sequences sees Peggy being trained by Marsh and later comforted by Dorothy. The last twenty minutes or so of the film is completely song and dance as three Busby Berkley numbers are played back to back among them the film's title track as well as Shuffle onto Buffalo and I'm Young and Healthy. The final scene sees Marsh leave the theatre with a smile on his face and slump outside on the pavement presumably to die. I have to say it took me a while to get into 42nd Street because of the many characters that we had to follow and some of the quick-talking banter, but once I did get into the action I really enjoyed it. This was mainly due to Warner Baxter's performance as Marsh, he really matured as an actor since his Oscar winning performance in In Old Arizona. Although here he, along with the rest of the cast, failed to get a single nomination and as well as Best Picture the film only received one other nomination, in Sound Recording, which is a big shame. I would certainly class 42nd Street as the Best Musical that I have watched to date. And I have to say as well there was a nice little supporting performance from Ginger Rogers which is different from anything I've seen her do with Fred Astaire.

Although to round things off we do have a film featuring Fred and Ginger although the topic matter is a little more racy in 1935 nominee The Gay Divorcee. In the film Fred bizarrely plays an American dancer who journeys to England with a friend where he briefly meets Ginger's character. She has come with her auntie to arrange a divorce from her boring husband. Her aunt brings her to see a sleazy lawyer who just happens to be Fred's friend. They arrange for Ginger to meet up with an Italian gigolo so it seems like she is having an affair and she will be able to get the divorce. However Ginger mistakes Fred for the Italian and ends up going up to her room with him. When the other characters realise the mistake they decide to keep Fred and Ginger locked in the room together and as always they fall in love and dance a bit. As with all their films, Fred and Ginger do have a special kind of chemistry. While this film might not be as famous as Top Hat it still has one iconic sequence which sees the couple dancing to Night and Day on a balcony. This film also has more elements of screwball comedy in it, although some of the comedy does fall flat. The film actually did do pretty well at that year's Oscar ceremony picking up an award for Original Song as well as several other nominations for its sound and score. However the coupling of Fred and Ginger in this particular film didn't match up to the coupling of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in that year's winning effort It Happened One Night.