1932-33 – Leslie Howard
Berkley Square
Well, first of all, I have to applaud the academy for paying attention to a film that was, at its heart, a science fiction film. Yes, it was a romance, but nearly every film had that element going for it back in those days. Howard plays a wealthy American who discovers love after he becomes displaced in time and finds himself inhabiting the body of his ancestor, 150 years in the past. Unfortunately, the fantasy genre is often overlooked for most categories other than Best Visual Effects
I’ve seen Leslie Howard in a few other films like Romeo and Juliet, Gone With the Wind, the 49th Parallel. It seems to me that he plays the same character in each film. Only the names and situations have changed, which leads me to believe that he was pretty much just playing himself. I didn’t really see him stretching himself, either physically or emotionally. And he played an American, which was actually a plot point in Berkley Square. But he had that British accent which, back in the late 20s and 30s, was meant to automatically identify him as an aristocrat. However, the problem was that his accent was nearly identical to the other characters who were supposed to be British. So he didn’t seem very American.
And so, he played the character of Peter Standish as a quintessentially British man. In this, you don’t show too much emotion, and you don’t get too excited. Even when you are supposed to be in tears, you simply cover your face or turn away from the camera. The result is that he appears to be emotionally barren, especially when compared to Charles Laughton’s emotionally powerful portrayal of Henry VIII in the same year, which won him the Oscar. What I mean is, the subtlety of Howard’s performance didn’t grip me.
Was it a bad performance? No, it wasn’t, but neither did it stand-out. I found it to be pretty average. That being said, I liked the plot of the film, and Howard’s portrayal of the character was acceptable. I guess maybe the roll just didn’t lend itself to a nomination for Best Actor. Even though his role in Gone With the Wind didn’t earn him an Oscar nomination, I think it would have been more deserving. This role just didn’t give the actor much to work with.