Snugglecub – Page 27 – Academy Award Best Picture Winners

1937 – Joseph Schildkraut (WINNER)

1937 – Joseph Schildkraut

The Life of Emile Zola

The Life of Emile Zola was a film that was nominated for ten Academy Awards. It won three of them. The first was Best Picture, another was Best Writing, Screenplay, and the third was Best Supporting Actor. Schildkraut was incredibly good, playing a character that is really put through the wringer, undergoing both an emotional and a physical transformation. His was definitely a supporting role, but I think a movie where Captain Alfred Dreyfus was the main character would be fascinating to watch.

Alfred Dreyfus is first introduced on the screen as a family man. He is a loving husband and an attentive father. He is a kind and gentle man who is wrongly accused of the crime of treason. He is dishonorably discharged from the French Army, and sentenced to years of solitary confinement on an island prison. While he is being publicly stripped of his rank and commission, he continues to shout his innocence to the angry mob that thinks he is a traitor to his country. Even after years of incarceration, he screams to his prison guards of his innocence.

I think Schildkraut was good. Maybe not great, but very good. The two scenes where his performance really stood out to me were both heartbreaking to watch. In one, Dreyfus is cruelly parted from his wife, played by Gale Sondergaard, just before he is taken to his solitary cell. In the other, he is finally let out of his cell, after a stay of five years. In that scene, he exits his cell, then walks back into it twice, just to assure himself that he isn’t dreaming. The disbelief and relief on his face was pretty powerful, and Schildkraut made you really feel for the character.

This is a character actor who I would never have even heard about if not for this film and his Oscar win. But in fact, he acted in around sixty films over the course of his fifty-year acting career, starting in silent German films in 1915, and continuing until his final film appearance in 1965 as Nicodemus in The Greatest Story Ever Told. The only other notable film I’ve seen of his is The Diary of Anne Frank in 1959, where he played Anne’s father, Otto Frank, though I remember that he did a pretty good job in that film, too. Well-done Joseph.

1937 – Paul Muni

1937 – Paul Muni

The Life of Emile Zola

By this time, Paul Muni was no stranger to the honor of an acting nomination. In fact, this was his fourth nomination for Best Actor, and the Academy Awards had only been in existence for ten years. Clearly, he was one of the most celebrated actors of his age, and there was a reason. He was good. He was always good. However, I noticed something odd. On the film’s promotional poster, it shows a depiction of the actor, not the character he plays in the film. What that tells me is that the marketing team was banking on the actor, not the film. Strange.

Here, the chameleon-like actor took on the role of the famous French author Emile Zola. The first half of the film focuses on the rise of his esteemed career, and the second, on his involvement with the Dreyfus case. When he accuses the leaders of the French Army of knowingly condemning an innocent man to cover their own crimes and indiscretions, he is accused of libel, and sentenced to time in prison. He flees the country and only returns after Dreyfus’s innocence is proved. But he dies of carbon monoxide poisoning on the eve of Dreyfus’s re-commissioning ceremony.

At the beginning of the movie, Muni is almost unrecognizable as the young Zola, and even as the film progresses, and the character ages, he is still so made up to look like the real Zola, that it is sometimes hard to see Muni under all the makeup and the fat suits. But he was there, always acting appropriate to the progressing age of the character, which he consistently did quite well.

But I think what earned him this nomination for his acting was the speeches. There were several of them in the movie, but there are two that stood out to me. The first is the one where he makes his accusations, and the second is where he addresses the jury ad his libel trial, denouncing the court for its ridiculously unjust proceedings. He really knew how to sell those pivotal moments. His voice was confident and commanding, giving him an air of superiority and authority. Even though that second speech wasn’t enough to sway the jury to his own side, it was probably the speech that swayed the Academy voters. Once again, Muni proved why he was such a respected and well-loved actor.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Cast Photos

James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley

Brendan Gleeson as Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody

David Thewlis and Natalia Tena as Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks

Clemence Poesy and Domhnall Gleeson as Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley

Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Cast Photos

Character Posters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Wow. Here in the seventh installment of the franchise, the plot pulled the characters out of Hogwarts and put them in the wider world. As a result, the film was primarily made up of the three leads, and the rest of the students were mostly missing from the film. And here we got some truly professional adult performances out of them. Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson were phenomenal. The movies are certainly no longer being made for children to watch.

But as great as Radcliffe and Grint’s performances were, I think the MVP in this movie was Emma Watson. Her acting, by this film, had reached a point of perfection. Her emotions were real and there were several scenes where they were put on display in a visceral way. There was the scene where Ron is injured, and she is putting the healing potion on his wound. She is visibly shaken, barely able to do what needs to be done. There is the scene where Hermione and Harry are in the graveyard, and she feels so bad for her friend’s pain that she creates a wreath on the grave of his parents and puts her head on his shoulder. And later, her screams when Bellatrix is torturing her, were devastating. For me, Watson nearly stole the show.

There were so many things that this movie got right. This is the first part of the final book in the series. The tension that has been building since the first film is just getting tighter and tighter. Yes, this movie feels like setup for the franchise’s big finale, but that’s exactly what it needed to be. And there was still plenty of action and wonderful storytelling. The visuals continued to uphold the high standard of the previous films, and there was just as much magic and wonder. The only difference is that now, most of the whimsy is gone, replaced with a dark and ominous aesthetic that helps to build that tension.

I liked that we got to revisit one of Harry’s best villains, Dolores Umbridge, who was just as perfect now as she was in The Order of the Phoenix. We had a lot of that sequence where three other actors played Harry, Ron, and Hermione, through the use of some pollyjuice potion. And while I’m talking about that whole part of the movie, I loved Peter Mullan as the Death Eater Corban Yaxley. His screen time was short, but memorable.

One of the more unique sequences of the film was actually animated. It was where Hermione is reading the tale of The Three Brothers, which explains what the Deathly Hallows are. It was so beautifully done. They didn’t just give us a cartoon of the story. It was artfully done. I mean, it was a gorgeous sequence. The way that the figure of death is drawn was amazing. Just watch how his robes flow as if he is underwater. Perfection!

Now, I don’t want to be that book snob, but having read the books, I have to confess to a disappointment. The films didn’t really go into the significance of the objects that were turned into Voldemort’s horcruxes and how he obtained them. The books do, and I think it would have been fascinating to see as part of the film. But that’s only a minor complaint.

And I have to mention the masterful way this movie ends, with the death of Dobby. In a way, it was more devastating than the death of Dumbledore because with the Headmaster’s demise, we saw it coming. Also, he was an active combatant in the great war. But Dobby was like an innocent bystander who was just trying to help his friend. And his death was nothing more than an act of cruelty with no purpose. It made for a tear-jerking ending to a great film.

Top 10 Favorite Parts

Rufus Scrimigeour giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione items left to them by Dumbledore.
The infiltration into the Ministry of Magic.
The argument where Ron leaves the company.
Harry and Hermione dancing, finding a short moment of happiness.
Ron destroying the Locket
Ron returns to Hermione.
The Story of the Three Brothers.
Dobby rescuing Harry from the Malfoy dungeon. “Of Course, Sir. I’m an elf.”
Bellatrix’s hint of a smile after she throws the knife that kills Dobby.
Luna comforting Harry when Dobby dies. “There. Now he could be sleeping.” I love that line.

1936 – Maria Ouspenskaya

1936 – Maria Ouspenskaya

Dodsworth

OK, this is a bit of a tricky one because Maria Ouspenskaya had such a small supporting role. She had a total screen time of about five and a half minutes. She played a Grand Dame with a very commanding presence. Her part was small but powerful, and Ouspenskaya played it for all it was worth. She seemed to demand attention, which was exactly what the character needed.

She played the Baroness Von Obersdorf, the regal and controlling mother of Fran Dodsworth’s lover and fiancée, Kurt. She thoroughly disapproved of her son’s rash engagement to Fran, and she had, in my opinion, good reasons for her refusal to allow the marriage. There is a movie trope about the very old being very wise, by virtue of their long years of experience, and the character of the Baroness embodied this perfectly. From the second she appeared on the screen, she was clearly in complete control of the situation. Ouspenskaya was perfectly cast.

The way she portrayed the Baroness, she made it obvious that she saw through every one of Fran’s deceptions and even her self-delusions, and she told her in no uncertain terms that she would not allow her son to enter into a marriage with a woman who was too old to give him children. And furthermore, she knew what the result would be of a young man marrying a woman who is too many years his senior. Even when Fran threw her out, it was clear that the Baroness was leaving by choice, having said all she intended to say on the matter.

So this just goes to prove that it isn’t the size of a part that makes it a good one. I would venture to say that it is about twenty percent how the character is written, and eighty percent how the character is played. The Russian-born actress was about sixty years old when this film came out, and it is interesting to note that this was the first of her Hollywood film roles. I remember seeing her as the grandmother in Love affair, in 1939, and as Madam Von Eln in King’s Row in 1942. She was always good. But now, after looking at her short Hollywood filmography, I would be curious to see her in films like 1941’s The Wolf Man, and 1945’s Tarzan and the Amazons, where she played the Amazon Queen.

1936 – Beulah Bondi

1936 – Beulah Bondi

The Gorgeous Hussy

This can often be a difficult category to navigate, to critique. The characters, by definition, didn’t get the spotlight much. They didn’t have much screen-time to work with. And often-times they aren’t even pivotal to the overall plot of the movie. But here, Bondi played Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. I’m happy to say she was a definite plot point. A lot of what Jackson did was because of his wife, the way she was treated by the public, and his simple yet steadfast love for her.

She had that down-to-earth wisdom that elderly country folk are often known for. She was calm and caring, sweet and demure. Sure, she smoked a pipe like a crass bumpkin, but that was only frowned upon by Andrew’s political opponents. And when she died, she seemed to exert more influence over her husband than when she was alive. That is what Bondi had to work with, and I’d say she did the part justice. At that time, it was generally the role of women to stay in the background, keep out of sight. But that was probably difficult to do as the First Lady of the country. Bondi really did a fine job with that dichotomy.

First, she really looked the part. She had that sweet grandmotherly visage, but also enough sternness to scold her husband on his manners and low-born speaking. She knew when to smile and when to be serious. And she really shined in her final scene, where she tells the gorgeous hussy, Peg, played by Joan Crawford, that she knows she is dying, and the gentle tenderness she displayed was remarkable. She asked Peg to care for Andy, who would surely need her in the coming years. The scene was beautifully played. There was a fatigue in her eyes that really sold the moment perfectly. It was as good as a death scene, though not so immediate.

Bondi had a small role, but she played it well and I think she deserved her Oscar nomination. What she gave us wasn’t too little, but neither was it too much. It was just the right mixture of the frailty of age, and the strength of her position as the wife of the most powerful man in the nation. But she lost to Gale Sondergaard in Anthony Adverse. Yeah, I can see that.

1936 – Gale Sondergaard (WINNER)

1936 – Gale Sondergaard

Anthony Adverse

I’ll admit, I’ve only seen a handful of films in which Gale Sondergaard appeared. But every one of those movies had her in the role of a villainess. But darn it, she did it so well! She had that face that was sexy, sly, sultry, and slightly malicious, all at the same time. As a matter of fact, in my research, I learned that Sondergaard was originally cast as the Wicked Witch of the West in The 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz, but she pulled out of the project when the decision was made to make the witch ugly instead of beautiful.

Here, she plays the part of Faith Paleolgus, the maid and presumptive heir of kindly Mr. Bonnyfeather. But when the young Anthony shows up, and she recognizes him as Bonnyfeather’s grandson, she waits for the opportunity to get rid of him so that she can inherit her employer’s fortune. Failing at that, she ends up working with, and eventually blackmailing the evil Marquis Don Luis, wonderfully played by the incomparable Claude Rains, into taking her as his wife.

Sondergaard had a way of playing the bad guy with a sly smile that told the audience that she was perfectly aware of how wicked she was being. She even smiled when Anthony called her out for her manipulations that caused him such hardship. In several scenes, she was just there, lurking in the background, like a spider waiting for her prey to fly into her web.

Through her performance, I saw in her eyes a bit of thrill at the prospect of stealing Anthony’s inheritance, of hiding Anthony’s true identity from Don Luis, and also disappointment when her murderous scheme failed to kill Anthony in the mountains on the road to France. And there was even real fear in those eyes the moment Anthony appears at Casa de Bonnyfeather after five years in Africa. Gale pulled it all off admirably, and looked good doing it.

And finally, I have to mention her final scene in the film, in which all the lies have been revealed. When she greets Anthony at the opera, her acid smile lets us know that she has that one more secret up her sleeve, making her wicked to the end.

1936 – Bonita Granville

1936 – Bonita Granville

These Three

Wow. Given half a chance, I might have voted for this young lady. She did fantastic job, and really ed us what a wonderful little actress she was. She played the part of Mary Tilford, the worst spoiled little brat to ever hit the big screen. She was just awful! You could practically see the devil horns on her head. Granville really played the part with energy and commitment. I imagine working with child actors must be difficult, but rarely are they this good.

Mary Tilford was the child with no siblings who always got her own way. She lived with her rich grandmother who always believed everything she said without questioning anything. As a result, she was a habitual liar, a bully to her classmates, and remorseless terror to adults. She complained about being mistreated by the nicest people, and threw fantastic tantrums when they didn’t believe her lies. There was crying, kicking, screaming, and thrashing about. And to reinforce her web of life-destroying lies, she physically and mentally tortures her poor classmate into corroborating her falsehoods.

And then, in the end, when her lies are finally exposed, and the grumpy old maid, played by the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, no less, slaps her across the face, the look of incredulity and terror in her eyes is priceless. Granville really sold the character, and yet, her performance wasn’t so over-the-top that she overshadowed the three leads of the film. The character was written to be explosive and horrible. It was part of the plot, but Granville did it with a small air of restraint which, to her credit, made the character even more believable.

One of the most horrifying scenes of the film was when she went to her classmate, Rosalie, and demanded that she hand over her all her money. When Rosalie refused, the little hellion attacked her and twisted her arm behind her back. In another scene, she made Rosalie swear to be her vassal and to obey her every demand, or else she would tattle about Rosalie’s little indiscretion of thievery, screaming that the police would come and take her away to prison for the rest of her life. Such a terrifying little bully! Beautifully done, Granville.

1936 – Stuart Erwin

1936 – Stuart Erwin

Pigskin Parade

It’s a good thing I’m only reviewing Stuart Erwin’s performance, and not the movie as a whole. I didn’t really care for the movie. As a quirky little musical comedy that bordered on screwball, I think it fell a little flat. The comedy wasn’t that funny, and the music wasn’t that memorable. But Stuart Erwin’s performance was acceptable. Though the part was poorly written, Erwin did an OK job.

The problem is that there was very little to the character. Erwin played a country bumpkin who was so uneducated that he bordered on mentally handicapped. I don’t care how out of touch you are with the real world. You know what a football is. But not this guy. And that’s pretty much all there was to the character of Amos Dodd. He spoke with an affected Texas drawl that was ridiculous. “I’m a-gonna,” instead of “I’m going to,” and “Ah Cain’t” instead of “I can’t.” It felt forced and unnatural, though the accent was even worse coming from Amos’s sister Sairy, played by Judy Garland.

Still, I suppose Erwin was well-cast. He very much looked the part, like he was young, and had a head full of straw. There was only one scene in which he showed any kind of personality. Amos goes to a dance with a girl who he falls for. While there, she ditches him for another guy who gives her a piece of jewelry. Amos is so heartbroken that he is ready to leave college and go home to his farm. You see, it was discovered he could throw melons, and thus footballs, with perfect accuracy. In a mild fit of anger he clears a guy out of his room as he is packing his suitcase. But this was a light –hearted comedy, so things never really got violent.

I’m not saying Erwin’s performance was bad. I’m just saying that the movie was silly, the role of Amos Dodd was silly, and the one dimensional role didn’t really stretch the actor or show off his abilities. And just look at his fellow nominees. Walter Brennan, Basil Rathbone, Akim Tamiroff, and Mischa Auer. Erwin’s roll just wasn’t worth the nomination, especially when compared with them. But this was the first year the Best Supporting Actor category existed, so maybe they were still trying to figure out what to look for. For my money, it wasn’t this.

1936 – Walter Brennan

1936 – Walter Brennan

Come and Get It

So here we are with the first winner of the Best Supporting Actor award. At the time of receiving his award, Walter Brennan was a character actor who had been acting for about eleven years, appearing in nearly 130 films in mostly uncredited roles. But here he was brought a little more into the forefront, given a name and a unique character. He plays lumberjack Swan Bostrom, a walking Swedish stereotype, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, I’d like to mention a little interesting tidbit I found concerning the character of Swan Bostrom. The original novel was written by Edna Ferber. Its focus was on the rape of the North American frontier in the late 1800s by the logging industry. Instead, it became a story about a man who tries to recapture his youth by falling for the daughter of a woman he’d once loved. In the novel, Swan was described as “the strongest man in the North woods.” Clearly, that was not the slightly statured Brennan, who looked like he weighed all of 140 lbs.

Several times in the first act of the movie, he is called a crazy Swede. He was more of a caricature than a character. He greets his friend Barney by literally jumping on him and wrapping his legs around Barney’s waist while exclaiming “yumpin’ yiminey!” Sometimes his Swedish accent is overdone, while at other times it is nearly non-existent. They dyed his hair and moustache blond, which looked a little fake at times. Even as the character aged, he still talked about his yob, instead of his job. He was so Swedish, he never learned to pronounce his “Js”

But Brennan played the part for all it was worth. He made Swan one of the most likable characters in the film. There was an innocence about him that bordered on naiveté, and he was always ready with a smile. But he also handled the more sensitive parts with skill and care. There were two scenes in particular where he shined. The first was when he had to tell Lotta that Barney has left her to marry another woman. The other is when he professes his love for Lotta on the day he marries her, saying that he hopes he is worthy of her. It was a sweet moment, and Brennan did a good job. A nice start to the Best Supporting Actor category.