Kay Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I've seen 72 films from 1936. I have just been limiting myself to 5 nominees to keep the Oscar format, and to keep things from getting too bloated. I may expand after we get to the 40's. Or not. Personally I have no desire to see anyone keep their lists short. If a performance deserves mention then it shouldn't be narrowed off, especially if it's something obscure that many here might not have seen. I regard the purpose of this thread as not just to talk about the greatest performances, but also to raise awareness of so many good ones. As undeserving as they are, I couldn't help myself from including such minor joys as Crack-Up and The Dancing Pirate, which have entertaining performances, but not exceptional ones. In the former, Peter Lorre seems a little bit drunk as he plays an almost duel role as a Baron who masquerades as an idiot to get close to important information. In The Dancing Pirate, Frank Morgan plays a character strikingly similar to the one he played in The Affairs of Cellini, (though slightly less wacky,) as a blustery figurehead always trying to get the leading man hanged. This film also stars singer/dancer Charlie Collins in his only ever important role (if you can call it that,) and he's fun to watch, too, at one point doing a jig for his freedom while the noose hangs around his neck. What an image. Fun movies, hardly necessary. My ever elusive point is that I like to hear about fun oddities, because there are so many of them and everyone is aware of a few. (I've been eyeing a 1936 film called Winterset on YT with Burgess Meredith and have been waiting for someone here mention it, but no go yet. I'll just have to ask about it outright.) Maybe most here would rather I just kept my garbage off the thread, I don't know. I'm just a greedy clutterer, or maybe I want to make your unseen list longer at the end of the week to make myself feel better. I'll shut my trap now. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogie56 Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 I agree with Kay's post completely. I wish to hear about as many good performances as possible. I realize it is hard to do this from memory, especially with the supporting categories. If just going by memory there may be a tendency to go for the name actors, but hey. Here are the films from 1936 that were mentioned that I have not seen as yet. Beloved Enemy with Henry Stephenson, Donald Crisp and Karen Morley Born to Dance with Raymond Walburn, Sid Silvers, Una Merkel, Buddy Ebsen, James Stewart and Virginia Bruce Crack Up with Peter Lorre Craig’s Wife with Rosalind Russell Dancing Pirate with Frank Morgan The Green Pastures with Rex Ingram and Oscar Polk It Couldn’t Have Happened But It Did with Inez Courtney The Road to Glory with Warner Baxter Valiant Is the Word For Carrie with Gladys George And I would like to see these again … Banjo on My Knee for Walter Brennan The Charge of the Light Brigade for C. Henry Gordon Klondike Annie for Harold Huber Theodora Goes Wild for Elisabeth Risdon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 FOURTH AND FINAL MAIN CATEGORY FOR 1936: BEST ACTRESS; (I will list those I have not seen on Saturday as tomorrow will be very busy for me.) No order: Joan Blondell in Bullets or Ballots Madeleine Carroll in Secret Agent Ruth Chesterton in Dodsworth Bette Davis in The Petrified Forest Marlene Dietrich in Desire Irene Dunne in Theodora Goes Wild Greta Garbo in Camille Jean Harlow in Libelled Lady Jean Harlow in Wife vs. Secretary Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey Mryna Loy in Wife Vs. Secretary Myrna Loy in libelled Lady Myrna Loy in After the Thin Man Eleanor Powell in Born to Dance Jeanette MacDonald in Rose Marie Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet Ginger Rogers in Swing Time Sylvia Sydney in Sabatage Shirley Temple in Poor little Rich Girl WINNER: CAROLE LOMBARD IN MY MAN GODFREY 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Personally I have no desire to see anyone keep their lists short. If a performance deserves mention then it shouldn't be narrowed off, especially if it's something obscure that many here might not have seen. I regard the purpose of this thread as not just to talk about the greatest performances, but also to raise awareness of so many good ones. You did catch that part where I said I was an idiot, right? And Winterset was just okay, for me. I saw a bad public domain copy, so maybe if it's cleaned up, it would be more enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 About a couple of films which have turned up on the "not seen" lists: CRAIG'S WIFE is based on a then-famous play by George Kelly about a woman who is so house-proud that she seems to prefer her perfectly arranged house to any of the people who live there. Joan Crawford starred in the remake, HARRIET CRAIG. Harriet is a bossy, domineering woman, and both Roz and Joan are believable in the role. BELOVED ENEMY was just shown as part of Merle Oberon's SOTM. If you saw the fine film MICHAEL COLLINS from several years back, imagine MICHAEL COLLINS turned into a romantic love story, with most of the specific historical facts left out. Brian Aherne is the dashing Irish hero based on Michael Collins. Donald Crisp is the hard-liner based on Eamon de Valera who will not accept compromise with the English. Henry Stephenson is the chief English negotiator, and Merle Oberon is his daughter who, of course, falls for the dashing Irishman on the other side. Karen Morley plays the mother of a boy who has been killed by the English. Perhaps it was made because THE INFORMER turned out to be such a hit. BELOVED ENEMY is high romantic whereas THE INFORMER is gloomy-serious, but the advantage is not all with the earlier film. THE INFORMER is clearly pro-IRA, with the British as shadowy villains, but BELOVED ENEMY looks for reconciliation with people of good will on both sides. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 More information on Beloved Enemy which I loved a lot more than some people who were expecting a movie that long to be able to show the complexity of Irish Independence in that length a movie: Two endings were filmed. One had to be replaced because people did not like it in theatres . Now only the one ending remains. It is NOT like the case of Idiot's Delight where the two endings - one for Europe and one for USA - still exist and can be shown one right after the other to compare on TCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 You did catch that part where I said I was an idiot, right? Some day I'd like to see your criteria for what makes an idiot, Lawrence. I bear little hope for many of us. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 The following are the 1936 films mentioned that I've never seen: Valiant Is the Word for Carrie Pigskin Parade Partie de Campagne Beloved Enemy Crack Up Dancing Pirate It Couldn't Have Happened But It Did (never heard of it) Unguarded Hour The Golem Men Are Not Gods The Lower Depths Craig's Wife While the following films are vague memories: Gorgeous Hussy Trail of the Lonesome Pine Poor Little Rich Girl Theodora Goes Wild Fury Banjo on My Knee Princess Comes Across Milky Way Love Before Breakfast Pennies from Heaven 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Before we move on, I'd like to take a minute to highlight a largely forgotten performer from this era : Tod Slaughter. He started on the stage, specializing in playing dastardly villains with a hammy zeal that, while you couldn't really call him subtle, makes him terribly interesting, at least to me. He made a series of horror/thriller films in England in the 30's , with a few more sporadically in the 40's and 50's. His characterizations are of the mustache-twirling variety, but it's very fun to watch, and you find yourself rooting for him more than his unfortunate victims. Anyone with a taste for unique performers should seek these out. Most of them are public domain, which is how I saw them, as part of cheap box sets. Here are the titles I've seen. Murder in the Red Barn (1935) The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936) Never Too Late to Mend (1937) The Ticket of Leave Man (1937) The Face at the Window (1939) Crimes at the Dark House (1940) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I have bowed to the pressures of the Committee for Extensive Listings and rewritten my forthcoming 1937 choices, allowing far more than 5 in most cases. I'll also list them in preferential rather than alphabetical order, per Kay's instructions that the modern alphabet is fairly well known. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I have bowed to the pressures of the Committee for Extensive Listings and rewritten my forthcoming 1937 choices, allowing far more than 5 in most cases. I'll also list them in preferential rather than alphabetical order, per Kay's instructions that the modern alphabet is fairly well known. Good for you. Now you don't have to be Robert Taylor's leading lady in Knight's of the Round Table or have your head between elevator doors like Mr. Powell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 This time I wrote down every movie I haven't seen recommended on this thread but I came up with 47 titles, so I decided not to take the room to post it. My list of seen films is considerably shorter! Not to mention these early 30s years are some of my favorites, so it will definitely not be getting easier for me from here on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Okay, do you remember my post a few days ago about the Technicolor photography in The Garden of Allah? I posted a few pix then but said I couldn't find a shot of my favourite image in the film, a camel caravan at sunset. Well, here it is: Of course, it's even more atmospheric if you see the film since you can't hear Max Steiner's wonderful musical accompaniment. I got this image, by the way, off my DVD of the film, only just today having learned out to take a snapshot off a disc with my computer. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Oh, and Tom: You have to go back through this thread and the one about lead/supporting categories to find the joke that Larry and I are telling. He mentioned that he had already made his choices for 1937 and two of his winners had just been told by Bogie that they were really lead and that his supporting winners were therefore in the wrong category. I then told him that he would be punished by Bogie who is King by either being put in place of William Powell's head in the Photo Captioning thread in the games and trivia forum OR Be sent back in time to be Robert Taylor's leading lady in Knight's of the Round Table. These were the punishments. But then he revised his categories to agree with, Bogie, so he will not be punished. At least, not today..... Edited March 25, 2016 by GregoryPeckfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Oh, and Tom: You have to go back through this thread and the one about lead/supporting categories to find the joke that Larry and I are telling. He mentioned that he had already made his choices for 1937 and two of his winners had just been told by Bogie that they were really lead and that his supporting winners were therefore in the wrong category. I then told him that he would be punished by Bogie who is King by either being put in place of William Powell's head in the Photo Captioning thread in the games and trivia forum OR Be sent back in time to be Robert Taylor's leading lady in Knight's of the Round Table. These were the punishments. But then he revised his categories to agree with, Bogie, so he will not be punished. At least, not today..... You mean Lawrence wimped out to Bogie? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Here are the 1936 movies I have not seen which interest me: (not Sat., but oh well) Lloyds of London The Ungaurded Hour The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Road to Glory The Prisoner Comes Across A Woman Rebels The Princess Comes Across Love Before Breakfast It Couldn't Have Happened But It Did (never heard of it) Pigskin Parade The Dancing Pirate The Golden Arrow The Golem Valiant is the Word for Carrie Craig's Wife The Lower Depths The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Never Too late to Mend The Face at the Window The Crimes of Stephan Howle The Ghost Goes West The Garden of Allah Banjo on My Knee Crimes of the Dark House The Ticket of Leave Men? (is that the right title?) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 You mean Lawrence wimped out to Bogie? Wimped out to Bogie, GPF and Kay, you mean! They threatened me and everything! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Here are the 1936 movies I have not seen which interest me: (not Sat., but oh well) Lloyds of London The Ungaurded Hour The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Road to Glory The Prisoner Comes Across A Woman Rebels The Princess Comes Across Love Before Breakfast It Couldn't Have Happened But It Did (never heard of it) Pigskin Parade The Dancing Pirate The Golden Arrow The Golem Valiant is the Word for Carrie Craig's Wife The Lower Depths The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Never Too late to Mend The Face at the Window The Crimes of Stephan Howle The Ghost Goes West The Garden of Allah Banjo on My Knee Crimes of the Dark House The Ticket of Leave Men? (is that the right title?) Hmmm. The Prisoner Comes Across and The Princess Comes across. Methinks I read my handwriting incorrectly. Punishment? Must watch Knights of the Round Table 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 The Ticket of Leave Men? (is that the right title?) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Wimped out to Bogie, GPF and Kay, you mean! They threatened me and everything! Three of them! Sorry, Lawrence, I didn't realize that. The bullies! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer5 Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Wimped out to Bogie, GPF and Kay, you mean! They threatened me and everything! I still like you Lawrence. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Wimped out to Bogie, GPF and Kay, you mean! They threatened me and everything! I don't recall having said anything on the subject yet. Perhaps you meant Speedy. The categories really slow me up, so you probably won't see me in the partner thread because I prefer to put as little thought into it as possible. My rule of thumb: just because a performance is not leading does not necessarily make it supporting. My leading category is more inclusive to medium-sized performances. I pay virtually no attention to what the Academy Awards do. This will be my last word on the subject. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Personally I have no desire to see anyone keep their lists short. I don't recall having said anything on the subject yet. Perhaps you meant Speedy. LIES! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I still like you Lawrence. I do too. I just thought the idea of him being punished for not following rules by sending him off to be Robert Taylor's leading lady in Knights of the Round table or by him becoming the head of William Powell in the photo captioning thread too good to pass up. However, in that I screwed up my list of to-see films, I am taking my punishment and watching Knights of the Round table....sometime.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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