Swithin Posted March 15, 2016 I'm not quite sure of the guidelines for the Best Ensemble category, but if it means that there are no one or two real leads, rather many parts of a fair size, then my choice for 1935 would be the great cast of: The Mystery of Edwin Drood Heather Angel E.E. Clive Ethel Griffies Valerie Hobson Walter Kingsford David Manners Douglass Montgomery Claude Rains Francis L. Sullivan Zeffie Tilbury 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 15, 2016 I've never seen The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It has been long on my to-see list. The Best Ensemble category for us does not really have a set of rules to it as far you asked, Swithin, although it is the name that SAG gives to its equivalent of the Best Picture. The Best Ensemble as I chose it for 1935 does indeed have two leads that dominate the story. Astaire and Rogers are the stars of Top Hat, despite me being silly and including the feather dress as a cast member in my explanation of why I chose Top Hat over my other top 5 choices. The way I see my options for Best Ensemble is where everyone in the cast - whether lead, supporting or bit part like the officer who arrests Eric Blore's character after he tells him off in English - is memorable. I chose also to not pick The 39 Steps and have created a separate Hitchcock category because as Hitch is my favourite director of all time, I could simply have all my entries be Hitchcock once we get to Hitch's golden age. I suppose if I wanted to pick Best Ensemble based on there being no clear leads of the films I'd seen it would have been David Copperfield. But that was not how I made my choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted March 15, 2016 Here are my choices of the 65 films I've seen from 1935 for… Best Supporting Actress of 1935 8. MARGARET LINDSAY (Dale Elwell), Bordertown MARGARET LINDSAY (Gail Armitage), Dangerous MARGARET LINDSAY (Kay McCord), G-Men I noticed that I had Margaret Lindsay down for three films of 1935. I don't know much about her other than her career probably didn't hit the heights that it deserved to. She was a very talented and beautiful lady. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 15, 2016 I'm not quite sure of the guidelines for the Best Ensemble category, but if it means that there are no one or two real leads, rather many parts of a fair size, then my choice for 1935 would be the great cast of: The Mystery of Edwin Drood Heather Angel E.E. Clive Ethel Griffies Valerie Hobson Walter Kingsford David Manners Douglass Montgomery Claude Rains Francis L. Sullivan Zeffie Tilbury Great cast. I'd like to see it. As far as my Best Ensemble category, I use it to list one or two films where I'd like to acknowledge the entire cast. Any film chosen for best ensemble won't get any individual nominations in my other categories. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 15, 2016 I noticed that I had Margaret Lindsay down for three films of 1935. I don't know much about her other than her career probably didn't hit the heights that it deserved to. She was a very talented and beautiful lady. I'm a fan of Lindsay as well. I've read that she was a lesbian that rebuffed a lot of amorous advances from the wrong people, and thus it hurt her career. She also had trouble with poor romantic chemistry with a lot of her male co-stars. I read about the latter in Jimmy Cagney's biography, I think. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swithin Posted March 15, 2016 I'm a fan of Lindsay as well. I've read that she was a lesbian that rebuffed a lot of amorous advances from the wrong people, and thus it hurt her career. She also had trouble with romantic chemistry with a lot of her male co-stars. I read about the latter in Jimmy Cagney's biography, I think. I like her as well. I believe I had her down for her role in 1934's Fog Over Frisco, in which she plays Bette Davis' sister. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted March 15, 2016 Best Supporting Actress of 1935 2. JESSIE RALPH (Nurse Peggotty), David Copperfield 10. JESSIE RALPH (Mrs. Phoebe Brockwell Tembleton Fisher), Enchanted April And then there's Jessie Ralph. I believe that you, Swithin also pointed out her performance as Nurse Peggotty in David Copperfield. I think I neglected to put her on my list as Fay Wray's bearded mother in The Affairs of Cellini for 1934. She pimps her own daughter to Frank Morgan in that one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 15, 2016 Okay, so by request of Film Lover I watched SHE (1935) which I have described in I Just Watched. What can I say here? If we had a favourite performance category for best behind the scenes artist we can't see because it is not documentary I would give this award: Favouriite impersonation of Ed Wood by someone who likely never met him: Marion C. Cooper as the director of SHE (1935). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kingrat Posted March 15, 2016 I'm a fan of Lindsay as well. I've read that she was a lesbian that rebuffed a lot of amorous advances from the wrong people, and thus it hurt her career. She also had trouble with poor romantic chemistry with a lot of her male co-stars. I read about the latter in Jimmy Cagney's biography, I think. Yes, Margaret Lindsay refused to play the game of publicly dating various actors and eventually marrying someone, perhaps in a "lavender marriage" like Janet Gaynor and Adrian (where a lesbian marries a gay man). Not playing the game hurt her career. She was friends with Edgar Ulmer and his wife, and lived in their house for a time, according to Ulmer's daughter, who introduced HER SISTER'S SECRET. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted March 15, 2016 The Venice Film Festival of 1935 gave the Best Actor Award to Pierre Blanchar for Crime and Punishment. This was not the Von Sternberg, Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold version made the same year but a French film by Pierre Chenal starring Blancher as Raskolnikov and Harry Baur as Porphyre. The Best Actress Award went to Paula Wessely for the Austrian film, Episode. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted March 15, 2016 And then there's Jessie Ralph. Let's not forget Jessie Ralph's brief appearance in the early scenes of 1935's Captain Blood, in which she is called "my vinegary virgin" by Errol Flynn with such charm that it almost doesn't sound like an insult. And that reminds me, Special "MAKING AWKWARD DIALOGUE SOUND PERFECTLY NATURAL BY A ROOKIE ACTOR" Award: Errol Flynn in CAPTAIN BLOOD. "Up that rigging, you monkeys, aloft! There's no chains to hold you now. Break out those sails and watch them fill with the wind that's carrying us all to freedom!" 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swithin Posted March 15, 2016 And then there's Jessie Ralph. I believe that you, Swithin also pointed out her performance as Nurse Peggotty in David Copperfield. I think I neglected to put her on my list as Fay Wray's bearded mother in The Affairs of Cellini for 1934. She pimps her own daughter to Frank Morgan in that one. IMDB credits Jessie Ralph with eleven movies in 1935! (She had quite a large role in Jalna.) She has a mere nine in 1936 -- I think she'll be on my list again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 15, 2016 Best Supporting Actress of 1935 Margot Grahame The Informer ** Elsa Lanchester Bride of Frankenstein Margaret Lindsay Dangerous Una Merkel The Broadway Melody of 1936 ZaSu Pitts Ruggles of Red Gap No surprises here; I think every one of these has already been listed by someone else. Lanchester created an iconic screen image in just a few very brief scenes in Bride of Frankenstein. ZaSu Pitts and Una Merkel both delivered their usual comedic best in their respective roles. Margaret Lindsay put her haughty sophistication to good use opposite Bette Davis. But Margot Grahame was far and away the clear winner for me, with her heartbreaking turn in The Informer. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 15, 2016 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS FOR 1935: As always, indulge me and ignore alphabetizing; Helen Broderick in Top Hat Billie Burke in Splendor Katherine Alexander in Splendor Spring Byington in Mutiny on the Bounty Elsa Lanchester in David Copperfield Una O'Conner in The Informer WINNER: Elsa Lanchester in David Copperfield. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted March 15, 2016 A couple of posters here have now made reference to Margot Grahame in The Informer in the best supporting actress category, and they were right to do so. I completely forgot about Grahame when I compiled my own list and should have included her. She gives a completely sympathetic performance as the prostitute in that film, as the source of Gypo's betrayal and downfall. Max Steiner, who composed the powerful score for The Informer, liked to create leitmotifs for some film characters, those little recurring musical phrases that would often play on screen whenever a particular character appeared. And he had a lovely one for Grahame in The Informer. One of the outstanding illustrations of Steiner's subtle artistry occurs in the scene in which Gypo, surrounded by members of the IRA, finally confesses to his betrayal of one of their members. (He did it, as you may recall, for the reward money so he could take Grahame to America to escape her life on the streets). There's a moment in which Victor McLaglen's Gypo, having now finally made the confession, sits on a bench, shaking his head and repeats to himself, "I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I did it." As he says those words, Steiner answers him on the soundtrack - by playing Grahame's leitmotif. By the way, the 1929 silent, part talkie version of The Informer is currently available on You Tube. It stars Lars Hanson as Gypo and Lya de Putti as Katie. It's a version I've never seen but I plan upon correcting that soon. P.S.: I just added Margot Grahame's performance to my own supporting actress list. Thanks, Bogie and Lawrence, for reminding me about her. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 15, 2016 I've noticed that so far, I seem to be the only person listing anyone from Splendor. It did air last year on TCM as part of the TCM SOTM look at David Niven who is a great example of someone who rose from bit parts to become a big star instead of the other way around. Has anyone else seen Splendor? What do any of you think of it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 15, 2016 Your listing of it is the first I've ever heard of Splendor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 15, 2016 SPLENDOR is a film I thought that I might be the only one to see it. This is a pre-code movie that stars Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea. McCrea has married Hopkins before we meet them. She is poor. His family has had high hopes for him to marry rich because they have a huge debt-load and big house and none of them ARE WILLING TO WORK. David Niven is Joel's brother who has big gambling debts. The family is horrified. Hopkins is desired by a man with lots of money who can give the family money if she is willing to be his mistress including giving McCrea a job that pays well. McCrea must not know. The mother-in-law wants Hopkins to agree. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted March 15, 2016 Here are my choices of the 65 films I've seen from 1935 for… Best Supporting Actor of 1935 1. CHARLES LAUGHTON (Inspector Emil Javert), Les Miserables 2. W.C. FIELDS (Wilkins Micawber), David Copperfield 3. JAMES CAGNEY (Nick Bottom, the weaver/”Pyramus”), A Midsummer Night's Dream 4. ERNEST THESIGER (Dr. Septimus Pretorius), The Bride of Frankenstein 5. LENNOX PAWLE (Mr. Dick), David Copperfield 6. ROLAND YOUNG (Uriah Heep), David Copperfield 7. BASIL RATHBONE (Karenin), Anna Karenina 8. SIG RUMAN (Herman Gottlieb), A Night at the Opera 9. CHARLES RUGGLES (Egbert Floud), Ruggles of Red Gap 10. ALFRED ADAM (Josef Van Muelen, le boucher), La Kermesse Heroique and... FRANK ALBERTSON (Walter Adams), Alice Adams REGINALD OWEN (Stiva), Anna Karenina REGINALD OWEN (C.J. Stryver), A Tale of Two Cities LOUIS JOUVET (Le Chapelain), La Kermesse Heroique DONALD CRISP (Thomas Burkitt), Mutiny on the Bounty JOHN BUCKLER (Ham), David Copperfield WALLACE FORD (Frankie McPhillip), The Informer DEWITT JENNINGS (Mr. Fryer), Mutiny on the Bounty DONALD WOODS (Charles Darnay Evremonde), A Tale of Two Cities GODFREY TEARLE (Professor Jordan), The 39 Steps 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 15, 2016 Nice selections, Bogie. I have 2 on my list that you did not, although one person is on both, just different movies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
film lover 293 Posted March 15, 2016 GregoryPeckfan--Could not find "Splendor" (1935) on YouTube, so I watched another film. I'm going to amend my nominations for "Best Actress", then post in "I Just Watched" 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 16, 2016 Since TCM aired Splendor not that long ago, they will likely air it again. As for the leading man and lady, Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins made about 7 movies together, and the ones I have seen are all thanks to TCM in the last six months. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted March 16, 2016 Best Supporting Actor of 1935 Eric Blore Top Hat Wallace Ford The Informer Basil Rathbone Captain Blood Charles Ruggles Ruggles of Red Gap Ernest Thesiger Bride of Frankenstein ** Blore was once again a treat with Astaire/Rogers. Wally Ford is always a great sidekick. Rathbone should get nominated for just about everything. And Ruggles was one of the best comic actors of the decade. But my choice is one of the great, if not THE greatest mad scientist in movie history, Thesiger. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted March 16, 2016 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1935 This was really tough picking a winner: Lionel Barrymore in David Copperfield Eric Blore in Top Hat Donald Crisp in Mutiny on the Bounty Edward Everett Horton in Top Hat W.C. Fields in David Copperfield Fred MacMurray in Alice Adams David Niven in Splendor Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood Bail Rathbone in David Copperfield Eric Rhodes in Top Hat Geoffrey Tearle in The 39 Steps Franchot Tone in Mutiny on the Bounty Wylie Watson in The 39 Steps Roland Young in David Copperfield I had a very difficult tie to break. Since we are going to be having a decade review I need to pick a winner. So: WINNER: ERIC BLORE IN TOP HAT: in plural! HONORABLE MENTION: Eric Rhodes in Top Hat: BENINI! 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swithin Posted March 16, 2016 HONORABLE MENTION: Eric Rhodes in Top Hat: BENINI! Interesting biographical bit about Erik Rhodes: He was the boyfriend, for quite some time, of Nicolas de Gunzberg, a fascinating gentleman who funded and starred (as Julian West) in Carl Theodor Dreyer's film Vampyr. http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/09/niki-de-gunzburg-profile 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
