TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Bogie, I think there are bound to be a few occasions in these early split years of Oscars when we have a problem in deciding in what year a film properly belongs. Take, for example, Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To me, everything about that film says that it should be considered a 1931 production. IMBd lists it as a 1931 film, as well. The problem: IMBd says that the film had a U.S. release date of January 3, 1932. So what do we go by with a title such as this? Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Bogie, I think there are bound to be a few occasions in these early split years of Oscars when we have a problem in deciding in what year a film properly belongs. Take, for example, Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To me, everything about that film says that it should be considered a 1931 production. IMBd lists it as a 1931 film, as well. The problem: IMBd says that the film had a U.S. release date of January 3, 1932. So what do we go by with a title such as this? Wikipedia says its release was Dec 31 1931 in NYC. It's only one day but it is still 1931. You can never go by just the Oscars anyway as its criteria is when a film was released in Los Angeles. We are ignoring that. Ours is not the LA film festival. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Wikipedia says its release was Dec 31 1931 in NYC. It's only one day but it is still 1931. You can never go by just the Oscars anyway as its criteria is when a film was released in Los Angeles. We are ignoring that. Ours is not the LA film festival. Two different release dates from two different sources. Who knows what to believe. But going with 1931 feels right for me anyway, so to heck with IMBd's release date (maybe it's associated with the LA release, who knows). Link to post Share on other sites
kingrat Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 I'll get us started with posts for Best Actor and Best Actress for 1931. I haven't seen DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. The top four actors on my list are all worthy of an Oscar for 1931. Asterisk for the winners. 1931: Best Actor: Charles Chaplin, CITY LIGHTS* Edward G. Robinson, LITTLE CAESAR James Cagney, THE PUBLIC ENEMY Peter Lorre, M Alfred Lunt, THE GUARDSMAN Best Actress: Dorothy Mackaill, SAFE IN HELL* Mae Clarke, WATERLOO BRIDGE Norma Shearer, A FREE SOUL Miriam Hopkins, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT Helen Hayes, THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET 5 Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 1931 is another year in which I had a difficult time producing supporting performances I really liked. The performances listed are more or less in order of preference. BEST ACTOR Charlie Chaplin, CITY LIGHTS John Barrymore, SVENGALI Peter Lorre, M Fredric March, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE John Barrymore, THE MAD GENIUS Honourable Mentions: Edward G. Robinson in Five Star Final, Adolphe Menjou in The Front Page, James Cagney in The Public Enemy, Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar, Robert Williams in Platinum Blonde. BEST ACTRESS Miriam Hopkins, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE Dorothy Mackaill, SAFE IN HELL Lynn Fontanne, THE GUARDSMAN Sylvia Sidney, CITY STREETS Norma Shearer, A FREE SOUL Honourable Mention: Barbara Stanwyck in Night Nurse. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Boris Karloff, FRANKENSTEIN Harry Myers, CITY LIGHTS Roland Young, DON'T BET ON WOMEN George Barbier, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Beulah Bondi, STREET SCENE Aline MacMahon, FIVE STAR FINAL (That's all, folks!) SPECIAL BIZARRO OF THE YEAR AWARDS Dwight Frye, Dracula Irving Pichel, Murder By the Clock BEST IMPERSONATION OF A MANIKIN AWARD Jean Harlow, The Public Enemy 5 Link to post Share on other sites
kingrat Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Tom, thanks for the reminder that Harry Myers is memorable as the millionaire in CITY LIGHTS. It's been a while since I've seen STREET SCENE. but Beulah Bondi is always good. Best Supporting Actor for 1931: Dudley Digges as Caspar Gutman in THE MALTESE FALCON* Owen Matieson as Joel Cairo in THE MALTESE FALCON Dwight Frye as Wilmer Cook in THE MALTESE FALCON Harry Myers in CITY LIGHTS Best Supporting Actress for 1931: Nina Mae McKinney, SAFE IN HELL* Aline MacMahon, FIVE STAR FINAL Una Merkel, THE MALTESE FALCON Thelma Todd, THE MALTESE FALCON Granted, Huston's remake of THE MALTESE FALCON is wonderful, but I prefer Una to Lee Patrick and Thelma to Gladys George. Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Elisha Cook, Jr. are perfection, but Dudley Digges, Owen Matieson, and Dwight Frye are pretty good in their own right. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Swithin Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Granted, Huston's remake of THE MALTESE FALCON is wonderful, but I prefer Una to Lee Patrick and Thelma to Gladys George. Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Elisha Cook, Jr. are perfection, but Dudley Digges, Owen Matieson, and Dwight Frye are pretty good in their own right. Dudley Digges was a great actor and had an amazing career on stage. Have a look at his stage credits -- and this is only Broadway! He created the roles of Boss Mangan in the original Broadway production of Heartbreak House and Harry Hope in the original Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh, among many other great roles. http://www.ibdb.com/Person/View/67332 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 My goodness. There are already 9 films that have been mentioned that I haven't seen for 1931 and 1 that I would like to re-watch. My pre-code awareness is quite low as most of the titles TCM shows now were never available on tv when I was a kid. Plus I have lots of recordings to catch up on as I've been in Europe most of the time the last dozen years. You might find this interesting. 1932 was the first year of the Venice Film Festival. No, I’m not getting ahead of myself. Venice named FREDRIC MARCH and HELEN HAYES as the two ‘favorite actors.’ As Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) were both in competition in Venice I would think the awards would be for those two films respectively. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Kingrat, I like your supporting nominations, in particular, your picks of Nina Mae McKinney for Safe in Hell and Aline MacMahon for Five Star Final. I had a major tussle with myself in my Best Actor nominations to NOT include Edward G. Robinson for his marvelous performance in Five Star Final. But I had forgotten how effective Aline was in that same film as his supportive secretary. Thanks for the reminder. If you don't mind my borrowing from you, I'll add her to my Supporting Actress list. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Kingrat, I like your supporting nominations, in particular, your picks of Nina Mae McKinney for Safe in Hell and Aline MacMahon for Five Star Final. I had a major tussle with myself in my Best Actor nominations to NOT include Edward G. Robinson for his marvelous performance in Five Star Final. But I had forgotten how effective Aline was in that same film as his supportive secretary. Thanks for the reminder. If you don't mind my borrowing from you, I'll add her to my Supporting Actress list. You do not have to limit yourself to 5 names per category. Name as many as you wish in order of preference, or not. Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 You do not have to limit yourself to 5 names per category. Name as many as you wish in order of preference, or not. Okay, Bogie, I'll be adding a few extra names then. Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Here are my choices of the 41 films I've seen from 1931 for… Best Supporting Actress of 1931 1. HELEN HAYES (Leora Arrowsmith), Arrowsmith* 2. MARIE PREVOST (Rosalie/"Rosie"), The Sin of Madelon Claudet 3. JOAN BLONDELL (Nurse B. Maloney), Night Nurse 4. MIRIAM HOPKINS (“Champagne” Ivy Pearson), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 5. ZASU PITTS (Minnie), Bad Sister 6. FRANCES DEE (Sondra Finchley), An American Tragedy 7. MAE CLARKE (Molly Malloy), The Front Page 8. KAREN MORLEY (Alice Claudet), The Sin of Madelon Claudet 9. ESTELLE TAYLOR (Anna Maurrant), Street Scene 10. ROSE HOBART (Muriel Carew), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and ... BEULAH BONDI (Emma Jones), Street Scene HELEN CHANDLER (Mina Seward), Dracula GLENDA FARREL (Olga Strassoff), Little Caesar MAGDELEINE BERUBET (Adele Legrand), La Chienne MAE CLARKE (Elizabeth), Frankenstein EDNA MAY OLIVER (Mrs. Tracy Wyatt), Cimarron 3 Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Congrats on coming up with so many names for supporting actress, Bogie. Link to post Share on other sites
LawrenceA Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Best Actor of 1931 James Cagney The Public Enemy Peter Lorre M Fredric March Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde * Edward G. Robinson Five Star Final Edward G. Robinson Little Caesar Best Actress of 1931 Mae Clarke Waterloo Bridge * Joan Crawford Possessed Helen Hayes The Sin of Madelon Claudet Miriam Hopkins Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Norma Shearer A Free Soul Best Supporting Actor of 1931 James Cagney Smart Money Dwight Frye Dracula Boris Karloff Frankenstein * Frederick Kerr Frankenstein Edward Van Sloan Dracula Best Supporting Actress of 1931 Joan Blondell Night Nurse Aline MacMahon Five Star Final * I can't recall any others well enough. Best Juvenile Performance of 1931 Jackie Cooper Skippy 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Kay Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 [...]SPECIAL BIZARRO OF THE YEAR AWARDS Dwight Frye, Dracula Irving Pichel, Murder By the Clock[...] I like this category. I'll be sure to look for Murder By the Clock. To be alone on a list with Dwight Frye in Dracula is as good a recommendation for a film as I've ever seen. (In timely fashion I watched Dracula for the first time last night. I wanted to see it for Bela Lugosi, but you already know who ran off with my heart.) 3 Link to post Share on other sites
film lover 293 Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Winners have an asterisk by their name; ties have two asterisks by their names: Best Actor: Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde** Peter Lorre in M** John Barrymore in Svengali Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar Rudolf Forster as Mackie Messer ("Mack the Knife" in English) in The Threepenny Opera Groucho Marx in Monkey Business ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best Actress: Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* Irene Dunne in Cimarron Marion Davies in Five and Ten Barbara Stanwyck in Night Nurse Greta Garbo in Susan Lennox: Her Fall and Rise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best Supporting Actor: Boris Karloff in Frankenstein* Harpo Marx in Monkey Business Chico Marx in Monkey Business Clark Gable in Night Nurse Jean Hersholt in Susan Lennox: Her Fall and Rise ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best Supporting Actress: Rose Hobart in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Lotte Lenya in The Threepenny Opera* Joan Blondell in Night Nurse Carmel Myers in Svengali Miriam Hopkins in The Smiling Lieutenant 5 Link to post Share on other sites
TomJH Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 I like this category. I'll be sure to look for Murder By the Clock. To be alone on a list with Dwight Frye in Dracula is as good a recommendation for a film as I've ever seen. This comment has been Dwight Frye Bizarro Approved. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 It’s time for 1931 Here are Oscar’s choices for 1930-1931 and 1931-1932. Winners in bold. Remember, the Oscars did not have supporting awards this year. We can correct that with all of your choices. I have put ‘X’s’ beside the non 1931 films. I am not listing the Oscar choices in order to debate them. Agree, or disagree with them the films themselves are worth looking at hence my listing them. 1930-1931 Oscars Best Actor Lionel Barrymore, A Free Soul* Jackie Cooper, Skippy Richard Dix, Cimarron Fredric March, The Royal Family of Broadway Adolphe Menjou, The Front Page Best Actress Marie Dressler, Min and Bill* X (30) Marlene Dietrich, Morocco X (30) Irene Dunne, Cimarron Ann Harding, Holiday X (30) Norma Shearer, A Free Soul 1931-1932 Oscars Best Actor Wallace Beery, The Champ* Fredric March, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* Alfred Lunt, The Guardsman Best Actress Helen Hayes, The Sin of Madelon Claudet* Marie Dressler, Emma X (32) Lynn Fontaine, The Guardsman See this is what confuses me about the existence of the Juvenile award itself. Jackie Cooper gets nominated for best actor as the title character in Skippy and yet he was a child. What was the purpose of a Juvenile award then? Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 See this is what confuses me about the existence of the Juvenile award itself. Jackie Cooper gets nominated for best actor as the title character in Skippy and yet he was a child. What was the purpose of a Juvenile award then? It's my idea for this thread, that's all. Don't be bound by the Oscars. I often think it is unfair to put a little kid in the Oscar nomination process. Why not just name someone who is worthy and give them an award as they used to do. The juvenile award was discretionary and not always given by the Academy. Kids have always competed against adults otherwise. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Kay Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 1931 - Sorry for all the ties. It starts to seem like there are more losers than winners.Actor Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul Colin Clive - Frankenstein Jackie Cooper - The ChampPeter Lorre - M***Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*** Actress Miriam Hopkins - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*** Miriam Hopkins - The Smiling Lieutenant***Sylvia Sidney - City Streets Supporting Actor Dwight Frye - Dracula*** Boris Karloff - Frankenstein*** Harry Myers - City Lights Edward Van Sloan - Dracula Supporting Actress Una Merkel - Don't Bet on Women*** Edna May Oliver - Cracked Nuts ZaSu Pitts - The Guardsman One Scene Wonders Polly Walters - Five Star Final and Blonde Crazy 6 Link to post Share on other sites
kingrat Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Bogie, I'm really impressed that you have remembered so many fine performances. Marie Prevost is one of those actresses, like Una Merkel and Pert Kelton--and Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, and Edna May Oliver--who immediately brings a jolt of energy to any scene she's in. Helen Hayes is very fine in ARROWSMITH. That's another role that could be classified as a lead by some, a supporting role by others. (For 1932, the problem for me will be where to classify Ann Dvorak in THREE ON A MATCH and SCARFACE.) About three years ago TCM made a special effort to show more pre-Codes, which had been requested by some fans, and that's when I saw movies like SAFE IN HELL, BABY FACE, and the 1931 versions of WATERLOO BRIDGE and THE MALTESE FALCON. These were completely unknown to me, even by reputation, as late as 2009 when I first started watching TCM regularly. They had not even been mentioned in standard movie histories. Reading Mick LaSalle's COMPLICATED WOMEN was a good introduction to the pre-Code era. I had known of Miriam Hopkins only as the foil to Bette Davis in THE OLD MAID and OLD ACQUAINTANCE, and had no idea that she was an accomplished and very sexy actress earlier in the 1930s. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Because of the time of day when I get home Sundays, I've already read most of your posts before I make my decisions. Due to my typing with only one hand, I will avoid trying to list everything in one post where I may press the wrong thing and lose what I have written. I also wrote down last night the movies from 1931 that I have seen regardless of what I thought of them to be more organized. This post will look at Best Actor and Best Actress: BEST ACTOR: Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul John Barrymore in Svengali Wallace Beery in The Champ James Cagney for The Public Enemy Jackie Cooper in The Champ Colin Clive for Frankenstein Peter Lorre for M Frederic March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Montgomery in Private Lives Edward G. Robinson for Little Caesar Winner: John Barrymore for Svengali BEST ACTRESS: Mae Clark in Frankensein Joan Crawford in Possessed Irene Dunne in Cimmaron Jean Harlow in Platinum Blonde Miriam Hopkins for The Smiling Lieutenant (I call her a lead not a supporting role) Norma Shearer in A Free Soul Winner: Norma Shearer in A Free Soul 5 Link to post Share on other sites
Bogie56 Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Here are my choices of the 41 films I've seen from 1931 for… Best Supporting Actor of 1931 1. BORIS KARLOFF ("The Monster"), Frankenstein* 2. ADOLPHE MENJOU (Walter Burns), The Front Page 3. HARRY C. MYERS ("An Eccentric Millionare"), City Lights 4. GEORGE E. STONE (Otero), Little Caesar 5. CLARENCE H. WILSON (Sheriff Peter B. Hartman), The Front Page 6. ROGER GAILLARD (Alexis Godard/”the adjutant”), La Chienne 7. GUSTAF GRUNDGENS (Schraenker/"The Boss of the Criminals"), M 8. EDWARD EVERETT HORTON (Roy Bensinger), The Front Page 9. LESLIE HOWARD (Dwight Winthrop), A Free Soul 10. ROBERT YOUNG (Dr. Larry Claudet), The Sin of Madelon Claudet and... SLIM SUMMERVILLE (Sam), Bad Sister RUDOLF BLUMMER ("Counsel for the Defense"), M WALTER CATLETT (Murphy), The Front Page MAURICE BLACK (Little Arnie Lorch), Little Caesar FRANK MCHUGH (McCue), The Front Page DAVID LANDAU (Frank Maurrant), Street Scene ALAN HALE (Hubert), The Sin of Madelon Claudet ROSCOE ATES (Jesse Rickey), Cimarron 5 Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 JUVENILE AWARD FOR 1931: Winner: Jackie Cooper for The Champ and Skippy Honorable Mention: Dickie Moore for the adorable boy in Star Witness, the only reason why I would watch S.W. a second time. Jackie Cooper in The Champ lives on in my mind for always. Too bad he and Beery did not get along. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
GregoryPeckfan Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 This post looks at Best Supporting Actor and Actress for 1931: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Donald Crisp for Svengali Clark Gable for A Free Soul James Gleeson in A Free Soul Edward Everett Horton in The Front Page Boris Karloff in Frankenstein Dickie Moore in Star Witness Roland Young in Don't Bet on Women Winner: Clark Gable for A Free Soul BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Joan Blondell in The Public Enemy Mae Clarke in The Public Enemy Claudette Colbert in The Smiling Lieutenant Glenda Ferrel in Little Caesar Aline MacMahon in Five Star Final Winner: Joan Blondell in The Public Enemy 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now