Nominees: Les Misérables, It Happened One Night, Shen nu (The Goddess), A Story of Floating Weeds
Oscars pick: It Happened One Night
Nominees: The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Cleopatra, Flirtation Walk, The Gay Divorcee, Here Comes the Navy, The House of Rothschild, Imitation of Life, One Night of Love, The Thin Man, Viva Villa! The White Parade
The Academy nominated 12 movies, and a lot of those, including -Flirtation Walk, Here Comes the Navy, One Night of Love, Cleopatra, and The House of Rothschild- were average at best. But at least they got it right in selecting Frank Capra's sparkling screwball comedy It Happened One Night as their winner.
Along with that one, I liked the Chinese silent classic, Shen nu (The Goddess), which is a superbly shot and composed film about a young mother who works as a prostitute to make ends meet. Ruan Lingyu (who committed suicide at age 24, a year after this film's release) gives a naturalized performance. The film is rooted in realism and explores social hypocrisy.
I was also blown away by Les Misérables, especially in the phenomenal work done by Harry Baur.
But after sifting through the top-ranked releases, one Felix worthy film stood out above the rest. That being Jean Vigo's endearing, L’Atalante.
Jean Vigo was one of the major influences on the French New Wave of the 50s and on Truffaut in particular. Sadly, Jean died at 29, with only 1 full-length feature and a handful of shorter films to his name. His L'Atlante is a poetic and bittersweet piece that focuses on a newlywed couple -rigid Jean and free-spirited Juliette- who live on a barge. They share this cramped space with a salty crew-mate and a cabin boy. Soon jealousy gets the better of the husband, and the romance of Paris draws the wife away.
This contemplative film features cinematography by Boris Kaufman, which was indispensable in helping create a picture that is dreamlike, sensual, and blends realism with the magical: A memorable example of this can be found during a sex scene conducted in a dream, while the couple is separated.
The film was sadly chopped up and set to ruin. Vigo was dying of tuberculosis and could do nothing to save his baby. Years later it found its audience and is now offered, restored (as best as it can be) by Criterion. While understated, it is without a doubt the cream of the crop, in a year where few things really wowed me.
Honorable Mentions:
Clark Gable, It Happened One Night & Manhattan Melodrama * Robert Donat, The Count of Monte Cristo * John Barrymore, Twentieth Century * Takeshi Sakamoto, A Story of Floating Weeds * Fritz Kortner, Chu Chin Chow * Peter Lorre, The Man Who Knew Too Much (Support)
Honorable Mentions:
Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night * Sylvia Sidney, 30 Day Princess * Bette Davis, Of Human Bondage * Carole Lombard, Twentieth Century * Josephine Baker, Zouzou * Anna May Wong, Tiger Bay & Java Head * Louise Beavers, Imitation of Life * Mary Morris, Double Door * Aline MacMahon, Heat Lightning
Supporting Actor: Michel Simon, L’Atalante
