As we finish the 1930s and my comparison of all of the academy award winners for best picture as well as all of the movies that filmsite.org posits *should* have won in each year, the movies that made the greatest impression on me are below.
The bulleted movies rank in Snakeladylibrarian world as “movies I would watch again.” The others were simply the ones I enjoyed the most from this decade but don’t rank high enough for my special accolade.
- Gone With the Wind
- Lost Horizon
Broadway Melody
My Man Godfrey
King Kong
The Wizard of Oz
The first decade of the Academy Awards didn’t particularly impress me as a whole. And reading all of the positive reviews of the movies that I found a downright chore to get through doesn’t change my opinion about my opinions. It’s not my job to go out of my way to like a film and it’s ok for me not to like all of the “classics.”
It’s easier for me to appreciate a classic book due to my training as an English major. Perhaps if I were more naturally inclined to love movies I could appreciate films outside my natural comfort zone if the direction or acting were particularly good.
But I need the whole package. Directing. Acting. Screenplay. Costumes. Special effects. And what’s more I need to have a natural, personal inclination to enjoy the plot.
Not necessarily to agree with every point made but to care and be drawn in by an interesting story. I want characters I can relate to, characters that inspire me, characters that teach me how to be a better person. Or at least warn me of the consequences of giving in to what I know to be wrong. Or, failing all of that, give me a glimpse into the joys of being bad in a properly lascivious and egregious manner. It doesn’t all have to be deathly earnest but it does have to matter to me and/or entertain me.
I am not willing to concede at this point that books do that better than movies, despite my prejudice before beginning this sojourn that they do.
And that’s why Broadway Melody, arguably the “worst” of the award winners in this period, makes my tops list. Because of the way the sisters treated one another. They taught me a lesson my grandmother would have taught me. And my grandma rocked.
It’s possible also that I’m just out of touch with this decade, and its concerns. The Depression. Looking back on the Roaring 20s.
It’s also possible that trends in acting and directing that were in vogue in the 30s simply don’t appeal to me. This is where a solid college-level course in American film would come in handy. There’s so much I don’t know about movie-making. I just know what I like and what I think, but not why. It’s a little frustrating.
I’m also thinking the lack of movie magic had something to do with it.
While I can enjoy the original King Kong despite the very early and rough special effects efforts, I have to admit to not being swept off my feet by the highly regarded All Quiet on the Western Front. It was black and white in a way that was plain and rough, not slick or sexy. Kong wasn’t trying to take itself too seriously and I could indulge it. All Quiet failed to get the full import of its message across to me and I recognize that that was partly due to the quality of movies made at this time. Storyline was not enough for me and there was something about the acting that didn’t reach my heart. For this, one of the few winners from this period that did stand the test of time, I needed more.
It’s probably not an accident that I was so taken with both of the films listed for 1939 – Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. Movie making had moved on. It’s not just that the flicks were in color, they were more sophisticated, more interesting, and, at least for me, discussed issues of social significance I can relate to. Not typical 1930s themes. Of course by then WWII had started and the country was changing.
Looking into the 1940s I see a lot more movies that I’m looking forward to seeing or re-watching.
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