and the nominees were:
Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind
Laurence Olivier, Wuthering Heights
Mickey Rooney, Babes in Arms
James Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Bette Davis, Dark Victory
Irene Dunne, Love Affair
Greta Garbo, Ninotchka
Greer Garson, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind
After what has felt like an eternity I've finally made it to the end of the 1930s, to the last year of what I like to call Oscar's "dark ages" (1927-1939). It's a great way to go out with a bang, and such a great year--considered by many as one of the finest in movie history. On the acting front, perennial Oscar favorites Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, and Irene Dunne would essentially get no love from the Academy after this year (save for one more nomination for Dunne in 1948), whereas this is also the year Oscar found brand new infatuations in Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Coincidentally enough, the wonderful Alex of Alex in Movieland will also be covering 1939's Best Actress slate the same time as myself. It's not often I cover the same year as another blogger at the same time so I for one am pretty thrilled and am pondering if I should do something special...But be sure to check out our simultaneous thoughts because this may just be a one time thing!
Feel free to let me know which nominees are your faves and who you think will be my faves :D
The pressure!!!
ReplyDelete:))
Well, Best Acress is most obvious so the question will be how the others fare in your ranking...
ReplyDeleteFor Best Actor, I guess you will pick James Stewart but I hope you love Robert Donat!
And just what makes you think I won't choose Greer Fritz? ;) :P
DeleteYou won't. :)
DeleteI've only seen Donat and Gable in the Best Actor category, but they would be great winners..
ReplyDeleteAs for Best Actress, If Leigh doesn't win, it'll be really surprising ...
Anyway, I do hope you like Garbo, who's fantastic.
I hope I like her too! I don't really care for her acting style and tend to think her performances are average but I've heard great things about her in Ninotchka, so who knows?...
DeleteGosh I take an extended leave from Oscar movies & the internet for more or less a month and a half and of course you are just crushing it in the meantime. Congrats on finishing those early Best Actor years, those couldn't have been easy at times.
ReplyDeleteI especially loved your coverage of 1930, a year in which I've surprisingly seen some performances. I liked Arliss (in Disraeli) a tad more than you and Beery a tad less, but more or less am happy to see Chester Morris win. Because he was the standout for me in The Big House, and I'm eager to watch Alibi now :)
As for 1939, I'm definitely rooting for Bette Davis to do well at least. Beating Vivien is a near-insurmountable task (for good reason), but I LOVE both Dark Victory and her performance. This with me not being the hugest Bette fan in the world. I'm also interested to read about Greer (as always) and see your complex relationship with Garbo come to a close. I'm jealous that you and Alex are both doing this year, it tempts me to hop in on the fun with Supporting 1939 ;)
I promise to be a more active commenter in the future, but I'm always keeping up nonetheless :))
Oh, Derek, how we never agree. :)
DeleteNo point in talking about Bette now, but I feel the opposite about her & Dark Victory. And I AM a Bette fan. :))
And I love Maria Ouspenskaya's (in)famous nomination... :)
Derek: I clearly have no life :D But thank you, and yes the movies pretty much sucked most of the time but oh well, it's forever over and done with now!
DeleteGah so good to know you liked Morris too! I think Alibi is worth a watch, though I think I liked Morris a little more than others might have in that one..
I hope I like Bette too! And Garbo as well. I have incredibly low expectations/feel like I probably won't like Greer...but we'll see.
And oh my god you should totally join in on the 1939 love, why not!?
Alex: I didn't know it was possible for you to not like Bette :P
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