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Ranking 1937 Best Picture Nominees

Unlike last year, the Best Picture slate for the year 1937 was much better. Though again they chose the number ten for the nominees, thus resulting in some very weak, dated inclusions, most of the nominees are actually very good. And the Academy this time around at least picked most of the famous, classic movies from this particular year with only a couple of truly notable masterpiece exclusions. It’s also a rather diverse slate in terms of the genres with two adventure movies being most note-worthy.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

10. One Hundred Men and a Girl

Here we go again. Just the year prior to this one, a Deanna Durbin picture got the last spot on my list. I have to repeat that placement once again as One Hundred Men and a Girl is just so damn mediocre. Yes, Leopold Stokowski’s quite memorable when he appeared finally, but everything else here is so problematic. The score serves no purpose to the actual story which itself is rather slim and very implausible. And Durbin is so annoying per usual. Why the Academy loved these movies is truly beyond me.

9. In Old Chicago

I did like the angle of two sons on the opposite sides of law in this flick. That had some potential and it was executed solidly in a couple of dramatic sequences. The third act is also fine. But this movie is ultimately just a poor man’s version of ‘San Francisco’ with a particularly grating, badly placed musical numbers and very underutilized characters. It’s above all else a giant mess of a film in terms of its problematic mixing of different genres and tones. It’s another very dated, baffling choice for an Oscar nomination.

8. The Life of Emile Zola

The Life of Emile Zola certainly has its strengths. It’s sometimes quite powerful, especially in the third act, and the performances from Paul Muni and especially Joseph Schildkraut are excellent. However, this is still one of those dated, overly didactic 30s movies that are now not as interesting as I bet they were back then. I find the film rather boring and technically very inferior in all aspects. This film winning Best Picture over so many better, more worthy films from this slate is frustrating to say the least.

7. Dead End

A gang of young boys roam the streets of New York City’s East Side slums in this highly timely, way too timely movie in my opinion. It’s rather blunted in impact now when comparing it to when it first came out. I found the sets amazing of course as they painted the NYC slums of its time in such a painstaking manner. It’s a perfectly solid, but messy movie that gets rather dull whenever the children are on screen. As for the performers, I actually find Sylvia Sidney’s turn here much better and more memorable than Oscar-nominated Claire Trevor.

6. The Good Earth

This particular movie is especially problematic in this politically correct world as white Americans playing Chinese characters was a terribly odd, but understandable for its time period choice. My gripe with this movie is Paul Muni’s uncharacteristically mediocre performance as well as the film’s overlong runtime. But other than that, the acting is strong, the direction is competent, the cinematography and score are both fantastic, and the movie is particularly moving emotionally speaking. It’s such a well made, dramatic film.

5. Stage Door

Though she lost the Oscar, Andrea Leeds’ work here remains the best supporting female performance of the year. She’s so tragic and she even stole the show from Hepburn and Rogers. The movie itself is very rushed and short, but it offers a very honest look into the Hollywood inner workings and just how difficult it is to break into the business, especially as an actor. The toxic rivalry between women is also accurately depicted. It’s a lesser known, but very strong flick that needs more attention.

4. Captains Courageous

This Victor Fleming adventure based on a famous Rudyard Kipling novel could have been a classic had the pace been better and had Spencer Tracy been less hammy in his highly overrated role. But the film serves as a wonderfully old-fashioned adventure flick that is also surprisingly dark and disturbing, not to mention tragic in the third act. Freddie Bartholomew’s performance ranks among the best child performances of all time as he’s so believable and phenomenal. It gets the deserved fourth spot.

3. Lost Horizon

A plane crash leaves its passengers to find the perfect utopian society of Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. That’s the very intriguing story behind this fascinating adventure drama with good characters and performers, but the technical aspects are the true highlights here. The cinematography is fabulous, the direction is strong, the score is excellent and the production design is simply splendid. It’s not my personal favorite Frank Capra movie, but it definitely belongs among his better works.

2. A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born is at times rushed and clichéd, but it is mostly a very entertaining and dramatic look at Hollywood with some very inspirational and heartbreaking sequences. The beginning and the ending are the highlights as those are so good, but the entire movie is very good with excellent performances from Janet Gaynor, May Robson and Fredric March, some great lines and strong characters. Though many would prefer the 2018 remake, I honestly think this is the first and the best version of this story.

1. The Awful Truth

The Awful Truth is one of the quintessential screwball comedies. It presents everything that I love about this subgenre – the playful, witty dialogue, excellent acting performances and many amusing, instantly memorable comedic situations. Leo McCarey deserved his Oscar as his direction here is superb while Irene Dunne and Cary Grant have rarely been better than in these two wonderful turns. The interactions between the two are amazing and this couple is one of Hollywood history’s most lovable. It’s a hilarious, unforgettable classic that easily should have won Best Picture had there been any justice that year.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – While I do realize that the Academy did not understand the potency of feature animation in what was basically its infancy, I still find the exclusion of Snow White from the BP slate highly problematic. It’s not only a hugely important, historic movie, but also one of the most beautiful, most endearing fairy tale films ever created.

Make Way for Tomorrow – Sweetly playful and romantic, but downright heartbreaking in its ending, Make Way for Tomorrow did not get much attention back when it was released, but now it’s rightfully considered to be a classic as it offers a very rare glimpse into old people and their troubles during the thirties.

Stella Dallas – Stella Dallas is an incredibly emotional melodrama without ever being too manipulative or sappy. That balance was achieved flawlessly thanks to a strong build-up, great dialogue and a fantastic central performance from Barbara Stanwyck in such a great role. The mother-daughter relationship is the heart of this unfortunately snubbed picture.