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Ranking 1938 Best Picture Nominees

1938 was actually a strong year when it comes to the Academy Award for Best Picture. They ended up nominating most of the best movies from this year, and an actually great movie won the award. On its ten-nominee slate, the Academy chose dramas, comedies, musicals and adventure flicks, but also their first foreign nominee. It’s a very diverse slate that features some clunkers for sure, but most of the films on it are actually quite good or even great as is the case with three top picks.

My Ranking of the Nominees:

10. Four Daughters

John Garfield is so memorable and terrific in Four Daughters that he entirely deserved his Oscar nomination. Others, however, are entirely forgettable. This flick once again signifies just how problematic having too many characters in your movie can be. There are simply too many of them, thus I did not care for most of them. The plot points are mostly too silly, but some moments are charming for sure. Overall, this is an okay movie that is certainly better than I’d expected it would be, but it was still not worthy of being a freaking Best Picture nominee.

9. Boys Town

Following a father who works with delinquent boys and eventually finds a home for them all, Boys Town is certainly the kind of movie that has a wide appeal thanks to its undeniable heart and good nature. It means well and is very sweet. However, it’s still one of the most overrated movies from this particular BP slate that did not deserve its nominations nor did it deserve to win Best Actor. The problem here is that this is just another forgettable biopic that is stale and far from cinematic. The Academy loves those, but I was bored by it personally.

8. Alexander’s Ragtime Band

Made with the main purpose to track back the entire history of jazz up to this point, this flick is perhaps most famous for its collection of great Irving Berlin musical numbers. In my book, those songs are so fun that they elevated the entire movie and made it quite entertaining, especially the first half. Nonetheless, it eventually resorted to typical stories that span many decades, which I personally find tiresome. Too many characters also made the film difficult to follow and hard to care about any of these people. It’s ultimately frothy entertainment.

7. Test Pilot

Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy and Clarke Gable are all wonderful in Test Pilot. The dialogue is great and their scenes together are a lot of fun. However, other action-oriented scenes were much less interesting, the entire film is limited in appeal and the pacing is messy. It’s among the most dated movies on this particular slate as it deals with the aircraft of its period and the obsession surrounding this profession, but is nowadays just a curiosity. It’s a very well acted, well scripted in dialogue curiosity, but a curiosity nonetheless.

6. Grand Illusion

Now we come to the most overrated movie from this slate, a film that most deem the best and most worthy of an Oscar for this year, but I myself find it just good and far from great. This Jean Renoir vehicle follows a group of prisoners of war plotting an escape during WWI. It was the first ever foreign movie to garner a Best Picture nomination. But even though it is very well crafted technically speaking and its humanistic approach is wonderful, the movie is still not greatly developed in characters and it’s way too comedic instead of dramatic.

5. The Citadel

This movie is based on a famous novel of the same name by A. J. Cronin about an impoverished doctor, Andrew Manson, who loses sight of his ideals when he starts treating the rich. Although some parts of this movie are inferior (most of the first half isn’t as involving), the second half is excellent, especially the final act with the bridge scene being so emotional. The Citadel is so underrated as it’s very well adapted, directed and stupendously performed by Robert Donat whose work here is among his career-best.

4. Pygmalion

Although the 1964 version is much more famous, the 1938 movie adaptation of Pygmalion is just as good and just as underrated as the film above. I would say that the ending is certainly problematic as the movie became too familiar in its third act, but the rest of the movie is phenomenally adapted from its renowned source material and reasonably cinematic even. The performances from Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard are particularly worthy of praise as they share great dynamic and chemistry together.

3. Jezebel

Jezebel takes its time to get there owing to a slow smart. The ending is also a mess. However, it’s still very memorable and the character arc of the protagonist was emotionally rewarding to follow. The movie is very confidently directed, scripted and technically crafted with the ball sequence being the standout. The highlight of course has to be Bette Davis. Her performance in the main role is powerful and unforgettable. This was a great, different role for her, and she knocked it out of the park, resulting in an earned Oscar win.

2. You Can’t Take It with You

Most people nowadays are quick to judge Frank Capra for his innocence and “naiveté”. I personally find that kind of thinking toxic. His movies are wonderfully uplifting, and for the thirties they were simply perfect. You Can’t Take It with You is particularly underrated among his admittedly amazing works. This movie is very predictable, but the journey toward its happy ending was just so wonderful and joyous. The messages here are still important while its plethora of lovable, goofy characters always put a smile on my face. It’s a beautiful movie that deserved to win Best Picture, but ultimately I myself went with…

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood

Yes, this decision was incredibly difficult, and some other day I may as well switch these two for the top spot, but for now The Adventures of Robin Hood gets the top prize. This admittedly silly, but gloriously adventurous movie is  a timeless classic that is especially notable for its sheer technical brilliance in sets, costuming, action execution and score. Many action scenes are incredibly memorable from this movie, especially the last sword duel. The performances are uniformly lovely from its highly talented cast with Errol Flynn being the ultimate Robin. Thus, this movie is one of the greatest, most accomplished adventure films of all time.

Films That Should Have Been Nominated:

Angels with Dirty Faces – The dangers of bad influence on children is the best explored theme in this very different, more moving and sophisticated take on the crime genre. I usually dislike these movies, but when it’s done this right, I am bound to admit its greatness. James Cagney is so amazing here that his snub by the Academy was truly horrendous.

Holiday – The acting is absolutely magnificent in Holiday with Katharine Hepburn delivering one of her best performances here, the characters are so incredibly likable and the whole movie is so beautifully childlike, energetic and just a lot of fun. It’s one of the best screwball comedies that has stood the test of time stupendously.

The Lady Vanishes – While it has its problems such as an overly comedic tone, The Lady Vanishes still is one of the best efforts from Alfred Hitchcock when it comes to his 30s output. The movie is energetic, consistently engaging and quite mysterious in its plot. It’s hugely entertaining and confidently executed.

You can get the best nominee from this year on Amazon.