Review and Analysis of the 2nd Academy Awards
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Review and Analysis of the 2nd Academy Awards
The 2nd Academy Awards were held in 1930 and honored the films released in the second half of 1928 and the first half of 1929. It was broadcast on radio and it featured even less categories than the first awards. It remains one of the most forgettable Academy Awards with forgotten, dated movies which did not stand the test of the time at all. But it’s still important for being the first awards with almost all sound films in competition.
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OUTSTANDING PICTURE
This is by far one of the weakest, most mediocre slates in the history of Best Picture. None of these movies are admittedly pretty good with The Hollywood Revue of 1929 being particularly dated and In Old Arizona being so problematic. The Broadway Melody won the award and it’s not a terrible film in my opinion, but Alibi should have won. Even though it’s not great, it’s the best and most artistic of this bunch. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.
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BEST DIRECTOR
Frank Lloyd won for his work on The Divine Lady which wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture for some reason. He did a very good job on this pretty accomplished film so I do not mind him winning at all. And he’s by far the best of the nominees as others are quite weak. However, the fact that Josef von Sternberg wasn’t even nominated for his amazing work on the masterpiece that is The Docks of New York is beyond bothersome.
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BEST ACTOR
I would actually agree with the Academy on this one. It was a very weak year and thus there wasn’t a whole lot of competition, but Warner Baxter truly did make In Old Arizona his movie with a charismatic, charming turn in the role of the Cisco Kid. Other nominees I did not see with the exception of Chester Morris who overplayed his role.
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BEST ACTRESS
This was a much better category than the previous one, but unfortunately the wrong actress won. Yes, Mary Pickford lobbied extensively and thus won for her admittedly not great role in mediocre Coquette. I haven’t seen all nominees, but of those I did, Corinne Griffith and Bessie Love are both worthy of their nominations. But the fact that glorious Marion Davies from ‘Show People’ wasn’t even nominated is baffling to me.
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BEST ART DIRECTION
And that would be it for the major awards as the Academy somehow did not include adapted screenplay category for this year which is ridiculous. For Art Direction I’ve only seen Alibi of the nominees so I cannot comment whether or not The Bridge of San Luis Rey was a deserved winner. The Docks of New York is my pick here.
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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Divine Lady is a worthy nominee here whereas In Old Arizona certainly is not. White Shadows in the South Seas won and I haven’t seen it so I cannot comment, but the fact that seminal works Man with a Movie Camera and The Docks of New York weren’t even considered is honestly laughable.
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BEST WRITING
There were eleven nominees for Best Writing. Yes, eleven! Most I haven’t seen, but In Old Arizona’s nomination is ludicrous as that story is so weakly written. The Patriot won here and it’s a lost film. I personally would have picked Pandora’s Box.
So in the end, I disagree with most of the Academy’s choices when it comes to this year’s Oscars. This was such a bad year for the Oscars as they snubbed most of the major classics from this period and the ones they nominated are forgotten, dated films. There are some fine choices here, but most are rather bad.
