Review and Analysis of the 8th Academy Awards
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Review and Analysis of the 8th Academy Awards
The 8th Academy Awards were one of the best when it comes to this time period. That’s because they actually chose what were mostly the best pictures and actors of the year which rarely happens so I was very happy to see that. We got 12 nominations for the main award, but most are very much deserved, and the same goes for most of the other big awards. Now let’s take a look at each category from this year’s ceremony.
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OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION
Mutiny on the Bounty is probably the greatest adventure ever filmed so of course it entirely deserved to win Best Picture and it’s actually one of the best winners of all time in my opinion. As for the other nominees, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Informer were very worthy along with of course the iconic Top Hat. But the rest such as historical Les Miserables or a drama Alice Adams were worthy as well. The weakest was racist The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, but literally every other nominee is either solid or pretty good. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.
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BEST DIRECTOR
I would personally pick Frank Lloyd here as his film is clearly the best of the year and it’s ridiculous that Mutiny on the Bounty won the biggest award only, but John Ford’s work on The Informer is actually very strong, no matter how uneven the film is. It’s one of his most different filmography entries. But I would have personally picked some other people for the other nominations instead of Michael Curtiz and especially ludicrous Henry Hathaway.
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BEST ACTOR
This was one of the most deserved winners in my opinion. Yes, Victor McLaglen’s performance makes The Informer as good as it is, and clearly he was the best actor of this year. That is not to say that the triple threat Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone and Clark Gable weren’t amazing as they clearly were, but Victor made the movie his own.
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BEST ACTRESS
Yes, Bette Davis is excellent in Dangerous, but even she admitted later on that Katharine Hepburn deserved the Oscar more this particular year as she was terrific in Alice Adams in a very complex, wonderful role. I haven’t yet seen the other nominees so I cannot comment on them.
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BEST ORIGINAL STORY
A lesser-known flick won in this absolutely ridiculous category. However, I can understand the weakness of this particular category in this decade as this was the time when Hollywood mostly adapted books or plays for the screen so it must have been very hard to fill this category up with worthy nominees.
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BEST ADAPTATION
The Informer won in this much better category, but undeservedly so as that script is a bit messy in my book. The clear winner should have been Mutiny on the Bounty, but I would have been fine with Les Miserables or A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well. But those weren’t even nominated which is shameful for sure.
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BEST SHORT SUBJECT, CARTOON
I loved Three Orphan Kittens as a kid, but nowadays I find it incredibly cute and beautifully animated, but slight overall and not one of Silly Symphonies’ best. Who Killed Cock Robin? clearly should have won this year how hilarious and different it is. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.
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BEST SCORING
I would have again personally gone with Mutiny on the Bounty which sounds absolutely amazing, but The Informer is a solid winner given that its score is very dark, grand and memorable. Top Hat’s exclusion was silly here.
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BEST SONG
Speaking of Top Hat, I will never for the life of me understand how Cheek to Cheek lost here. Yes, the winner itself is fine, but this particular number is an iconic masterpiece beloved to this day and age. It’s ludicrous that they did not bestow it with the gold.
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BEST SOUND RECORDING
Naughty Marietta won for obvious reasons as it’s a musical with big opera numbers, but I personally would have picked Top Hat or Mutiny on the Bounty or even Bride of Frankenstein which was actually nominated for this one.
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BEST ART DIRECTION
This winner I have not seen, but clearly the sets in Top Hat deserved to win much more how amazing they are. Also, Bride of Frankenstein should have been here.
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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
I couldn’t be happier that A Midsummer Night’s Dream won for cinematography as this is by far the prettiest picture of this entire year with gorgeous costumes, many grand shots and inventive lighting. It makes the film really pop and I am so glad they recognized it too.
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BEST FILM EDITING
The same movie won for editing and it was a solid choice, but I would personally pick Mutiny on the Bounty as it’s so well edited and paced that it flies by.
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BEST DANCE DIRECTION
Broadway Melody of 1936 won in this short-lived category in the presence of the giant that is Top Hat which was absolutely ridiculous.
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BEST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer won for this odd category and that movie is so bad that it did not deserve any nominations, let alone wins. The other three nominees are all so good, though.
In the end, though the minor awards were oddly put together here, at least the big ones were worthy in terms of winners and mostly even in terms of their slates which is rare for the Academy so I have to commend them for this particular year.
