Review and Analysis of the 12th Academy Awards

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Review and Analysis of the 12th Academy Awards

The 12^th Academy Awards were truly amazing when it comes to both the winners and the nominees, at least for the most part. The Best Picture slate was exceptional and most of the other categories were also terrific. This remains the best ever year for Hollywood and that might even be the case for the Oscars themselves.

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OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

Gone with the Wind is in my opinion the greatest movie of all time, so of course I am thrilled that back then it wound up sweeping the Oscars. It remains the most deserved Best Picture winner of them all, and the slate overall was truly among the best. Not only do we have here Frank Capra’s inspirational masterpiece, but also one of the best romantic comedies ever in Ninotchka. The other nominees ain’t shabby either, though the weakest ones remain Love Affair, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and also controversially Stagecoach. But the other seven are all mostly excellent. You can read the full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST DIRECTOR

Sam Wood clearly shouldn’t have been here, but Wyler and Capra both did a stupendous job in their respective classics. The award naturally ended up going to Victor Fleming who did not only direct Wind, but also Oz in what undoubtedly remains the finest two-movie in a year directorial opus.

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BEST ACTOR

This was another stacked category. Mickey Rooney sticks like a sore thumb here as for some reason the Academy adored him. Olivier was excellent in Heights, Gable was iconic as Rhett Butler and Stewart gave his best performance ever as the titular Mr. Smith. The fact that he lost to only average Robert Donat remains to this day one of the Academy’s most frustrating mistakes.

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BEST ACTRESS

Vivien Leigh truly became Scarlett O’Hara. She played the best character in the history of fiction impeccably and with great complexity that the character deserves. But all the other nominees were also quite good with the finest ones being Bette Davis, very emotional in tragic Dark Victory, and also of course Greta Garbo, providing her finest performance ever and her rare comedic role in the wonderful Ninotchka.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

This one is not that strong of a category. I personally do not know whom I would honor, but Mitchell winning for Stagecoach was a solid choice. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington received two nominations here and it’s a shame that both lost. Claude rains should have gotten it.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

This category was much better. Olivia de Havilland was wonderful as the lovely Melanie, but the award went to Hattie McDaniel. This win was hugely important as the first ever award given to a black actor and it was entirely deserved as Hattie’s Mammy was an instantly lovable, iconic creation in a story populated with them.

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BEST STORY

I am quite glad that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington got this one as it is such an inspirational story, but I myself would have given it to Ninotchka as that screenplay is super tight and the movie plays out like a stunning romance as well as a hilarious comedy. It’s perfectly written and very clever.

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BEST SCREENPLAY

Though almost four hours long, Gone with the Wind was still a very condensed version of a very long book that was incredibly well adapted for cinema. Thus, its win here was unquestionably the only right choice, but Wuthering Heights was also amazingly adapted from its great source material. The double screenplay nominations for Mr. Smith and Ninotchka continue to puzzle me, though.

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BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

This year, the animated short slate wasn’t all that strong as all three of the nominees are far from great films. Thankfully, the winner itself is a classic. The Ugly Duckling remains such a moving fairy tale flick and one of the best Silly Symphonies for sure. You can read the full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST SCORING

I never understood the scoring distinction during this period in the Academy’s history. Yes, Stagecoach sounds great, but this entire list of nominees is clearly much inferior than the one below, so I find it puzzling.

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BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Now this is what we’re talking about. Here we have the greatness that is Wuthering Height’s sweeping score and the iconic, lovely and highly entertaining score from the classic Wizard of Oz. But, even though I love that movie and that score, the fact that Gone with the Wind lost here remains a travesty. That’s because that score is among the greatest accomplishments of this all-around perfect movie. It’s majestic, gorgeous and simply unforgettable in a couple of powerful orchestral pieces that it gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it.

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BEST SONG

Why weren’t any other Wizard of Oz songs nominated? That is very mysterious to me. Still, Over the Rainbow was nominated and thankfully it won. This song is one of the greatest in Hollywood’s history as it is deep in its lyrics, beautifully sung by Garland and simply iconic.

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BEST SOUND RECORDING

I have never even heard of the winner for best sound this year and it’s ridiculous that Gone with the Wind lost this one and that The Wizard of Oz wasn’t even nominated as both sound amazing.

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BEST ART DIRECTION

As much as I absolutely adore Gone with the Wind in its every aspect, and in this one as well, I personally would have gone with The Wizard of Oz for this one due to that film’s absolutely astonishing set pieces that continue to astound to this day. They managed to make the film truly magical and immensely charming.

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BLACK AND WHITE

The Academy surely is smart sometimes and this year they made one incredibly clever choice that came at the best time possible as how can you not honor the glorious cinematography that beautiful Wuthering Heights clearly possesses. I am so glad that they gave it to that film.

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, COLOR

And of course the color one goes to Gone with the Wind. Although the Technicolor in The Wizard of Oz is truly astonishing and the colors play a huge role in that classic, the cinematography in Gone with the Wind is also brilliant and truly artistic. I personally would call it a tie between these two remarkable pieces of cinema.

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BEST FILM EDITING

Yes, best editing going to a four-hour movie must seem like an eye-rolling joke to many, but this sprawling movie is consistently engaging throughout and perfectly paced and edited with all the important drama staying and the unnecessary scenes being cut. For all of that, it deserved to win.

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BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

I have not seen The Rains Game, but it’s a joke that The Wizard of Oz went empty-handed when in reality its effects have mostly stood the test of time even after almost a century, and that alone should make this one of the Oscars’ worst offenders, especially as it relates to this category.

In the end, this was a great year for the Academy. Certainly some of the acting and technical category choices were questionable in their winners, but most of the nominations slates were exceptional and many of the best people/films ended up winning, so I still hold a special place in my heart for the great 1939.