And the Winner Is — 1937

 Our family is working our way through Oscar winners and whichever nominees take our fancy. Also as they are available, since these early films continued to be hard to find.

This was a delightfully mixed bag ranging from drama to screwball comedy. All of them were entertaining enough to make a good evening's viewing. 

WINNER

The story of a legendary musical producer whose unerring eye for the heart of a performance allows a variety of well-known entertainers to flourish. Unfortunately, he also had a perfectionist side which sent the bills sky high and an eye for beautiful women which caused problems for his marriage.

We were surprised at how good this was — light, funny dialogue and William Powell's charisma carry the day. I could also see how it would have appealed to a 1936 audience who were probably sorely in need of fantasy — the shows were extravagent visual fantasies that would have been a wonderful break from Depression life.

 NOMINEES

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

Frank Capra with essentially an early version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It's okay but just watch Mr. Smith instead.

A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.

This has over-the-top drama, lots and lots of songs, too much opera, and a spectacular earthquake and subsequent fire. It also has a moral battle between Spencer Tracy as the priest and Clark Gable as the bad boy. It was entertaining the whole way.

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication’s frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. 

William Powell and Myrna Loy made 14 films together and this is a sterling example of their versatility, talent and charisma. The film itself was a good screwball comedy but not enough to make it better than the 1937 Best Picture rightly went to The Great Zeigfeld, which also starred ... Powell and Loy.

The exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in Paris. The action switches between London and Paris on the eve of the revolution where we witness ‘the best of times and the worst of times’ - love, hope, the uncaring French Aristocrats and the terror of a revolutionary citizen’s army intent on exacting revenge.

Here's the one that should have won the Oscar. Until we watched it we agreed with The Ziegfeld Follies as Best Picture. This blew our socks off. It was practically perfect in every way and made me a Ronald Colman fan for life. (My full review here.)

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All the Oscar viewing is here.