Friday, May 31, 2013

1938 CinSpec Awards


Winners indicated (*). Films I still need to see include: Olympia, Vivacious Lady, La Marseillaise, Carefree, Merrily We Live, The Dawn Patrol, Suez, Kentucky, If I Were King, The Great Waltz, That Certain Age, Mannequin, They Drive by Night, Swing Your Lady, and Werther.

Grand Illusion

BEST PICTURE:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Bringing Up Baby
Grand Illusion*
La Bête Humaine
The Lady Vanishes

BEST DIRECTOR:
Michael Curtiz & William Keighley, The Adventures of Robin Hood
Sergei M. Eisenstein, Alexander Nevsky
Howard Hawks, Bringing Up Baby
Alfred Hitchcock, The Lady Vanishes
Jean Renoir, Grand Illusion*

La Bête Humaine

BEST ACTOR:
James Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces
Errol Flynn, The Adventures of Robin Hood
Jean Gabin, La Bête Humaine*
Cary Grant, Bringing Up Baby
Charles Laughton, Sidewalks of London

BEST ACTRESS:
Bette Davis, Jezebel
Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby*
Wendy Hiller, Pygmalion
Vivien Leigh, Sidewalks of London
Norma Shearer, Marie Antoinette

Bringing Up Baby

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Don Ameche, Alexander's Ragtime Band
Lew Ayres, Holiday
Pat O'Brien, Angels with Dirty Faces
Basil Rathbone, The Adventures of Robin Hood
Erich von Stroheim, Grand Illusion*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Fay Bainter, Jezebel*
Spring Byington, You Can't Take It with You
Olivia de Havilland, The Adventures of Robin Hood
May Robson, Four Daughters
May Whitty, The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Bringing Up Baby
Holiday
The Lady Vanishes*
Pygmalion

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Angels with Dirty Faces
Boys Town
The Edge of the World
Grand Illusion*
Sidewalks of London

Sidewalks of London

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Alexander Nevsky
The Edge of the World
Grand Illusion*
La Bête Humaine

BEST FILM EDITING:
The Adventures of Robin Hood*
Alexander Nevsky
Bringing Up Baby
Grand Illusion
The Lady Vanishes

The Adventures of Robin Hood

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Adventures of Robin Hood*
Alexander Nevsky
Jezebel
Marie Antoinette
Three Comrades

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Arise, ye Russian People", Alexander Nevsky
"Now It Can Be Told", Alexander's Ragtime Band*
"An Old Straw Hat", Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Additional Categories

Alexander Nevsky

BEST ART DIRECTION:
The Adventures of Robin Hood*
Algiers
Grand Illusion
Marie Antoinette
You Can't Take It with You

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Alexander Nevsky
Four Daughters
Jezebel
Marie Antoinette*

Angels with Dirty Faces

BEST MAKEUP:
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Jezebel
Marie Antoinette*

BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
The Adventures of Robin Hood*
Angels with Dirty Faces
La Bête Humaine
The Lady Vanishes
Test Pilot

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Adventures of Robin Hood*
Alexander Nevsky
Test Pilot

Updated: 5/3/15

8 comments:

  1. YAY!!! Now I have a list of so much more to see! I've seen Grand Illusion, Le Bete Humaine, Angels With Dirty Faces, Bringing Up Baby and Jezebel. I think I give most everything to Bringing Up Baby at the moment, with La Bete Humaine inching closer to stealing awards away. I wasn't as big a fan of Grand Illusion as I wanted to be, but I should give it a rewatch.

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    1. Haha. Hope you find some films you like. Bringing Up Baby is a great winner. It was mine at one point too. Yeah, I can see how Grand Illusion would be a bit disappointing.

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  2. I have a lot of catching up to do for that year! Have only seen The Lady Vanishes, and it was so long ago, that I barely remember it :)

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    1. I watched several of these for this post, and I've still got a lot to see. :) You might want to give it another look then. ;)

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  3. According to Wikipedia, Bringin Up Baby's screenplay is adapted (and my personal winner in category)
    "The screenplay was adapted by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde from a short story by Wilde which originally appeared in Collier's Weekly magazine on April 10, 1937."

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    1. Thanks! Other ballots have it listed as an original, so I forgot about the story. I've updated the ballot accordingly. My adapted winner is still The Lady Vanishes, but I need to rewatch it. I might switch to Bringing Up Baby though.

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  4. I haven't seen Grand Illusion, I've always meant too but it's one that's escaped me, and finally saw The Lady Vanishes from start to finish this week. Even though I didn't give it any awards I enjoyed it very much.

    Picture:
    Adventures of Robin Hood-Winner
    Bringing Up Baby
    Holiday
    The Lady Vanishes
    Marie Antoinette
    The other four films are classics but the high buff that Warners and director Curtiz put on the Robin Hood legend keeps it fresh all these years later.

    Director:
    Anthony Asquith-Pymalion
    Michael Curtiz-Adventures of Robin Hood
    George Cukor-Holiday
    Howard Hawks-Bringing Up Baby-Winner
    Alfred Hitchcock-The Lady Vanishes
    All expertly directed pictures but screwball comedy requires a particular skill that few have to make it work properly. Hawks does and Baby may be the best example of that.

    Actor:
    James Cagney-Angels With Dirty Faces
    Errol Flynn-Adventures of Robin Hood
    Cary Grant-Bringing Up Baby-Winner
    Leslie Howard-Pygmalion
    Charles Laughton-Sidewalks of London
    Laughton's work as the kind, lonely busker in Sidewalks is some of his best but my decision came down between Flynn and Grant. Errol is at his charismatic best but Cary's loosy goosy physicality added in with his go for broke attitude made me go with him.

    Actress:
    Bette Davis-Jezebel
    Katharine Hepburn-Holiday-Winner
    Wendy Hiller-Pygmalion
    Vivien Leigh-Sidewalks of London
    Norma Shearer-Marie Antionette
    As with most every year this category gave me the hardest time chosing. Vivien Leigh's final performance before GWTW shows a fully formed talent. The pairing of Laughton and she is so good, they seem bring out the best in each other, it's a pity they never worked together again. Wendy Hiller's Eliza is wonderfully tough and even after her transformation manages to retain some of her original grit, something missing in Audrey Hepburn's My Fair Lady. I've always been ambivalent towards Norma Shearer often finding her theatricality grating however it's that very trait that aids her work as Marie Antionette and she has some really beautiful moments of pathos towards the conclusion. It's a shame she retired when she did since I've found her later work some of her best. Bette's work as Julie in Jezebel is blazingly intense but I had no problem taking her Oscar away since I think she did better work later. I see we both picked Kate but for different films, she's amazing in Bringing Up Baby but to me Linda in Holiday is some of the best work she ever did.

    Supporting Actor:
    Lew Ayres-Holiday-Winner
    John Garfield-Four Daughters
    Robert Morley-Marie Antionette
    Claude Rains-Adventures of Robin Hood
    Basil Rathbone-Adventures of Robin Hood
    Both Robin Hood actors seem to be having a hell of a good time in their roles and manage to spread that enjoyment to the audience and Morley makes the buffonish King Louis tragic rather than laughable but this was between Garfield and Ayres. Garfield ambles into the middling Four Daughters and blows the roof right off the picture with a star making turn. I went with Lew Ayres though. Like Shearer I find him variable but he connected with the trapped frustrations of Ned and make them transparent to the audience. It's the best performance I've ever seen from him and he manages to steal the picture from Kate & Cary, both at their peaks, whenever he's on screen.

    Supporting Actress:
    Fay Bainter-Jezebel-Winner
    Spring Byington-You Can't Take It With You
    Olivia de Havilland-Adventures of Robin Hood
    May Robson-Bringing Up Baby
    Dame May Whitty-The Lady Vanishes
    I was very close to going with the brilliant work of May Robson in Baby but chose Fay Bainter. While Robson is a flummoxed delight her Aunt Elizabeth is an amusing side light, Bainter's Aunt Belle is intergal to the success of her picture and she adds just the right note of gravitas to balance Davis's headstrong hoyden.

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    1. Great picks. I love all of the Holiday mentions (Ayres is a VERY close runner-up for me), and Robin Hood and Bringing Up Baby are brilliant. Glad to know that someone else has seen Sidewalks of London, which is a real charmer.

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