by Nathaniel R
A behind-the-scenes factoid: We've been recording the Smackdowns much earlier than we've been publishing them this year. That's because we figured with everyone social distancing or locked down at home this past summer it would be easier to corral guests for the panels. That was true. They're all recorded now and though the pace has been brutal that also gave me a personal headstart on 1938 (your votes are due by this coming Sunday morning, September 13th!) and since it was a year I was weak on I thought: why not watch ALL the Oscar nominated movies from the year since there were fewer categories? It seemed doable with a three month headstart but I'd forgotten that Oscar hadn't yet come to the conclusion that five was the perfect number and there were up to 11 nominations in some categories! Alas, I didn't complete the assignment but I did manage to watch or rewatch 21 movies. My goal is to hit 30 key films from this year before a tentative "retro film bitch awards" which we've always wanted to do for the older years for fun. Should we? Does that sound fun to you?
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES OF 1938, RANKED
All but one are available to rent at various platforms. If currently streaming for free somewhere, though, we've mentioned that...
10 The Citadel (King Vidor, US)
MGM. October 29th, 1938. 110 minutes
4 Oscar nominations
This well-meaning picture is about a doctor (Robert Donat) in a small mining town who runs into trouble when he won't ditch his ethics and, later, runs into trouble in the big city when he does ditch his ethics. Donat is strong in the tossed and turned redemption-minded leading role. Unfortunately Rosalind Russell is utterly wasted in a supporting role as his dutiful wife. We're meant to admire his devotion to his work but also cheer on her decision to ditch a career she truly loves (teaching) to iron his clothes and serve as his secretary. Which, well, it's a hurdle especially because she's much more fun in the early going when she's a teacher who he can't rattle when he verbally attacks her. The Citadel was named Best Picture of the year by the National Board of Review but noble message movies rarely age all that well (yet critics and awards voters are still falling for them on the regular nearly a 100 years later).
09 Boys Town (Norman Taurog, US)
MGM. September 9th, 1938. 96 minutes
5 Oscar noms and 2 wins (Best Actor, Best Writing)
Another noble message movie, this one in heavily fictionalized biopic form. Spencer Tracy won Best Actor playing Father Edward Flanagan, a real priest who founded an orphanage/troubled youth home for boys near Omaha, Nebraska in 1917. Well acted and inspirational in a preachy kind of way. Tracy won the Oscar, which is no surprise given the combo of a real life role, the speechifying nobility of the part, and his commanding screen presence. But the actual drama plays as overblown fiction, especially in relation to Mickey Rooney's headstrong bad boy. Only Father Flanagan doesn't believe there's any such thing as a "bad" boy, so naturally Rooney comes to believe it too, and changes his errant ways.
08 Alexander's Ragtime Band (Henry King, US)
20th Century Fox. May 24th, 1938. 106 minutes
6 Oscar noms and 1 win (Best Scoring)
Alice Faye and Tyrone Power chased their vaguely-historical sort of musical In Old Chicago (1937 sort of...) with a more traditional completely ahistorical musical. They play accidental bandmates whose hot and cold romance keeps disrupting their success. Both films were huge hits, with Oscar for two seasons, and with the public for basically all of 1938. More on this film later.
07 You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra, US)
Columbia Pictures. September 1st, 1938. 126 minutes
7 Oscar noms and 2 wins (Best Picture and Best Director).
Part of the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1938 next week. But in truth, as you can see by its placement here, I'm not its biggest fan. I've tried three times but it just doesn't do much for me. Intermittently good fun within a weirdly bloated running time for a madcap comedy, but not the best Frank Capra.
06 Test Pilot (Victor Fleming, US)
MGM. April 16th, 119 minutes
3 Oscar nominations
In this romantic drama about early death-defying aviators, Clark Gable almost literally falls from the sky into Myrna Loy's lap (via a farm in Kansas over which his plane malfunctions). They fall madly in love. Spencer Tracy makes up the third part of the romantic triangle, as the pilot's heterosexual life partner; they even repeat some of Gable & Loy's romantic banter in a comic / bromantic way:
Gable: And who do you love, honey?
Tracy: I love you.
Gable: And I love you, too.
What makes the picture an Old Hollywood winner is that the chemistry sparks in each direction of the triangle. Despite those three legendary stars, two "name" character actors (Lionel Barrymore and Marjorie Main) and one of the top directors of the 1930s, this is strangely the only one of the Best Picture nominees that's not available to rent anywhere. Thankfully, there's a bootleg online.
From here on up the Best Picture list gets strong...
05 Four Daughters (Michael Curtiz, US)
Warner Bros. August 9th, 1938. 90 minutes
5 Oscar nominations.
This was the discovery of the lineup as it's forgotten today but quite involving. It's the story of a music professor and his four adult daughters (of marrying age). The film starts as a mild-mannered family comedy before lurching swiftly into romantic comedy territory. It ends as a kind of chaotic marital melodrama. All in 90 minutes flat! I kid you not that this movie would have easily been designed as a 10 hour limited series in 2020 given the amount of characters and plot. Still, the journey from one kind of movie to another is always watchable and quite endearing. Despite the female-centric title it's the men who guide the tone. Briefly Claude Rains controls the picture as the jovially grumpy doting father before passing the baton to looker Jeffrey Lynn (pictured above) who brings the easy romance. Blame (or thank) the final shift in tone on a sour-tempered and riveting John Garfield (also pictured above), who was Oscar-nominated as a musician who falls for the youngest daughter, disrupting the movie's girlishly pleasant vibe about halfway through.
04 Jezebel (William Wyler, US)
Warner Bros. March 26th, 1938. 104 minutes
5 Oscar nominations and 2 wins (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress)
We'll discuss on the Smackdown. Jezebel is problematic and messy, yes, in ways both general (Old Hollywood's romanticization of the antebellum south) and specific (you can feel how rushed it is trying to beat Gone With the Wind into theaters). But it's also a true corker thanks to Bette Davis' ascension into the pantheon. More on Davis's sensational star turn here.
03 La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, France)
World Pictures Corporation. September 12th, 1938. 113 minutes
1 Oscar nomination
Renoir's seriocomic picture about World War I hits sideways with its gentle expose of class warfare and the effortful illusions of civility in actual war. Three French POWs repeatedly attempt to escape German camps. Renoir's humanist approach soars thanks to a incisive touching performances across the board from the European ensemble led by Jean Gabin. This was the first non-English language film ever nominated for Best Picture (It's in German and French though the characters randomly throw in a few English sentences, too).
02 Pygmalion (Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard, UK)
MGM. December 8th, 1938. 96 minutes
4 Oscar nominations and 1 win (Best Writing, Screenplay)
If you could fuse the dramedic and cinematic sensibility of this adaptation + the wonders of its two lead performances (Leslie Howard & Wendy Hiller > Rex Harrison & Audrey Hepburn) with the vibrant supporting cast + glorious score from the 1964 musical adaptation, you'd be talking an all-time masterpiece. As it is the perfect version of Pygmalion / My Fair Lady is, arguably, yet to be filmed. But don't let that deter you from the formidable delights of this swift, fun, and well-balanced entertainment. Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel
01 The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz & William Keighley, US)
Warner Bros. May 14th, 1938. 102 minutes
4 Oscar nominations and 3 wins (Art Direction, Film Editing, Original Score)
Oscar chose You Can't Take It With You as the year's best. My mind argues for either Grand Illusion or Pygmalion as 1938's rightful Best (nominated) Picture. But my heart and, hell, my body is with the vibrant technicolor giddiness, imaginative action sequences, grandiose but cozy production design, garish costumes, and silly nobility of The Adventures of Robin Hood. It's an all-timer of a comfort movie. Currently streaming on HBO Max