Miriam Hopkins in BECKY SHARP (1935), Janet Gaynor in A STAR IS BORN (1937), and Vivien Leigh in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) were the first 3 Best Actress nominees from full-color movies.
The woes of the Great Depression demanded escapism from Hollywood. Such spectacle came in a myriad of forms, including some technical advancements.
By 1935, the three-strip Technicolor process was ready for features, blessing the silver screen with hues that called themselves natural while shining bright like something out of a dream. New genres came into being, too, sometimes as an echo of the dark times – think gangster pictures and their basis in social realism turned pulp or the rise of horror at Universal – and sometimes as an antidote. The screwball comedy was a child of the Great Depression, alright, with some of its greatest hits holding a blissfully distorted mirror to off-screen miseries, distracting from them and offering some magical impossibility as succor for the soul. In other areas, movies kept getting bigger, upping the ante in ways that recalled the great epics of silent cinema, those endeavors that moved armies and mountains for the camera’s gaze and the audience’s pleasure.
Obviously, this all reverberated through the Oscars, including and especially the Best Actress race. But will my personal ballots reflect it in the same fashion? Well…
Ingrid Bergman made such an impression in the Swedish classic INTERMEZZO (1936), that Hollywood remade it in 1939, with the actress reprising the role in English.
First, a reminder that, up until 1936, there were no awards specifically for supporting performers, so technically everyone was eligible for the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes. This will manifest in one tiny performance making it into my 1935 ballot, which is not to say I consider it a leading lady part – she’s got two scenes only, and not even I am that demented with category placements. The scandal of Bette Davis’ snub in 1934 for Of Human Bondage also prompted the Academy to expand Best Actress, resulting in six slots the following year, which I will be ignoring so all the collages look the same. I’ve been doing it thus far, so you’re probably already used to it. In many ways, the current acting races were consolidated in 1936 with the 9th Academy Awards, with four categories and five nominees each.
The only major changes after that would be minor. After Barry Fitzgerald got nominated in both Actor and Supporting Actor for 1944’s Going My Way, the rulebook was changed to make such a thing impossible. Finally, this year, the rule that prohibited actors from receiving multiple nominations for different films in the same category was revoked. Theoretically, we can see the return of double nominations, like the ones in the early 30s for Norma Shearer.
But let’s re-situate ourselves at the end of the Great Depression, when Hollywood spectacle was ratcheting up and, across oceans, war was brewing. Curiously enough, though the coming years of armed conflict would reverse this instantly, by 1938 the Academy was finally including “foreign” films in its reminder lists. Because the industry kept importing them, audiences kept watching them, and, as ever, Oscar reflects the state of Hollywood and American film culture in general. At the 11th Academy Awards, Grand Illusion became the first non-English-language film to score a Best Picture nomination, and six other French productions joined it in the reminder list. Also on that list was a little Swedish film called Intermezzo, whose success would soon bring its young star to the States. Her name? Ingrid Bergman.
Sadly, I can already warn you that no non-English-language performance made it into my lineups. That’ll only happen in the postwar period, as far as this alternative Oscar history is concerned. Still better than the real Oscars, though, as AMPAS only broke that particular Best Actress glass ceiling in 1961.
;)
1935
Katharine Hepburn, ALICE ADAMS *winner*
Elsa Lanchester, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Carole Lombard, HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE
Ginger Rogers, ROBERTA
Sylvia Sidney, MARY BURNS, FUGITIVE
Honorable Mentions: Jean Harlow and Hattie McDaniel in CHINA SEAS, Katharine Hepburn in SYLVIA SCARLETT, Ginger Rogers in TOP HAT, Rosalind Russell in RENDEZVOUS, Barbara Stanwyck and Genevieve Tobin in THE WOMAN IN RED.
Ineligible: Sachio Chiba, Toshiko Itō and Ryuko Umezono in THE GIRL IN THE RUMOR, Carol Goodner, Diana Napier and Gertrude Lawrence in MIMI.
On the Watchlist: Elisabeth Bergner in ESCAPE ME NEVER, Claudette Colbert in PRIVATE WORLDS, Ann Harding in PETER IBBETSON, Merle Oberon in THE DARK ANGEL, Margaret Sullavan in THE GOOD FAIRY.
;)
1936
Ruth Chatterton, DODSWORTH *winner*
Frances Farmer, COME AND GET IT
Gloria Holden, DRACULA’S DAUGHTER
Carole Lombard, MY MAN GODFREY
Rosalind Russell, CRAIG’S WIFE
Honorable Mentions: Marlene Dietrich in DESIRE, Jean Harlow in WIFE VS SECRETARY, Miriam Hopkins and Bonita Granville in THESE THREE, Paulette Goddard in MODERN TIMES, Myrna Loy in LIBELED LADY.
Ineligible: Florelle in THE CRIME OF MONSIEUR LANGE, Isuzu Yamada in OSAKA ELEGY and SISTERS OF THE GION.
On the Watchlist: Bette Davis in PETRIFIED FOREST, Irene Dunne in MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, Gladys George in VALIANT IS THE WORD FOR CARRIE, Hedy Lamarr in ECSTASY, Aline MacMahon in KIND LADY.
;)
1937
Jean Arthur, EASY LIVING
Beulah Bondi, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW
Irene Dunne, THE AWFUL TRUTH
Greta Garbo, CAMILLE *winner*
Barbara Stanwyck, STELLA DALLAS
Honorable Mentions: Jean Arthur in HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT, Marlene Dietrich in ANGEL, Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in STAGE DOOR, Sylvia Sidney in DEAD END and YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.
Ineligible: Takako Irie in A WOMAN’S SORROWS, Noboru Kiritachi in AVALANCHE.
On the Watchlist: Joan Blondell in STAND-IN, Claudette Colbert in TOVARICH, Kay Francis in CONFESSIONS, Glady George in MADAME X, Miriam Hopkins in WOMAN CHASES MAN.
;)
1938
Bette Davis, JEZEBEL
Katharine Hepburn, HOLIDAY *winner*
Norma Shearer, MARIE ANTOINETTE
Barbara Stanwyck, ALWAYS GOODBYE
Anna May Wong, DANGEROUS TO KNOW
Honorable Mentions: Claudette Colbert in BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE, Katharine Hepburn in BRINGING UP BABY, Myrna Loy in TEST PILOT, Ginger Rogers in VIVACIOUS LADY, Margaret Sullavan in THREE COMRADES.
Ineligible: Ingrid Bergman in A WOMAN’S FACE, Signe Hasso and Tollie Zellman in CAREER.
On the Watchlist: Danielle Darrieux in CLUB DE FEMMES and THE RAGE OF PARIS, Merle Oberon in THE DIVORCE OF LADY X, Sylvia Sidney in YOU AND ME, Margaret Sullavan in THE SHOPWORN ANGEL.
;)
1939
Bette Davis, DARK VICTORY
Greta Garbo, NINOTCHKA
Judy Garland, THE WIZARD OF OZ
Vivien Leigh, GONE WITH THE WIND *winner*
Norma Shearer, THE WOMEN
Honorable Mentions: Jean Arthur in ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, Claudette Colbert in MIDNIGHT, Irene Dunne in LOVE AFFAIR, Claire Trevor in STAGECOACH, Lupe Vélez in THE GIRL FROM MEXICO.
Ineligible: Kakuko Mori in THE STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUMS, Flora Robson in POISON PEN.
On the Watchlist: Fay Bainter in DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS, Belle Chrystall in THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, Ginger Rogers in BACHELOR MOTHER, Ann Sothern in MAISIE, Barbara Stanwyck in GOLDEN BOY.
Next up, the war years, when movie production slowed down considerably worldwide, and we get some of our shortest Oscar reminder lists yet. The first inklings of new mentalities also start hinting at the rise of film noir while the screwball dies a slow death, with one particular actress mastering both genres to real and imaginary Oscar glory. Also, more musical glory and much more Judy Garland to go with it. Stay tuned!