1938's Best Picture Nominees Ranked

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...

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Best Supporting Actress 1938: Getting to know the nominees

by Cláudio Alves

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1938 is approaching. Unlike more recent years, when the nominees are well-known personalities to all of us, it's understandable that contemporary audiences might not be too familiar with these actresses from the 30s. Considering that, here's a little primer on each of the five women, their careers, their filmographies, and their legacies. They make up an exceedingly impressive lineup that includes Broadway stars, an opera sensation, and some of the most reliable character actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age…

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The Fred & Ginger movies ranked

by Cláudio Alves

87 years ago, someone at RKO had the brilliant idea to pair up an up-and-coming vaudevillian with a brassy character actress used to playing comic relief. The result was pure movie magic. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers quickly became two of their studio's biggest stars and their collaborations live on as some of the most glamourous musicals to ever grace the Silver Screen. Thanks to HBO Max, the majority of those flicks are now available to stream. The only one that isn't, Follow the Fleet, can be rented from Amazon if you wish to see its dancing delights.

With that in mind, it seemed like a good time to delve into the wonderful world of Fred and Ginger onscreen. Here's a ranked list of their ten movies together… 

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Introducing the Smackdown Panel for '38

Are you ready for the seventh episode in this super-sized Supporting Actress Smackdown season? Up next in 15 days is 1938. [UPDATE 09/16 - THE SMACKDOWN IS NOW PUBLISHED] That was only the third year of the Supporting categories at the Oscars but you can already see some tropes forming. Here's where you can watch the nominated performances/films.  

Let's meet the panelists

PLEASE WELCOME...  

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The Furniture: Fantasies of Castle and Forest in The Adventures of Robin Hood

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

Eleven films were nominated for Best Production Design in 1938. And a number of them would be a great subject for a column, from lavish period pieces set in France (Marie Antoinette and If I Were King) to screwball comedies about class (Holiday and Merrily We Live). And four musicals.

Yet it’s hard to look past The Adventures of Robin Hood, which won. Warner Bros' first big budget Technicolor feature drops Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland into a lavish, colorful fantasy of Medieval England. Happily, it’s worth quite a bit more than its price tag. Its primary virtue is playfulness...

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