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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What's streaming from 1938 and which films should we write about?

We'll be celebrating 1938 in between regular programming for the next few weeks as we approach the next Supporting Actress Smackdown (September 14th). But before you do your own '38 movie explorations, hit the Smackdown titles first so you can vote on the big event! They are: 

• The Great Waltz - just $1.99 to rent 
This nutso musical bio received 3 Oscar noms, winning for cinematography
• Jezebel - just $1.99 to rent 
This problematic Southern Belle drama is the one that lifted Bette Davis from exciting new talent to superstar (and won her her second Oscar). 5 Oscar noms, winning both Actress categories
• Merrily We Live - free (with ads) on Tubi 
Screwball comedy about a wealthy family taking in hobos. 5 Oscar noms
• Of Human Hearts - $2.99 to rent 
Drama about a preacher's family. Supporting Actress was the only nomination
• You Can't Take It With You - $3.99 to rent 
Frank Capra comedy. 7 Oscar nominations, winning Picture / Director

And you know what to do after you've screened them VOTE before the morning of Sunday, September 13th.

As you undoubtedly know if you're reading TFE, streaming services aren't particularly kind to films that are more than 20 years old. What's available is utterly random and it disappears suddenly and without warning -- for instance Hulu just decimated their once pretty ok "classics" section (which included our very favourite 1938 film, Bringing Up Baby) between when we began drafting this post a month or so ago and now. Now that section includes only 19 films, half of which are now from the 1980s or later. (They did this just when we had gotten used to telling people that they are way better than Netflix for anything pre 2000s and turned us into liars. AAARRRRRGH.)  Anyway, we've done the legwork for you and prepared a list of titles that are currently streaming for free (provided you have certain subscriptions of course) from this particular cinematic year. Let us know in the comments which you're most interested in discussing. This will come as a shocker but we're actually way ahead of the curve this month and have already finished screening all 5 Smackdown titles and most of the 10 Best Picture nominees, too... WUT?

TEN 1938 MOVIES THAT ARE FREE TO STREAM

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