7. It Happened One Night (1934)

Director: Frank Capra

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

Other Oscar Wins: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Clark Gable), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Claudette Colbert), Best Director, Best Writing

Other Oscar Nominations: N/A

Favourite Line: "I'll stop a car, and I won't use my thumb!"

Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable in It Happened One Night.

Frank Capra's It Happened One Night is a wonderful romantic comedy with brilliant writing and acting. It is a thoroughly entertaining piece which had me laughing and intrigued the whole way through.

It Happened One Night is the story of a rich girl who marries against her father's wishes, and when he threatens to annul the marriage, she runs away to New York. On the way she meets a newspaper reporter who decides to help her. The two eventually fall in love, despite the girl's previous marriage.

I am already a fan of director Frank Capra, as his film It's a Wonderful Life is one of my all time favourites. The writing is simply hilarious and charming, with very compelling storytelling. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are both incredible as well, with wonderful chemistry. It is said, however, that neither of the leads liked the film at all. On Clark Gable's first day on set, he reportedly said "Let's get this over with", and on the last day of filming, Claudette Colbert told a friend, "I just finished making the worst picture I've ever made." Despite the stars dislike of the film, they both did a wonderful job, and the film is very enjoyable.

Art by Olly Moss.

A few fun facts about It Happened One Night- it is one of three movies to win every Oscar for which it was nominated, including Best Picture. The two other films to achieve this are The Last Emperor (1987) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The other fun fact I found about It Happened One Night, is in the scene where Clark Gable starts undressing. He originally had an undershirt on in the scene, but in every take it took too long to take off and it interrupted the flow of the scene. Eventually the decided to get rid of the undershirt, and as a result, the sales of undershirts in the US dropped considerably. It is said that some underwear manufacturers tried to sue Colombia because of this.

It Happened One Night is a very entertaining film, and I will certainly be watching it again. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy.

6. Cavalcade (1933)

Director: Frank Lloyd

Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook

Other Oscar Wins: Best Director, Best Art Direction

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Diana Wynyard)

Favourite Line: "A great adventure, Robert. Anxious sometimes, and sad. Sometimes, unbelievably happy. And thank God, never dull or sordid."

A scene from Cavalcade.

Cavalcade is the story of a well to do British family at the turn of the century, beginning with New Years Eve 1900, up to New Years Eve of 1933, which was the present at the time of the film's release. The family has sees their share of hardships, from father fighting in the Boer War, to the eldest son and his wife drowning with the Titanic, to the youngest son, Joe, falling vicim to the Great War. Based on the play by Noel Coward, Cavalcade  is a beautiful and touching film with an immense scale. I found it to be very well done.

The costuming and set decoration in this film was exceptionally outstanding to me, and it is no wonder it won the Oscar for Best Art Direction. The costume department would have had an absolutely massive undertaking, having to clothe not only the lead actors but also many, many extras in 33 years worth of styles, and those 33 years had so much variety in fashion. Visually, the whole film was stunning.

Art by Olly Moss.

I was also very impressed by all of the actors in this film, so much so that I can't single any of them out. This is likely due to the sheer brilliance of the script. Mind you, as someone who studies Theatre at a post-secondary level, I am a little biased in Noel Coward's favour. Two particular moments in the film that were exceptional to me, however, were firstly, the Twentieth Century Blues song, sung by the character of Fanny near the end of the film. It was so simple, and yet so profound. After all that has happened, it just seemed the perfect finish, summing up the whole story. The other moment I loved was Edward and Edith's honeymoon. Before the scene even begins, the date is shown on the screen. A day we know to be the sinking of the Titanic. Then we see Edward and Edith on a ship, and so the viewer is already uneasy. Then they begin to talk about death and how they would be comfortable to die now while they are happy and before they fall out of love with each other. At the very end of the scene it is revealed that the ship is indeed the Titanic, which causes the scene to be so incredibly sad, and yet bittersweet in a way, because of the conversation just before. It's heartbreaking and so brilliantly done.

Cavalcade  is a wonderful film and quite deserving of it's Oscar, despite it being widely unknown. It is worth searching out and seeing.

  

5. Grand Hotel (1932)

Director: Edmund Goulding

Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore

Other Oscar Wins: N/A

Other Oscar Nominations: N/A

Favourite Line: "Grand Hotel... always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens."

A scene from Grand Hotel.

Grand Hotel  is an exceptional picture. The set and costumes look absolutely beautiful, and the star-studded cast is incredible. The film is the story of the comings and goings of the patrons of a high class Berlin hotel.

I've seen this film before, and I think I appreciated it considerably more the second time around. I found the plot rather difficult to follow the first time, as there are so many things going on at once, but in watching it again, it's much easier to understand and to appreciate the incredible jobs that all of the actors really do.

Art by Olly Moss.

I have to say, the two most incredible pieces of acting in the film, in my personal opinion,  go to the stunning Greta Garbo, as Grusinskaya, the dancer, and to Lionel Barrymore as the terminally ill Kringelein. John Barrymore and Joan Crawford were also very good, but these two really stood out to me. Greta Garbo is incredible to watch, not only because she is absolutely gorgeous, but also because she is constantly in character, and you can see every thought that she has cross her face as she has them. It's absolutely brilliant. As for Lionel Barrymore, I am a huge fan of It's a Wonderful Life, and would go as far as to say it is one of my all time favourite films. Because of this, I know Lionel Barrymore as the rich, mean, Mr. Potter, and in Grand Hotel he is so staggeringly different that I hardly realized that it was the same man. He is so invested in his role, and so endearing, and I just thought he was wonderful.

 A few fun facts about Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel is the only best picture winner not to be nominated for any other Academy Awards. As well, three of the lead actors initially turned down their roles. Greta Garbo was 27 at the time, and turned down her role because she believed that she was to old to be playing a prima ballerina. Joan Crawford was worried that a lot of her character's scenes would be cut for being too scandalous. Both were eventually convinced to take the roles. Wallace Beery turned down his role as well, but took it when he was told he was the only lead in the picture who would actually use a German accent.

Grand Hotel  is a wonderful film, and one that I would definitely recommend. The acting is superb, and the story is very intriguing. It is definitely one worth seeing.

4. Cimarron (1931)

Director: Wesley Ruggles

Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne

Other Oscar Wins: Best Writing, Best Art Direction

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Richard Dix), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Irene Dunne),  Best Director, Best Cinematography

Favorite Line: "They will always talk about Yancy. He's gonna be part of the history of the great Southwest. It's men like him that build the world. The rest of them, like me... why, we just come along and live in it."

Richard Dix, Irene Dunne and Junior Johnson in Cimarron.

Cimarron, an epic about the early settlement of Oklahoma, is long, slow, and lacking in likeable characters.

I found Cimarron very hard to watch as I personally don't find the subject very interesting, and although the film was well done, as I said already, it is very slow paced. The most stunning thing about it is the sheer scale of the film. The land rush scene, found right at the beginning of the picture, took a week to film, using 5,000 extras, 28 cameramen, 6 still photographers, and 27 camera assistants. It is absolutely massive, and impressive, but sadly, that is where the intrigue ended for me.

Art by Olly Moss.

The most frustrating thing that I found, was that I tried so hard to be focused on the film, but the characters aren't likeable enough for the audience to want to root for them. Yancy Cravat, the film's main protagonist, is a lawyer and the publisher of a newspaper. He is very progressive in his thinking. He wants to give the Native Americans their rights and often talks about how the government is stealing their land, and he is kind to his servants. He is a strong leader in the building of new settlements. All of this is great. The problem is that he cannot stay in one place. He ups and leaves often, either dragging his wife and children along with him, or ditching them entirely, without staying in contact with them. I wanted so badly to root for him, but he is considerate of everyone but his family. As for his wife, she is horribly prejudiced against anyone who is different, which makes her a write off right from the start. On top of that, she complains quite a lot, but you don't feel bad for her.

I was not a fan of this movie. I can understand the immensity and grandeur of the piece and how that would warrant appreciation, but as for story and character, it is horribly lacking.

3. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Director: Lewis Milestone

Starring: Lewis Ayres, Louis Wolheim

Other Oscar Wins: Best Director

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Writing, Best Cinematography

Favorite Line: "How could one country offend another? You mean there's a mountain over in Germany gets mad at a field over in France?"

The iconic final scene from All Quiet on the Western Front.

All Quiet on the Western Front, based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, is a beautiful and terribly sad picture about the loss of innocence for the young men who fought in World War One. The story follows a group of German schoolboys who are, at first, excited to go to war. They are ready for adventure, proud to fight for their country, and thrilled by the idea of honour and glory when they return home. All of this is shattered, however, once they see war the way it really is. As the main character, Paul, puts it on his return home, "We live in the trenches out there. We fight. We try not to be killed, but sometimes we are. That's all."

The battle scenes in this movie are really quite impressive, and also, surprisingly, rather gory. It is in fact the most explicitly violent film of it's time. This was possible as it was made before the film code was strictly enforced, and also, Universal Pictures deemed the subject matter important enough to show the violence. I found the film exceptional in that it showed not only the physical toll that war takes on the soldiers, as well as the sadness and loss, but that it also showed the incredible mental strain that was placed on all the characters. Many of them go almost insane, and I was stunned at how the film did not try to sugar-coat anything at any point.

Art by Olly Moss.

Two scenes that stand out in this film, for me anyway, are the scene in the pit with an enemy soldier, and of course, the butterfly. The scene where Paul is trapped in a pit with the enemy soldier who he just killed, and he begs the soldier to forgive him, is incredible, and so moving. The final scene, where Paul sees a butterfly just over the edge of the trench and reaches for it, is so simple and beautiful, and the complete lack of sound and near stillness of the moment is just so intriguing, that it is unforgettable. An interesting fact about the moment with the butterfly, is that it was actually shot during the editing process, after most of the actors had left, and so the hand that is reaching for the butterfly, is actually the hand of the director, Lewis Milestone.

A few other interesting facts about All Quiet on the Western Front. Lewis Milestone wanted to find real German WWI veterans who could offer some help in being historically accurate with regards to costumes and battles and such. He found so many willing to help that some were cast in the film as background officers, and some even did the jobs they really did in the war, on screen. My last interesting fact is that All Quiet on the Western Front was actually banned by the Nazi party, because they decided that the film portrayed Germans as cowards. However, at the very same time, the film was also banned in Poland as it was considered to be pro-German.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a wonderful film that I would highly recommend, and one that does a brilliant job of showing the futility and consequences of war, while still honouring those who fought and died in WWI.