Review and Analysis of the 7th Academy Awards

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Review and Analysis of the 7th Academy Awards

The 7th Academy Awards are very satisfactory in my opinion. This awards season encompassed the films released in just the year of 1934, being the first ceremony where the year wasn’t split into two. But still for some reason we got twelve Best Picture nominees. The big winner is immensely satisfactory, but the others not so much. So let’s take a look at each category from this year’s ceremony.

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OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION

It Happened One Night is one of the greatest movies ever made so it taking this one home was, needless to say, a perfect and only choice this year. I am so glad that the Academy recognized its greatness through and through. As for the other nominees, it was a solid slate filled with historical epics such as solid, but dated Viva Villa! and hugely entertaining Cleopatra as well as very fun comedies with The Thin Man being the best of the bunch. The powerful drama Imitation of Life was also one of the best nominees here. The weakest ones are The House of Rothschild and Flirtation Walk. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST DIRECTOR

Frank Capra took the gold here and it’s another hugely satisfying outcome. He wanted to win for Lady for a Day the year before, but this was an infinitely better choice for the crown and his direction is so magnificent that he entirely deserved it. Van Dyke’s direction on The Thin Man deserved a nomination, but I also would have nominated Josef von Sternberg for his striking work on The Scarlet Empress.

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BEST ACTOR

Clark Gable won this one and yet again it’s another perfect and literally only truly superb choice in this category. He created an iconic character and his performance is so modern and believable. I am so glad that William Powell was nominated for The Thin Man as he’s one of my absolute favorite actors as this very gifted comedian. This year wasn’t the greatest overall so I could not think of any other men that could have been nominated here except for maybe Wallace Beery whose turn in Viva Villa!, though problematic, is still very strong.

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BEST ACTRESS

Claudette Colbert won for It Happened One Night, but she literally had to win an Oscar this year as she not only killed it in that classic, but also in Imitation of Life and Cleopatra where she delivered two great performances as well. Bette Davis got her first nomination this year which is interesting, and the other two nominees are solid choices as both Norma Shearer and even Grace Moore did a good job in their respective roles. Myrna Loy and Marlene Dietrich both deserved to be here in my opinion.

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BEST ORIGINAL STORY

I haven’t seen the winner of this category nor any of the nominees here. This is one of the weakest categories this year, but it was bound to happen as the year was full of adaptations so I also could not think of a great original screenplay myself.

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BEST ADAPTATION

It Happened One Night got all five of the big Oscars including this one and deservedly so as its screenplay is so terrific, subtle and the story is very engaging throughout. It’s a film full of humanity and grace. The Thin Man deserved its nom, but instead of troublesome Viva Villa!, I would put much better Imitation of Life myself as that script is very important.

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BEST SHORT SUBJECT, CARTOON

Holiday Land is so sweet and charming that I really enjoyed it. And the less said about Jolly Little Elves, the better. Needless to say, The Tortoise and the Hare deserved its win here and it brought another Oscar to Disney’s Silly Symphonies series. But there were so many better films that should have been nominated instead of those two. You can read my full ranking of the nominees here.

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BEST SCORING

One Night of Love is actually very well scored. Yes, opera is an acquired taste, but the film sounds great given its age so its win here isn’t surprising. Either Cleopatra or The Scarlet Empress should have won here, but they weren’t even nominated.

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BEST SONG

This is the first ever year for this category and of course The Continental from The Gay Divorcee won and deservedly so as, no matter how flawed that movie is, that extended musical number is a scene-stealer.

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BEST SOUND RECORDING

Again, Cleopatra easily should have taken this one home, but because One Night of Love relies so much on music, again I could not judge its win here too much. But I still think Cleopatra deserved it more.

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BEST ART DIRECTION

These three nominees which I haven’t seen are all terrible choices and the fact that The Scarlet Empress wasn’t even nominated here was just ludicrous. Cleopatra also should have been nominated, but the expressionist, striking sets on the former film are amazing.

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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cleopatra is a good choice for the win here as that movie surely looks terrific, but again the not-nominated Scarlet Empress easily should have taken this one home as it looks stunning and so artistic.

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BEST FILM EDITING

A lesser known flick got this one, but again I would personally give it to either The Scarlet Empress or Cleopatra. Both were snubbed in so many categories this year.

In the end, I am extremely happy with the big movie winning all of the big five awards and that is awesome to witness, but then again the other nominations in the lesser categories and their winners are unfortunate and highly questionable leading to a solid, but problematic slate.