Best Original Story 1942

1927/28 through 1997
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What was the best Original Story of 1942

Holiday Inn (Irving Berlin)
1
8%
49th Parallel AKA The Invaders (Emeric Pressburger)
8
67%
The Pride of the Yankees (Paul Gallico)
1
8%
The Talk of the Town (Sidney Harmon)
1
8%
Yankee Doodle Dandy (Robert Buckner)
1
8%
 
Total votes: 12

Mister Tee
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Re: Best Original Story 1942

Post by Mister Tee »

Damn, this year is dull to write about. Certainly this category.

It'd many years since I saw Holiday Inn, and I don't remember being in any way wowed by it.

I've always been surprised at how highly people seem to regard Pride of the Yankees. I'm of course a devoted Yankee fan, but I find the movie pretty dull. It's not much different from The Sullivans: the fact of a well-known tragic ending doesn't make someone's life, in retrospect, interesting/worthy of dramatization. Especially since Gehrig was known in real life as a rather bland character. (If Babe Ruth had been the one to develop ALS, THAT would have been a story!)

I enjoy Yankee Doodle Dandy quite a bit, for Cagney's exuberance, but writing has nothing to do with that.

The Talk of the Town at least has the virtue of some sharp dialogue and an interesting plot. BJ is right, that it falls short of the better comedies of the era, but its nomination here is no embarrassment.

I voted The Invaders the year's best film (of the nominees), so I have no problem choosing it here for its solid story . It was especially interesting to see a film made in that brief period when Canada was at war with Germany but the U.S. was still neutral. A very effective semi-thriller (I hadn't really registered, till BJ mentioned, its structural resemblance to Ten Little Indians), and well worth the vote here.
Big Magilla
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Re: Best Original Story 1942

Post by Big Magilla »

There was a great deal of embellishment given to both the Lou Gehrig and George M. Cohan stories, Cohan's probably more so.

One of the best scenes in Yankee Doodle Dandy was Walter Huston's death scene which was written especially for him, but that was the screenplay, not the "story".

Pressburger also wrote the scenario for 49th Parallel (known as The invaders in the U.S.) which gives rise to the question, which came first, the story or the scenario? I don't know and I don't care. I voted for Pressburger regardless of the answer.
The Original BJ
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Re: Best Original Story 1942

Post by The Original BJ »

This year really doesn't make a good argument for this category's existence, given that three of the nominees here were also cited in Adapted Screenplay. (Essentially filling most of the adapted screenplay slate with originals -- maybe this was the 40's version of category fraud?)

It's also, as I noted a few threads back, the year when this category -- which a lot of times featured films outside the main race -- was dominated by Best Picture nominees.

Holiday Inn, the one non-nominee, is actually an enjoyable enough musical, though it's best known today as the answer to the trivia question, "What film debuted the song White Christmas?" As a plot, it's mostly an excuse for a bunch of holiday-themed numbers, and not worth considering for story prizes.

The Pride of the Yankees also seems an odd candidate for story awards, given that it's based on fact. Plus, there's also the issue that Lou Gehrig's life -- certainly the one depicted in this movie -- just didn't have enough incident outside of his disease to really justify a dramatic narrative.

Considering Yankee Doodle Dandy here requires one to confront BOTH of the limitations to the previous nominees I discussed. First, it's another true-life story, and again, one with not that much narrative drive. And second, the most memorable aspects of the movie are the musical numbers, and Cagney's dynamic performance in them.

Almost by default, The Talk of the Town would be my runner-up, simply because it's really the first nominee here that feels like it actually has a real original story to evaluate. And it's an entertaining romantic comedy, with the social justice elements giving it some extra dramatic oomph. But it lacks the zing of the best comedies of the era, and the plot isn't such an inventive thing that it screams out to be honored.

I guess one benefit to having this category this year was that, even in the midst of Mrs. Miniver's sweep, it allowed The Invaders/49th Parallel to win a major prize, and Emeric Pressburger to become an Oscar winner. And I think it's by far the best choice here. The plot borrows the structure from the recently-published 10 Little Indians, but the vignettes are quite compelling, and the way each of the Germans are depicted with various unique takes on their situation and political ideology marks it as a surprisingly complex piece of writing, coming as it did from British filmmakers telling a story about their wartime enemies of the moment. And it builds wonderfully to that gripping final scene. Oscar made the right call.
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Best Original Story 1942

Post by Big Magilla »

The poll is open.
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