Best Actor 1932/33

[Big Magilla]

OK, then they've got the whole film which someone really ought to put out on DVD. The UCLA copy was given them by Fox, not sure if Fox retains the distribution rights, but if they do, it could be part of their new MOD program somewhere down the line.

[The Original BJ]

East Lynne, by the way, is missing its last reel.

Are you sure? The version I saw seemed to be pretty complete, at least at the end (i.e. it concluded with a fairly definitive finale, and featured exit music after that). And none of the online reviews (that I could find) from people who have seen this print suggested it was missing its conclusion. But I could be wrong.

I have a pretty bad DVD copy which ends with Ann Harding going blind, approaching her sick baby in his crib and the screen going blank, no "the end", no exit music that I recall. Per comments on IMDb. as late as 2007, others have the same copy and mention the the UCLA copy is also missing the last reel. [SPOILER] The novel, which is substantially different, and the play end with the baby dying in her arms after which Harding's character herself expires. This is likely what's in the missing reel. Is that what you saw?

That wasn't the end of the version I saw. There's a pretty major event that occurs after that, which ends the movie.

And the print I saw was in relatively good shape. (I mean, for a nearly impossible to find 80-year-old movie.)

[Big Magilla]

East Lynne, by the way, is missing its last reel.

Are you sure? The version I saw seemed to be pretty complete, at least at the end (i.e. it concluded with a fairly definitive finale, and featured exit music after that). And none of the online reviews (that I could find) from people who have seen this print suggested it was missing its conclusion. But I could be wrong.

I have a pretty bad DVD copy which ends with Ann Harding going blind, approaching her sick baby in his crib and the screen going blank, no "the end", no exit music that I recall. Per comments on IMDb. as late as 2007, others have the same copy and mention the the UCLA copy is also missing the last reel. [SPOILER] The novel, which is substantially different, and the play end with the baby dying in her arms after which Harding's character herself expires. This is likely what's in the missing reel. Is that what you saw?

[The Original BJ]

East Lynne, by the way, is missing its last reel.

Are you sure? The version I saw seemed to be pretty complete, at least at the end (i.e. it concluded with a fairly definitive finale, and featured exit music after that). And none of the online reviews (that I could find) from people who have seen this print suggested it was missing its conclusion. But I could be wrong.

[Mister Tee]

Wasn't the Constant Nymph screening on TCM done in connection with UCLA Library? Possibly they're working together to bring on some of these films, in staggered fashion. Certainly they must be aware there'd be some built-in audience for any film with a top-category Oscar connection. And it's not like TCM needs any more than a few million watchers to be counted a ratings success.

[Big Magilla]

Don't know how these things work but why can't these rare films be released on dvd so that the rest of the world could enjoy them too? Why should they be restricted at the Archive only? Absurd.

It costs money.

DVD companies do license films form the UCLA Film Archive, the George Eastman House and others, but ony those films they have some expectation will sell.

Kino Lorber, for example, is slowly releasing David O. Selznick's early films including Bird of Paradise; A Farewell to Arms; A Star Is Born and Nothing Sacred, all of which have been remastered in HD from original 35mm nitrate prints sotred at the Goerge eastman House.

East Lynne, by the way, is missing its last reel.

[Reza]

Don't know how these things work but why can't these rare films be released on dvd so that the rest of the world could enjoy them too? Why should they be restricted at the Archive only? Absurd.

[The Original BJ]

Speaking of TCM, this October, they are showing the 1929 version of The Letter, with Jeanne Eagels' nominated performance. I think it's a TCM premier. I don't know if it has become available on DVD.

Excellent. I've never seen Eagels in anything; I know she's viewed as one of those actresses with truly transcendent talent.

That will leave me with just The Barker unseen among 1928-29's nominees.

Seems like a fair number of previously unavailable Oscar nominees have popped up in just the past year: The Valiant, The Trespasser, Constant Nymph, Berkeley Square (Sonic also pointed me to Death of a Salesman on YouTube). I had been to the point where I thought whatever I didn't have under my belt was going to stay unobtainable forever. Now my list is shrinking more than it has in years.

Apparently The Barker is a lost film.

Actually, the UCLA Film Archive has The Barker. I haven't seen it, but I have seen a couple of the super-hard-to-find Best Picture nominees (East Lynne & The White Parade) there. It's a great resource for anyone in (or visiting) the LA area -- all you have to do is e-mail the archive what title you're interested in watching, and it's put on reserve for you.

[Reza]

Speaking of TCM, this October, they are showing the 1929 version of The Letter, with Jeanne Eagels' nominated performance. I think it's a TCM premier. I don't know if it has become available on DVD.

Excellent. I've never seen Eagels in anything; I know she's viewed as one of those actresses with truly transcendent talent.

That will leave me with just The Barker unseen among 1928-29's nominees.

Seems like a fair number of previously unavailable Oscar nominees have popped up in just the past year: The Valiant, The Trespasser, Constant Nymph, Berkeley Square (Sonic also pointed me to Death of a Salesman on YouTube). I had been to the point where I thought whatever I didn't have under my belt was going to stay unobtainable forever. Now my list is shrinking more than it has in years.

Apparently The Barker is a lost film.

[Mister Tee]

Speaking of TCM, this October, they are showing the 1929 version of The Letter, with Jeanne Eagels' nominated performance. I think it's a TCM premier. I don't know if it has become available on DVD.

Excellent. I've never seen Eagels in anything; I know she's viewed as one of those actresses with truly transcendent talent.

That will leave me with just The Barker unseen among 1928-29's nominees.

Seems like a fair number of previously unavailable Oscar nominees have popped up in just the past year: The Valiant, The Trespasser, Constant Nymph, Berkeley Square (Sonic also pointed me to Death of a Salesman on YouTube). I had been to the point where I thought whatever I didn't have under my belt was going to stay unobtainable forever. Now my list is shrinking more than it has in years.

[Big Magilla]

The 1929 version of The Letter is available for purchase from the Warner Archive and selected retailers. It's available for rental at ClassicFlix.com.

[Mike Kelly]

Speaking of TCM, this October, they are showing the 1929 version of The Letter, with Jeanne Eagels' nominated performance. I think it's a TCM premier. I don't know if it has become available on DVD.

[Mister Tee]

Let me be the first to jump in and say, I now HAVE seen Berkeley Square. Had I known a TCM showing was only 18 months off, I might not have been so cavalier about voting despite missing a candidate.

I rather enjoyed the film, after a sluggish start (it seemed to me it might have worked better starting present day rather than in the past). It covers some of the same ground/ideas as Midnight in Paris, with some witty use of anachronisms. It also, I think, reflects the deep public disillusion that followed World War I -- a subject also hit upon in Cavalcade. (The triumphalism of WW II has tended to wipe the memory of the earlier conflict from historical memory) This film's ending is considerably more fatalistic than I'd have expected, reflecting the mood of the times (which by then also included the Depression).

Leslie Howard is solid in the film -- not as good as he is as Henry Higgins, but better than in many of his famous half-hearted roles, like in Petrified Forest or Of Human Bondage. He runs a clear third in this year's race...but that's a respectable position, given the others involved. Muni remains my easy choice.

[FilmFan720]

Guess what...I haven't seen Berkeley Square.

Charles Laughton is pretty wonderful in Henry VIII, and I certainly don't begrudge him a win. He is one of my favorite actors, and this is one of his great roles (although I think he has many better performances to come, some nominated, some not). Paul Muni, however, gives the performance of a lifetime in I am a Fugitive..., and I can't not vote for him. I haven't seen much else from him, so I can't comment on the ham he is supposedly going to become, but this is pantheon work here.

[Bruce_Lavigne]

Finally, one I can vote for.

As is becoming the obvious trope by now, I haven't seen Berkeley Square. Still, there aren't many performances from this era that I'd vote for over Muni's in I Am a Fugitive...; he gets one of the most enthusiastic votes I'll cast in this category.