Rebecca (1940) - 4 stars

One Sentence Plot summary: A rich widower remarries despite ample baggage left over from his first marriage (including a head servant who psychotically misses her old boss).

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson


Best of: Great tension set by director Alfred Hitchcock - in his only Academy Award Winning Picture - and composer Franz Waxman.

Worst of: Overly dramatic at times.

I would have liked it better if: the climax had lived up to the build up.

Also nominated: The Philadelphia Story, The Grapes of Wrath

Gone With the Wind (1939) - 4 stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: Unlikeable woman has dysfunctional relationship with unlikeable man in the Old South.

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland

Best of: By far the most epic and elaborate of the best picture winners to date. And, the first to be in color. Beautifully made. Well acted. There is something very alluring about the whole production.

Worst of: Am I supposed to like Scarlet O'Hara? Cause I hated her. Passionately. Also didn't care for Rhett Butler. Not sure who the heck I was supposed to be rooting for. At least it doesn't end well for either.

I would have liked it better if: it didn't take multiple sittings to watch. It did not take four hours to tell this story. Also, I really could have used a bit more sympathy for the leading lady...that is to say, any sympathy at all.

Also nominated: The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939 is often cited as one of Hollywood's greatest years)

You Can't Take it With You (1938) - 4 stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: Romeo and Juliet, but with out all of the drinking of the poison and the stabbing.

Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, Spring Byington

Best of: This is Jimmy Stewart's breakout role. Damn, he is engaging. Especially compared to the other actors I've been watching, he is just head and shoulders above the rest. He is one of several solid acting performances in the film. This is also the first best picture winner to have black characters that aren't entirely stereotypical which was refreshing (don't worry though...they're still pretty stereotypical).

Worst of: Given how common a story it is (rich boy meets poor girl, etc), the movie took longer than it needed to with the set up and felt a bit too strong a need to hit you over the head with its message.

I would have liked it better if: it were about 20 minutes shorter.

The Life of Emile Zola (1937) - 3 stars

One sentence plot summary: A biopic focusing on french author Emile Zola's literary support of Alfred Dreyfus, who had been falsely imprisoned for treason.

Starring: Paul Muni, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut

Best of: Strong lead acting performance by Paul Muni. Tightly focused screenplay.

Worst of: Entertaining and well executed, but ultimately a bit forgettable.

I would have liked it better if: it left more of an emotional impact on me.

The Great Ziegfield (1936) - 1 Star

One sentence plot summary: A biopic about the life of musical producer Florenz Ziegfield.

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer


Best of: The end credits.

Worst of: Dear sweet Lord this is a long movie. I suppose all of the musical sequences were seen as elaborate and impressive in 1936, but now they just come off as overlong distractions from an already meager plot. I never really cared, but I stopped caring even a little bit halfway through the three hour film.

I would have liked it better if: they cut out every single musical feature.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) - 3 Stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: A mutiny, oddly enough, on a ship called the Bounty.

Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone

Best of: Charles Laughton makes a fantasic villain. Slowly building tension. In the most graphic on-screen violence I've seen yet from the early best picture winners, a hand gets stabbed with a knife and it's 100% believable.

Worst of: It's all a bit over the top at times.

I'd have liked it better if: it were longer, oddly. I felt like the final half hour was somewhat rushed and it was the most engaging part of the storyline.

It Happened One Night (1934) - 5 Stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: A down-on-his-luck newspaper man helps a pampered society girl travel from Miami to New York and, go figure, they fall in love along the way.

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

Best of: Fantastic chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Slow burning sexual tension (1934 style). Great dialogue. Great final scene.

Worst of: I could have used an earlier introduction for a reason to dislike the "other man."

Notable: One of only three movies (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs were the others) to win all "Big 5" Academy Awards.

Cavalcade (1933) - 3 stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: We follow one family as their lives touch major historic events, like the sinking of the Titanic and WWI, from New Years Eve 1899 to New Years Eve 1933.

Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O'Connor, Herbert Mundin

Best of: Opening a closing scenes make nice book marks...an optomistic young family at the turn of the century and the same family three decades later after a lot of hardship.

Worst of: It is always hard for art to comment on recent history. It loses it's focus as it gets closer and closer to the present day of 1933. It would've been better off to have ended it in 1920 or so.

Notable: The only Oscar winner not readily available on DVD. (I had a bootleg copy sent from China that was dubbed off of VHS.)

Grand Hotel (1932) - 3 Stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: Four eccentric hotel guests, played by four of Hollywood's biggest stars, check into a luxurious Berlin hotel...drama ensues.

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

Best of: Joan Crawford and all of her scenes.

Worst of: Greta Garbo and all of her scenes.

I would have liked it better if: Quite so many of the characters didn't fall in love after one conversation.

Cimarron (1931) - 3 Stars

One Sentence Plot Summary: Man and Wife move to boom town of Osage Oklahoma in the 1880s and try to help turn it into a civilized city.


Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne

Best of: Epic and elaborate "land rush" scene starts the movie with a few thousand horses...computer generated horses not yet invented.

Worst of: Ridiculously stereotyped black servant boy added for comic relief.

I would have liked it better if: It didn't take a rather odd twist in the end. Oh yeah, and less unbelievable racism.