Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1950	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Jim Morahan William Kellner Michael Relph

General Film Distributors (UK)
Directed by Basil Dearden
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Elaborate costume drama set in late 1600s Germany about an unhappily married princess who falls in love with a visiting count. Joan Greenwood is the doomed Sophie, forced to marry a selfish, womanizing future King of England who doesn't love her either. They bear children for purely political reasons, but even they are taken away from her. Stewart Granger is the dark-haired, brown-eyed Swedish count who is hired to fight in a losing war. He's also involved with a middle aged countess with political connections. It all ends, predictably, unhappily. It's mostly boring melodrama, but director Dearden does manage to spice it up a bit with occasional Gothic touches and dramatically composed scenes. The print is in dire need of restoration to bring back its original Technicolor brilliance, the one shown on TCM is barely adequate.

Merrily We Live (1938)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1939	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Billie Burke
			Best Art Direction Charles D. Hall
			Best Cinematography Norbert Brodine
			Best Music, Original Song Phil Charig (music) Arthur Quenzer (lyrics) For the song "Merrily We Live".
			Best Sound, Recording Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD)

MGM
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Minor comedy works best when the wealthy family it revolves around is allowed to let loose and go completely zany in the way that only screwball comedies from the 1930s can do. However, it too often gets bogged down in the romantic subplots of its novelist-turned hobo-turned chauffeur main character. Billie Burke is quite good as the air-headed mother of the family, Constance Bennett not so as the daughter who falls in love with the new help.

The North Star (1943)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1944	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Perry Ferguson Howard Bristol
			Best Cinematography, Black-and-White James Wong Howe
			Best Effects, Special Effects Clarence Slifer (photographic) Ray Binger (photographic) Thomas T. Moulton (sound)
			Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Aaron Copland
			Best Sound, Recording Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)
			Best Writing, Original Screenplay Lillian Hellman

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Lewis Milestone
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

The first half of the film is an idealized portrait of life in a small Russian village at the height of communism that bears little if any resemblance to reality. They sing and work, dance and work, greet each other loudly and happily, all the while extolling their love of nation. It's all a set up for the German invasion which comes in the form of an air raid. Soon, the fascists take over their town, forcing the happy townsfolk to burn their homes and become guerrilla soldiers. Most of the characters are killed or wounded in grisly ways, all for the love of Russia. The acting is wooden and the dialogue preachy. It's hard to believe this was merely 13 years after Milestone directed All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the all-time great anti-war films.

All-American Co-Ed (1941)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1942	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Norlin, Lloyd B. For the song "Out of the Silence".
			Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Edward Ward

United Artists
Directed by LeRoy Prinz
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

It starts with a great joke during the opening credits: all of those bare dancing legs you assume belong to showgirls actually are men in drag. Unfortunately it is basically a one joke plot, extended to almost an hour. The dancing men of "Quinceton" are slighted by a nearby sorority at another college. One of them decides to apply to the school as a woman and discredit them. If you make it to the end, you will behold the wondrous dancing corn-on-the-cob and other nature-oriented costumes.

There Goes My Heart (1938)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1939	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring Marvin Hatley

United Artists
Directed by  Norman Z. McLeod
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Forgettable fluff about a department store heiress who takes a ship across the Atlantic to escape an overbearing grandfather. She is befriended by a slightly zany shop girl, who gets her a job in one of her own stores. An intrepid newspaper reporter discovers her real identity, and falls in love with her. A couple of good screwball moments, and some small parts for Arthur Lake (Dagwood) and Marjoire Main (Ma Kettle), but otherwise corny and dated.

Gold (1974)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1975	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Elmer Bernstein (music) Don Black (lyrics) For the song "Wherever Love Takes Me"

Allied Artists
Directed by Peter Hunt
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, DigiCom)

Disaster yarn set in South African gold mines starring Roger Moore. A cartel of wealthy international businessmen plot to destroy the largest mine in the country and reap the benefits of rising stock prices. Moore, unaware of their plan, is the new manager of the mine after a cave-in kills the previous one. He begins an extramarital affair with the wife of one of the highest ranking men in the company. Too much time is spent on their romantic holiday and Moore's playboy lifestyle. The Big Action Finale arrives in which Moore risks his life to save the mine and the trapped miners. Predictable in every way, but still manages to entertain.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1968	Won	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role George Kennedy
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Paul Newman
			Best Music, Original Music Score Lalo Schifrin
			Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Donn Pearce Frank Pierson

Warner Bros.
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

Paul Newman is sentenced to 2 years hard labor for screwing the tops off parking meters on a drunken lark. His irreverent attitude immediately clashes with the rules-oriented prison culture. Before long he is fighting with George Kennedy, the prisoner who more or less runs the place, as well as the "bosses" who look over them. However, he more than holds his own, and over time the other prisoners begin to respect him. Later, his escape attempts are met with harsh punishment, to the brink of death, and after his third he is shown no mercy. I was curiously unmoved by Newman's plight, a self-absorbed, stubborn character who seemed to be looking for trouble. His sentence was undoubtedly too harsh for the crime, and he would not serve it in today's overcrowded prisons, but I can't really say he didn't deserve what was coming to him either. Nonetheless, the film is overloaded with talented character actors in supporting roles and Conrad Hall's cinematography makes you feel the unrelenting summer heat.

The Chalk Garden (1964)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1965	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Edith Evans

Universal Pictures
Directed by Ronald Neame
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal Vault Collection)

Teenage hellion Hayley Mills squares off against her new governess Deborah Kerr. It all takes place in a seaside manor on the coast of England. Hayley pretends to be a pyromaniac or a killer to get attention, Kerr keeps a straight face while hiding her mysterious past. I found myself losing interest when the plot shifts its attention to that past, but it picks up again towards the end with the arrival of an elderly judge who makes a surprising revelation. Hayley's British films tend to be more adult themed than her contemporaneous Disney productions, and this is no exception.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2009	Won	Oscar	Best Achievement in Cinematography Anthony Dod Mantle
			Best Achievement in Directing Danny Boyle
			Best Achievement in Film Editing Chris Dickens
			Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score A.R. Rahman
			Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song A.R. Rahman (music) Gulzar (lyrics) For the song "Jai Ho".
			Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Ian Tapp Richard Pryke Resul Pookutty
			Best Motion Picture of the Year Christian Colson
			Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Simon Beaufoy
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song A.R. Rahman Maya Arulpragasam For the song "O Saya".
			Best Achievement in Sound Editing Tom Sayers Glenn Freemantle

Fox Searchlight/Warner Bros.
Directed by Danny Boyle
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Fox)

A boy from the slums of Mumbai, India, becomes a national TV hero on a game show. Remarkably, the questions he is asked on the show are all related to his life. It's and odd way to frame a story, and I'm not sure it could have been told better without it. Anyway, as a young boy, he befriends another "slumdog" and together they grow up on the streets. His mother is killed, leaving him homeless. The two friends take in a third, a girl, and their love story is really the heart of the movie. As teenagers, they hustle tourists at the Taj Mahal, but eventually return to the big city. His friend becomes a gangster and the girl forced into virtual slavery. He becomes obsessed with finding her again, with the hopes she would see him on TV. Danny Boyle's flashy direction may have worked on Trainspotting but it's inappropriate for the subject matter here: watching slum kids being chased by the police accompanied by frantic editing and in-your-face music is giving the scene more dramatic emphasis than necessary, and he does it on several occasions. Nonetheless, the underlying story is interesting enough to overcome the heavy-handed direction, but instead of a great film it is merely a good one.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1999	Won	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Roberto Benigni
			Best Foreign Language Film Italy.
			Best Music, Original Dramatic Score Nicola Piovani
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Director Roberto Benigni
			Best Film Editing Simona Paggi
			Best Picture Elda Ferri Gianluigi Braschi
			Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Vincenzo Cerami Roberto Benigni

Miramax Films
Directed by Roberto Benigni
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

Shamelessly optimistic "fairy tale" about a Jewish waiter in fascist Italy. Director Benigni also stars as a man who believes he can make anything happen by his will power alone. In the first half of the film he relentlessly pursues a wealthy woman by a series of contrived coincidences. It's a romantic comedy that is neither romantic or funny. He finally corners the woman in a remote house, and comes out ten years later married and a father. The second half of the film can only be described by one word: tasteless. Benigni and his son are taken to a Nazi concentration camp, while his wife, not a Jew, jumps on the train as well. He uses his "will power" to convince his son that it is all a game and that they will survive. While his optimism is to be commended, surviving a concentration camp is just not that simple. If so, millions of other Jews would have survived by willing themselves out as well. He survives not by will power, but by luck, if you can overlook the incredible coincidences and plot holes that have to occur, not to mention a concentration camp that looks more like a work house for the poor.

Places in the Heart (1984)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1985	Won	Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Sally Field
			Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Robert Benton
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role John Malkovich
			Best Actress in a Supporting Role Lindsay Crouse
			Best Costume Design Ann Roth
			Best Director Robert Benton
			Best Picture Arlene Donovan

Tri-Star Pictures
Directed by Robert Benton
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Sony Movie Channel)

The residents of Waxahachie, Texas, in 1935 have more problems than just the Great Depression to worry about. Racism runs rampant in their small town, and when a young black man accidentally shoots the sheriff, they waste no time in dragging the suspect's lifeless body through town. Sally Field is the sheriff's widow, who is at her wit's end to find a way to pay the mortgage and raise her kids. She hires black hobo Danny Glove to help her farm the land for cotton, even though she doesn't know the slightest thing about farming. Meanwhile, her friends and neighbors have extramarital affairs and join the KKK, her banker tries to take her house and break up her family and the local cotton dealer tries his best to rob her blind. A final scene cuts right to the heart in a succinct, if surreal, way, one of the best endings I've seen in quite some time.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2006	Nominated	Oscar	Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Germany.

Zeitgeist Films
Directed by Marc Rothemund
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Zeitgeist Films)

Engrossing story of a brother and sister who are caught distributing anti-Nazi leaflets at a university during the height of WWII. Julia Jentsch is Sophie, the heart, and brains, of the small student group "White Rose" who used peaceful resistance against the mighty Nazi regime. She out-duels a Nazi interrogator in a war of words, eloquently expressing her world view while exposing his as both hypocritical and evil. As the evidence mounts against her a trial is hastily arranged. However, it is a trial in name only, presided over by a judge channeling Adolf Hitler who can talk louder than anyone else in the room. Sophie still manages to come out on top. They are sentenced to death and at first she is overwhelmed by grief, but when her father tells her how proud he is of her actions, she faces it with dignity. A powerhouse that recalls the best anti-war films.

Hold Back the Dawn (1941)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1942	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Olivia de Havilland
			Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Hans Dreier Robert Usher Sam Comer
			Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Leo Tover
			Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture Victor Young
			Best Picture (Paramount).
			Best Writing, Screenplay Charles Brackett Billy Wilder

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Scoundrel Charles Boyer seduces school teacher Olivia de Havilland to gain American citizenship. He lives in a cheap motel in Mexico with his real girlfriend Paulette Goddard, also an expert at seducing wealthy men. Their plan to ditch their spouses once across the border falls apart when Boyer comes to respect, and eventually love, his wife. A last minute car accident almost ends it, though, in this romantic soap opera.

Vogues of 1938 (1937)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1938	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction Alexander Toluboff
			Best Music, Original Song Sammy Fain (music) Lew Brown (lyrics) For the song "That Old Feeling"

United Artists
Directed by Irving Cummings
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

An early Technicolor production set in a posh NYC fashion designing outfit. Warner Baxter, the owner, is having problems with his wife who wants a Broadway career. Up and coming model Joan Bennett falls in love with him while trying to kick start her career. When Baxter loses everything financing his wife's disastrous premier, he uses the props from the production to put on a fashion show and save the agency. However, the plot is secondary to the real stars: the clothes and the models. Also interesting to see late 1930s NYC street and club scenes in color, including a performance at the Cotton Club featuring Maurice Rocco on the piano.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2008	Won	Oscar	Best Achievement in Directing Ethan Coen Joel Coen
			Best Motion Picture of the Year Scott Rudin Ethan Coen Joel Coen
			Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Javier Bardem
			Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Joel Coen Ethan Coen
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Cinematography Roger Deakins
			Best Achievement in Film Editing Ethan Coen (as Roderick Jaynes) Joel Coen (as Roderick Jaynes)
			Best Achievement in Sound Editing Skip Lievsay
			Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Skip Lievsay Craig Berkey Greg Orloff Peter F. Kurland

Miramax Films
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Miramax)

Josh Brolin is a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad in the Texas desert, and a satchel full of cash which he takes home to his trailer park wife. Javier Bardem is the Mexican drug dealer who wants the money back at any cost. Bardem is one of the most psychopathic killers in recent memory, his weapon of choice is an air bolt gun that is used to kill steer, that or a shotgun with a silencer. However, the film is marred by the excessive gore: do we really need to see Bardem operate on his own leg, or a broken bone sticking out of his arm? The violence does not serve the story, it is only there to shock and call attention to itself, the definition of exploitation. Then there is the predictable Cohen brothers quirkiness: few characters speak like normal people, preferring to rattle off dry dialogue laced with even dryer humor.

Gigot (1962)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1963	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment Michel Magne

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Gene Kelly
My rating : 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox Cinema Archives)

Jackie Gleason is a mute in Paris scraping out a living as a janitor in a dilapidated building where he lives in the basement. He wears rags for clothes and has a disheveled look, making him a target for complaining neighbors who try to have him put away. One rainy night he finds a girl and her mother on the streets and takes him to his basement to dry out and sleep. The scenes between Gleason and the little girl are priceless, as he tries anything to make her laugh. However, the woman is only impressed by money, leading Gleason to theft and heartache. Perhaps the greatest triumph of  the "Great One", and all without one word spoken.

The Departed (2006)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2007	Won	Oscar	Best Achievement in Directing Martin Scorsese
			Best Achievement in Film Editing Thelma Schoonmaker
			Best Motion Picture of the Year Graham King
			Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay William Monahan
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Mark Wahlberg

Warner Bros.
Directed by Martin Scorsese
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

Matt Damon plays a cop who works for the city's most wanted drug kingpin. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an undercover cop working for the same drug kingpin. Damon and DiCaprio spend the movie trying to discover the identity of the other one. It's a long, tiring, cell-phone centric plot that stretches the limits of believability. Nicholson as the city's most wanted criminal is a stereotype of every mafia don in the history of movies.  It's a violent, foul-mouthed film in which nobody comes out alive, neither the good guys nor the bad guys. It feels more like a parody of gangster movies, not what Scorsese was trying to accomplish, in what is probably a great director's worst film, and ironically the one that finally got him the best picture Oscar.

Way Down South (1939)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1940	Nominated	Oscar	Best Music, Scoring Victor Young

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Leslie Goodwins and Bernard Vorhaus
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

The idyllic life on a Louisiana plantation suddenly ends when the kindly master is killed by horses during a raucous harvest celebration by his slaves. The new executor of the estate wastes no time in planning to sell off the slaves to line his own pockets. It is up to the orphaned young son of the family to save them. Modern political correctness would condemn this, but it is a harmless morality story, with a lively soundtrack ranging from the aforementioned bacchanalian celebrations to soulful spirituals.

In the Year of the Pig (1968)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1970	Nominated	Oscar	Best Documentary, Features Emile de Antonio

Pathe Contemporary Films
Directed by Emile de Antonio
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Home Vision Entertainment)

The tragedy of Vietnam and American hypocrisy are exposed in this documentary by French filmmaker Emile de Antonio. The conflict is given historical context, showing how French colonialism laid the foundation to a long history of resistance to foreign intervention in Vietnam. Meanwhile, McCarthyism runs rampant in America in the 1950s, a paranoia which would fuel its escalating involvement in a country painted as being the key to stopping the spread of Communism. In its most effective scenes, we witness prisoners being tortured by American soldiers, with a voice over by politicians back home claiming they were being treated humanely. While watching this sad display of "the arrogance of power", I can't help but think of Iraq or Afghanistan, and that the politicians of today have learned nothing from recent history.

Tobruk (1967)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1968	Nominated	Oscar	Best Effects, Special Effects Howard A. Anderson Albert Whitlock

Universal Pictures
Directed by Arthur Hiller
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal Vault Collection)

German Jews join forces with the English and a Canadian prisoner to raid Rommel's fuel supply in Libya during WWII. Along the way, the deal with traitors, Italian tanks, friendly strafe, German spies and other distractions. The desert makes for some spectacular widescreen photography, but it is occasionally marred by obvious back screen projection and other poor effects, which is odd considering it was nominated for an Oscar in that category.

Varsity Show (1937)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1938	Nominated	Oscar	Best Dance Direction Busby Berkeley For "The Finale"

Warner Bros.
Directed by William Keighley
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

The formula established by 42nd Street is used once again, this time set on a college campus. The annual "varsity show" is in jeopardy because the old-fashioned faculty adviser won't let them use the latest hip songs and dances. The kids decide to hire Broadway producer Dick Powell with their own money to liven it up. The juvenile comedy-drama is just a lead up to another Busby Berkeley directed finale. Apparently the only version of this film available has been edited by up to 30 minutes, most of the missing footage from the Berkeley number, not the terrible lead-in comedy-drama.

Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1937	Nominated	Oscar	Best Dance Direction Busby Berkeley For "Love and War".

Warner Bros.
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Dick Powell, and his moustache, is the world's worst life insurance salesman. He meets pretty Joan Blondell at a convention, gets her a job in his office and they fall in love. He somehow manages to land the biggest policy in the company's history, the 59-year-old owner of a failing theater. Powell and friends scrape together enough money to put on one more show to save it. However, they are up against two men who want it to fail, and the old man to die, to collect on the insurance. It all leads to another big, overblown Busby Berkeley production number. No better or worse than others in the series, though the Busby number seems to be lacking its usual budget.

Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1936	Won	Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Harry Warren (music) Al Dubin (lyrics) For the song "Lullaby of Broadway".
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Dance Direction Busby Berkeley For "Lullaby of Broadway" and "The Words Are in My Heart".

Warner Bros.
Directed by Busby Berkeley
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Busby Berkeley directs the entire film this time around, not just the dance numbers. It's a modest improvement to the last entry. A posh New Hampshire hotel is the setting, where leading man Dick Powell is a young hotel clerk. He gets hired by a filthy rich woman to chaperone her daughter for the summer, and they waste no time in falling in love. Meanwhile, she plans the annual "milk fund" benefit, which is where Berkeley gets to indulge in his usual production fantasies. I must admit to being impressed by the sheer number of pianos on display. Adolphe Menjou is the eccentric producer, having a blast in the role. In fact, Berkeley makes the non-production numbers relevant by injecting them with a screwball sense of humor, something sorely lacking as far back as 42nd Street, and is not afraid to criticize his overblown production numbers by pointing out the absurdity of it all.

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1934	Nominated	Oscar	Best Sound, Recording Nathan Levinson (sound director) (Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department).

Warner Bros.
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

A rehash of 42nd Street, with much of the same cast and more extravagant Busby Berkeley interludes. This time, a Broadway producer needs money for his latest idea: a show about the Depression. Luckily for him, William Powell is not only a songwriter but a disguised wealthy socialite slumming on Broadway. The show is financed and the usual rehearsals begin. The girls spend their down time taking Powell's brother and elderly lawyer for a ride, just to teach them a lesson about the sincerity of showgirls. They don't seem to realize their hypocrisy, and neither does the script, a major flaw of the film. Of course, it's really just a set up for the Busby numbers: over-produced, over-costumed, over-choreographed escapist entertainment for the mass of unemployed and downtrodden.

42nd Street (1933)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1934	Nominated	Oscar	Best Picture (Warner Bros.).
			Best Sound, Recording Nathan Levinson (sound director) (Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department).

Warner Bros.
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Most of the film is a rather predictable Broadway backstage melodrama. Chorus girls audition for their parts in the latest show directed by an aging, if respected, Warner Baxter. He whips them into shape during a grueling five week rehearsal. Off stage, the company engages in some harmless dating, too tired to do much of anything else. The financial backer, and old codger, is kept happy by escorting the leading lady, even though she is in love with someone else. When she breaks her ankle the night before the opening, it is up to newcomer Ruby Keeler as Peggy to step in from her chorus girl part and take over the lead. The final 15 minutes or so are given over to Busby Berkeley and his over-the-top choreography, almost like it belongs to a different movie.

The Champ (1931)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1932	Won	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Wallace Beery Tied with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).
			Best Writing, Original Story Frances Marion
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Director King Vidor
			Best Picture (M-G-M).

MGM
Directed by King Vidor
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Washed-up boxer Wallace Beery gambles and drinks away his life while trying to raise young son Jackie Cooper. Hopes are perpetually kept alive for a comeback, if Beery can somehow manage to stay sober long enough. A race horse won at the gambling table leads to the introduction to his real mother, a well-to-do lady who offers to take him back and give him a home and education. Jackie idolizes his father and resists, so he heads back to Tijuana where Beery finally has a chance at his prize fight. Sentimental to a fault, and tends to drag in the middle, but a real crowd pleaser in its day.

Hallelujah (1929)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1930	Nominated	Oscar	Best Director King Vidor

MGM
Directed by King Vidor
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Moving account of a black family in the south who scrape out a living picking cotton. The oldest son takes the yearly crop to town but loses the money gambling. Even worse, his brother is shot and killed in the bar room argument which follows. The family's only solace is religion, and the son becomes a traveling preacher. However, he lusts after the same girl that got him in trouble gambling, abandoning his soon-to-be-wife and his family. He works for a time as a mill laborer, but the girl reverts to her old ways leading to more tragedy. Stunningly photographed on location in Arkansas and with a soundtrack that includes both raucous Dixieland and somber spirituals, the stereotypes may offend some modern viewers, but they are easy to overlook given the depth of the characters and breadth of the story.

One Hour with You (1932)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1932	Nominated	Oscar	Best Picture (Paramount Publix).

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

More romantic nonsense from Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, this time as a married couple. He is seduced by her best friend at a dinner party, while she finds herself fighting off the advances of her best friend's husband. They both claim innocence though they both share more than a little in unfaithful actions. They sing about it while threatening divorce, frequently addressing the audience directly. Chevalier essentially played the same character for his entire career.

Thousands Cheer (1943)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1944	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color Cedric Gibbons Daniel B. Cathcart Edwin B. Willis Jacques Mersereau
			Best Cinematography, Color George J. Folsey
			Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Herbert Stothart

MGM
Directed by George Sidney
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Army brat Kathryn Grayson follows her dad to training camp where she falls in love with private Gene Kelly. The Colonel doesn't like to see his daughter taking up with a private with discipline problems, but leaves it up to his wife to try to talk Kathryn out of it. The plot comes to a standstill for a long variety show featuring MGM stars singing and dancing. Some of the sketches work, such as Eleanor Powell's dancing, but just as many flop, such as Red Skelton's drug store bit. The early war propaganda can be a bit hard to swallow, such as Kathryn's final number singing about the United Nations, but they certainly all work hard to entertain us.

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1932	Nominated	Oscar	Best Picture (Paramount Publix).

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

More sexual antics of that French lady killer Maurice Chevalier. This time he is a Viennese soldier who falls in love with beer garden violinist Claudette Colbert. A visiting queen mistakes his winks at Claudette for herself and forces him into marriage. Chevalier and Claudette continue their affair while the poor queen plays checkers with dad on her honeymoon. This goes on for awhile until Claudette teaches the prim and proper girl that sexy lingerie is the way to Chevalier's heart.

The Love Parade (1929)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1930	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Maurice Chevalier
			Best Art Direction Hans Dreier
			Best Cinematography Victor Milner
			Best Director Ernst Lubitsch
			Best Picture (Paramount Famous Lasky).
			Best Sound, Recording Franklin Hansen (sound director) (Paramount Famous Lasky Studio Sound Department).

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Maurice Chevalier is an ambassador to France for the fictional country of Sylvania. He becomes a stereotypical Frenchman after a series of illicit affairs and is called back to his home country. He proceeds to seduce the queen and marries her. However, when it becomes apparent that he is nothing more than a "kept man" he threatens to go back to Paris. She acquiesces and their marriage changes from hopeless to happy. What starts out as a biting satire of traditional marriage roles instead only reaffirms them. Chevalier's sexist antics are tiresome and the film is badly dated.

When Ladies Meet (1933)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1934	Nominated	Oscar	Best Art Direction Cedric Gibbons

MGM
Directed by Harry Beaumont
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Robert Montgomery is in love with author Myrna Loy, but she refuses to marry him because she is in love with her older publisher. Montgomery arranges to have Myrna meet the publisher's wife, but neither knows their real identity. They end up spending the night together discussing Myrna's latest book, which mirrors her real life love affair. Identities are revealed and they deal with the fallout. It's a clever idea, but the relationships are undeveloped, particularly the critical one between Myrna and the publisher, who do not seem suited for one another. Hence, the whole thing falls apart.

Wilson (1944)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1945	Won	Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color Wiard Ihnen Thomas Little
			Best Cinematography, Color Leon Shamroy
			Best Film Editing Barbara McLean
			Best Sound, Recording Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD)
			Best Writing, Original Screenplay Lamar Trotti
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Alexander Knox
			Best Director Henry King
			Best Effects, Special Effects Fred Sersen (photographic) Roger Heman Sr. (sound)
			Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Alfred Newman
			Best Picture (20th Century Fox).

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Henry King
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Long biography of President Woodrow Wilson begins during his days as a Princeton professor. He becomes president of the university, then governor of New Jersey. Some of the best scenes are of the convention where he gets nominated for US president. It's full of marching bands and long-winded speeches, impressively recreated. Wilson was a two-term president, and his first term was rather uneventful. However, during his second term WWI breaks out. His boring personal life probably takes up too much of the plot, including the death of his first wife followed by his second marriage, and Wilson comes off as cold and distant. There are a couple of rousing speeches towards the end about the League of Nations, a personal obsession with Wilson, but it's a case of too little too late. However, it is interesting to see the similarities to today's political landscape, which really hasn't changed much in 100 years: the progressive ideas of the Democrats met with skepticism and obstructionism by the Republicans.