1936 - The Great Ziegfeld: "This is New York. I didn't think being married meant anything."

1936 Best Picture Winner

Premiered on March 22, 1936 in Los Angeles.

Budget:  $2 million

Gross: $3 million

This movie was tough for us to rate because it was in between one and two popcorn bags. It is the best of the poor Oscar winners (like Cimarron) and not up to par with the movies that we gave two bags to (like Grand Hotel). The film was somewhat interesting because the story was unique and intriguing. However, the plot moved along slowly and characters came into the movie, played in a dramatic scene, and then were never heard from again. These characters did nothing to move the story along.

There were a few interesting sidenotes: We saw an acctress produce tears for the first time. Up until this film, an actress would get emotional but you'd never see tears. This film showed tears not once, but twice and by two different actresses. We also enjoyed seeing a few different actors who would later star in the Wizard of Oz.

Callie
Favorite:  This movie was quite funny at times.  While the main character, Flo, was rather unlikeable at times he kept the movie rather intriguing and was quite witty.
Least Favorite:  It was very long!  There had to be some scenes that could be taken out to speed up the movie.

Joel

Favorite: I let the sets in Ziegeld's shows. Several of them were large and were controlled by machines that moved the stages all different directions during the songs. The movie makers created quiet a spectecal during the musical numbers.

Least Favorite: My favorite character was a talented stagehand who was "discovered" by Ziefleld. I wish that the writers would have given him a bigger part. He was interesting and could have moved the story along. Unfortunately, he was one of the many character who we are introduced to, only to never reappear.

1935 - Mutiny on the Bounty: "From now on they'll spell Mutiny with my name"



1935 Best Picture Winner

Premiered November 8, 1935 in New York City

Budget:  $1,950,000

Gross:  $4,460,000

I'm becoming a Clark Gable fan. He has to be the first "A List" actor of the Oscar era. What a run, he has It Happened One Night and then this movie and Gone With The Wind does extrememly well a few years later. He wasn't the only actor to do a great job in this film. Mutiny on the Bounty is the only movie to have 3 actors from the same movie all nominated for Best Actor. This was the most violent Oscar winner to date, even though it doesn't even compare to most movies today. The Director did a good job in making you hate Captain Bligh. The viewer experiences the emotions right along with the crew.

The movie earned 3 popcorn bags through the first 6 minutes but it went down a bag in the last 45 minutes. The scenes began to drag a little and the action slowed down after the Mutiny and the film began to get a little boring at that point.

Callie
Favorite:  The introduction of the characters at the beginning of the movie seemed natural and like something that would have been done in a movie today.
Least Favorite:  Not knowing at the end of the movie what Captain Bligh's fate was. 

Joel

Favorite: I like the way that Christian shows sacrificial love. He does not mutiny because of what the Captain has done to him, he is driven to the act by what the Captain does to the men.

Least Favorite: You wait an hour for the mutiny and then it's over in just a few minutes.

1934 - It Happened One Night: "Shapely's the name and that's the way I like them."

1934 Best Picture Winner

Premiered

Budget:  $325,000

Gross:  $2.5 Million

This is a truly delightful movie. We laughed out loud several times and it was completely clean. Also, this is the first Oscar winning movie that had a legitimate star, Clark Gable. The acting was very good and the script was as good as any script today. All Quiet on the Western Front was good but this movie was the first that made me forget that it was made 80 years ago.

Typically, the Oscar winning movie breaks some kind of barrier in film or makes some kind of social statement. It Happened One Night did neither but it was just a very entertaining movie. I'm glad that it won and won big, winning 5 Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing)

Callie

Favorite:  The pace of the movie was excellent.  The scenes were an excellent length and were not drawn out for a lengthly period of time.

Least Favorite:  It was a little unclear throughout the situation with Ellie and King Westley.  It seemed a little confusing, but it could be a cultural thing.

Joel

Favorite: The acting. Claudette Colbert and Gable had great on screen chemistry. The funny thing is that after it was shot, Colbert told a friend "I just finished the worst film in the world."

Least Favorite: The editing was a little choppy at times. It wasn't a distraction for me though.



1932/1933 - Cavalcade: "No news is good news. What must be must be."

1932/1933 Best Picture Winner

Premiered January 5, 1933 in New York City.

Budget:  $1,180,280

Gross:  $8,000,000

They spent almost $1.2 million on this film. That would equate to $20 million today. I am wondering what they spent the money on! This film has taken the mantle of "Worst Best Picture" from The Broadway Melody. The movie jumped from scene to scene quickly making it tough to follow. The movie also contained the first profanity thus far in a "Best Picture". I'm not sure why this film won the award. It was a terrible, boring movie that was a waste of time.

Joel

Favorite: I liked the scene that took place on the Titanic. That was the most dramatic part of the movie.

Least Favorite: These riders on horses keep showing up (symbolizing time marching on). It was a stupid waste of film to do that effect.

Callie

Favorite:  I like the cohesion between the beginning and the ending of the movie bookmarking the middle.

Least Favorite:  The overlay imaging!  It appears they just figured out how to do this and they had to keep doing to over and over again.

1931/1932 - Grand Hotel "People Come. People Go. Nothing ever happens".

1931/1932 Best Picture Winner

Premiered September 11, 1932 in Culver City, CA.

Budget:  $700,000

Gross:  $1,359,000

Grand Hotel is an entertaining movie. We enjoyed it. The opening scene was creative and grabbed our attention and the film held our attention the entire time. An interesting trend that we've seen from all of the movies so far is the absence of a likeable, "good guy" character. All Quiet on the Western Front has been the only film thus far that has given us a "hero" to root for and even that film doesn't focus too much on him. The Grand Hotel gives us "The Baron", a somewhat likeable, yet pathectic main character. It could be argued that "Flem" is the main character but she is far too mysterious to be liked. That could be what the producers were going for.

This film was the most artistic to date with sweeping views of the hotel. The acting was the best so far as well with solid performances by the actors who played "Kringelein" and "Flaem". Overall, Grand Hotel is a good watch.

Callie
Favorite: It was fun to see a good drama.  I really enjoyed the sense of mystery throughout the movie and the few twists and turns.
Least Favorite:  It felt overly dramatic at times, but not nearly to the degree of what we've seen so far.

Joel
Favorite: Mr. Kringelein was an excellent character. You feel sorry for his plight but in the end he gets the money and the girl and so his luck changes. It's possible that in reality, the entire movie is really about him.
Least Favorite: I wanted to like "The Baron" but he was a thief and so he was not a redeemable character.