While objectivity in such matters is the goal for an historian, such analysis is still personally challenging because the movie lover in me tries to find something good to say about every film that I watch and review (please recognize that generalizations are both necessary AND flawed). The last time I attempted to do this, I limited my choices to the lesser movies that had received a Best Picture nomination (those which haven't held up very well over time). Not surprisingly, several were from the years (through 1944) when there were TEN vs. just 5 nominees in the category: In Old Arizona (1928), Alibi (1929), Arrowsmith (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Viva Villa! (1934), Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Test Pilot (1938), The Long Voyage Home (1940), Anchors Aweigh (1945), The Yearling (1946), Quo Vadis (1951), Ivanhoe (1952), The Robe (1953), Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955), Room at the Top (1959), and The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966).

My research yielded some definite patterns:

1927-1933 – These years marked the end of the silent era, the beginning of the sound era, and finally the establishment of the production (or decency) code in addition to the studio socialism I mentioned in my opening paragraph. Some of the best films from this time period were pre-code dramas that were not selected for awards by the studio’s (more conservative) bosses, and several of the early talkie films chosen date terribly. For all these reasons, I’m giving the Academy a pass for this period; some of the nominated films (and winners) are understandably inferior and they’re not entirely representative of the time.

1934 – the code was in place, sound recording had matured, and the studios knew their craft, yet this year was so weak that a Frank Capra comedy not only won, but it swept all five major awards (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing), only one of three films to ever do it. Don’t get me wrong, I love It Happened One Night (1934), Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Capra, and Robert Riskin, but the (limited) competition included only a handful of films which are recognized classics today.

1936-1942 – after an O.K. year in 1935, this period marks the true Golden era of studio system movie-making, including a rich mix of films from every genre to entertain Depression era moviegoers from Prohibition to World War II, one outstanding year after another yielding at least a dozen bona fide classics annually. While in hindsight the Academy’s choice may not have always been the Best Picture of the Year, the strong field made picking a single winner difficult:

• 1936 – the first year a so-so musical beat a better field that included comedies! The Great Ziegfeld won against these nominees: Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls; in the year that also included: Fury, Modern Times, My Man Godfrey, The Petrified Forest, Show Boat, Swing Time, & These Three
• 1937 – The Life of Emile Zola beat fellow nominees: The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, Dead End, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago (as mentioned above), Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door, and the original A Star Is Born whereas Camille, Night Must Fall, The Prisoner of Zenda, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Stella Dallas, & Topper were also released that year
• 1938 – in this case, a weak comedy (You Can't Take It with You) beat a field that included: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Alexander's Ragtime Band (as previously mentioned), Boys Town, The Citadel, Four Daughters, La Grande illusion, Jezebel, Pygmalion, & Test Pilot (as mentioned above) plus Algiers, Angels With Dirty Faces, Bringing Up Baby, Carefree, The Dawn Patrol, Holiday, The Lady Vanishes, the original Marie Antoinette, Merrily We Live, Three Comrades, White Banners
• 1939 – the Golden Year, do I really have to list the movies?
• 1940 – ironic that Alfred Hitchcock’s weaker film that year (Rebecca) won against All This, and Heaven Too, the director’s better Foreign Correspondent, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, Kitty Foyle, The Letter, The Long Voyage Home (as mentioned previously), Our Town, & The Philadelphia Story and these others that weren’t nominated for Best Picture: Abe Lincoln in Illinois, The Bank Dick, the first (and British) version of Gaslight, His Girl Friday, The Great McGinty, I Love You Again, The Mark of Zorro, The Mortal Storm, My Favorite Wife, Pinocchio, the original Pride and Prejudice, The Sea Hawk, The Shop Around the Corner, The Thief of Bagdad, & The Westerner
• 1941 – How Green Was My Valley beat Blossoms in the Dust, Citizen Kane, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Hold Back the Dawn, The Little Foxes, The Maltese Falcon, One Foot in Heaven, Sergeant York, & Suspicion while Ball of Fire, The Devil and Miss Jones, High Sierra, The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe, & Sullivan’s Travels weren’t even nominated
• 1942 – Mrs. Miniver won over 49th Parallel, Kings Row, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Pied Piper, The Pride of the Yankees, Random Harvest, The Talk of the Town, Wake Island, & Yankee Doodle Dandy; that year’s films also included: Bambi, Gentleman Jim, Holiday Inn, In This Our Life, The Major and the Minor, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Now, Voyager, The Palm Beach Story, Road to Morocco, Saboteur, This Gun for Hire, To Be or Not to Be, & Woman of the Year (if you’re wondering about Casablanca and In Which We Serve, they competed in 1943)

To be continued …