1939---GWTW Still the Winner--Vote for 1967 NOW!

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 12:20pm

I was reading an essay about how OZ should have beaten GWTW...so i got to wondering what would win if WE all voted for what many pros think is the best year for film ever (I don't know about that)

BEST PICTURE NOMINEES

Dark Victory
Gone With the Wind
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
Wizard of Oz, The
Wuthering Heights

I think I would've probably voted for GWTW but in hindsight, my vote goes to STAGECOACH.

I'd still vote for Vivien and Hattie though.

Updated On: 11/22/06 at 12:20 PM

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 12:25pm

Nah. In terms of its acting, scope, design, and technical achievements, I till think GWTW is the winner.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 12:27pm

I would have voted for NINOTCHKA (Lubitsch, Lubitsch, always Lubitsch!), but in hindsight, my vote goes to MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON.

If only all our representatives had as much integrity as Jimmy Stewart, and if only all the corrupt politicians would shoot their brains out at the end of the movie like Claude Rains.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 12:31pm

I think I would have voted, and still would, for GWTW.

[chicolini]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:11pm

AAARRGGHH!!! I can't seem to get away from Stagecoach this week!
Because I've been in total Stagecoach immersion the past three days, I'd probably vote for it if given the chance today. Under more normal circumstances, my vote would go to Wuthering Heights - the only one on the list I have seen more than once, plus it has brooding Sir Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff.

I don't think I'd call '39 the best year ever, either. My vote would go to 1941 (How Green was my Valley, 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) or 1944 (Going My Way, Double Indemnity, Gaslight, Since You Went Away, Wilson).
Not that 1939 was bad by any means - this is just based on personal taste in movies.


Edit because I forgot about 1951 - An American in Paris, Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis?, A Streetcar Named Desire. All that and The African Queen which didn't even get nominated for Best Picture!

Updated On: 11/21/06 at 01:11 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:16pm

We'll do other years later, darling. :)

[chicolini]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:29pm

No!!! Now!!! Instant gratification!! :-P

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:39pm

The worst part is that 1939 was the year the vote tallies actually were leaked, so people knew exactly how everyone voted.

Thus began the intense secrecy associated with the voting process, the accountants, vaulted ballots, etc.

It was a humiliation, and not necessarily shows what people were thinking... only how they voted.

GWTW was a LANDSLIDE winner.

Vivien Leigh got something like 95 percent of the votes for Best Actress, and the next highest (Garbo) got something like 12. Bette Davis got 3 votes for Dark Victory, etc.

This doesn't mean that they turned in lousy performances... all it means is that EVERYONE knew they were voting for Vivien Leigh that year. They may have liked Davis or Garbo only marginally less... but EVERYONE felt that way... so the tallies were pretty humiliating.

It was the same thing for Best Picture. None of the other nominees even came close.

Studios threatened (as they did often back then) to pull out of the Academy altogether. So it was decided instead to beef up the security and let NO ONE in on the voting results, except for the accountants and a small chosen few.

And the results have never been leaked to the press since!

Updated On: 11/21/06 at 01:39 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:43pm

Thanks for the info, but how did you vote?

PS--winners had been leaked before--I recall Luise Rainier found out that she had won and got to the ceremony after it had started in 1936. I've also read of tally counts from other sources too: Tom O'Neill's book and I also have a huge coffee table Oscar book that has some of that info in it as well.

[justme2]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:48pm

I've seen them all, and would have voted for "Mr Smith Goes to Washington". The story, acting, sets, everything in that film is spot on.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 1:52pm

Winners were often leaked before the ceremony back then. Emil Jannings knew he was the first Best Actor winner something like two weeks before the ceremony. He was going back to Europe, so they gave him his award well in advance.

But the voting results hadn't been leaked before (i.e., the actual numbers). That happened in 1939, and never again.

I would have voted for GWTW back then... but in hindsight, I would have voted for The Wizard of Oz. These are actually my #1 (Oz) and #2 (GWTW) movies of all time... not just 1939... so to call it a tough race for me would be an understatement.

And both were (largely) directed by Victor Flemming, and in the same year. Fascinating.

[AugustBurns2]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 2:02pm

GONE WITH THE WIND!!!

A perfect film - probably my favorite film of all time. I can watch it over and over and over. I've seen it so many times, I've lost count!

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 3:02pm

So, thus far:

GWTW: 3
Mr. Smith: 2
Wizrd/Wuthering/Stagecoach: 1 each

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 3:09pm

I would not change any of the winners that year, though I'd have liked to see Hamilton, Lahr and Morgan nominated in supporting categories.

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 3:11pm

I doubt I would have voted for Mitchell and Donat, preferring Rains and Stewart.

And Bert Lahr wuz robbed.

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 3:50pm

That was an incredible line up of films - almost any one of which would win in another year. But between each other - GWTW still comes out on top in almost every category.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 4:11pm

I would vote for GONE WITH THE WIND; but I would have voted for Jimmy Stewart as Best Actor.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 4:36pm

I wish I could find the vote tallies for Best Actor somewhere. I read that it wasn't a landslide in favor of Donat winning, but it wasn't hugely close either. He was the clear winner.

I can't even remember who was next, although I think it was Gable.

I haven't been able to find the actual vote tallies for 1939 written anywhere, although you can find several sources in print that mention they were leaked, as well as the discussion about Best Actress (and Vivien's overwhelming win over her fellow nominees).

I'd love to see the actual numbers... but I don't know if they were ever published.

And by this point, it's all "Hollywood legend" anyway.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 4:38pm

I'm most interested in Hattie's historic win...was it a landslide or did Mellie get some votes, b12b?

[lildogs]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 4:46pm

I'll look in my books when I get home, best. Leigh's win was also bolstered by the NY Critics Award and the fact that she won the role over every actress in Hollywood.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 4:55pm

doodle--I don't know. I DO know that Olivia was tipped off before the announcement that Hattie was the winner, and she tried to leave the ceremony because she was so upset. Norma Shearer stopped her on her way out, and (legend has it) SLAPPED her and basically said, "Snap out of it, dear. You're young and you have plenty of awards in your future. This is Hattie's big night. Now, go back in there and congratulate her!" Which she did.

That's the "story" at least. True or not? Who knows?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 5:40pm

best12bars: If that story is true, Norma Shearer has become my new hero. I first became aware of her after reading in an Evita biography (shortly after the movie came out) that she had been young Eva's idol. BTW: I loved her in THE WOMEN.

Now, back to the subject at hand. I would vote for GONE WITH THE WIND, even though THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of my favorite movies. The acting is superb, the direction is topnotch, the cinematography is breathtaking, the costumes are gorgeous, the story is enthralling. Also, Scarlett O'Hara has to be one of the most captivating heroines in cinema.

Updated On: 11/21/06 at 05:40 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 6:21pm

At least part of that story is true. Olivia talks about it herself on the recent GWTW DVD. She chalks it up to youth, and "gushes" all over Hattie's performance. Perhaps it was a long overdue chance to make amends publicly. I was surprised she even brought it up at all, considering the stories about it!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 6:23pm

GWTW or OZ

As hard as it may be to believe, I have never seen Mr Smith. To be honest, I have never seen It's A Wonderful Life

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/21/06 at 6:23pm

GWTW or OZ

As hard as it may be to believe, I have never seen Mr Smith. To be honest, I have never seen It's A Wonderful Life