The Big House (1930)

Directed by: George W. Hill

Starring: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, and Robert Montgomery

Plot: A reckless young man convicted for manslaughter learns about prison life the hard way.

Thoughts: After being somewhat disappointed with the 1928-1929 nominees, along comes The Big House. I do have a soft spot for prison movies, probably because of The Shawshank Redemption, but this film is pretty good aside from being set in prison.

The fairly accurate (accurate for 1929 anyway) look at prison life, coupled with decent acting, and an interesting story is what likely got it the Oscar nod. Chester Morris, who played an unrepentant ex-con in Alibi, returns as a robbery convict here. He's not quite the crook with a heart of gold, but he's certainly a likable guy. Allegedly, George Hill threatened to fire anyone who was "acting" and did not allow makeup to be used.

All the things we've learned about prison are pretty much in this film: bad food, violent discipline, the prison code about talking to the guards, etc. However, I did find one aspect somewhat disturbing, which was the presence of prisoners who were clearly mentally ill (in this case, quite delusional and possibly mentally retarded). I don't doubt that was commonplace at the time, but I don't recall seeing that sort of thing in other mainstream prison films (other than the obligatory psychopath). Lots of great stuff in here, even if the story is somewhat hokey at times.

The Big House was released on VHS back in 1994 and occasionally shows up in the Turner Classic Movies schedule rotation. Oddly, there was no laserdisc release and there's no current DVD release planned.

While the film didn't take home Best Motion Picture at the 3rd Academy Awards, it did win Best Writing, Achievement, for Frances Marion's terrific script and Best Sound, Recording, for Douglas Shearer's great work (listen to the rhythmic foot shuffling in the crowd scenes). The Big House was also nominated for Best Actor for Wallace Beery's portrayal of "Machine Gun" Butch - a role originally meant for Lon Chaney, who had unfortunately died before he could be cast.

Today's Entry Will Be Posted This Afternoon

A number of factors have kept today's entry from being posted this morning, but rest assured that the 3rd Academy Awards (1929-1930) will begin today with The Big House (1930).

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Winner

Directed by: Harry Beaumont

Starring: Charles King, Anita Page, and Bessie Love

Plot: A pair of Midwest Vaudeville performers look to get their big break on Broadway.

Thoughts: This film is often considered the first modern musical despite only three occasions of spontaneous song, two of those being somewhat functional. This was apparently the best the 1928-1929 consideration period had to offer, according to the Academy. Given the other nominees, I would have to agree.

Of all the films nominated, The Broadway Melody does stand out as being the most polished out of the nominees that year. It's not a vehicle for a single actor like In Old Arizona or Alibi nor does it rely on spectacle like The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Since The Patriot was essentially a silent, that means a talking film would have an edge.

As for the film itself, it's okay. It had a fairly predictable story and decent characters. It's certainly not a terrible way to waste 90 minutes, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. Whereas in 1929, this would have been awesome. The technical achievement for the era was unmistakable. So successful was this film, that it spawned four "sequels" of sorts and was parodied in dog form as The Dogway Melody (which you can see on the 2005 DVD release).

While Best Motion Picture was the only statuette The Broadway Melody took home, the film was also nominated for Best Actress (Bessie Love) and Best Director. Best Actress that year went to Mary Pickford in Coquette while Frank Lloyd received the Best Director nod for the silent The Divine Lady (one of the few times the Best Director did not direct a Best Picture nominee).

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

Directed by: Charles Reisner

Starring: Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, and almost everyone from MGM's parade of stars

Plot: None really, just a showcase of various acts to show off this new thing in film called sound.

Thoughts: As I've mentioned in previous reviews, sound was the big thing in film at the time and studios really wanted to cash in. And what better way than to put together a giant production involving almost all of a studios talent? Many of whom would be seen speaking nationally for the first time?

You would think that such an undertaking would be a delight to watch. Unfortunately, it's not. The Hollywood Revue of 1929 was actually a bit of a bore to watch. Much of the comedy wasn't very funny and a lot of the dancing and music left me scratching my head while asking how this film performed so well let alone earn an Oscar nod. You have to remember that the late 1920's were a different era where Vaudeville and live entertainment were considered just as viable as cinema. Also, the culture then wasn't as saturated in celebrity news as we are now. So, when an opportunity came to see your favorite stars sing, dance, and talk, it was a no-brainer that you would want to check it out.

While there were some interesting acts and musical numbers, most of it felt like amateur night on the MGM lot. Evidently, many parts of this film were produced after hours so as not to interfere with the studio's production schedule. The film also underwent several direction and director changes and didn't finish production until nine days before its debut.

According to several sources, there are no complete copies in existence. Also, the film was only released on laserdisc as part of the pricey Dawn of Sound box set and there are currently no plans for it to be released on DVD. There is a fairly low-resolution version available to view at Google Video if you'd like to see it.

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 only received the one nomination for Best Production that year. It lost to another MGM film, The Broadway Melody, which I'll look at on Wednesday.

The Patriot (1928)

Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch

Starring: Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, and Lewis Stone

Plot: An epic portrayal of political intrigue in Russia during the reign of Paul I.

Thoughts: Unfortunately, I can offer no thoughts on this film because I've never seen it. No one else in recent history has seen it either because The Patriot is more or less a lost film. The only parts left are a trailer and one reel (about six minutes of footage) that was found in Portugal back in 2001.

The story is an adaptation of three different plays: Paul I by Dmitri Merezhkovsky, Der Patriot by Alfred Neumann, and The Patriot by Ashley Dukes. Again, since there is no reference available (neither the film nor the plays), I have no idea which parts were lifted from where. Attempting to find detailed information has proven somewhat frustrating.

Based on some notes I found, evidently The Patriot was technically the last silent film nominated for Best Picture. Paramount added music, sound, and limited voices (mainly screams) to the film in post-production without Lubitsch's knowledge. This was done because talking and sound films were the new trend in film at the time. Despite the studios tampering, the finished product was still regarded as one of the best films of 1928.

If you want to see the trailer, it can be found on the More Treasures from the American Film Archives: 1894-1931. The set is a bit pricy, but contains a ton of forgotten film history.

The Patriot took home the Best Writing, Achievement award for Hanns Kraly's epic screenplay. Other nominations earned were Best Actor for Lewis Stone's portrayal of Count Pahlen, Best Art Direction for Hans Dreier (who had previously worked on Wings the previous year), and a Best Director nod for Lubitsch himself.

Alibi (1929)

Directed by: Roland West

Starring: Chester Morris, Eleanore Griffith, and Regis Toomey

Plot: A strident police captain investigates a murder whose main suspect is an ex-gangster with a seemingly airtight alibi.

Thoughts: Last time we looked at the first talking Western, now we'll see one of the earliest, if not the earliest, talking gangster film. It's a decent film that initially plays into ambiguities. You're not sure who committed the murder and you're not entirely sure to trust the police either. However, by the last half hour, it was very clear who was who as the stereotypes were trotted out.

Based on the play "Nightstick", Alibi borrowed a bit from the German expressionism found in many of the latter day silents (particularly in the beginning of the film) before delving into the gangster genre. While the aforementioned stereotypes were present, they're portrayed very well. The acting in Alibi was good, with Chester Morris chewing some serious scenery toward the end of the film. It wouldn't surprise me if James Cagney based his gangster characters after Morris' performance here.

One of the more interesting aspects about this film is that both a talking and a silent version were produced and released. However, it was the talking version (using Fox's Movietone process) that earned the Outstanding Picture (eventually to become Best Picture) nomination. The film was released on VHS and is available on DVD, but the opening credits had to be digitally recreated; my guess is that they've been lost. As with other early talking films, dialogue can be a bit difficult to discern at times. Whereas the DVD for In Old Arizona had a subtitle option, there was no such option with this DVD.

Alibi did not take home the 2nd Academy Award ceremony's Outstanding Production award or any other award that night. Chester Morris was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona. Also, William Cameron Menzies was nominated for Best Art Direction, but lost to Cedric Gibbons for The Bridge of San Luis Rey (which was not nominated for Outstanding Picture).

Wednesday's Post Coming This Evening

The inauguration is finally over and yours truly is quite exhausted. This should end the late-ish entries (I still update on schedule; they just haven't been posted by morning) for a while. Tonight, I look at Alibi. Join me won't you?