***Movie-lore: Popular Cinema & its Evolution since the invention of the Kinetoscope during the last quarter of the 19th Century by noted Inventor Thomas A.Edison to the present yr of 2011. Topics based on World-movies in general & Hollywood and it's Golden Era in particular from the world of Movie-lore.
***The Academy Award or the Oscars. The Best-Picture winners since 1927-28 to the present. Part-1
As the day draws nearer to yet another gala event with a nail-biting finish of an Oscar-year gone by (held each Autumn since 1929) to present Awards, the most valued and reputed award in the World of Cinema to professionals both from the Arts and Science congregate to celebrate the lucky winners of the coveted statuette. It would be a treat in going down memory lane to take a look at the winners, starting with the Best-Pict category since the year the Academy started to dole out the Oscar Awards started for the year 1927-28and please note the steps followed in the 1st winner's style, which is shown in the 1st Best-Pict winner Wings, Year of win: Name of Film, *Producers/Studio, **Director, *ing refer to the Cast, ***Brief Synopsis. Though the 1st presentation was held in 1929, the prizes given were for the outstanding motion-pics released in the year 1927-28. There were 2 pictures that received this award, named as outstanding production won by Wings & the Unique & Most Artistic quality of production won by Sunrise though the F.W.Marnau directed film wasn't nominated for Best-Pic, categories that were dropped from the Academy's 2nd year of presentation & changed the name to Best Production & also decided that 'Wings the previous year winner & their category is the one that comes closest to this award is undoubtedly Wings & so Wings became the 1st Winner of the Best-Pic award in the annals of Movie History.
1927-28: Wings.(27) *
Paramount/Famous Players-Lasky.
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Dir: William Wellman.
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Cast: Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlene, Gary Cooper.
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| A Screenshot from Wings |
**** This is the 1st film & the only silent to receive the Best-Pict Award, the main theme was based on the World War 1's fighter pilots. Since the production credit went to the Studio till the 50s, Paramount became the 1st studio to ever receive this coveted award.The film was about aerial warfare during the 1st World War it had action scenes & the aerial photography of this movie is good & was actual on-location than the scenes that would be easier to shoot in a studio.
1928-29: Broadway Melody. MGM/Irving Thalberg, Lawrence Weingarten.
Dir: Harry Beaumont.
Cast: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love, Jed Prouty.
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| Release poster Broadway Melody |
An American Musical & the 1st sound & dance film to garner the Oscar for Best-Pic with a technicolor sequence that started the colorful sequences in many Musicals. It is a story about the romances that goes on between the Broadway stars in the back-lot. Bessie & Anita plays the role of 2 sisters who has come to Broadway NYC with dreams of making it big. The movie in trying to show the romance within & with the lesser scruples that most in the biz has. one sister choosing unscrupulous but moneyed sacrificing just to make her sister happy turns a tad melodramatic. Nonetheless it was the 1st Musical & a movie whose remakes shall be tried so often.
1929-30:
All Quiet on the Western front.(US;30) Universal/Carl Laemmel.Jr.
Dir: Lewis Milestone.
Cast: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray Smith, Richard Arlen, Gary Cooper.
Based on Erich Maria Remarque authored anti-war novel of the same name, says the story of a young group of idealistic German soldiers during the 1st World War. The movie progresses with the poignantly slow & steady death of the youths, thus pointing to War as a Waste being it's main theme. The Excellent Acting put in by the actors playing the young soldiers & the sufferings caused by war is the USP of this classic film.
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| All Quiet on the Western Front |
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***Movie-lore, Part 2 of this series shall shall start with the 4th Best-Pic winner of 1930-31 Cimmaron. Ad-min.
