The white parade 1934 film
![the white parade 1934 film the white parade 1934 film](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/public/upload/programs/medium_wide/5cf020ae57c49.jpg)
Thank God those barbaric days are behind us.ģ rd Place – The House of Rothschild (released by 20 th Century) The Slot It Fills: Unbelievably, the Academy used to be excited by stories about the personal lives of famous artists. What It Is: A romantic costume drama centered on the courtship of poet Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) by poet Robert Browning (Fredric March) Only 11 more slots to fill after the jumpĢ nd Place – The Barretts of Wimpole Street (released by MGM)
#The white parade 1934 film movie#
But, of course, the period in which the film came out was unusually good at producing top-notch comedies starring the best movie stars of the day. The Slot It Fills: The long-abandoned "comedies are a valid form of artistic expression like anything else" spot. What It Is: One of the greatest of all screwball comedies, in which the sexily odd-looking pair of Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable cross country and banter. What can we learn about the Academy’s tastes and habits down the decades from each of these?īEST PICTURE – It Happened One Night (released by Columbia) The magic number of the day being 12, I'd like you to join me, for a closer look at 1934, the first of two years with 12 nominated films (for space reasons, I am alas compelled to leave 1935 to fend for itself) - the first year, as well, that the awards corresponded to a single calendar year. Think of how awful it must have been to been a rabid Oscar fanatic in the first decade of the award’s existence: depending on the year, there were anywhere from three to twelve Best Picture nominees, until it was finally nailed down at a nice, round ten at the 9th Academy Awards, for the year 1936. We’re now in the third year of the Academy’s undoubtedly well-intentioned "some random number that always turns out to be nine" approach to selecting Best Picture nominees, and for some of us, this is irritatingly arbitrary. Tim here, with your daily dose of Oscar numerology.