The 2nd Academy Awards Assessed (April 1930)

10 min readJan 20, 2020

We’re approaching the 92nd Academy Awards and the resolution of my 1929 viewing list, so it’s time for a lil Oscars history, I suppose. In the course of my “reviews” of old awards shows, relatively silly affairs that nevertheless yield some insight into contemporary industry tastes, I take a look at the categories and nominees and provide my thoughts within those parameters. For this “assessment” of the 2nd Academy Awards, held on April 3, 1930, I won’t be introducing films not on the Academy’s docket. Said docket, however, wasn’t publicized for the second ceremony; the Academy has done retrospective research to find judges’ shortlists in lieu of a contemporary, official nominee list. Such a scenario yielded a long-standing anecdote that Mary Pickford, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and wife of Douglas Fairbanks, its first president (who at this time had been replaced by William C. DeMille [host of this ceremony too]), campaigned heavily for Best Actress while her competitors never even knew they were being considered. But I suppose I’ll get to the quality of her performance in COQUETTE anyways.

As with the first few Academy Awards ceremonies, the second was not recognizing the best films from a calendar year. Instead, films released between August 1, 1928 and July 31, 1929 were in the eligible window. As such, the 2nd Academy Awards also coincided with the full embracing of sound by the American film industry…and therefore also marking the nominees and winners for the year as relatively mediocre, even compared to just the one previous, comparable event. The first years of the sound era were not as strong as the final years of the silent one, and that disparity was especially clear for the films on display for the 1930 Oscars. One of the best American sound films of 1929’s eligible release window, the Marx Brothers’ THE COCOANUTS, didn’t make into consideration either.

The 2nd Academy Awards, held at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, were also the first to be broadcast, on local radio station KNX. Since it was held so long after the end of its eligibility period (just about eight months), 1930 was also the only year that two Oscars ceremonies were held; in November, the 3rd Academy Awards recognized the best in film from August 1, 1929 to July 31, 1930. Back to the 2nd, however: it eschewed the first’s announcement of winners beforehand, the aforementioned list of official nominees, and even five of the 12 categories from the previous year. IN OLD ARIZONA and THE PATRIOT (the latter unfortunately lost) were the big nominees with five each. However, seven films won just one award each, making it the only Academy Awards ceremony where no film took home more than one statue. And so, without further ado, let’s see how often my opinion lined up with the Academy of 1930’s. Well, some brief ado: I’ll rank the films in each category from top to bottom, bolding my “what should have won” choice and marking the actual winner with a * and lost films/films that are not easy to track down with a ~, removing the latter from consideration.

Outstanding Picture

ALIBI (1929)
THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929)*
THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 (1929)
IN OLD ARIZONA (1928)
THE PATRIOT (1928)~

Look, this wasn’t an easy choice for me. Mostly because all four of the existing nominees for Outstanding Picture (to become Best Picture) were all pretty mediocre. Go figure that the mostly silent Ernst Lubitsch movie had to be lost. Noted as “one of the worst Best Picture winners,” THE BROADWAY MELODY isn’t really too terrible. It’s a novelty, certainly, but the existence of a plot within it makes it marginally more engaging than THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929, another novelty stage production that was truly a variety show with MGM and vaudeville talent that could now show their stuff in the sound era. IN OLD ARIZONA is a technical achievement with its outdoor sound, I suppose, but a pretty miserable ol’ Western. ALIBI, directed by Roland West, who in the silent era had turned out some pretty good pictures like THE BAT (1926), had to take it home just because of the hint of the visual eye he had displayed just a few years earlier. It’s a stiff and overplayed gangster movie, but ultimately, Chester Morris’ decent portrayal of a two-timing criminal and the film’s climactic shootout and “grisly” death scene leave much more of an impact.

Best Director

Harry Beaumont — THE BROADWAY MELODY
Frank Lloyd — WEARY RIVER (1929)
Lionel Barrymore — MADAME X (1929)
Irving Cummings — IN OLD ARIZONA
Frank Lloyd — THE DIVINE LADY (1929)*
Frank Lloyd — DRAG (1929)~
Ernst Lubitsch — THE PATRIOT~

And I can’t even give West credit again since he (and ALIBI by extension) weren’t nominated for Best Director. The cohesion between the Best Picture and Best Director categories had not yet been established, and so I had to end up giving a nod to Harry Beaumont for THE BROADWAY MELODY. I randomly stumbled upon a contemporary, glowing evaluation of the film from noted French filmmaker René Clair the same day as the time of this writing. This was after I had already selected it/Beaumont, but it helps my case. Clair reminded me that THE BROADWAY MELODY was one of the most mobile sound films of the year, a standout element from the suddenly stationary American film industry. This was Beaumont’s most notable film, including those from his lengthy silent career (besides fellow nominee OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS), and if his legacy was to shape the form of backstage musicals on film, then it’s certainly a significant one. Everyman director Frank Lloyd (best known for MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY [1935], most likely) was also an established silent veteran, and won with the silent THE DIVINE LADY. It’s not a very engaging film, from Corinne Griffith’s central performance to John F. Seitz’s cinematography to, yes, Lloyd’s orchestration of the whole thing (all nominated, however). Lloyd did a much better job with the part-talkie WEARY RIVER, otherwise a slightly above average gangster melodrama. And Lionel Barrymore’s turn behind the camera, MADAME X, is a middling fallen woman picture. Nobody, including director of the aforementioned “miserable ol’ western” IN OLD ARIZONA, Irving Cummings, pulled off a great success.

Best Actor

Paul Muni — THE VALIANT (1929)
George Bancroft — THUNDERBOLT (1929)
Chester Morris — ALIBI
Warner Baxter — IN OLD ARIZONA*
Lewis Stone — THE PATRIOT~

Paul Muni’s film debut immediately distinguished him from the pack in the brave new world of sound film. Part of the first wave of stage recruits that the movie studios found they needed to keep step with the technological innovation, Muni played a romanticized martyr, an apparently honest, principled man who nevertheless murdered a man for undisclosed reasons. He maintains his anonymous identity even in the face of his apparent sister, who does not remember her brother after many years. Muni’s “James Dyke” tells his…well, this sister about the heroism of her brother, who he fought with in World War I…and who died in the conflict. It’s a shockingly tender yet resolved performance, leagues ahead of the film’s relatively basic plotting and staging (THE VALIANT is based on a one-act play). It’s also leagues ahead of the other performances in the Best Actor category. George Bancroft, ironically, plays a character in a similar situation, facing the death penalty with stoicism and stubbornness. But Josef von Sternberg’s first muse falters in the pair’s first sound film; Bancroft’s roughness was best suited for the silent screen when it came to von Sternberg’s crime films. Chester Morris, as noted, turns in a decent, wisecracking performance for ALIBI, a flip side of the criminal coin from Muni and Bancroft’s performances. Warner Baxter’s Cisco Kid is a Zorro-like outlaw, made uncomfortable, however, by Baxter’s brownface. It’s interesting that four of the five nominated performances are those of criminals, a harbinger perhaps of the Pre-Code fascination with gangsters and other amoral characters.

Best Actress

Mary Pickford — COQUETTE (1929)*
Jeanne Eagels — THE LETTER (1929)
Ruth Chatterton — MADAME X
Bessie Love — THE BROADWAY MELODY
Corinne Griffith — THE DIVINE LADY
Betty Compson — THE BARKER (1928)~

Well, the controversy of Mary Pickford’s performance shouldn’t necessarily obscure the fact that her role in COQUETTE is superior to her fellow nominees’. However, that doesn’t really tell the full story, which is…Mary Pickford’s performance in COQUETTE is alright. Widely publicized as America’s Sweetheart’s first sound film, the Southern drama is a lukewarm, static melodrama. Pickford portrays a decent evolution for her central, spoiled turned tragic character, a portrayal that is just a minimal step ahead of her peers’ similar, fallen-woman-esque characters. Bessie Love is the deviation from that trend, but in fact, the rightful BROADWAY MELODY nomination would be for Love’s co-star Anita Page, who delivers a clever, fast-talking performer, the most alive character in the whole movie.

Best Writing

THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1929) — Hanns Kraly
THE VALIANT — Tom Barry
THE LEATHERNECK (1929) — Elliot Clawson
OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS (1928) — Josephine Lovett
IN OLD ARIZONA — Tom Barry
A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928) — Bess Meredyth
SKYSCRAPER (1928) — Elliot Clawson
THE PATRIOT — Hanns Kraly*~
THE COP (1928) — Elliot Clawson~
SAL OF SINGAPORE (1928) — Elliot Clawson~
WONDER OF WOMEN (1929) — Bess Meredyth~

The abundance of writing nominees (11, distilled down from Original Story and Adaptation from the first ceremony) is the most obvious example of the 2nd Oscars’ lack of official nominees. It’s really too bad THE PATRIOT is lost; I can’t evaluate its writing’s quality alongside those three other films. In any event, the greatest writing from the batch comes from THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY, a “dramedy” directed by Sidney Franklin. Norma Shearer and Basil Rathbone deliver dry line after dry line, making THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY one of the funniest American films of the year. In fact, it was in the running for one of my favorites from 1929, period, for a while. Its collection of goofy rich people are more effective caricatures than most any of the numerous “rich people” dramas and comedies of the time. My infatuation with Paul Muni in THE VALIANT doesn’t extend quite as far as its dialogue and stretched-thin plot points, but Tom Barry’s script deserves praise for its characterization. THE LEATHERNECK is a “rousing” military adventure typical of the era, except its tragic in medias res beginning distinguishes it from ultimate camp. OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, an early Joan Crawford vehicle, is a less entertaining rich person dramedy than THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY, IN OLD ARIZONA’s writing is one of its least offensive parts, A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS is quite honestly a mediocre Garbo-Gilbert picture, and SKYSCRAPER is a boring B movie.

Best Art Direction

STREET ANGEL (1928) — Harry Oliver
ALIBI — William Cameron Menzies
DYNAMITE (1929) — Mithcell Leisen
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY (1929) — Cedric Gibbons*~
THE AWAKENING (1928) — William Cameron Menzies~
THE PATRIOT — Hans Dreier~

Harry Oliver, a frequent collaborator of Frank Borzage, took European inspiration for his set design of the late 1920s, hitting gold with 7TH HEAVEN (1927), STREET ANGEL, and LUCKY STAR (1929). STREET ANGEL may have been the weakest of that “trilogy” (all starring Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor), comprehensively and in its art direction, but its expansive sets still envelop the viewer with stark shadows and lighting. ALIBI, from the art-deco man himself, William Cameron Menzies, is elegant and refined, if a little cold. I have a number of issues with Cecil B. DeMille’s DYNAMITE, but its mansion designs contrast its small-mining-town settings well.

Best Cinematography

WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS (1928) — Clyde De Vinna*
STREET ANGEL — Ernest Palmer
IN OLD ARIZONA — Arthur Edeson
OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS — George Barnes
THE DIVINE LADY — John F. Seitz
4 DEVILS (1928) — Ernest Palmer~

STREET ANGEL’s cinematography, from Ernest Palmer, is suffused with light and shadow, a beautiful complement to the faces of its stars, Harry Oliver’s sets, and Frank Borzage’s humanist direction. But Clyde De Vinna’s contributions to an ethnographic silent adventure film from W.S. Van Dyke and, more notably, Robert Flaherty, belie WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS’ ultimately typical structure. De Vinna’s cinematography, however, is exceptional, full of intimate moments and wide shots in the nature of Tahiti. I take back what I said about IN OLD ARIZONA’s writing being its least offensive part; its wide vistas are photographed effectively. OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS and THE DIVINE LADY’s camerawork are camouflaged.

As with the previous years, my actual favorite movies of the release window were mostly foreign, a realm the Academy Awards had not yet even remotely considered. But in alignment with the 1930 instance of the institution, I scored only two out of seven. But I also didn’t have a big winner, with seven films taking home only one award each. There’s always next year.