The Divorcee

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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Directed: Robert Z. Leonard

Year: 1930

Nominated: Best Film, Best Director – Robert Z. Leonard, Best Actress – Norma Shearer

Won: Best Actress – Norma Shearer

Plot in 25 Words: A group of friends engage in wife-swapping, hypocrisy, and double standards. But finally, women wearing trousers, working and playing the field like men.

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1929/30

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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Best Picture:

  • All Quiet on the Western Front
  • The Big House
  • Disraeli
  • The Divorcee
  • The Love Parade

Best Director:

  • Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front
  • Clarence Brown – Anna Christie
  • Clarence Brown – Romance
  • Robert Z. Leonard – The Divorcee
  • Ernst Lubitsch – The Love Parade
  • King Vidor – Hallelujah

Best Actor

  • George Arliss – Disraeli
  • George Arliss – The Green Goddess
  • Wallace Beery – The Big House
  • Maurice Chevalier – The Big Pond
  • Maurice Chevalier – The Love Parade
  • Ronald Colman – Bulldog Drummond
  • Ronald Colman – Condemned
  • Lawrence Tibbett – The Rogue Song

Best Actress

  • Norma Shearer – The Divorcee
  • Nancy Carroll – The Devil’s Holiday
  • Ruth Chatterton – Sarah and Son
  • Greta Garbo – Anna Christie
  • Greta Garbo – Romance
  • Norma Shearer – Their Own Desire
  • Gloria Swanson – The Trespasser

I was pleasantly surprised by this list of films. I thought it was going to take me a lot longer before I came across a film I’d heard of! I’ve no real idea of what goes on in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ but I’ve heard of it and that counts!

Not only that but a star I’ve heard of, and not just from previous films. I’m looking most forward to watching the films starring Greta Garbo.

Here’s to hoping this batch is more gripping than the last!

1928/29 – Review

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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I had more of a struggle to find these film then I’d the ones before. It took a massive search of streaming sites and a few DVD purchases but I mostly did it.

The theme of the year seemed to be crime caper, which makes a very pleasant detour away from last year’s theme of prostitution!

I wasn’t expecting to see scenes in technicolour so early. I’d imagine whole films in colour will still be a while off, but with each ‘batch’ of films I can see the quality improving.

None of the films really stood out for me, not like the last year which had several incredible productions. Maybe it’s the lack of prostitution.

Favourite – Thunderbolt

Least Favourite – Coquette

1928/29 – Lost Films

12 Thursday Mar 2015

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Another three films fall by the wayside.

The Patriot – 1928

The Barker – 1928

Drag – 1929

The Patriot has only pieces left which is a real shame. Emil Jannings as a Russian tzar was a big hit for me last time and I was looking forward to seeing him play a similar role, especially in a ‘talkie’.

The Barker is not really lost, but as there is only one sole surviving copy held by UCLA I might be waiting some time to see it. I’m not giving up hope though because now I know one exists!

Drag was, according to all reports, a boring ‘talk-fest’ but it’s on my list and I will endeavor to watch it nonetheless. It has recently been discovered but is apparently held by a secret agency and unavailable for viewing. But it’s not lost any more and could be released in the near future.