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1929/30 Best Picture:
All Quiet on the Western Front
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Competition:
The Big House, Disraeli, The Love Parade, The Divorcee
Other
Winners:
Best Actor:
George Arliss, Disraeli
Best Actress:
Norma Shearer, The Divorcee
Best Director: Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on
the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
is
available on DVD and VHS!
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Cast:
Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Slim Summerville
Storyline:
Based
on the anti-war novel by German, Erich Maria Remarque, this film explores
the horrors of war through the eyes of a group of young German soldiers
during World War I.
Did it deserve to
win:
Yes Sir! To this
day, this film is regarded as a classic, having made a controversial
statement about war. Variety declared that "The League of
Nations could make no better investment than to buy up the master
print, reproduce it in every language to be shown in every nation, every
year until the word war is taken out of the dictionary."
Critique:
Released
right in the middle of the depression, with the first Great War still a
recent memory, but just prior to Adolf Hitler's reign over Germany, this
film painted a sentimental picture of German soldiers.
In its day, the
film was regarded as a triumph, and although the production values have
become dated over time, the message is still very relevant.
Famous scenes
abound in this picture, including Ayres trapped in a shell crater with a
man he has killed, the first meeting of the recruits and the veterans, and
a moonlight swim with French farm girls.
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Best Scene:
Skinny dipping!
All
Quiet on the Western Front was released a couple of years prior to the
Hayes code coming into effect, but it did face criticism from the Morality
crowd, particularly for a scene in which a group of soldiers, while skinny
dipping, come across some eager girls. Although there was very
little nudity (a quick flash of the boy's butts while swimming) it raised
eyebrows.
For a re-release
in 1938, the Hayes code insisted that the entire scene be cut out.
Scandal erupted when it was found out that uncut versions had been sent
out and screened.
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Behind the Scenes: Conrad
Nagel hosted the third awards ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel in Los
Angeles. There was a $10 charge for tickets, and its quick sell out
was proof that the ceremony was already catching on.
Years
after its release, All Quiet on the Western Front was still being banned
in countries that were mobilizing for war.
Because of its
sympathetic treatment of German soldiers, still considered the enemy in
1930, the film was threatened by a boycott from the American Legion.
Despite this, the film was critical and commercial hit. It's star, Lew
Ayres was an outspoken pacifist, who alienated himself, even from some of
the most left wing elitists in Hollywood. Later, he was blacklisted
for failing to serve in World War II.
Louis B. Mayer,
while presenting the Best Production Award to producer, Carl Laemmle,
hinted at talk of a Nobel Peace prize for the film. It never did
receive one.
Greta Garbo
and Norma Shearer were both nominated
twice in the Best Actress category. Garbo was a favorite to win
for her first role in a talking picture, Anna Christie. She was also
nominated for Romance.
A
controversy erupted when Norma
Shearer won for one of her nominated
performances, The Divorcee. As
Joan Crawford put it, "What do you expect? She sleeps with the
boss!" Shearer was married to MGM studio exec, Irving Thalberg.
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|
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| This
war epic that took a sympatric view of German soldiers facing the horrors
of battle was the first Oscar winner to succumb to the censors.
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| "Your
fatherland needs a leader!" cried the teacher to his students, as he
prepares them to fight!
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| Paul
Baumer, played by Lew Ayres, is young and idealistic.
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| The
boys soon learn that war is hell, when they are stuck in the trenches.
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| Some
boys can't stand the pressure.
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| Paul
stands by his war buddy in his final moments. |
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| Stuck
in a hole with the enemy, Paul must decide whether to kill or be killed. |
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| A
trio of naughty French girls welcome the unclothed boys into their home. |
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| The
boys are given some clothing before they are allowed to enter. |
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| Lew
has his way with one of the young girls. Nothing more than this
scene is shown, but the entire sequence was cut out by the Breen office
for later releases. |
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| Paul
returns home to his mother, played by Beryl Mercer, a changed man. |
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All Quiet on the Western Front
is
available on DVD and VHS!
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Also in 1929/30:
October 29, 1929:
Black Thursday! The stock market takes a dive, plunging the world into
an economic depression.
March 12, 1930:
Gandhi leads his followers on a trek to the sea to collect salt.
"Tell [the losers} that in a
conflict between personality and ability, it is impossible to say which
will win."
A note read to the attendees at that year's
ceremony, and written by Academy President, William de Mille.
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