The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck, GW Pabst) ***1/2

Director: Arnold Fanck, GW Pabst

Cast: Gustav Diessl, Leni Reifenstahl, Ernst Petersen, Ernst Udet, Mizzi Gotzel, Otto Spring

Background: Pabst and Fanck agreed to an unusual arrangement where Pabst directed indoor scenes and oversaw the dramatic structure of the film, while Fanck focused on the mountain scenes. At the time, Reifenstahl was a notable dancer who had only appeared in a handful of films.

Story: Dr. Johannes Kraft (Diessl) has been distraught since his wife fell during a mountain climb on their honeymoon ten years ago. He meets up with newlyweds Karl (Petersen) and Maria (Reifenstahl), and they join him on a dangerous climb to find his wife's resting place.

Thoughts: Plenty to like in this one. This mountain climbing film is incredibly exciting and features some amazing cinematography. The fantastic opening sequence provides a suitably compelling emotional backdrop for the film. The film is fairly light on plot and consists mostly of dangerous mountain climbing footage, but it is thrilling enough to keep you gripped for the full 2 hour running time. It helps that the cast is much stronger than you'd think for what is basically a standard action film. Gustav Diessl is great as the mysterious man who hangs around the mountain and Leni Reifenstahl is a revelation, making for an exceedingly likable heroine. They could have probably trimmed a bit from the running time, particularly a scene where a biplane flies around for an endless amount of time, but for the most part this is a wonderful adventure.

Postscript: The film was a major success at the box office and has gained a lasting reputation. It was referenced heavily during a scene in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Reifenstahl would go on to be a notorious Nazi propaganda filmmaker, with Triumph of the Will being her most notable film.

Song O My Heart (Frank Borzage) ***1/2

Director: Frank Borzage

Cast: John McCormack, Maureen O' Sullivan, Tommy Clifford, Alice Joyce, John Garrick, JM Kerrigan, J. Farrell McDonald

Background: Borzage was well known for directing romantic melodramas. McCormack was a world renowned Irish singer who performed in many operas and recorded several hit records, including the WW1 ballad "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". This was Maureen O' Sullivan's film debut.

Story: Sean (McCormack) is a well known singer who has retired to a small village near the woman he always loved (Joyce). She was forced to marry someone else, but he has left her and her children alone. Sean becomes somewhat of a father figure to her two children, and makes a career comeback at her urging.

Thoughts: This is a criminally underrated Borzage film that features a splendid performance from John McCormack. Despite not being an actor, McCormack gives a more polished performance than most other actors at the beginning of the sound era. His line delivery is fluid and he has the perfect look of a man who's experienced alot of sadness in his life. Of course, much of the movie consists of McCormack singing, but that's not a complaint because he's incredible to hear, his wonderful voice punctuating some powerful songs that are a perfect fit for Borzage's romantic melodrama. It's actually surprising that the main romance is between two supporting players and is only mildly interesting, despite a solid early turn by Maureen O' Sullivan. My favorite supporting characters are two charming old men (Kerrigan, McDonald) from the village who show up throughout the movie, sometimes commenting on the events and often getting into amusing spats. The film does feel a bit lighter than what you usually get from Borzage, but the sad, regretful nature of McCormack's character is right up his alley.

Postscript: This would be the only film John McCormack would make. Maureen O' Sullivan would quickly become a star, playing Jane in several Tarzan films in the 30s. Her successful acting career would last for another 50 years.

The Pay-Off (Lowell Sherman) ***

Director: Lowell Sherman

Cast: Lowell Sherman, Marian Nixon, Hugh Trevor, William Janney, Helene Millard, George F. Marion

Background: Lowell Sherman was a veteran actor from silent films dating back to 1914. When the talkie era began, he decided to try his hand at directing. This would be his third film as writer and star.

Story: Crime boss Gene Fenmore (Sherman) doesn't approve of one of his cronies robbing from a poor young couple. He takes the couple in and looks after them, while trying to instill a sense of decency among the gang. However, that doesn't go over well with Rocky (Trevor), who has his own ideas of how the gang should be run, and is ready to do it.

Thoughts: This is a fun little film that takes a different approach to the gangster genre. Lowell Sherman does a terrific job playing a very different crime boss than you usually see. It's a very laid back performance, but still manages to contain enough gravitas to make you believe that he can wield as much power as he does. His care for the young couple (despite the awful acting from these two) who have been caught up in the mess is actually very touching and I sympathize with his desire for the gang to use their brains when pulling jobs, instead of their guns. It's easy to root for him against the mindless thugs that are trying to take over his operation. Like many of the early sound films, the flaws come down to wooden performances (from the supporting cast), poor sound quality, and a very static visual design. However, Sherman's performance is memorable enough to make this work.

Postscript: Sherman would focus on directing and he made 12 films over the next 5 years. Among them was Morning Glory, which won Katharine Hepburn her first Oscar.

Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock) **1/2

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring, Edward Chapman, Miles Mander, Phyllis Konstam

Background: Hitchcock was a successful director by this point, with The Lodger and Blackmail doing very well in Britain. This was only Herbert Marshall's third film. The story was based on a play called Enter Sir John, and was Hitchcock's third talkie.

Story: A juror (Marshall) begins to have doubts over his guilty vote in what appeared to be an open and shut case, so he opens his own investigation to find out what really happened.

Thoughts: The first act of this film is a real treat, with some great tension built through the jury deliberations. And the casual nature that the jurors reach their guilty verdicts is rather chilling. Unfortunately, everything falls apart from there. Once the verdict is reached, Marshall begins a long and slow investigation with no suspense or tension whatsoever, feeling very much like a mediocre episode of Law & Order. The final twist is not properly set up, and just pops up out of nowhere with little dramatic buildup. Herbert Marshall is a solid lead, and it's easy to buy his determination to get to the bottom of the case, but it's just not exciting to watch him do it. This is another in a long line of early Hitchcock films that hint at his later brilliance, but contain too many flaws to be as highly regarded as his classics.

Postscript: Hitchcock would of course go on to become a Hollywood legend. Herbert Marshall would have a very successful career over the next two decades, with roles in such classics as Trouble in Paradise and The Razor's Edge.

Liliom (Frank Borzage) ***

Director: Frank Borzage

Cast: Charles Farrell, Rose Hobart, Estelle Taylor, HB Warner, Lee Tracy

Background: Liliom is a play by Ferenc Molnar. A previous adaptation in 1919 by Michael Curtiz was abandoned midway through. Borzage and Farrell had worked together with much success on four previous films.

Story: Liliom (Farrell) is an amusement park worker who loses his job for flirting with Julie (Hobart). The two end up getting married, but the unemployed Liliom does not make for a very good husband. He comes up with the idea to pull a robbery so he can earn money for his family, b ut the idea ends in tragedy.

Thoughts: It's nice to see that Charles Farrell is completely at home in talkies and he gives a solid performance here, playing someone much less likeable than he has in the past. Once again, we get a melodramatic romance from Borzage set against a fanciful visual backdrop. The main flaw here is for once Borzage and Farrell don't have a strong leading lady. Rose Hobart certainly doesn't match up to the wonderful Janet Gaynor, who worked with Farrell so well in previous Borzage films (Seventh Heaven, Lucky Star). Hobart's line delivery is incredibly flat and there is very little chemistry between her and Farrell. In fact, there's a tragic scene where she just stands there and barely reacts to what has just happened. But this is still a movie with some great moments thanks to Farrell's fine performance and Borzage's very impressive visualization of heaven.

Postscript: The film was not very successful. Fritz Lang would follow up with his own version of Liliom in 1934. The play was later adapted into the Rogers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.

A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquith) ****

Director: Anthony Asquith

Cast: Uno Henning, Norah Baring, Hans Adalbert Schlettow

Background: Asquith was the son of a former UK Prime Minister. He had previously directed three silent films, none of them very successful.

Story: Joe (Henning) makes a daring escape from prison to see Sally (Baring), then we flash back to see what landed him in prison. We follow as he falls for Sally, his later disappointment, and his growing mad obsession as Sally falls in love with Harry (Schlettow).

Thoughts: Another of the very late silent films that shows the true power of the silent era. This is an absolutely wonderful film where not much really happens, but the emotion are expressed powerfully with some stunning images. Watching Uno Henning brilliantly depict a seemingly normal man's descent into madness and obsession is quite a treat. Director Anthony Asquith is able to create very suspenseful moments out of ordinary events. There is a scene in a movie theater that is a masterwork of editing. Later, there is a pivotal scene that takes place in a barbershop that is incredibly tense thanks to outstanding performances from both Henning and Norah Baring and Asquith's ability to milk the situation for maximum effect. The ending has some major surprises in store and I appreciate the unpredictable way the characters react to the situations that occur at the very end. What a fantastic job by everyone involved.

Postscript: Despite not being very well known by modern audiences, the film has an excellent reputation among critics and those who have managed to see it. Asquith went on to a long career, with notable films being The Browning Version, Pygmalion, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Neither Henning or Baring had very successful careers.

L'Age D'Or (Luis Bunuel) **1/2

Director: Luis Bunuel

Cast: Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Max Ernst, Josep Llorens Artigas

Background: Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali collaborated the previous year on the surrealist short film Un Chien Andalou, which contained many shocking images

Story: A young couple (Modot, Lys) are madly in love, but keep getting interrupted in the throes of passion. The interrupters include the bourgeois and the church.

Thoughts: I completely understand what Bunuel and Dali were going for here. Their attack on the corrupt bourgeois and organized religion was certainly meant to get a strong reaction and they definitely succeeded at that. The fascinating and often shocking images they produce definitely caught my attention and I can admire and sympathize with much of the point that they were making. However, the film is just too abstract and disorganized for my taste. That's not necessarily a knock on Bunuel, since that's exactly what he wanted. He was no fan of linear narratives and wanted to use film in a different manner. I admire him for that, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Postscript: The film caused quite a stir when it was release, causing mass protests. In some theaters, the audience was attacked and artwork from Dali and other surrealists was destroyed in the lobby. The film was quickly banned by censors and didn't premiere in the United States until 1979.

The Blue Angel (Josef Von Sternberg) ***1/2

Director: Josef Von Sternberg

Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti, Hans Albers

Background: Josef Von Sternberg and Emil Jannings previously collaborated on 1928's The Last Command. Prior to this, Marlene Dietrich had acted in a few German silent films, but was mostly known for her stage performances.

Story: Professor Rath (Jannings) disapproves of his students visiting a local cabaret to see Lola Lola's (Dietrich) act. He takes a visit to the cabaret in an attempt to catch them there, but finds himself drawn to Lola.

Thoughts: Emil Jannings scores again with another compelling performance in a von Sternberg film. He does a terrific job with the sad portrait of a noble professor whose desire causes his downfall. This was the movie that made Marlene Dietrich a star. Her performance here isn't as accomplished or provocative as in her Hollywood follow up Morocco, but she still has a wonderful screen presence and it's easy to see why this man falls for her. Von Sternberg is a great storyteller and he moves swiftly through the plot here, nicely building up to the dramatic moment when Professor Rath must perform in his old hometown. The ending is perhaps a bit overly melodramatic, but it is suitably set up by the rest of the movie. This film was made in both English and German language versions, but I recommend watching the German version with subtitles as the case is more comfortable with the dialogue.

Postscript: This role won Dietrich a contract with Paramount and she worked with Von Sternberg later that year in Morocco, cementing her as a Hollywood star.

Beauty Prize (Augusto Genina) ***

Director: Augusto Genina

Cast: Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, Augusto Bandini

Background: Fresh off her career defining turn in Pandora's Box, Louise Brooks makes her talkie (and singing) debut in a French language film. GW Pabst (director of Pandora's Box) and Rene Clair collaborated on the screenplay.

Story: Lucienne (Brooks) is a typist who decides to enter the Miss Europe beauty pageant. She wins and becomes an instant celebrity, much to the displeasure of her boyfriend.

Thoughts: Louise Brooks is always a welcome presence and her performance in Beauty Prize doesn't change that. She plays more of an innocent ingenue in this one, a departure from her most well known roles, but nothing new for her (see: Beggars of Life). It's pretty interesting to watch her get caught up in the world of being a celebrity and how that affects her relationship. It's am,using that her character is named Lucienne so people can call her Lulu (her famous character from Pandora's Box). My main quibble with the film is the story moves through the events in a fairly unimaginative fashion. She does this, then this, then that, and so on. It's just a little too plain for the film to be truly compelling, although the ending certainly does reach that status. Brooks carries this movie and makes it eminently watchable and seeing her sing for the first time is a delight.

Postscript: Louise Brooks returned to Hollywood, but would only make 6 more films. After her retirement, she was found working as a salesgirl at Saks 5th Avenue.

The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau) ***

Director: Jean Cocteau

Cast: Enrique Rivero

Background: Cocteau wasn't just a filmmaker. He also did poetry, playwrighting, novels, painting, and designing. He was friends with some of the most notable artists of the day, including Pablo Picasso. The Blood of a Poet was his first film.

Story: Four vignettes detailing the bizaare thoughts and visions of a poet (Rivero).

Thoughts: Not sure what to make of this one. There certainly is some fascinating imagery here. Cocteau does stuff with the camera that truly amazed me during the entire running time, and in that sense it is at times a compelling portrait of the mind of an artist. But much of it feels quite unnecessary, with repetitive shots and camera tricks that only serve to annoy. Cocteau is clearly an amazingly talented filmmaker and the images he produces here ignite a visceral thrill, but much like a big budget action movie with grand special effects but a weak plot, this film left me cold for the most part. But it would be stupid to deny how impressive the technique is and it is definitely a worthwhile and important film. I just wish it could've been in the service of something that made more emotional, if not logical sense, such as Dovzhenko's Earth.

Postscript: Cocteau continued directing films, including two more "sequels to this one (Orpheus, The Testament of Orpheus) which comprised the Orpheus trilogy. His most popular film is a 1946 adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone) ****

Director: Lewis Milestone

Cast: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander, William Bakewell

Background: The film was based on the celebrated anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque. Lewis Milestone had already gained some notoriety for directing the films The Racket and Two Arabian Knights, the latter of which won him an Oscar for Best Comedy Direction.

Story: A group of German schoolboys are convinced by their teacher to enlist in World War I. The story follows one such soldier named Paul (Ayres) and how the war deeply affects him.

Thoughts: Simply put, this is among the greatest films ever made. Milestone does a terrific job in showing the horrors of war, managing to avoid the common hypocrisy found in war films where the action scenes are made to look exciting while at the same time decrying the very action they are showing. The battle scenes here are extremely unpleasant and show the true nature of trench warfare. There's a scene where German troops attack a trench and are picked off by machine gun fire that seems to have inspired Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan. However, the two scenes that really stick out to me are when Paul gets a furlough and returns home for a brief stay. He meets a group of civilians who attempt to tell him what needs to be done to win the war, and tell him he just doesn't see the big picture. Later, he goes back to see his old teacher who is giving a lecture to another group of kids, attempting to get them to enlist. When Paul explains the true nature of what the war is like, he is called a coward by the students. These two scenes really resonate because they eerily remind me of the chickenhawks that dominate current foreign policy debates. It's a shame that someone could ever be considered a coward for not wanting to kill people or be killed themselves and that to denounce a war could be considered unpatriotic. It's an incredible tragedy that 79 years later, we apparently haven't learned a damn thing.

Postscript: All Quiet on the Western Front won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and also received nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. It was named on the first AFI top 100 list, although dropped off of the list in the 2nd edition.

Under the Roofs of Paris (Rene Clair) ***

Director: Rene Clair

Cast: Albert Prejean, Pola Illery, Edmond T. Greville, Bill Bocket, Gaston Modot

Background: Rene Clair had been directing movies since 1924 and this was his 6th film. and his first talkie. He preferred silents, but was forced to switch to sound for financial reasons.

Story: Albert (Prejean) is a street singer who falls in love with Lola (Illery), but their relationship is threatened when Albert is set up for a crime and gets arrested.

Thoughts: For the most part, this is a charming movie with romantic moments set against a nice musical backdrop. The problem is the lack of character development. The two leads are fine and have terrific chemistry, but supporting characters become important in the third act and the film does not properly develop them for us to swallow the ending it wants to sell us. The movie does have a strong mix of sound and visuals for an early talkie and a charming theme song sets the perfect mood . Clair is certainly a talented technical filmmaker, but there are too many holes in the plot for it to be completely successful. Still, it's paced well and has a light, breezy atmosphere that makes it a fun time.

Postscript: Clair continued directing movies through the 60s, including 1931's Liberty For Us and 1945's Agatha Christie adaptation And Then There Were None.

Min and Bill (George W. Hill) ***

Director: George W. Hill

Cast: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau, Don Dillaway

Background: Marie Dressler was in a diner contemplating suicide when she was rediscovered by a producer that recommended her to King Vidor, who cast her in 1928's The Patsy. The role reignited her career, which was still strong enough to land her a lead role here. Veteran character actor Beery teamed up with director Hill earlier the same year in The Big House.

Story: Min (Dressler) runs a dockside hotel and has been raising Nancy (Jordan) since she took her in as a young child. Min is forced to make difficult decisions when a truant officer and the return of Nancy's mother (Rambeau) threaten the mother-daughter relationship she has developed. Min is supported by Bill (Beery), the captain of a fishing boat who lives in the hotel.

Thoughts: On the surface, this is the story of a woman who will do anything to protect the girl she raised from childhood. But the movie itself is so much more interesting than that. what really makes the movie work so well is the awkward, sad, carefully studied relationship between the two title characters. This works so well because of the nuanced performances of veterans Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Dressler, free from the one note drunk caricature that doomed her in Anna Christie, creates a fascinating character, torn between her desire to be a mother to this girl and the desire to protect the girl at all costs. Beery has been a pleasant surprise in both of his talkies I've seen to date. I felt he ruined the Louise Brooks silent vehicle Beggars of Life, but his cheerfully gruff performance here is a delight. No matter how many insults Bill throws Min's way, he is there to support her in the end. It's a touching and insightful relationship. There are a few flaws in the film, including uneven performances in the supporting cast and a poorly done scene on a runaway boat, but for the most part this is a solid character study.

Postscript: Marie Dressler would win the Oscar for this role and Wallace Beery would go on to win an Oscar hismelf for his role in King Vidor's The Champ.

The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard) ***

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

Cast: Norma Shearer, Chester Morris, Conrad Nagel, Robert Montgomer, Florence Eldridge

Background: Based on the novel "Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott. Robert Z. Leonard was a long time silent film director who made his first film in 1913. Norma Shearer had also been around for a while, with her most notable role being Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg.

Story: Jerry (Shearer) finds out her husband Ted (Morris) has been cheating on her, so she decides to get revenge and have her own affair.

Thoughts: A sophisticated drama that works for the most part thanks to the willingness to explore realistic issues in adult relationships and the fantastic central performance of Norma Shearer. The story also mixes in a touch of melodramatic tragedy, but in so doing lays the groundwork to examine what happens when you don't end up with the person you always wanted. The film generally works along these grounds, but runs into some problems during the third act. The script places Shearer's character in a position that she does not deserve at all. The completely one sided view of the what happened between her and her husband reflects the sexist attitudes of the day. It's really unfortunate, because the film at times feels very advanced (for 1930) in its treatment of gender roles, but then completely obliterates that with an awful ending where only one character says what needs to be said. Shearer's compelling performance still makes this a worthwhile film.

Postscript: Norma Shearer went on to win an Oscar for this role. She would end up being nominated four more times. The film was also nominated for Best picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.

Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko) ***1/2

Director: Aleksandr Dovzhenko

Cast: Stepan Shukrat, Semyon Svashenko, Yuliya Solntseva, Yelena Maksimova, Nikolai Nademsky

Background: This was the third film in Dovzhenko's Ukrainian trilogy, following up the celebrated Arsenal from 1929.

Story: Earth follows the experience of collective farming and the lives that those farmers lead, particularly highlighting their battle with wealthy landowners.

Thoughts: I wasn't a fan of Dovzhenko's previous film Arsenal, because I felt that the director squandered his considerable talent by showing off when it wasn't necessary and making an absurd argument that he could not possibly support with his style. What changes here is that he takes a simple story of poor vs. rich farmers and infuses it with a beautiful lyricism. The film's narrative does not always make logical sense, but it sure makes emotional sense. The long expansive shots of the collective farms are breathtaking, and the brilliant editing provides many tremendously exciting moments such as the buildup that accrues while the farmers await a tractor. And this time Dovzhenko has a powerful, timeless argument to make and he makes it with considerable flair.

Postscript: Earth is the most highly regarded of Dovzhenko's films. He would give up directing after only making 7 films and turn to other pursuits such as writing novels. He would become disillusioned with the totalitarian nature of Stalin's regime.

Billy the Kid (King Vidor) ****

Director: King Vidor

Cast: Johnny Mack Brown, Wallace Beery, Kay Johnson, Karl Dane

Background: King Vidor was a highly regarded silent film director (The Crowd, The Big Parade) who made an interesting, but unsuccessful departure with his first sound film, Hallelujah! He followed that up with the stagey comedy Not So Dumb. This would be his third sound film. In the cast are relative newcomer Johnny Mack Brown and veteran character actor Wallace Beery.

Story: Billy the Kid (Brown) seeks revenge for the coldblooded murders of two of his friends, but must deal with Sheriff Pat Garret (Beery), a man who likes Billy but is still determined to do his job.

Thoughts: Vidor's film is one of the biggest surprises since I started the project. This is a western that mixes many different elements to make a fantastically entertaining story. Instead of presenting the entire life of Billy the Kid, Vidor keeps the focus to a short period of time and his battle with Pat Garrett. This keeps the story in a nice, controlled situation making for very tense shootouts and standoffs. A scene where Garrett and his deputies have Billy and his friends cornered in a small cabin is incredibly suspenseful. But what really makes the film so great is the considerable wit displayed in both the dialogue and the way the events play out. It almost feels as if Ernst Lubitsch had directed a western. Take for example Billy's repeated attempts to escape from prison while playing poker with Garrett, just barely missing several opportunities in hilarious fashion. Johnny Mack Brown gives a surprisingly reserved and completely cheerful performance as Billy. He resists the temptation to overact and instead lets Wallace Beery steal the show with a memorable supporting turn as the gruff sherriff who also has his own touches of wit. And Vidor gives us a lovely ending that is straight out of Lubitsch, if not straight out of history. What a brilliant surprise and another reminder of what makes this project so much fun.

Postscript: The film hel;ped make Johnny Mack Brown a western star and helped Beery make the transition to sound films. Beery would go on to win the Best Actor Oscar for 1931's The Champ.

The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh) **

Director: Raoul Walsh

Cast: John Wayne, Marguerite Churchill, Tyrone Power Sr., El Brendel

Background: Marion Morrison had appeared in movies over the last several years in small bit parts, often in films directed by John Ford. It was director Raoul Walsh who gave him his first starring role here, and producer Winfield Sheehan who helped come up with the legendary name John Wayne.

Story: Breck Coleman (Wayne) joins a group of settlers heading west, suspecting that the person leading the group is responsible for the death of a friend. During the long journey, he falls in love with one of the settlers (Churchill) and works to protect her.

Thoughts: Even in 1930, John Wayne had it. The amazing screen presence that would go on to fascinate audiences for decades was evident in one of his earliest roles. Director Raoul Walsh does him some favors with some stunning showing the barren plains of the trail out west and the very long line of stagecoaches and horses making the perilous journey. There's a particularly brilliant shot when they attempt to navigate a steep hill. It certainly helps that the modern print of this film looks amazing, perhaps the cleanest print I've seen of a movie this old. The problem with the film is that there's not enough material to support the 120 minute running time. As great as Walsh does with the visuals, he has issues with pacing. Perhaps the idea was to give the audience a feeling of what it was like for the people who made this long, tedious journey. If so, then he was all too successful. This film feels like a long journey, but the destination just isn't worth it.

Postscript: Wayne would of course go on to be one of the most iconic stars in Hollywood history, but it didn't happen right away. Wayne toiled away for most of the 30s, until John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. That is the movie that would make Wayne a star. Raoul Walsh would continue a long directing career, making several films with Errol Flynn and James Cagney. His last film was 1964's A Distant Trumpet.

Abraham Lincoln (DW Griffith) *1/2

Director: DW Griffith

Cast: Walter Huston, Una Merkel, Ian Keith, Kay Hammond

Background: DW Griffith is one of the most notable filmmakers in history. He got his start as far back as 1908, and directed many classics during the silent era such as Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, and Way Down East. This would be his first sound film.

Story: A biopic about the life of Abraham Lincoln (Huston), following his early romance with Ann Rutledge (Merkel) and his later Presidency and management of the Civil War.

Thoughts: Griffith was of course a legendary silent director able to paint considerable tragedy on to a large canvas and basically invented modern film structure. He was a director ahead of his time. That's why it's so shocking that here he appears to be a director way behind his time. This Lincoln biopic is told with little passion or wit. Hell, most of the second half of the movie is Lincoln sitting still waiting for battle reports. Sure, there are a few Civil War battle scenes at the end, but they certainly don't measure up to the fascinating large scale scenes Griffith has supplied us in the past. Aside from Griffith's uninspired direction, the biggest problem is Walter Huston's portrayal of the title character. Lincoln was one of the most charismatic presidents in history, but Huston plays him as a simple folksy guy thrust into a major role. He brings absolutely no gravitas to the role, and the considerable wit that Lincoln displayed throughout his Presidency is also missing.

Postscript: The film was not very successful and Griffith would only make one more sound film before retiring for good.

Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman) ***

Director: Victor Heerman

Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Lillian Roth, Margaret Dumont, Louis Sorin

Background: Animal Crackers is the second Marx Brothers film after the success of The Cocoanuts and was also adapted from their Broadway show.

Story: Famous explorer Captain Spaulding (Marx) attends a party in his honor at the home of Mrs. Rittenhouse and helps investigate the theft of a valuable painting during the party.

Thoughts: The Marx Brothers are hilarious here, mixing clever wordplay and oddball shenanigans to great comic effect. That is when they are actually on screen. The curious thing about Animal Crackers is how often that is not the case. The movie pauses frequently so the supporting characters can explain the plot, and none of the supporting characters are funny or interesting at all, even the wonderful Lillian Roth who was so great in Lubitsch's The Love Parade. It often ruins the comic momentum of the movie and prevents Animal Crackers from being as good as it really should be. Some of these problems also existed in The Cocoanuts, but that one hit some higher points, with the hilarious two room screwball sequence that is funnier than anything here. Still, there is plenty of funny material here to make this one a worthwhile effort.

Postscript: Animal Crackers is one of the Marx Brothers most well know films, and was very successful upon commercial release. Groucho himself would later say that this was the best of their movies.

Anna Christie (Clarence Brown) **

Director: Clarence Brown

Cast: Greta Garbo, George F. Marion, Charles Bickford, Marie Dressler

Background: Greta Garbo was one of the biggest stars of the late silent era, and the films she made with frequent leading man John Gilbert (especially Flesh and the Devil) were very successful. She decided to make her talkied debut in this adaptation of Eugene O' Neil's Broadway play. She reteams with Clarence Brown, the director of Flesh and the Devil.

Story: Anna (Garbo) visits her seafaring father (Marion) for the first time in 15 years, looking for a place to stay. While on his barge, she meets a sailor named Matt (Bickford) who immediately falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. However, her father does not approve, wanting her to escape the kind of life he lives.

Thoughts: Garbo's deep, thickly accented voice was not likely what audiences were expecting when hearing the silent film star for the first time, but it is appropriate for the lost, broken character she plays. What is not appropriate is the abysmal sound quality of this early talkie, much worse than even some of the films that were made a year earlier. This really causes a problem for the film because the thick accents used by most of the cast are sometimes indecipherable and I'd say at least 1/3rd of the lines spoken are almost impossible to make out. But the film also runs into problems with structure. Based on a Broadway play, the staginess is to be expected, but the long and simplistic scene structure skips through events too quickly for the audience to become emotionally invested. Garbo's performance is a bit awkward, wooden at times and overdone at others. She struggled to find the right balance in her first talkie. Marie Dressler also shows up in a supporting role, but the one note drunk she is forced to play does the usually wonderful actress no favors. Only George F. Marion as the father acquits himself well with a sad portrait of a man who has many regrets.

Postscript: The film received three Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Actress. Garbo would adjust to talkies nicely and continue a very successful career over the next decade, receiving two more Oscar nominations. Marie Dressler would win the Best Actress Oscar the next year for Min and Bill.

Feet First (Clyde Bruckman) ***1/2

Director: Clyde Bruckman

Cast: Harold Lloyd, Barbara Kent, Robert McWade, Lillian Leighton, Noah Young

Background: Lloyd's first talkie was the 1929 film Welcome Danger (changed after originally being shot as a silent). Harold was not happy with it, but audiences flocked to the theaters to hear their favorite star speak for the first time. This would be his first movie filmed with the intent of being a talkie, and harold borrowed inspiration from his most famous film, Safety Last! for the conclusion.

Story: Harold Horne (Lloyd) is a shoe salesman who falls in love with his boss's daughter (Kent) and pretends to be a wealthy tycoon to impress her. He sneaks on to a ship and has to work hard to hide his true nature. When her job is in jeopardy, Harold must take drastic measures to save the day.

Thoughts: Harold Lloyd proves that while his sound films might not have been very successful, he was just as funny in them as he was in the silents. This is a solid comedy that shows Lloyd's natural everyman charm wasn't hurt by the added difficulties of recorded dialogue. One of the best gags in the movie is when hungry stowaway Harold comes up with inventive ways of sharing his potential girlfriend's meal. There's some fun wordplay involving Harold's script for selling shoes and how it eventually causes trouble for him. The film ends with another of Harold's thrill sequences, and while this one essentially copies his famous sequence in Safety Last! (the very best silent film I have seen), he still manages to do enough new things with the concept to make it memorable. Two moments are particularly astonishing: 1) At the top of the building, Harold almost loses his balance on the edge of the building; and 2) a first person perspective shot with the camera hurtling toward the ground. Feet First does lose some points for the unfortunate racial stereotype embodied in the character of an African-American janitor played by Willie Best, but thankfully the role is extremely limited.

Postscript: Harold Lloyd's talkies would not be as popular as his silents, although it is commonly believed that it had more to do with Depression era audiences having difficulties identifying with his character than any difficulties adjusting to the new technology. Lloyd would make a few more films before retiring, only to reappear one more time in the 40s for the Preston Sturges satire The Sins of Harold Diddlebock.

City Girl (FW Murnau) ****

Director: FW Murnau

Cast: Charles Farrell, Mary Duncan, David Torrence, Edith Yorke, Tom McGuire

Background: Farrell and Duncan had previously worked together on the Frank Borzage lost film The River. Farrell is best known for the Borzage melodramas he made with Janet Gaynor.

Story: Lem (Farrell) goes to the city to sell his family's wheat crop. While there, he meets and falls in love with a waitress named Kate (Duncan). they get married, but when he takes his bride back home, she has trouble fitting in due to his father's (Torrence) strong disapproval.

Thoughts: One of the best things about Murnau's films is his gift for beautiful simplicity. The courtship between Farrell and Duncan in this film is one of the best examples of this. There's no huge, dramatic buildup to it. We just see two people enjoying each other's company and how that quickly turns into love. Farrell, well versed in the wonderful Frank Borzage melodramas, is as good as anyone at expressing pure love without a trace of cynicism. With Duncan, they create two convincing characters by refusing to overplay scenes for dramatic effect. In fact, the remarkable thing about the film is that no character in it is reduced to one note. Even the temperamental worker who tries to take advantage of Kate is portrayed as a three dimensional person. By doing this, Murnau allows these fully realized characters to interact in realistic and fascinating ways, as the distrust between two cultures comes to a head. Sure, the third act is melodramatic, but even the most melodramatic moments are still played with a fine touch of realism. Witness the scene when Kate is upset at Lem for not standing up to his father for her. Instead of a huge shouting match argument, Kate simply walks away from him. Murnau remarkably kept making silent films eventhough it hurt his box office grosses, but it's doubtful that a sound version of this film would have been able to achieve the kind of reserved romanticism that Murnau nails here.

Postscript: Murnau would only make one more film before dying in a car accident. Mary Duncan retired from films just 3 years later after getting married. Farrell continued acting throughout the sound era, but his most successful films were silent.

Up the River (John Ford) *

Director: John Ford

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Claire Luce, Warren Hymer

Story: Steve (Bogart) and Judy (Luce) are former inmates trying to make it on the outside. When they are blackmailed by someone who wants to pull a job, their convict friends Saint Louis (Tracy) and Dannemora Dan (Hymer) break out of prison to help.

Background: This was the first major feature length films for Bogart and Tracy. Ford was a very active director in the silent era, but had yet to really show his full potential.

Thoughts: It's amazing how much talent went into a movie that is just painfully awful in every single way. Ford had made some decent silent films at this point, but he was not ready for the talkies. The editing is just miserable, with jump cuts all over the place that don't make sense. A young, fresh faced Bogart certainly has some appeal here, and the film seems to be going for a nice, pleasant charm, but without any laughs it is patently boring. This one is a misfire for everyone involved.

Postscript: Ford, Bogart, and Tracy would all go on to become Hollywood legends. Tracy and Ford would work together again almost 28 years later in The Last Hurrah and then 4 years after that in How the West Was Won.

Morocco (Josef von Sternberg) ***1/2

Director: Josef von Sternberg

Cast: Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou

Background: Gary Cooper wasn't yet a huge star, but had a supporting role in Best Picture winner Wings and a breakout lead performance in The Virginian. Dietrich had already worked with director von Sternberg in The Blue Angel, but this was her major introduction to American audiences.

Story: The Foreign Legion arrives in the town of Mogador at the same time singer Amy Jolly (Dietrich) begins her nightclub act. Amy soon finds herself falling for legionairre Tom Brown (Cooper), but political intrigue threatens their romance.

Thoughts: Another solid effort from von Sternberg. He really has a knack for showing us complex characters, always uncertain about where they are and where they are going. Cooper and Dietrich take that concept and run with it to create memorable performances. Adolphe Menjou even shows up as "the other man" and is given multiple dimensions, refreshingly not a one note villain we're supposed to hate. Dietrich's opening night club sequence in a tux and top hat is unforgettable (including a same sex kiss), not to mention the follow up sequence where she sells "forbidden fruit" to the legionnaires. Despite not much happening in terms of story, the film evokes a nice mood of intrigue and gives you a great sense of the lives that these characters lead. Because of that, he's able to pull off an ending that probably sounded hokey as written, but is a wonderful cinematic moment.

Postscript: The film was nominated for four Oscars: Best Director, Best Lead Actress, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. Both Dietrich and Cooper would go on to become major Hollywood stars.

Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch) ***

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan, Claud Allister, Zasu Pitts, Tyler Brooke

Background: Ernst Lubitsch had great success in his first talkie The Love Parade, a 1929 musical that featured Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette McDonald. He decided to mine that well once more by reteaming with MacDonald and enlisting Broadway star Jack Buchanan to play the male lead.

Story: Countess Helene (MacDonald) leaves her fiance (Allister) waiting at the altar and flees to Monte Carlo. While there, she catches the eye of Count Rudolph (Buchanan), who poses as her hairdresser to get close to her.

Thoughts: Another slight disappointment from Lubitsch, although it's still a really good film. Jeanette MacDonald is once again a perfect leading lady for the director, and she has a memorable music number early in the film while on a train, when she sings "Beyond a Blue Horizon" and Lubitsch includes outside sounds (like the train whistle) to complement the music. Part of the problem with the film is the odd choice of Jack Buchanan as a leading man. He just doesn't really have the right chemistry with McDonald and his hammy performance is at times highly annoying. I applaud the idea to get a less conventional leading man every now and then, but even then Buchanan really needed to dial it down a little bit. Also problematic is the lack of interesting supporting characters that we usually get in Lubitsch films (see: Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth in The Love Parade, Jean Hersholt in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg). Both the leads have servants and despite some early promise, neither of them develop as an interesting character. The film still works thanks to MacDonald and the trademark Lubitsch wit (most memorable is the running bit where a joke is passed around until one of the tellers figures out that the joke is about him).

Postscript: Buchanan never did break out into a successful leading man and his most notable performances would come as a supporting character in The Band Wagon and Penny Serenade. Lubitsch would reunite the Chevalier-MacDonald combo one more time for his last musical, 1932's One Hour With You. "Beyond the Blue Horizon" became a hit song for Jeanette MacDonald.

Hell's Angels (Howard Hughes) ***1/2

Director: Howard Hughes

Cast: Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow, John Darrow, Lucien Prival

Background: Howard Hughes was ready to spent a lot of money (eventually $4 million) on a big budget action picture, hoping to outdo the enormously successful Wings. He alienated his first choice for director, so took over the directing reins himself. Halfway through the film, Hughes made the decision to switch the film from silent to talkie, as that's what audiences now wanted in the wake of The Jazz Singer. This forced him to replace Norwegian actress Greta Nissen (due to her accent) with a young Jean Harlow. Hughes brought in director James Whale to help direct the dialogue sequences.

Story: It is the start of World War 1, and two brothers, Monte (Lyon) and Roy (Hall) enlist in the Royal Flying Corps and fly dangerous combat missions against the Germans. Both are in love with the beautiful seductress Helen (Harlow).

Thoughts: What a film! This is certainly not without flaws, chiefly among them the mostly pedestrian dialogue, but what this film gets right, it really gets right! There is a stunning sequence depicting a zeppelin raid, which is by far the most impressive action scene filmed up to this point and still holds up today. The third act shows a large scale aerial dogfight involving over 30 planes that goes far beyond where Wings took us, including shots of a plane heading right at the camera and some spectacular crashes. But it's not only action scenes that are impressive. Jean Harlow makes her major film debut playing a fascinating woman that has a stunning sexual freedom that was very rare even in the pre-code days of cinema. See the scene where she seduces her man by asking if he would be shocked if she "put on something more comfortable". An impressive achievement despite its many flaws, this one will certainly stay with me for a long time.

Postscript: The expensive film would prove to be a hit and make back $8 million at the box office (equivalent to over $100 million today). The making of the film was detailed in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator.

The Bat Whispers (Roland West) ***

Director: Roland West

Cast: Chester Morris, Una Merkel, Maude Eburne, Richard Tucker, William Bakewell, Wilson Benge

Background: The story was adapted by West from a play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart. This was a remake of Roland West's 1926 silent film called The Bat. None of the original cast survive to this version, but West does reteam with his Alibi star Chester Morris.

Story: A criminal known as The Bat has been terrorizing police by announcing his intentions before his crimes and still managing to pull them off. His latest task is to go after $500,000 of stolen money from a bank heist that he knows is hidden in a secret room of a country mansion.

Thoughts: Roland West had already made one of the better early talkies with the previous year's Alibi. Once again, he's able to create a strong visual style and include some breathtaking camera tricks, including a breathtaking shot where the camera sweeps in to the house from far out. There are many eerie scenes taking place in almost complete darkness, with only enough light to see shadows of the effectively ominous presence of the Bat. It's a little disappointing then that this film doesn't quite live up to the promising beginning. The third act is the biggest problem, for when we fianlly see the villain in his bat costume, he's not scary at all and actually quite funny. Probably would have been better to never show the costume if they couldn't design a better one than that. Then there is an odd little final monologue that breaks the fourth wall and tries to be too clever. Still a pretty good horror movie, but it had the potential to be much better.

Postscript: This was the second to last film for director Roland West, whose career was hurt by rumors that he murdered his mistress. The villain in this film did inspire comic artist Bob Kane to create Batman (thankfully he changed the costume!).

Not So Dumb (King Vidor) **1/2

Director: King Vidor

Cast: Marion Davies, Elliott Nugent, Raymond Hackett, Franklin Pangborn, Julia Faye, William Holden

Background: After experimenting in his first talkie, Vidor returns to more familiar territory, teaming up with Marion Davies. The two had successfully collaborated on the silent films Show People and The Patsy. The story was adapted from a stage play written by Marc Connelly and George Kaufman.

Story: Dulcy Parker (Davies) wants to help out her fiance's business career, but all of her attempts backfire and threaten a very important business relationship.

Thoughts: After being forced to use a (very bad) French accent in her first talkie, Davies is allowed to let her spirited charm loose here, and she is an absolute delight throughout this film. She has an endless enthusiasm in every single scene that really lifts an otherwise stagey and dull affair. The rest of the cast just doesn't seem to be up to her level. But the real surprise is the clunky direction from King Vidor. This is the same man who made The Crowd, and even his misfire Hallelujah! showcased very advanced technique. Unfortunately, it seems like he chose to phone in this one. The camera barely moves at all and he does absolutely nothing visually. The dialogue itself isn't as clever or funny as the writers appear to believe. Without any support, Davies is left to carry the whole thing by herself, and to her credit she almost makes it work.

Postscript: The next year, Vidor would make The Champ with Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper, but it would be another 16 years before he made his most highly regarded classic, 1946's Duel in the Sun. Davies would continue making comedies, eventually breaking into musicals such as 1933's Going Hollywood with Bing Crosby.

The Silver Horde (George Archainbaud) **1/2

Director: George Archainbaud

Cast: Evelyn Brent, Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, Louis Wolheim, Raymond Hatton

Background: Director George Archainbaud was a veteran of 60 silent films and was a very prodigious filmmaker, making 9 films in the previous two years. Evelyn Brent gained notoriety for a series of performances she gave in the Josef von Sternberg films Underworld, The Last Command, and The Dragnet.

Story: Boyd Emerson (McCrea) is a salmon fishermen fighting for control of the salmon business in Alaska, while his heart is torn between high society Mildred Wayland (Jean Arthur) and Cherry Malotte (Brent), a girl with a mysterious past.

Thoughts: The real revelation here is Evelyn Brent. While I found her to be a terrific actress in both Underworld and The Last Command, I'd never heard her speak before. Not only does her voice match the resourceful, tough-talking persona she showed in silent films, but she delivers her lines with a sparkling energy that betrays none of the problems that many actresses faced in the early sound era. In fact, a young Jean Arthur is completely wooden here, and it is she that would rise to fame throughout the decade. It's too bad the story, or the rest of the cast, just isn't strong enough to support Brent's wonderful performance. McCrea isn't interesting enough to be a leading man, and it almost seems like the director realizes this because much of the story is told from Brent's point of view. She creates a memorable character in Cherry Malotte, but she deserved a better script and cast to support her.

Postscript: Brent continued acting in many films over the next two decades, but it was Joel McCrea and especially Jean Arthur who would really become stars in the future. Arthur made a name for herself by playing the female lead in several Frank Capra classics, while McCrea would star in the classics Sullivan's Travels and The Palm Beach Story. Sadly, the modern DVD cover (see above) completely ignores Brent's presence in the film.

1930 - A New Decade Begins

The Depression had just hit the United States, but it also coincided with the invention of recorded dialogue in motion pictures. What started as an experiment in the Al Jolson vehicle The Jazz Singer was the standard in 1930. In fact, of the 27 films I am watching this year, only two of them are silents and both are foreign holdovers that just made it to the US. This new technology would spur a further interest in films, which were now a way for people to escape their economic despair.

The collection of films I have chosen this year include many from the great silent directors we've seen in the past, including King Vidor, FW Murnau, Frank Borzage, Ernst Lubitsch, and Josef von Sternberg. Future legends John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock would have some of their first sound films this year.

What will be really exciting is hearing some of the great silent stars speak for the first time, which was certainly also a great thrill for the audiences of the time. This year we will hear Harold Lloyd, Greta Garbo, Charles Farrell, Evelyn Brent, and many others. We will also witness the first major starring role for future Hollywood legend John Wayne in The Big Trail.

Here is the complete list:


Abraham Lincoln (DW Griffith)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone)
Animal Crackers (Victor Heerman)
Anna Christie (Clarence Brown)
Bat Whispers (Roland West)
Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau)
City Girl (FW Murnau)
Earth (Aleksandr Dovzhenko)
Feet First (Clyde Bruckman)
Hell's Angels (Howard Hughes)
Juno and the Paycock (Alfred Hitchcock)
L'âge d'or (Luis Bunuel)
Liliom (Frank Borzage)
Min and Bill (George W. Hill)
Monte Carlo (Ernst Lubitsch)
Morocco (Josef von Sternberg)
Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock)
Not So Dumb (King Vidor)
Song O My Heart (Frank Borzage)
Storm Over Asia (Vsevolod Pudovkin)
The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh)
The Blue Angel (Josef Von Sternberg)
The Divorcee (Robert Z. Leonard)
The Silver Horde (George Archainbaud)
Under the Roofs of Paris (Rene Clair)
Up the River (John Ford)

1929 Top 10, Year in Review, and Awards

1929 was a major year of transition for Hollywood. The last silent movies were being released and a new era of cinema would soon be born. But if the silents were ending in 1929, they would go out with a bang, as the top 6 films on my list were all silent films, and only two talkies made the top 10.

Problems with proper line delivery hampered many of the talkies, not to mention the stationary camera that was now required due to problems with moving sound equipment around. Best Picture winner The Broadway Melody is far from the best film of the year, but was actually one of the better early talkies and certainly better than the previous winner of the award (Wings).

We had some interesting debuts this year. The Coconauts was the first film from the Marx Brothers. Ernst Lubitsch made his first musical and introduced movie audiences to Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette Macdonald. Nina Mae Mckinney was dazzling in King Vidor's otherwise mediocre Hallelujah!, notable for being the first major Hollywood film with an all-black cast.

It will be exciting and interesting to see how sound films develop through the years, but it was great to see several great films that showcased the strength of silent cinema in its final year. Now here is my top 10 of 1929:

10. Queen Kelly (Erich Von Stroheim)

The Prince will do anything to see Gloria Swanson.

9. Lucky Star (Frank Borzage)

Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in a heartbreaking romance.

8. Alibi (Roland West)

The memorable interrogation sequence.

7. The Love Parade (Ernst Lubitsch)

Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth steal the show.

6. Diary of a Lost Girl (GW Pabst)

Louise Brooks as the resilient Thymiane.

5. Asphalt (Joe May)

Betty Amann (with her seductive eyes) makes a great femme fatale.

4. Pandora's Box (GW Pabst)

Louise Brooks is captivating in her most famous film role.

3. Napoleon (Abel Gance)

The memorable triptych sequence.

2. Spies (Fritz Lang)

Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the menacing Haghi.

1. The Iron Mask (Allan Dwan)

Fairbanks displays his acrobatic skill in this stirring goodbye to silent cinema.

Awards

Best Picture

Asphalt
*The Iron Mask
Napoleon
Pandora's Box
Spies

Best Director

Allan Dwan, The Iron Mask
*Abel Gance, Napoleon
Fritz Lang, Spies
Joe May, Asphalt
GW Pabst, Pandora's Box


Best Lead Actor

Maurice Chevalier, The Love Parade
Albert Dieudonne, Napoleon
*Douglas Fairbanks, The Iron Mask
Charles Farrell, Lucky Star
Chester Morris, Alibi


Best Lead Actress

Betty Amann, Asphalt
Louise Brooks, Diary of a Lost Girl
*Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box
Janet Gaynor, Lucky Star
Jeanette MacDonald, The Love Parade


Best Supporting Actor

Nigel De Brulier, The Iron Mask
*Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Spies
Lupino Lane, The Love Parade
Purnell Pratt, Alibi
Vladimir Roudenko, Napoleon


Best Supporting Actress

Bessie Love, The Broadway Melody
*Nina Mae McKinney, Hallelujah!
Seena Owen, Queen Kelly
Alice Roberts, Pandora's Box
Lillian Roth, The Love Parade


Best Screenplay

*The Iron Mask (Douglas Fairbanks)
The Love Parade (Ernest Vajda, Guy Bolton)
Napoleon (Abel Gance)
Pandora's Box (Joseph Fleisler, Ladislaus Vajda)
Spies (Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou)