It Happened One Night The one that started it all was one of those happy, random moments that you can only describe as divine intervention. For some reason, I had been researching the greatest movies of all time and saw that this 1934 comedy had appeared on multiple lists. I remember being curious that a comedy--a romantic comedy, at that--was so widely beloved when, at that time, I perceived that dramas = quality. I decided that I had to see what all the fuss was about, so I went out and rented it. Having just been previously obsessed with old TV shows like I Love Lucy and The Jeffersons, watching old stuff wasn't anything unusual for me. Seeing It Happened One Night for the first time, however, truly changed my life. I adored the film so much so I watched it twice in two days. Having such a positive experience with Capra & company, I decided to start exploring other older films to see what they offered. The rest, as they say, is history.
Rear Window It took me many years to come to this conclusion, but Rear Window is easily the best film Alfred Hitchcock ever made. I never really got what this film was all about until my third viewing, which happened in my very first film course. Over the years, I literally saw it in every single film course I had in college and I loved it more and more every time. Even as I was getting slightly bored with my then-favorite Hitchcock Psycho, Rear Window offered something new and fascinating every time I saw it. The main reason I chose Rear Window is simply because this film proved to me that sometimes you need to watch a film multiple times to truly get what the filmmaker was attempting and that the best films are the ones that stand up to repeated viewings.
A lot of people cite 1939 as the greatest year in the history of cinema- "the year the movies grew up" I read somewhere once- and it's rather easy to see why. Just take a gander at the highly exalted Oscar Best Picture line up: Love Affair and Dark Victory, two of the finest "women's pictures" of their time; Gone With the Wind, the romantic blockbuster that redefined the word "epic"; The Wizard of Oz, the fantasy classic that has gone on to be adored by both adults and children; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Frank Capra's scathing attack on Washington politics that made James Stewart a star; Stagecoach, the first proof that the Western could be used to make serious works of art; Ninotchka, the proof that after 15 years of wowing us with her dramatic skills, Garbo still had more tricks up her sleeve. Only Goodbye, Mr. Chips- inspirational teacher drama taken to the least interesting degree- and Wuthering Heights- a "romance" that never once feels romantic or passionate- really flounder among the nominees (I still haven't seen Of Mice and Men). Add to these seven Francois Truffaut's favorite film, French master Jean Renoir's society spoof The Rules of the Game, Cukor's hilarious bitchfest, The Women and one of Howard Hawks' best adventure films, Only Angels Have Wings and it turns out to be quite the year.
2. The first song I ever loved was Paula Abdul's "Straight Up." I used to hear it on the radio on the way to kindergarten all the time and fell in love. My mom borrowed the "Forever Your Girl" cassette from her co-worker's daughter and then made me a copy that I listened to a million times. This is why I'm so supportive of Paula, no matter what crazy shit she does on American Idol.
5. One time, my friend and I drove for over an hour just to get a Cinnabon. It was delicious by the way.
That's quite a trio there. 
The incomparable Miss Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, of course. How is it that Vivien Leigh, who had to carry an entire four hour epic all on her shoulders (if she didn't work, the film definitely wouldn't) and did it better than anyone in Hollywood could have done at that time, was passed over in favor of such middling performances like Tom Hanks in Big, Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies (really?) or Jamie fucking Foxx in Ray? I simply don't understand it. Who did she piss off to not even get mentioned on this list?
Bette Davis, Dark Victory
Easily Bette’s greatest performance of the 1930’s and one of her best overall (there are still a couple I would rank higher). Her early scenes as socialite bitch Judith Traherne are classic Bette- she chews up scenery with as much velocity as in her underrated performance in Dangerous- and she plays them with all the energy and zest she has. But, Bette’s true test as an actress comes when Judith is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She believably transforms into a softer woman, falling in love with her doctor and basically living life before she dies- which makes the beautifully done ending that much more effective and tear-jerking.
Irene Dunne, Love Affair
Normally, I love my Irene Dunne in screwball comedies (especially The Awful Truth- my favorite performance of hers), but there is something endearing about her work in Love Affair. Her natural chemistry with an also swell Charles Boyer is hardly expected but proves essential to the film (well, it is called Love Affair for God’s sake- you hope there would be something between them). Not exactly a rave-worthy performance, but Dunne more than holds her own and that final scene with her and Boyer is underplayed to perfection.
Greta Garbo, Ninotchka
Arguably, the finest performance the divine Greta Garbo ever gave. With so many fantastic chances to poke fun at her stiff Scandinavian self, a great director (Ernst Lubitsch) who believed in her untapped comedic talents and that iconic tagline (“Garbo Laughs!”), Ninotchka was the one time Garbo didn’t have to play the tragic heroine and actually got to have fun with a role. Her comedic timing is unbeatable- case in point, the scene where she asks Melvyn Douglas “Must you flirt?” to which he replies, “Well, I don’t have to, but I find it natural” and she responds with “Suppress it”- and up there with the great screwball comediennes of the era. It’s a shame that her next film (and comedy) Two-Faced Woman bombed so horribly and that Garbo never worked again in any film.
Greer Garson, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
A fine performance by one of the best actresses of the era who has, unfortunately, been quietly forgotten. Garson is a nice breath of fresh air in this stodgy film as the woman who finally lightens Mr. Chips up and her scenes prepare us for her fantastic work in the 40’s. With that said, her role really is too small to be seriously considered against these other giants (I’m not sure on an exact time, but she seems to come and go pretty quickly) and should have been downgraded to Best Supporting Actress.
Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind
Leigh is so perfect in this role that it’s almost frightening how fantastic she is. In the hands of Leigh, Scarlett becomes, at once, both a realistic and gritty Southern belle turned hard by the war and a grandiose, larger than life figure. It almost makes me shudder when I think about who David O. Selznick might have cast instead of her: Bette Davis (a goddess but would have dominated every scene she was in and would have torn her cast mates into shreds) or Paulette Goddard (a great comedienne but I can’t imagine her carrying this whole film) or Jean Arthur (another great comedienne but I can’t imagine her doing any sort of the physical labor that Scarlett and not slipping in a wisecrack or two). Even if you are not a fan of the film, you have to recognize the brilliance of Leigh’s performance.
Along with my own opinion, I asked my best friend and fellow Gone With the Wind fanatic Christi Brinker to weigh in on Ms. Leigh’s performance:
After watching Gone With the Wind for the first time, I was surprised to learn that Vivien Leigh was from
My Rants: Overall, 1939 was a fantastic year for actresses and Oscar, surprisingly, picked five great ones. With that being said, here is what my line up for 1939 looks like:
Jean Arthur, Mr. Smith Goes to
Bette Davis, Dark Victory
Greta Garbo, Ninotchka
Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz
Vivien Leigh, Gone With the Wind
(Honorable mentions go the fabulous Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford as the biggest bitches in an ensemble jam-packed full of them in The Women and Irene Dunne in Love Affair who, in a weaker year, would have made it on the list.)
I’ve already talked about Davis, Garbo and Leigh, so let’s start with Jean Arthur. Playing almost the exact role as her Babe Bennett in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (another fabulous performance), Arthur could have just coasted through Mr. Smith and been swallowed whole by James Stewart and Claude Rains’ intense performances. Instead, she miraculously holds her own, trading wisecracks with jaded reporter Thomas Mitchell and making fun of, before eventually falling in love with, James Stewart’s idealist senator. It’s the type of performance that Oscar then and now loves to avoid (i.e. Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger) but really should start embracing. Judy Garland also made an enormous Technicolor splash into the hearts of Americans all over with her transcendent performance in The Wizard of Oz. The role is so iconic that it easy to take
