The PAD Awards: 1920s/1930s

The twelve films of the 1920s and '30s. 

Well we've made it past our first milestone. And as we reached the end of the 1930s, we thought it'd be a good moment to stop and reflect on what we've seen so far. And so - without further ado - the PAD (Paul and Doug) Awards...

Least Favourite Film 

Paul says: The Broadway Melody

I think we’re pretty unanimous on this one. Obviously, we were expecting some antiquated movie-making in the first decade of the Oscars but The Broadway Melody went so far with this that it was almost unbearable to watch at times. Acting and directing techniques were very much of the silent era, so most of them came across as over-acting in a sub-standard Broadway musical. The whole thing felt like it had been glued together with Prit-Stick, and it very much belongs back in the time it was made, like mullet hairstyles or 90’s track suits.

Doug says: The Broadway Melody

Oh god The Broadway Melody was so awful. It makes me cringe even to think of it now. Full of long dance pieces that seemed unintelligible, with a plot and characters that didn’t make any logical sense. It was as if they’d never made a film before, and I think it won purely for the novelty of sound and music - even though some cinemas weren’t yet equipped with the technology and so showed this musical - silent. It was truly a transitional piece, showing the difficult manoeuvre from silent to talkie and how easy it is to fail at. Definitely one to be left in the dusty museum cabinets.  

Favourite Male Performance 

Paul says: Lionel Barrymore, in Grand Hotel

Of course I’d heard of the Barrymore dynasty- right from Ethel, John and Lionel in the ’30’s through to Drew in Charlie’s Angels. But this project fully exposed me to the elder generation, and Lionel floored me in Grand Hotel. He was a scene-stealer in You Can’t Take It With You too (yes, he was in two of them- Clark Gable was in three!), but his performance as a man going on a massive European bender before he perishes from a terminal illness had more depth to it due to his development throughout the film- and due to his confrontation with the prehensile businessman for whom he worked for decades, but was never thanked. Although Grand Hotel was far from the best film, and Barrymore is not the most central of the cast (Garbo nicked that slot), his climactic attack on the businessman’s lack of humanity was the centrepiece of the film for me. Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty was also a close second.

Doug says: Edward Arnold, in You Can't Take It With You

Truth be told I’m not in love with any of the male performances from this era. We’re still stuck in the period where men weren’t really allowed to emote in case they come across as pathetic, which means we have a lot of same-y performances with men saying quick-witted lines and then taking a drag of their cigarette. However there’s one that stands out - Edward Arnold in You Can’t Take It With You. As the rich banker who begins to realise that his family do actually mean more than his financial status, he delivered a tour-de-force in underplayed acting, culminating in a typical Capra-esque ‘letting go and being happy’ narrative that actually felt pretty real. Big props to the scene where he sat in the boardroom, silently stealing the focus without moving a muscle. Judi Dench would be in awe. 

Favourite Female Performance 

Paul says: Vivien Leigh, in Gone With The Wind

Let’s face facts here, Viv acts her socks off. She conveys Scarlett O’Hara’s volcanic, mercurial, snarling side whilst also rendering her sympathetic and even admirable in her inherent expertise at surviving the American Civil War (again, survival! A theme!). And she is the Queen of Resting Bitch Face. This is no mean feat, especially considering the chaos that Gone With the Wind’s production went through. Re-writes to prevent the film going past an inordinate four hours; one director (George Cukor) getting fired while his replacement, Victor Fleming, was temporarily replaced by a third director, Sam Wood, due to exhaustion; and a budget that was never quite enough. And yet, Leigh maintains her energy and her focus all the way through, flitting from expression to emotion without resorting to the over-acting of Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld.

Doug says: Clara Bow, in Wings 

It’s a close call, and while Vivien Leigh is deservedly iconic as Scarlett O’Hara, delivering each and every ‘fiddle dee dee’ with a genuine carelessness, I’ve found it hard to shake the star power of Clara Bow from my memory. Watching a 1927 silent film was a fair slog, and yet every scene Clara Bow was in immediately lit up and seized the attention. Her name is still remembered as one of the silent film greats, and it was easy to see why. She is all energy and vitality, much as Vivien Leigh would be a decade later, and she was an unexpected find among the juddering amateurish film-making of the late ‘20s. The scene when she hid from bombs under her car in particular stood out as a great example of her superb physicality mingled with a skilled acting ability and without any voice at all - ‘look mama, no sound’! 

Favourite Film 

Paul says: The Life of Emile Zola

For me, the key theme of the 20’s/30’s films is survival. As society crumbles then rebuilds itself through the Great Depression in both excellent and hideous ways, most of our main characters are striving to keep their heads above water in some way or another. Whether they are doing this quite literally whilst dodging gun fire in war films Wings and All Quiet on the Western Front; or trying to establish their name in a brand new community in Cimarron; or surviving at sea with no food in Mutiny on the Bounty; or fending off greedy businessmen and corrupt politicians in The Broadway Melody and You Can’t Take It With You. This was the constant throughout, but The Life of Emile Zola tackled survival in the face of regnant corruption, and the battle for a changed, good society, with full force. I was captivated by the courtroom scenes especially (we all know I love a good courtroom scene), and Paul Muni’s central performance oozes with charisma and sympathy. Above all, it was my most exciting film, an air-punching insight into one of history’s best known tales, and one which I would recommend to anyone who loves a bit of social injustice.

Doug says: It Happened One Night

Going into this from the very beginning has been fascinating, as we’ve started off with a black-and-white silent film (oh the barrel organ music…) and have just finished our first full-colour epic. And while there’s been a clear shift in the films’ content from memorialising World War One to anticipating World War Two, we’ve also seen the film-makers become more confident in their techniques, each film slicker and more professional than the last. For me, although Gone With The Wind was by far the best-made film, my favourite had to be the screwball comedy It Happened One Night. Before Frank Capra delved into saccharine sentimentality, he proved himself capable of hilarious film-work like this. Not only do Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert shimmer on screen with energy and vitality, but the film itself is very funny and so beautifully constructed. It’s one of the few that I’d willingly watch again, and the background of the Great Depression only serves to make it more intriguing. 

Average Film Scores 

Paul: 6.58/10

Doug: 5.75/10