Wallace Beery went up a little late, but he accepted his Best Actor trophy. It was the first of only six times this happened, and the first of only twice in the acting categories. Beery and March had just adopted children, so March made a joke about them winning for "best male performance," ha-ha. The third nominee, Alfred Lunt, probably would've felt crunchy about it had he cared. He and his wife Lynn Fontanne were both up for Academy Awards for The Guardsman, recreating their hit stage roles; both also declined MGM contracts so that they could return to treading the boards in New York.
The nominees:
He's effective enough as the palooka with no other skills besides boxing and gambling. Beery actually underplays more than I expected, though it's a choice which often allows screen son Jackie Cooper to walk off with the picture. What counts is that you believe him: he wins your sympathy, earns your frustration, and wrings tears without overdoing it.
Lunt, meanwhile, absolutely overdoes it in his comic turn as an actor testing his wife's fidelity - and that's the point! He's hilarious as a man who is always "on," unable to resist chewing the scenery even as he thinks himself merely observing clandestinely - what's the point of "disappearing" into a role if no one recognizes you to give credit? A riotous scalping of thespian egos.
He finds the Hyde within Jekyll early on through Henry's impassioned condescension towards the bigwigs who won't accept his theories or modern ways - resentment, anger, and desire, all waiting to be unleashed. When it is, it's horrific, and March works to make sure it's not just the makeup doing the heavy lifting. A full body-and-soul performance.
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And as you can see above, I still, technically, have a tie, even without Beery! But if I were voting, I'd only be able to check one box. And that box belongs to:
Wallace Beery as Andy "The Champ" Purcell
The Champ
***
second and final nomination
He's effective enough as the palooka with no other skills besides boxing and gambling. Beery actually underplays more than I expected, though it's a choice which often allows screen son Jackie Cooper to walk off with the picture. What counts is that you believe him: he wins your sympathy, earns your frustration, and wrings tears without overdoing it.
Alfred Lunt as The Actor
The Guardsman
*****
first and only nomination
Lunt, meanwhile, absolutely overdoes it in his comic turn as an actor testing his wife's fidelity - and that's the point! He's hilarious as a man who is always "on," unable to resist chewing the scenery even as he thinks himself merely observing clandestinely - what's the point of "disappearing" into a role if no one recognizes you to give credit? A riotous scalping of thespian egos.
Fredric March as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
*****
second of five nominations
He finds the Hyde within Jekyll early on through Henry's impassioned condescension towards the bigwigs who won't accept his theories or modern ways - resentment, anger, and desire, all waiting to be unleashed. When it is, it's horrific, and March works to make sure it's not just the makeup doing the heavy lifting. A full body-and-soul performance.
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And as you can see above, I still, technically, have a tie, even without Beery! But if I were voting, I'd only be able to check one box. And that box belongs to:
FREDRIC MARCH
in
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Tomorrow, the nominees for Best Actress: Marie Dressler in Emma, Lynn Fontanne in The Guardsman, and Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet.
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