Best Original Story 1937

1927/28 through 1997
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Among the nominees what was the Best Motion Picture Story of 1937?

Black Legion (Robert Lord)
0
No votes
In Old Chicago (Niven Busch)
0
No votes
One Hundred Men and a Girl (Hanns Kraly)
0
No votes
The Life of Emile Zola (Heinz Herald, Geza Herczeg,
1
8%
A Star Is Born (William A. Wellman, Robert Carson)
12
92%
 
Total votes: 13

The Original BJ
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Re: Best Original Story 1937

Post by The Original BJ »

I move past a lot of these nominees VERY quickly.

100 Men and a Girl is the usual Deanna Durbin slog -- a hopelessly silly plot punctuated by boring musical numbers that halt the story to a dead stop.

In Old Chicago is an obvious rehash of the San Francisco formula, which itself wasn't especially great dramaturgy, but was quite a bit more fun. Everything about this storyline and characters just feels half-hearted by comparison.

I litigated The Life of Emile Zola in the other thread, and I'll just add here that its recognition as an Original Story makes even less sense, given that so much of it is fact-based. What would this be an award for -- the nonsense the writers invented?

Black Legion was a movie I'd literally never heard of before I went to watch it for this poll. And I was struck by the timeliness of its storyline -- factory worker Humphrey Bogart loses out on a promotion to a foreign immigrant, who he doesn't consider to be a "real" American, then joins a white supremacist group to seek violent vengeance on the lives of foreigners in his community. I will agree with Magilla that the storyline is definitely B-movie territory -- the broad strokes of the plot don't have a ton of invention -- but I was certainly taken aback by how relevant this now eighty year old movie felt in the context of America's current political moment. Any social issue drama that can still provide some kick after that many decades deserves a salute.

But A Star is Born is simply the more obvious classic, and after passing on it in the other thread, I'll give it my vote here.
Big Magilla
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Re: Best Motion Picture Story 1937

Post by Big Magilla »

I'm doing this a bit backwards as I've already voted for Best Screenplay for which two of the nominees here are also nominees in that category.

Ironically, while I consider the winner here, A Star Is Born and the winner there, The Life of Emile Zola[/I, to have been bested by the other three nominees, in this category they are the clear champions.

Most conspicuous by its absence among the nominees is History Is Made at Night, Frank Borzage's swoon-worthy romance with Jean Arthur, Charles Boyer and in his next-to-last role, Colin Clive. The problem may be that there is no story credit - it was an original screenplay, but in such cases weren't the screenwriters therefore the story writers? It's bizarre to say the least that they bypass it for the box-office phenomenon, 100 Men a Girl, which consists of a story line that is basically Deanna Durbin sings with full orchestra. I mean, I love Deanna Durbin, I love her charming movies, but few, if any, were based on great original stories.

In Old Chicago has a unique place among Oscar nominees. It is the only film nominated in major categories that was not shown in either New York or Los Angeles in the year in which it was nominated. The film had its world premiere in New York on January 6, 1938. It had its Los Angeles premiere on January 12, 1938, the last day of eligibility for 1937 films. The Academy had imposed the extension, which would last through the 1941 nominations, to allow time for the stars who attended film premieres in New York in the prior year to have time to get on a train and make it to Los Angeles for its later opening there. It really didn't deserve the distinction. It's a pedestrian story for a film made memorable only by its special effects.

Black Legion was a terrific B picture, but it was a B picture nonetheless with a potboiler of a story line that incidentally told some very harsh truths about the times that are more than echoed in the current U.S. political climate. A good nominee, but not as good as the two behemoths here.

Between The Life of Emile Zola, which is clearly based on real life events, and A Star Is Born which is vaguely based on real life events with a nod to the earlier What Price Hollywood?, I give the edge to A Star Is Born.
Big Magilla
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Best Original Story 1937

Post by Big Magilla »

The poll is open.
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