This is the first culminating post that summarizes the movies I've recently watched and what I think should have been crowned Best Picture. The first Awards are very different from the Awards that would follow. First of all, the voting was very different. Academy members only made initial suggestions as to who should be nominated. Then, five committees of five members designated official nominees. Finally, five other judges selected the winner from those nominees. The winners were notified months in advance of the ceremony itself. The Academy also restricted their nominees to silent films because they did not want to compare them to talkies. This is why Wings (1927) was the only silent movie to win Best Picture until The Artist (2011). Another unique concept in the first Awards is how the top honors were split into two categories. Wings is retroactively considered the first Best Picture winner but Sunrise (1927) won Best Unique and Artistic Production. Also, the acting awards were based on the body of work for the actors, not specific movies. Thus, Janet Gaynor won her Oscar for three films and Emil Jannings for two. Alas, here are my results:
Best Picture nominees:
7th Heaven
The Racket
Wings
What won: Wings
A reason often cited for why this film won over the other two is the country's fascination for aviation in the wake of Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Wings was also a technical achievement. The dogfights in this film are top notch and even by today's standards look very convincing and are very entertaining.
What should have won: 7th Heaven
The best movie of the three is 7th Heaven. The acting is better, the directing is better, and the cinematography is better. The Academy agrees with most of this as this film won for Best Actress, Best Director (Drama), and Best Writing (Adapted). Janet Gaynor puts on her best performance of the three films she won for these Awards. Frank Borzage improves the play this film was based off of with some excellent cinematic techniques. In almost every respect, 7th Heaven is better than Wings. Also, at a time in which the Academy was formed to protect the film industry from religious and governmental groups, a movie with religious themes and no scenes involving drunk characters (the other two nominees feature this) would have been a good poster child for Hollywood. I am quite surprised this did not happen.
My Best Picture nominee rankings:
1. 7th Heaven (8/10)
2. Wings (7/10)
3. The Racket (6/10)
Best Picture nominees:
7th Heaven
The Racket
Wings
What won: Wings
A reason often cited for why this film won over the other two is the country's fascination for aviation in the wake of Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Wings was also a technical achievement. The dogfights in this film are top notch and even by today's standards look very convincing and are very entertaining.
What should have won: 7th Heaven
The best movie of the three is 7th Heaven. The acting is better, the directing is better, and the cinematography is better. The Academy agrees with most of this as this film won for Best Actress, Best Director (Drama), and Best Writing (Adapted). Janet Gaynor puts on her best performance of the three films she won for these Awards. Frank Borzage improves the play this film was based off of with some excellent cinematic techniques. In almost every respect, 7th Heaven is better than Wings. Also, at a time in which the Academy was formed to protect the film industry from religious and governmental groups, a movie with religious themes and no scenes involving drunk characters (the other two nominees feature this) would have been a good poster child for Hollywood. I am quite surprised this did not happen.
My Best Picture nominee rankings:
1. 7th Heaven (8/10)
2. Wings (7/10)
3. The Racket (6/10)