Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Emil Jannings, Lewis Stone, Florence Vidor
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Writing - Hanns Kräly
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Picture - Paramount Famous Lasky
Best Director - Ernst Lubitsch
Best Actor - Lewis Stone
Best Art Direction - Hans Dreier
Plot: A Czar goes mad and loses his film.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Emil Jannings, Lewis Stone, Florence Vidor
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Writing - Hanns Kräly
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Picture - Paramount Famous Lasky
Best Director - Ernst Lubitsch
Best Actor - Lewis Stone
Best Art Direction - Hans Dreier
Plot: A Czar goes mad and loses his film.
What a great start... The first released film of the 2nd Awards' Best Picture nominees is lost. The Patriot (1928) has the unfortunate status as being the only Best Picture nominee with no complete or near-complete copy known in existence. It is also the last silent film to be nominated for Best Picture until The Artist (2011). Interestingly, in this transition period of film, going from silent movies to silent movies with some sound (distinct score and post-production sound effects) to full blown talkies, this movie tied for most nominations with In Old Arizona (1928) with five. It ended up winning Best Writing, combining the stories of many Broadway plays to tell the story of the mad Czar Paul I of Russia. This post is merely a placeholder to acknowledge its existence. Hopefully, someone finds a complete copy in their attic or something.
On a side note, the 2nd Academy Awards is unique in being the only occasion where there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by the Academy has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges. Although these nominees aren't official, I treat them as such as there is a set list of entries that were considered.
On a side note, the 2nd Academy Awards is unique in being the only occasion where there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by the Academy has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges. Although these nominees aren't official, I treat them as such as there is a set list of entries that were considered.