I had a thought one day: I’ve seen nearly every Best Picture film since 1952. What about the rest? I googled the first-ever Oscar film.
Actually, there were two in 1927-28: WINGS for Best Production, and SUNRISE for Best Unique and Artistic Picture, a category that was dropped after the first year.
WINGS isn’t on DVD, so I Netflixed SUNRISE, which turned out to be silent.
I gave up TV last summer (cable and satellite cost too much, TV sucks too much time, and I’d rather write), so it was my only form of entertainment that night. But voila, I liked it.
In SUNRISE, the Woman from the City convinced The Man to row The Wife – who was just too plain – to the center of the lake and overturn their boat. However, a funny thing happened on the way to her execution. They went to the city first, they drank, they ate, they danced, and in that incredible night, he realized why he loved this simple woman. He was rowing home when their boat overturned in a sudden squall. He was inconsolable.
I thought another 1927-28 film, 7TH HEAVEN, was the better, even though its plot was simplistic: the cruel Nana regularly whips her sister, Diane. Why? Well, it’s simplistic. One day, sewer cleaner Chico stops Nana from strangling Diane to death.
Unaccountably, the gendarmes try to arrest Diane too, but Chico swears they’re married. Diane poses as his wife when a police inspector comes to Chico’s loft. They stay together for two days, they fall in love, and they really do marry.
Two 1927 classics that didn’t win Best Picture: the German film METROPOLIS and THE JAZZ SINGER.
Can the 1927-28 Oscar winners compare to 2010’s $100 million productions? Yes. They’re like today’s independent film, which we must experience to realize they’re art. You can argue the point: If you thought watching Tom Cruise kill a thousand Japanese in The Last Samurai was the highest entertainment in 2003, then you might have missed some great indies that year: LOST IN TRANSLATION, A MIGHTY WIND, SHATTERED GLASS, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and THE STATION AGENT.
Here’s a trivia question: name the woman who starred in SUNRISE, and also won the first-ever International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences best actress award that same year for 7TH HEAVEN. That was Janet Gaynor, a 21-year old who changed her name from Laura Gainor. Why she thought Janet was more glam than Laura, or why “y” was better than “i,” has been lost to history.
Anyway, after Gainor graduated from high school in San Francisco, she moved to L.A., got a job selling shoes for $18 per week, and in two years won a starring role as Anna Burger in THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD.
Four more silent film roles followed that same year, and by 1927, she was cast in two classics, 7TH HEAVEN and SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS. For those two roles, by the way, she was paid $100 a week and $300 a week.
If you’re still wondering who the heck is Janet Gaynor, she played the title role in A STAR IS BORN. Until 1986, when Marlee Matlin won for CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, Gaynor was the youngest leading actress to win an Oscar.
Next: 1928-29 winner THE BROADWAY MELODY
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