Luise Rainer Defeats Norma Shearer | Best Actress Oscar 1937
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- Опубликовано: 3 ноя 2023
- In 1937, Luise Rainer won her first of two back-to-back Best Actress Oscars for The Great Ziegfeld. In this video, I break down the 9th Academy Awards ceremony and discuss why Rainer defeated the adored Norma Shearer for the award. #oscars #academyawards #bestactress #luiserainer #normashearer #classichollywood #hollywoodhistory #theawardscontender
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The way Luise did yellow face on the movie 'The Good Earth'... Those were dark times for the entertainment industry 😩
True. And the Hays Code legitimizing the practice. It makes the 95 years it took for an actual Asian woman to win the Best Actress Oscar, because yellow face was/is industry practice (see Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone)
Anna May Wong, the biggest Chinese-American movie star at the time campaigned hard for the role. But once Paul Muni got cast as the male lead and the Hays Code said that there couldn't be interracial romantic couples on film, that meant Wong couldn't play opposite Muni (even if he was in yellow face and she was the actual Asian). Wong was offered the antagonist role but refused it.
Even celebrated actors did yellow face back then like Katharine Hepburn and Myrna Loy (who for some bizarre reason kept on being cast for Asian roles despite being a natural red-haired of Welsh descent until she finally hit it big in her teaming up with William Powell).
Yes, please! I need an Irene Dunne video! I adore her performances in The Awful Truth and Penny Serenade
Wow those are my exact choices and thoughts too😊
Ooh, please do that IRENE DUNNE ELUSIVE OSCAR video! She and Cary Grant both deserved Oscar for "Penny Serenade." He's another one who never got the recognition he deserved. His performance in "Philadelphia Story" is a masterpiece of underplayed, timeless acting and comedy.
Yay, I love your vintage Oscars vids! So glad they are back
I know right , he said one was coming this Summer and I felt stood up lol jk ❤
I really love these vintage Oscar videos you do where you evaluate why somebody won in a particular year. Thank you for the video Brian, keep up the great work!
Walter Brennan would be a facinating study. His wins basically formed The Academy. Before, the winners used to be voted on by the guilds. Walter Brennan was very popular with extras and the extras were a very large voting block, all of his wins lead to the reformation of voting being regulated to and invite only membership that we know today.
I am so glad to see this series return. I love classic films and Hollywood history. I'd love to see Elusive Oscar videos for some of the classic performers who never won one. Also, please consider doing a look at comedy at the Oscars. In the early days, comedies regularly got nominated and won, but it seems that in modern times, the preference is for drama over everything else. When did the tide turn for comedy and why?
So glad this series is back!!! These are the videos that first got me hooked on your channel. Personally, award predictions don't grab my attention, but videos that look back on the winners (and losers) absolutely do! Can't wait for the next flashback video!!
1936 is one of my most stacked years for movie favorites--Dodsworth, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, My Man Godfrey, Modern Times, and Swing Time are some of my absolute favorites! I don't recall much of The Great Ziegfeld, but that telephone scene is seared into my memory. Luise Rainer just killed it.
Just found this channel and im addicted! I work from home and im rolling through all of your great content quickly. Thank you!
Looking forward to the Walter Brennan and Irene Dunne vids!!!! Also part 2 of this one
I love this series. Back 2010, i started to watch as many early oscar winners in acting and best picture as possible. This is when i discovered my love of bette davis. I was able to watch so many of these movies through the public library and my old vcr. Sadly the libraries vhs collection is dwindling and my vcr MIA. I am even not sure how to watch many of these movies anymore.
Just good search them online with the year they came out.
As things turned out, Rainer had reason to be more concerned with Lombard than Shearer that year, as according to "Inside Oscar," at the ceremony host George Jessel revealed some of the results at the end, including Lombard placing second to Rainer, then Shearer third.
WOW !! The last name for "Best Supporting Actress", Maria Ouspenskaya is the VERY same lady who played in "The Wolfman", with Lon Chaney, aka Larence Talbot. I can STILL remember watching these movies, in the early 1960s, as a small child. I even remember the character's name 'Larence Talbot'. Maria played the old gypsy teller/ I am positive. I LOVE old B/W movies & have ALWAYS perferred them, even to today's crapola. WOW !!!! FANTASTIC VIDS you make, THANK YOU !!!! Walter Brennen.... I remember him from "The Real McCoys', a T.V. program, WOW !! Sorry for ALL my WOWS, but I am blown away by ALL this !!!
I really enjoyed this. I find Luise Rainer to be quite fascinating. Her overall story. Great video!
Could you possibly find the 1937 Oscars, especially when Carole Lombard helped Jean Harlow to go to the bathroom ?? Jean would die a few weeks later of kidney failure & it was Clark Gable who realized it was ABSOLUTELY NOT Jean's gall bladder, but her kidneys, as even Jean's breath smelled of urine. But Jean's stupid mother refused to let Jean see a doctor. When Clark Gable kissed Jean hello, he could smell her breath & he smelled pure urine on her breath & immediately did something about it. Alas, it was much too late for poor Jean, & she would Pass away the following day, after being admitted to the hospital. William Powell was with all three at the 1937 Oscars & he spoke about how Carole had to help Jean to the bathroom, as she was actually, extremely weak & already near death. Would it be possible to find that clip ?? Thank you for ALL your hard work. We ALL really appreciate this !! THANK YOU !!
Glad you got back to this series. That’s how I found this channel. Most don’t talk of the era enough.
Ah yes, the Oscar curse began with Luise Rainer, as she has stated herself. She was an amazing actor, but she wasn't into fame. She wasn't into the MGM star-making machine. Louis B. Mayer wanted her to be a more subservient Greta Garbo, but Rainer refused. Personally, I prefer her performance in The Great Ziegfeld over The Good Earth, and not just because Rainer is in yellow face in the second one, but because her performance has a leading impact on the film.
Also, while I am sure Norma Shearer was an industry favorite at the time, she was a previous winner, and actually, her husband, Irving Thalberg produced The Good Earth which starred Luise Rainer, and that was more likely the tribute. It depends on the actual read up on reviews and publicity at the time.
Great stuff Brian. I’ve always seen this Oscar win as being driven by MGM’s desire to promote Luise Rainer and make her a huge star. They clearly didn’t need to do this with Norma Shearer. Good business dictated that Rainer should secure that Oscar. I’ve always been saddened by the fact that this was Carole Lombard’s only Oscar nomination. She is fabulous in My Man Godfrey and her chemistry with William Powell (her ex-husband at the time) makes this film so special.
Agree yes indeed they truly are fascinating stories from these early days!! THANKS Brian!!!
Can’t wait for the next video.
I agree, Rainier was always going to win, but the Oscar should have gone to Lombard instead. Among classic movie fans these days, who wouldn't rather watch My Man Godfrey than The Great Ziegfeld?
Can't wait for the next ep. Anna May Wong was supposed to play the role Rainier won her Oscar for in the following year, but the racism embedded in the Production Code (forbidding actors of different races/ethnicities to play love scenes together) did her in the minute Paul Muni was cast as the male lead. Still makes me mad.
The great Oscar reference book "Inside Oscar" states at the end of the ceremony host George Jessel revealed Lombard did indeed place second, followed by Shearer. Nice to know Lombard at least was runner-up that year.
These videos looking back on questionable Oscar winners are the ones that got me into subscribing to the channel. It’s always fun digging into trends or other factors that influenced the Academy into choosing the winners they did.
I want part 2 now!!!!!!!
it's interesting that this was also the first year of the supporting catagories since, despite as you said she's only in about 40 minutes of this this three hour movie. Myrna Loy had more screen time and higher billing and is arguably the female lead. Rainer basically won for that one famous telephone scene
I wish Rainer could have won supporting actress (its such a supporting role) and Lombard be best actress. And Dunne next year. But I suppose most wish that.
Definitely can count me on team Lombard for 1936- she is fantastic in "Godfrey."
I would love to see you do a video on Irene Dunne. Maybe her not winning an acting award for any of her five nominations could be a case of bad timing (example: fourth nomination was 1939's "Love affair"; excellent as she was in that, what chance did she have against Vivien Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara?) Adding insult to injury, the Academy did not see fit to present her with either the Jean Hersholt humanitarians award (for which her charitable work would certainly have qualified her) or an Oscar honoring her entire career. I look forward to any contributions you care to share with us.
Irene Dunne was robbed the following year IMO - she's outstanding in the The Awful Truth - one of my favourite films from the classic years :)
Idk I rooted for Greta Garbo her portrait in Camille was so memorable. The awful truth was such a good movie as well but that year was so competitive Barbara Stanwyck also great as well
Great video Brian, thank you. Love anything Old Hollywood. Irene Dunn would be a great choice, also Deborah Kerr and Rosalind Russell.
Look forward to the next instalment and your thoughts on how Rainer possibly beat Garbo!
If it were up to me, DODSWORTH would have won almost everything: Best Picture, Actor (Huston), Actress (the un-nominated Ruth Chatterton), Supporting Actress (the un-nominated Mary Astor over the nominated Maria Ouspenskaya), Director and Screenplay.
Carol Lombard should have won, not only is it an iconic role, but the movie holds up in every way. It is still funny and the acting in all categories was perfect.
I'm sure you're going to get a lot of comments on your next one, But the fact is those are the rules and you had a choice of following them or not making the movie, and despite the yellowface, The Good Earth is an entertaining movie to watch, the locust attack was incredible. What will they think of 50 years from now about these new restrictions the academy has put into effect. You don't have to like or agree with the restrictions, but it's too late to change them and I think films have to judged on the film and not on what we think should have been done at the time. Although Anna May Wong would have been fantastic in the role.
6:45 the guys handling Capra the Oscar looks like Bob Iger.
You may have missed doing these videos but not as much as your fans have missed seeing them! The channel Be Kind Rewind used to exclusively produce content about early Oscar Best Actress races but she too has drifted away from that after RUclips became a full time job. I hope you don't abandon the series too! Also, early Supporting players didn't receive a statuette only awarded a plaque. If you do research into Walter Brennan you may be surprised to find out he was terribly racist! To the point that would make Mel Gibson blush type of racist! I recently watched a rerun of "The Love Boat" from the 80s where Luise Rainer played estranged twins where one worked as a maid on the Ship and the other a socialite passenger who looked down upon her sibling. Rainer was quite good in a dual role after not having acted in many years at that point. It made me sad how older actresses were literally shut out of the industry after the "Hagsploitation" era ended as if they had nothing left to offer. Other legends like Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Ingrid Bergman, and other women of a certain age were limited to working on television because executives felt that people wouldn't pay to see them in feature films. A fun video in the future would be a spotlight on the Hagsploitation cycle of the 60s and early 70s. Also, the era of classic Hollywood actresses moving into television which died out as they began passing away. Basically by the late 90s made for television movies consisted of only actresses from "Dallas", "Dynasty", "Knotts Landing", and others. Mostly I would love to see you analyze the 1950 Best Actress race that was probably the most politically competitive and controversial against Davis and Gloria Swanson with eventual winner/dark horse Judy Holiday. Keep up the great work, Brian! ❤ you and your content!
I love BKR too! I first learned about Luise Rainer because of BKR’s Oscar coverage. I’m sure Izzy (of BKR) will return to the Oscars coverage when it’s needed, and I’m happy that she expanded her content into doing video essays about women in films, including classic cinema, as well as women in television and cinematic trends. She might do a video essay about Priscilla soon (although she recently wrote an article about the film), or a Sofia Coppola retrospective.
Since you are talking about old Oscars, it would not be bad if you talked about several such as:
Robert donat defeats Clark gable
How green was my valley defeats Citizen kane
Irene Dunne never got her due from the Academy Awards, not even an honorary Oscar. Hugely talented and well remembered as opposed to Luise Rainer.
For some probably sexist reason, the academy dragged their butts giving honorary Oscars to women. Perhaps surprisingly, they gave one to Greta Garbo early on in the fifties, which of course she didn't accept in person. They waited decades before honoring Lillian Gish, Myrna Loy, Barbara Stanwyck and Deborah Kerr, but never got around to Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, Gloria Swanson or Doris Day. They also gave honorary Oscars to Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Laurence Olivier and Alec Guinness, even though they already won competitive Oscars, but didn't do the same for Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn or Ingrid Bergman.
I've always been impressed by Ruth Chatterton's unnominated work in Dodsworth more so than Rainer.
Hey a great video to do would be the 2002 best actor race. Denzel beating out Russell Crowe a lot of people believe it's Crowe's bad behavior that cost him the Oscar. Also Denzel's win which he deserved was more of a make-up for losing for The Hurricane and Russell Crowe losing his temper on paparazzi would love to see you break it down.
Carole Lombard deserved this. Her delivery in My Man Godfrey is unparalleled
Jumping the gun a bit; people seem to have a lot of grief for Rainer's win for the Good Earth, mainly due to the yellow face. But on top of that being a standard Hollywood practice back then, it also wasn't her choice. She didn't even want the part but was forced to do it by the studio. With all that to consider, she put in a very poignant performance that, based purely on performance, earned that Oscar. That's just my two cents before the inevitable bashing it will get in the future video about its win.
I've never blamed her for that debacle, and I think Rainer and Muni are both fantastic actors. But I still thought The Good Earth was a bore! Haha
I agree Rainer does very fine work in "Earth," but when you have Garbo and Stanwyck both at their very best also in the running, it's understandable her Oscar win is disputed, based on the performances involved.
Maybe I'm crazy, but in my opinion Carole Lombard (My man Godfrey) and Irene Dunne (Theodora goes wild) were the best option for that Oscar. Norma Shearer is really miscast in Romeo and Juliet but her performance is really good but not as magnificent as her performances in The Divorcee and Marie Antoinette. And Luise Rainer should have been nominated for best supporting actress, but she was the next Greta Garbo, and winning an Oscar for best supporting actress instead of lead actress would have been a travesty. And also, her performance in The Great Ziegfeld is mostly remember only for the phone scene.
Mary Astor not getting a Supporting Actress nomination of Dodsworth is a big slight, considering the film was popular that year. Her costar, Maria Ouspenskya, did get a nomination... good for her and all, but Astor was incredible in Dodsworth. Even better than the S. Actress winner, Sondegaard. Along with My Man Godfrey not getting a Best Picture nomination, no Mary Astor in Supporting Actress is bizarre to me. There's a scene in Dodsworth where Astor tells the title character's wife, who is disdainful of her humble background and terrified of ageing, to "stop" with her pathetic attempts to be high-class and youthful.
She does it in a very subtle way. The exchange is a classic. The scene is a gathering in the Dodsworth's Paris hotel room:
Mary Astor: "I hadn't realized it was your birthday."
Ruth Chatterton: "No? I wish I hadn't. No woman enjoys getting to be 35." (She's clearly a lot older revealed in no small way by Mary Astor's non-plussed reaction.)
Mary Astor: "When you're my age, you'll look back on 35 as a most agreeable time of life, Mrs. Dodsworth."
Ruth Chatterton: "I hope I look as young as you do, when I'm your age."
Mary Astor: "You're almost sure to my dear."
Astor walks away and Chatterton stares daggers. Absolutely brilliant moment.
"
Best performance By actress 1936
1 Carole Lombard
2 Ruth Chatterton
3 Irene Dunne
4 Jean Arthur
5 Ginger Rogers
Ps: Luise Rainer is great, but is Supporting Actress
Ps2: Norma Shearer, was too old to play Juliet
Are you really (like so many, it seems) an ageist when it comes to Norma playing Juliet? Norma was beautiful and, to date, remains the only actress to portray Juliet on-screen and receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
I believe Oscar’s are pointless. I don’t think Norma Shearer deserved the Oscar for her performance and I don’t think Luise Reiner deserved the win but the explanations you gave are compelling, Oscar’s have never really just been about acting and they still aren’t. I think Irene Dunne should won the oscar, she didn’t because she tended to freelance and didn’t have a big studio to push for her to get the award
I wonder how acting categories will look like at the end of this decade. They'll probably merge 4 categories into 2 with 10 nominations per category. Who knows they might have two winners for Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance every year.
😬
That reminds me, in my home country of Australia, the ARIA Awards (which recognises the best Australian music of the year), they merged the Best Male and Best Female Artist categories into a single Best Solo Artist category in order to recognise non-binary artists and artists who don’t identify as male or female. Also expanded to 10 nominees to accommodate for the merge, but it’s flawed because most of the nominees are still men, with barely any female or non-binary representation. The Academy wouldn’t merge their acting categories unless if there was more LGBTQ+ members on their board.
Norma Shearer did not deserve an Oscar for Romeo and Juliet. Way too old and nothing memorable about the acting.
Love My Man Godfrey.
She was beautiful and to date remains the only actress to be nominated for Juliet. Olivia Hussey in the more beloved 1968 version failed to accomplish that (the Academy wasn't impressed).
There was never anything memorable about Shearer. She could never shake her silent film roots - always fussy and indicating and never just being.
@@georgegallucci9958Jesus, could you be any more hateful. Norma was a divine actress and most memorable in Marie Antoinette. But how about the old adage 'if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.'
Luise’s second Oscar is a disgrace. The fact Garbo, Dunne and Stanwyck never won and Luise won a second Oscar for such a horrible movie is a huge crime.
Well put! I never thought of it like that.
It's not a horrible movie. It's actually well done and fairly watchable. Of course the casting is offensive now, but "yellowface" was very common in those days. Jennifer Jones was playing "eurasian" 19 years later and got an Oscar nomination to boot. Rainer shouldn't have been cast, but she still acts with some sensitivity. But a second Oscar was way over the top.
Well, Norma Shearer thankfully did not win for "Romeo and Juliette"; I recently saw part of the film but only part as it was impssible to watch this R & J with actors Leslie Howard and Norma double the age of what should be the age of the two young lovers. hopelessly trying to act comvincingly. I don't think Norma Shearer was ever a threat to Luise Rainer for the Oscar as the film received almost universally bad reviews from the critics and was essentially a box-office failure. MGM must have been "NUTS" casting these two 34 year old + stars to play teenage lovers. The film is so bad and laughable and takes itself so seriously I could only watch a part of it. It was impossible to see the whole thing as it truly did turn me off ENORMOUSLY!
An ageist I see. Norma and Leslie were a divine Juliet and Romeo. They speak the dialogue so beautifully.
"Oh, there's Norma Shearer, with her TEENSY-WEENSY EYES," said Louella Parsons. With her screechy pretentious voice, Shearer would never have been a star had she not been married to the most powerful (closeted) director. She was no Tallulah and no Garbo.
Yessss an Irene Dunn Elusive Oscar video please! Such extraordinary careers some of these Golden Age Hollywood goddesses had. Please do Jean Harlow, Barbara Stanwyck, Greta Garbo and Myrna Loy too!!!