Best Picture Winners: 1933 - 1934

Cavalcade (1933)

Opening on New Year’s Eve 1899, Cavalcade covers the next 33 years in the lives of the Marryot family – husband and wife Robert (Clive Brook) and Jane (Diana Wynyard) and their two sons. As well-off members of London society, we see their fortunes change as the Boer War, the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, and other various world events affect them in sometimes tragic ways. The Marryot’s servants Ellen and Alfred Bridges (Una O'Connor and Herbert Mundin) meanwhile experience some life-changing events of their own.Cavalcade’s problem is that, while competently acted and handsomely designed, it is not terribly involving. Wynyard’s character is something of a snob, and it’s hard to warm to her. When certain tragedies befall her, the viewer should be moved – but this viewer wasn’t. By cramming 33 years in under two hours, the film becomes a series of vignettes but never builds any momentum emotionally. The audience becomes mere observers instead of part of the story. And because certain characters criticize war and technology and give the proceedings a “message,” Cavalcade ultimately feels more like a history lesson than a film. The result is that Cavalcade is cold and distant, and only partially involving.

It Happened One Night (1934)

The first comedy to take the Best Picture Oscar, It Happened One Night remains one of the finest examples of the romantic comedy. Clark Gable has one of his best roles as Peter Warne, a down on his luck reporter who stumbles upon a big story – he’s sharing a bus ride with an heiress, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who’s run away from her disapproving father. They strike a bargain that he’ll help her make it to New York to rejoin her new husband (Jameson Thomas) if she’ll give him the exclusive story about her disappearance. Of course, they fall in love. But how can they hope to be together?All the elements of the romantic comedy are here: the “meet cute” scene where she inadvertently takes his seat on the bus; the initial dislike for one another; the great misunderstanding that prolongs the story; etc. But what makes this film soar is that is genuinely funny and certainly romantic.There are many classic comic moments in It Happened One Night – Gable’s wordplay with a bus driver (“Oh yeah?”) to avoid a fight; Gable and Colbert’s first meeting; Gable and Colbert acting like a bickering married couple to fool some private detectives; Colbert giving Gable a lesson in hitchhiking; Gable’s tricking a would-be blackmailer into thinking a kidnapping plot is afoot; and the final gag involving the Walls of Jericho are but a few examples.But the tender moments abound too – the impromptu camp out in the hay; Gable’s description of the right woman for him; and Gable’s frantic, secret trip to New York to make their plans to run away together possible are played with just the right dose of sentiment. Ultimately we want this couple to have their Happily Ever After.Frank Capra won his first of three directing Oscars for his efforts here. Capra perfectly balances the comedic and romantic elements of Robert Riskin’s terrific script, and throws in a rousing rendition of "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" performed by various bus passengers as well as amusing character bits (such as the sleazy Oscar Shapeley) that are something of a Capra hallmark. The swift pacing carries the audience from one unpredictable scene to the next.The lead actors won their only Oscars for their work here, and their chemistry ultimately makes the film truly stand out. Gable is not his usual dashing self here, but a drunk and desperate type who doesn’t have noble intentions. But he’s a lovable rogue, and he wins the audience over with his charm and ultimate gallantry (he won’t take the reward money, just his out-of-pocket expenses). Colbert is essentially the straight arrow here, but she holds here own in the fake argument scene with Gable and is ultimately sympathetic as someone who hasn’t been allowed to live life on her own terms.It Happened One Night was the first of only three films (so far) to take the Big Five (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay; the other two are One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Silence of the Lambs) and it’s easy to see why this little film (shot on a tight, four-week schedule) won the hearts of voters. It Happened One Night remains must-see viewing for those who love great movies.