by Allan Fish
As per the norm, straight to the results…
Best Picture Our Hospitality, US (5 votes)
Best Director Buster Keaton, Ernest G.Blystone, Our Hospitality (3 votes)
Best Short Paris qui Dort, René Clair & Le Retour à la Raison, Man Ray (3 votes)
Best Actor Harold Lloyd, Safety Last (4 votes)
Best Actress Edna Purviance, A Woman of Paris (6 votes)
And my own choices…
Best Picture La Roue, France
Best Director Abel Gance, La Roue
Best Short Le Retour à la Raison, France, Man Ray
Best Actor Severin-Mars, La Roue
Best Actress Edna Purviance, A Woman of Paris
And without further a-do, on to 1924’s nominations…
Best Picture/Director
Aelita (USSR…Yakov Protazanov)
America (US…D.W.Griffith)
The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom (Russia…Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky)
The Comedians (Germany…Karl Grüne)
Dante’s Inferno (US…Henry Otto)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (USSR…Lev Kuleshov)
Forbidden Paradise (US…Ernst Lubitsch)
The Girl from Carthage (Tunisia…Scemana Chikly)
Girl Shy (US…Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor)
Gösta Berlings Saga (Sweden…Mauritz Stiller)
The Great White Silence (UK…Herbert J.Ponting)
Greed (US…Erich Von Stroheim)
The Hands of Orlac (Germany…Robert Wiene)
He Who Gets Slapped (US…Victor Sjöstrom)
Helena: Parts I & II (Germany…Manfred Noa)
L’Inhumaine (France…Marcel l’Herbier)
The Iron Horse (US…John Ford)
Isn’t Life Wonderful (US…D.W.Griffith)
Kino Eye (USSR…Dziga Vertov)
The Last Laugh (Germany…Friedrich W.Murnau)
The Marriage Circle (US…Ernst Lubitsch)
Mikaël (Denmark…Carl T.Dreyer)
The Miracle of the Wolves (France…Raymond Bernard)
The Navigator (US…Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp)
Die Nibelungen: Parts One & Two (Siegfried & Kriemheld’s Revenge) (Germany…Fritz Lang)
Nju (Germany…Paul Czinner)
Peter Pan (US…Herbert Brenon)
The Red Lily (US…Fred Niblo)
Reveille (UK…George Pearson)
The Sea Hawk (US…Frank Lloyd)
Sherlock Junior (US…Buster Keaton)
Die Sklavenkönigin (Austria…Michael Curtiz)
So Big (US…Charles Brabin) LOST
Strike (USSR…Sergei M.Eisenstein)
Sylvester (Germany…Lupu Pick)
The Thief of Bagdad (US…Raoul Walsh)
Waxworks (Germany…Paul Leni)
Wild Oranges (US…King Vidor)
Best Short
Ballet Mécanique (France…Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy)
Entr’Acte (France…René Clair)
Symphonie Diagonale (Germany…Viking Eggeling)
Best Actor
John Barrymore Beau Brummell
Lon Chaney He Who Gets Slapped
Douglas Fairbanks The Thief of Bagdad
Gibson Gowland Greed
Lars Hanson Gösta Berlings Saga
Emil Jannings The Last Laugh
Buster Keaton, The Navigator
Adolphe Menjou The Marriage Circle
Rudolph Valentino Monsieur Beaucaire
Conrad Veidt Waxworks
Best Actress
Elisabeth Bergner Nju
Betty Bronson Peter Pan
Carol Dempster Isn’t Life Wonderful?
Greta Garbo Gösta Berlings Saga
Gerda Lundeqvist Gösta Berlings Saga
Zasu Pitts Greed
Florence Vidor The Marriage Circle
Yay for “Retour a la Raison” winning best short in 1923.
I vote “Entr’Acte” for best short in 1924.
Hmmm, I’m 1/2 for 5 on the first round – at least the Ray got it.
For the record, I feel compelled to give a bit on my rationale since obviously everyone voting will have their different reasons. While I don’t have a problem distinguishing between great, good, and not-so-good movies, amongst the greats themselves I find it fairly impossible to rank. Therefore, my picks for “Best Picture” will be more favorites than anything else, the excellent movie of a given year that I’m most likely to want to watch, or think about.
As for performances, I’ll admit I’m considering presence as much as technique. With directors, it’s a bit more “objective” – I’m picking the film I think has the most vivid, unique, vital mise en scene (which is sort of ineffable, but can be fundamentally focused on shot structure, composition shot duration and shot style I think – editing, lighting, performance, sets, etc. all play into it but I think those crucial details are the ones that most reflect the director’s vision).
I’ll admit too that, perhaps unjustly, I may distribute awards over the years. In other words, knowing that an even better performance is coming up for a given actor I may lean toward another one in a toss-up. (Example: this week, all things being equal I might vote for Chaney for He Who Gets Slapped, but because I know he’ll be winning later in the 20s – maybe twice – I’m giving it to Jannings instead. Though he may get another one or two come to think of it. Maybe this is a bad method…)
So then, on to 1924:
Best Picture: Die Nibelungen
Best Actor: Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh)
Best Actress: Greta Garbo (The Saga of Gosta Berlings)
Best Director: F.W. Murnau (The Last Laugh)
Best Short: Ballet Mecanique
honorable mention (I’m doing this just for fun, to pay tribute to a favorite from every year that didn’t get any nods from me): The Thief of Bagdad
This will be fun.
I’m voting everything on “Die Nibelungen”. End of line.
This is an extremely difficult year to pick a Best Picture. Greed, The Last Laugh, Strike, Sherlock Jr, Die Nibelungen, He Who Gets Slapped, The Navigator, Mikael, etc are all worthy films. Like Joel above I’m just going for a very personal pick that deep down may not necessarily be the most accomplished.
Best Picture: Waxworks
Best Director: Von Stroheim (Greed)
Best Actor: Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh)
Best Actress: Greta Garbo (Gasta Berlings)
Best Short: Ballet Mecanique
Best Picture: Greed
Best Direcor: Erich Von Stroheim (Greed)
Best Actor: Lon Chaney (He Who Gets Slapped)
Best Actress: Zasu Pitts (Greed)
Best Short: Ballet Mecanique
It has to be said, that’s pretty darn solid.
I initially voted for Chaney and then edited/changed my selection. He Who Gets Slapped is somewhat underrated by lovers of the man with a thousand faces. I personally think it’s one of his best and even superior to Hunchback and Phantom.
It IS his best, Maurizio, it’s just less well known.
The Unknown is nothing to sneeze at either. Those two are prime Chaney indeed.
Gotta say I’m shocked that Ballet Mecanique gets so much love, I did not like that short at all, and comparing it to Entr’acte, one of the most impressive and visual short stories on my eyes, that’s quite strange.
The rest of us, Jaime, would be surprised if it DIDN’T get so much love.
To me, Entr’Acte is the stronger experimental film.
Nothing wrong with considering Entr’acte the better film. I would say it’s very close between the two, but your initial comment of being shocked by Ballet Mecanique getting love is what is really strange.
It’s just that I really don’t like Ballet Mecanique, it’s a *** compared to a ****
Picture: Die Nibelungen
Director: Lang
Actor: Gowland
Actress: Pitts
Short: Entr’Acte
Picture: Greed
Director: Von Stroheim (Greed)
Actor: Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh)
Actress: Zasu Pitts (Greed)
Greed for Picture and Von Stroheim Director.
Jannings for Actor
Pitts for Actress
Picture: Greed
Director: Von Stroheim
Actor: Fairbanks
Actress: Pitts
vote for Fairbanks…makes me happy :-)
Since it appears ‘Greed’ will win the best picture category (and Director), as it probably should, so I’ll pick purely on the ones I just blindingly love.
Best Picture: ‘The Last Laugh’, one of my absolute favorite films ever and certainly my favorite Murnau. (I almost put ‘The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom’ here)
Best Director: Sergei M.Eisenstein (‘Strike’, what can I say those dissolves as he introduces characters with their animal nicknames are just sublime. And it’s merely the appetizer for what is coming)
Best Actor: Emil Jannings (‘The Last Laugh’)
Actress: Yuliya Solntseva (‘The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom’, not sure why she’s not available to be picked it’s an iconic sort of turn)
Short: ‘Ballet Mécanique’
Picture: ‘Sherlock Jr.’
Director: Eisenstein (‘Strike’)
Actor: Buster Keaton (“The Navigator’)
Actress: Zasu Pitts (‘Greed’)
God, in my skimming I didn’t see ‘Sherlock Jr.’ not sure I’d change any of my votes but that’s a favorite. Maybe my favorite Keaton which says a lot.
GREED and SHERLOCK JR. are among the greatest films ever made. I went with the Von Stroheim ultimately because Keaton has made other masterpieces, one of which I’ve already gone with (OUR HOSPITALITY).
Many great films in 1924. Certainly hard to whittle it down to one nomination per category.
Just watched ‘Sherlock Jr.’ over the weekend after a long absence, and fell in love all over again. Love the way horses and dogs and animals play important roles in Keaton’s films.
Picture: Greed
Director: Von Stroheim
Actor: Jannings
Actress: Pitts
Short: Ballet Mecanique
Greed is a sort of unfinished masterpiece. I decided to penalise Stroheim for that, and give a donut to Buster Keaton for his wonderful work on Sherlock Jr.
Best Picture: Greed
Best Director: Buster Keaton, Sherlock Junior
Best Actor: Emil Jannings, The Last Laugh
Best Actress: Zasu Pitts, Greed
It wasn;t unfinished…it was taken out of his hands and butchered down. Can hardly blame the Von for that. Like blaming prostitutes in 1888 Whitechapel for attacking Jack the Ripper’s blade with their throats. But a win for Keaton can never be a bad thing.
Well, I just was trying to say that the 4 hrs version (with still pictures) I saw seems like an unfinished work. I think von Stroheim is to blame for trying a 10 hrs movie, but surely the movie we have today is not brightly directed, or else we would have to share the prize with the butchers who finished it.
You can thank the much-heralded boy ‘genius’, Irving Thalberg, for the massacre of Stroheim’s masterpiece. And every year the Oscars actually hand out a special Irving Thalberg Memorial award to “creative producers”!!!
What rot.