The Film Daily (1934)

THE Wednesday, Jan. 10, 1934 ■3&"l DAILY Twelfth Annual "Ten Best" Poll Sets New Records Foreign Films in Winning List for First Time Since Talkers (Continued from Page 1) "Farewell to Arms," "State Fair," "She Done Him Wrong," "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang," "Maedchen in Uniform" and "Rasputin and the Empress." Number of critics participating in this poll went to a new high of 384, against the previous high of 368 set last year, and in addition more than a dozen ballots were received after the poll had closed. Number of votes received by the picture heading the Ten Best list also was the greatest in the history of this annual poll, "Cavalcade" getting 304 votes against the previous record of 296 held by "Grand Hotel." 2 Foreign Films Win Among several unusually interesting aspects of the 1933 poll was the fact that two foreign pictures, "Maedchen in Uniform" and "Henry VIII," were among the winners. In the 12 years' history of this annual event only two pictures from abroad had previously won places among the Ten Best. This was the first time that two made the grade in a single year, and also the first foreign films to win since the coming of talking pictures. A total of 167 films received votes in the poll, and 41 made the grade for the Honor List. No Two Alike In range of subject matter, no two pictures in the winning list were of identical type. "Cavalcade" was a historical epic in a British setting. "Forty-Second Street," an outstanding musical, blazed the trail for the return of this class of picture, besides presenting Warner Baxter in his best role since "In Old Arizona." "Private Life of Henry VIII" commanded attention principally by the compelling performance of Charles Laughton, backed by an elaborate production. "Lady for a Day" was a strong down-to-earth human interest story, with May Robson making the most of a grand role for her. "State Fair" hit home because of its imaginative handling of a story dealing with ordinary folks and their dreams. "Farewell to Arms" was a tender love tragedy, enhanced by the fine work of Helen Hayes and Gary Cooper. "She Done Him Wrong," in addi 167 Pictures Nominated Counting final ballots, a total of 167 pictures received votes from critics in the 1933 "Ten Best" poll. This is the largest number of nominations for any poll to date. THE 1933 ROLL OF HONOR Picture Votes Animal Kingdom— RKO 121 Tugboat Annie— M-G-M 102 Wnen Ladies Meet— M-G-M 94 Morning Glory— RKO 86 Reunion in Vienna — M-G-M 74 Gabriel Over the White House — M-G-M 71 Sign of the Cross — Paramount 71 The Bowery — United Artists 69 Strange Interlude— M-G-M 64 Footlight Parade — Warner Bros 59 Power and the Glory — Fox 59 Another Language — M-G-M 50 Be Mine Tonight — Universal 48 Voltaire — Warner Bros 48 King Kong— RKO 44 Topaze— RKO 40 Zoo in Budapest — Fox 39 Gold Diggers of 1933 — Warner Bros... 38 Stranger's Return — M-G-M 33 Emperor Jones — United Artists 32 Silver Dollar — Warner Bros 33 Picture Votes I'm No Angel — Paramount 29 If I Had a Million — Paramount 29 Night Flight— M-G-M 28 Doctor Bull— Fox 25 The Masquerader — United Artists ... 25 Warrior's Husband — Fox 25 White Sister— M-G-M 24 One Man's Journey — RKO 20 Blonde Bombshell— M-G-M 19 Three-Cornered Moon — Paramount 19 Hell Below— M-G-M 17 Poil de Carotte — Capt. Harold Auten. 14 Ann Vickers— RKO 12 Bitter Tea of General Yen — -Columbia 12 I Cover the Waterfront — United Artists 12 One Sunday Afternoon — Paramount.. 12 Pilgrimage — Fox 12 Song of Songs — Paramount 12 A Nous, La Liberte — Capt. Harold Auten 10 Jennie Gerhardt — Paramount 10 tion to establishing Mae West as a dynamic new screen personality, broke down a lot of sham prudish barriers and poked fun at sex in a way that was disarming, refreshing and great fun. "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" had an exceptionally fine performance by Paul Muni in a tense drama with strong human interest plus a timely sociological angle. "Maedchen in Uniform" was an expertly handled study, a bit in the class line, yet possessing such clarity and tensity that it appealed to a wide circle. "Rasputin and the Empress," with Ethel, John and Lionel Barrymore, was a distinguished production and so gripping in melodramatic content that it could not help but impress a great many persons. Hard to Pick Picking the Ten Best for the past season was quite a problem for most critics because of the necessity of leaving out worthy pictures which they would have liked to include. "Animal Kingdom" and "Tugboat Annie," for example, were among the topnotchers in entertainment that could not make the list. "When Ladies Meet," "Morning Glory," "Reunion in Vienna" and "The Bow Critics Did Fine Job In Picking Best ' (Continued from Page 1) hundred of the country's best critical minds register their collective opinion, it results in a consensus that leaves no loophole for dispute. • P^IVERSITY and distinctive merits were plentiful in the pictures that were voted the ■^ "Ten Best" for the past year. Every production represented a type of its own, several of them were the forerunners of new cycles, and all of them made money at the box-office. Of particular and perhaps significant interest was the inclusion of "She Done Him Wrong" in the winning list. Although this picture was the subject of much censorial attention in squeamish quarters, the critics showed commendable fair-mindedness in ignoring these criticisms of the picture and evaluating it on its undoubted entertainment merits. • CLASS and arty pictures, as a whole, received fewer votes from the critics than in any poll since the screen started seriously to experiment along the more artistic lines. "Maedchen in Uniform," the nearest thing to a class attraction in the "Ten Best" list, had a tense theme handled with such clarity and directness that, despite the foreign origin of the picture, it was easily understood and appreciated even without the aid of English talk. In proportion to its cost, "Maedchen" was very successful financially despite the fact that it did not get the same kind of distribution accorded an American production. • BESIDES the ten leading pictures, the "Roil of Honor" contains at least half a dozen productions of "Ten Best" caliber but unable to squeeze into that classification because of the numerical limitation. In some former years, such exceptional entertainment as "Tugboat Annie," "Animal Kingdom," "When Ladies Meet," "Reunion in Vienna," "Morning Glory," "Topaze," "Gabriel Over the White House" and others would have been sure things for a "Ten Best" list. . • ii j But in the past year so much progress was made, creatively and technically and artistically, that special considerations played a big part when it came to final selection of the best output. . For showing this vast improvement in film quality, the critics have recorded their salutes to the studios. And the evidences of better understanding and cooperation between the two is a very gratifying augury for the future. Picking Screen Leaders of Last Season Was No Easy Task ery," "Another Language," "Topaze" and various crackerjack musicals were others. The pictures on which the balloting took place included those nationally released in the fiscal year ending Nov. 1, 1933. Pictures like "Berkeley Square," which received showings in only a few key cities up to this date, will be included in the 1934 ballot. Represents Consensus Although the selections of some critics varied widely with others, especially in the case of a few "arty" scribes who put down as many as five, six and seven foreign pictures among their ten best the large vote polled by each picture in the Ten Best group and by the first few in the Honor List reflects the overwhelming opinion as to which were the truly outstanding pictures of the year. Though a few extremes of opinion are inevitable, the extensive national scope of this poll, as compared with local polls or the tastes of an individual critic or committee whose tastes are likely to be specialized out of tune with the great general public, results in the most representative consensus that it is possible to attain. More Producers Represented In contrast to last year, when one producing company garnered five of the Ten Best, the list was more widely distributed this time and no producer came in with more than two winners. Paramount, Fox and Warner-First National each had two, while M-G-M, United Artists, Columbia and Filmchoice, Inc., had one apiece. In the honor list, M-G-M walked away with the biggest number, getting 11 as compared with 7 for Paramount, 5 each for RKO and Fox and 4 each for Warner-First National and United Artists. Increasing Interest in Poll Continually increasing interest in the picking of the "Ten Best Pictures" was evidenced by at least 36 local polls conducted at the year-end. Many of these local polls were held at the suggestion of The Film Daily, and motion picture critics who adopted the idea reported very keen interest among their readers. Amount of newspaper space given to the "Ten Best" this year also was greater than ever, indicating the news value which editors placed on the stories. Dozen Ballots Too Late More than a dozen ballots were received from critics after the poll had closed and therefore could not be counted in with the voting totals. Counting these late returns, number of critics participating crossed the 400 mark, another new record.