Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Michael Curlitz – Captain Blood (was a write-in candidate that received the second most votes)
My Overall Thoughts:
This was the final year where they only nominated 3 directors for this category and all three do fine job, but one is much better than the other two.
My Rankings:
Directing
3. Henry Hathaway
2. Frank Lloyd
1. John Ford
Movies
3. Mutiny on the Bounty – Later productions were much better and I found this depiction a bit boring and slow moving even with Laughton and Gable on board.
2. The Lives of a Bengal Lancer – Nicely done film that gives us an interesting perspective on the way of life of British Officers who fought for the Empire in far away India. Cooper, Tone and Cromwell are all enjoyable to watch because they play such diverse characters. The action is ok for a film from the 1930’s and we get a nice view of much of the politics of the time. There are unfortunately too many scenes that drag on too much and are borderline boring tho and eventhough this film isn’t so long, it could have been edited much more tightly.
1. The Informer – Great look into the motives of people when they must do things when feel they have no other choice. The pacing is great and Ford does a great job getting the emotional impact of the story from numerous perspectives.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Yep! Ford does a great job making us feel the claustrophobic aspects of this story and definitely does the best job of the trio of nominees.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 