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Best Picture
Academy Awards
1927-1931

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	"Movies of The 20s and Early Cinema" [2007]   by Jürgen Müller Taschen 9¾x7¾ pb [9/2007] for $26.39
	"The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition To Sound, 1926-1931" [1997] by Donald Crafton (History of The American Cinema, Vol. 4) Univ CA Press 9¾x7 pb [11/99] for $26.12 Scribner's 10¼x7½ hardcover [12/97] for $99.00

1927-28
complete listings of May 1929 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1927 to Aug 1928

"Wings" [Paramount Famous Lasky Aug 1927] won Oscar for 'Best Production'; full credits from IMDb

"Sunrise:  A  Song  of  Two  Humans"
[Fox Sept 1927]

A femme fatale from the city convinces a farmer to murder his wife; rowing a boat across the river to the city, the man cannot do the deed. The wife flees, and the husband follows her into the city and into a church where there is a wedding, and the couple reunite. After adventures in the city – an amusement park, etc. – they row back across the river, but a storm comes up and the wife is lost. The villagers bring the man home, where he chases the mistress away and tries to strangle her, but the wife is found alive and the reunited couple embrace as the sun rises behind them. Directed by F.W. Murnau; scenario by Carl Mayer, based on the novella "Die Reise nach Tilsit" by Hermann Sudermann; starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor & Margaret Livingston; won Oscars for 'Unique and Artistic Picture', Best Actress (Gaynor) & Best Cinematography; listed on National Film Registry (1989); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies (5/2005) Fox Limited Edition b&w DVD [1/2005] out of prodn/used 11"x17" red poster from Amazon for $14.99 full credits from IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" screenplay [1998] critical text by Lucy Fisher B.F.I. Film Classics 7¼x5¼ pb [9/98] for $10.17

"The Crowd" [M.G.M. Feb 1928]
Co-written & directed by King Vidor; full credits from IMDb

"The Jazz Singer"
[Warner Bros./Vitaphone Corp. Oct 1927]
Directed by Alan Crosland; starring Al Jolson, May McAvoy & Warner Oland; won Honorary Oscar
for "the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry"
full credits from IMDb

"The Last Command" [Paramount Jan 1928]
Co-written & directed by Josef von Sternberg; starring Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent
& William Powell; full credits from IMDb

"Seventh Heaven" [Fox May 1927]
Directed by Frank Borzage; starring Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Way of All Flesh" [Paramount Oct 1927]
video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

1928-29
complete listings of April 1930 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1928 to July 1929

"The  Broadway  Melody"
[M.G.M./Loew's Feb 1929]

Two sisters join a pal's Broadway show; he falls in love with one sister, but she is courted by a high society cad. Directed by Harry Beaumont; starring Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, Edward Dillon, Mary Doran & Eddie Kane; won Oscar for Best Picture, nominated for Best Director, Best Actress (BL) Warner b&w DVD [2/2005] for $14.99 M.G.M./Warner b&w VHS [12/94] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb

"Alibi" [United Artists April 1929]
full credits from IMDb

"In  Old  Arizona"  [Fox April 1929]

Directed by Irving Cummings & Raoul Walsh; starring Warner Baxter [won Oscar for Best Actor as the Cisco Kid!] Fox DVD [5/2005] for $12.99 full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99

"The  Patriot"  [Paramount Aug 1928]
This Best Picture nominee is one of the most sought-after 'lost films':
no negative or complete reels are known to exist.
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor & Lewis Stone; won Oscar for
Best Script, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor [LS] & Best Art Direction
full credits from IMDb

1929-30
complete listings of Nov 1930 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1929 to July 1930

"All  Quiet  On  The  Western  Front" [Universal 1930] Based on the novel 'Nichts neues im Westens' by Erich Maria Remarque; directed by Lewis Milestone full credits at IMDb

"Anna Christie" [M.G.M. Feb 1930]
full credits from IMDb

"Applause" [Paramount Jan 1930]

Early backstage musical: A fading burlesque star tries to prevent her daughter from becoming a dancer. Mamoulian's direction is an example of outstanding camera movement. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian; based on a Beth Brown novel; starring Helen Morgan, Joan Peers, Fuller Mellish Jr., Jack Cameron, Henry Wadsworth & Roy Hargrave; listed on National Film Registry (2006) Kino Video b&w DVD [11/2003] for $26.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [11/2003] for $23.70 full credits from IMDb

"The Big House" [M.G.M. June 1930]
full credits from IMDb

"Disraeli" [Warner Bros. Nov 1929]
full credits from IMDb

"The Divorcee" [M.G.M. April 1930]
full credits from IMDb

"Hell's Angels" [United Artists Nov 1930]
Produced & directed by Howard Hughes [1905-76]; starring Ben Lyon, James Hall,
Jean Harlow & John Darrow; Oscar nominated for Best Cinematography
full credits from IMDb

"The Love Parade" [Paramount Nov 1929]
full credits from IMDb

"Romance" [M.G.M. Aug 1930]
full credits from IMDb

1930-31
complete listings of Nov 1931 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1930 to July 1931

"Cimarron" [R.K.O. Feb 1931]

	Directed by Wesley Ruggles; won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Script, Best Art Direction, nominated for Best Director & Best Cinematography; starring Richard Dix & Irene Dunne (each nominated for Best Actor/Actress) Warner Video b&w VHS [2/2002] for $13.74 full credits from IMDb
	based on the novel by Edna Ferber [1930] Fawcett pb [9/79] out of print/used G&D/Amereon hardcover [10/98] for $28.95 BooksOnTape audio cassette [11/83] out of stock/used

"A Free Soul" [M.G.M. June 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"The Dawn Patrol" [First National/Vitaphone Aug 1930]
full credits from IMDb

"The Front Page" [United Artists April 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"Little Caesar" [First National Jan 1931]

	Directed by Mervyn LeRoy; starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Ince, Stanley Fields & Maurice Black; Oscar nomination for Best Script/Adaptation, listed National Film Registry 2000 Warner b&w VHS [5/97] for $19.98 full credits from IMDb
	based on the novel "Little Caesar" [Doubleday 1929] by W.R. Burnett [1899-1982] Carroll & Graf pb [7/86] out of print/used Aeonian hardcover [10/85] for $20.95 Otto Penzler facsimile hardcover [7/96] for $39.95

"Min and Bill" [M.G.M. Nov 1930]
Directed by George W. Hill; script by Frances Marion [1886-1973] & Marion Jackson,
based on Lorna Moon's novel "Dark Star"; full credits from IMDb

"Morocco" [Paramount Dec 1930]
full credits from IMDb

"The Public Enemy" [Warner Bros. April 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"Skippy" [Paramount April 1931]
full credits from IMDb

"Trader Horn" [M.G.M. May 1931]
full credits from IMDb

NOTE: The Academy Award year was Summer to Summer from 1927-28 to 1931-32;
the 1934 Academy Awards were given for August 1932 to December 1933;
Academy Awards were given for calendar year thereafter.

complete listings of Nov 1932 Academy Awards for films of Aug 1931 to July 1932
or go to the next decade: 1931-1940

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