(Films released from August 1, 1931 through July 31, 1932 were eligible.)
The nominees were ...
... when they should have been ...
And the Oscar went to ...
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| Lee Garmes |
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| Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express |
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| Anna May Wong in Shanghai Express |
"It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily." It took at least three, in fact: Jules Furthman to write that line, Josef von Sternberg to cast his protégée Marlene Dietrich in the role, and Lee Garmes to give us such lasting and evocative images. It was Garmes's only Oscar; he had been nominated for Morocco the previous year, and he would get two more nominations, for Since You Went Away (1944) and The Big Fisherman (1960). Shanghai Express is a wonderfully hokey melodrama of the kind that's usually called dated, but it probably never got taken seriously at any time. A more appealing leading man than the rather pasty-looking Clive Brook might have given the movie a real jolt.
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