The Great Ziegfeld (1936): 9th Oscar Winner for Best Picture

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Here we have another average film featuring loads of stage show scenes (and thankfully not as bad as Broadway Melody). There was a pretty okay story, but it had a load of decent music and stage show scenes for its time. It did drag on for a while, but it was also half a bio-pic, looking at Ziegfeld's life and career. If you like a bit of stage show history, then watch this film. I felt it was pretty average, but was good to watch.

Why did it win Best Picture? Probably more a film for its time, with the whole stage show culture and bio of Ziegfeld. Also probably for its music.

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): 8th Oscar Winner for Best Picture

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

So far I might have moaned about history in a few of these films, but this one is definitely an exception. It was a great film, great storyline and a great historical representation of an integral part of naval history in the Western world. This was a great film to follow It Happened One Night. Outstanding photography throughout the film and great acting. I'd also like to note that there was a glimpse of some partial nudity for the first time with the Polynesian women scenes. If you like to see a good representation of naval history, definitely check this film out.

Why did it get Best Picture? I believe it won due to the historical representation of naval history, a great story, great photography, and possibly for the partial nudity (okay, that's not really a reason, but it's worth a mention).

It Happened One Night (1934): 7th Oscar Winner for Best Picture

It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night was our first relatively 'chick flick' film so far. It still emphasised the male perspective a bit, but it was a really enjoyable romantic comedy. Beautifully done and the story was of good quality. A great relief after Cavalcade. I thought it was a wonderful film, and if you'd like to sit back to a classic romantic comedy I'd definitely recommend this.

Why did it get Best Picture? I believe it would have got best picture because it was the first real romantic comedy (without involving too much history or other genres). The acting was superb - so possibly for that reason as well.

Cavalcade (1933): 6th Oscar Winner for Best Picture

Cavalcade (1933)

Following Grand Hotel, Cavalcade was a good film to watch. The only major problem I had with it, was that it felt like they were trying to cram a ton of history into the film. This sort of made the film drag on, I felt. It was definitely interesting, but I think it was more a film for its time. It felt like they placed history together and tried to place a story over the top of it - sometimes this does work, but it didn't work for this film, I felt. If you're into history being represented in film, feel free to watch it.

Why did it win Best Picture? I believe it would have won it for the record on film of history and possibly its use of history and the story.

Grand Hotel (1932): 5th Oscar Winner for Best Picture

Grand Hotel (1932)

Following Cimarron, this was fairly much the same, except the storyline was something I couldn't effectively follow or understand. All I know is that there were a lot of phones and phone calls involved and there was a hotel. No idea what it was about, but it seemed like an okay storyline if you did understand what was going on. Feel free to watch it for yourself, and if you can understand what's going on, let me know. Good if you like lots of people using telephones in a hotel setting.

Why did it win Best Picture? The only thing I can think of is that there were a lot of telephones used in the film in a hotel.