I recently picked up a copy of the 1933 Film Daily Yearbook for some non-Warren William research, but of course my first pass through I paid special attention for anything I spotted from that banner year for William covered inside, 1932. The best thing I found was this ad, which didn’t reproduce as well as I would have liked but is legible all the same. It’s actually the facing page of a two-page ad with page one including a bunch of industry quotes about how great Warner’s has been in the recent past. This page put the emphasis on 16 pictures–in this case photos of their 16 most important stars heading into 1933:
Top to bottom, left to right, just in case you can’t see it well enough: James Cagney, Ruth Chatterton, George Arliss, Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, Joe E. Brown, William Powell, Richard Barthelmess, Barbara Stanwyck, Loretta Young, Kay Francis, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Warren William, Bebe Daniels, Bette Davis, Joan Blondell.
Now that’s a roster!
I was disappointed in the overall lack of appreciation for Warren William’s work in this a year which covered some of his best releases: The Woman From Monte Carlo, Under Eighteen, The Mouthpiece, Beauty and the Boss, The Dark Horse, Skyscraper Souls, Three on a Match, The Match King. Wow!
Some of the areas where William goes under or unrecognized:
Photoplay’s 1932 Best Individual Performances: Tops of this list were John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Walter Huston, Fredric March and Robert Montgomery, who were all mentioned four times each. Warren William isn’t even mentioned twice! He only gains mention in August for The Dark Horse, as does Guy Kibbee.
Not surprisingly his work is ignored in Film Daily’s 11th “Ten Best” ballot which polled 368 movie critics and editors throughout the nation on the best releases from November 1, 1931 through October 31, 1932. To give an idea of the number of votes the biggest pictures get the top three were 1) Grand Hotel – 296 votes, 2) The Champ – 214 votes, 3) Arrowsmith – 192 votes.
They do include an Honor Roll accounting all pictures which received 10 or more votes. Again only one of Warren’s films gets mentioned, this time The Mouthpiece, which tallied all of 13 votes. It does make me feel a little better that some classics also scored low: Frankenstein 28, Tarzan 26, Horse Feathers 19, Red Headed Woman 18, and One Way Passage tied at 13 with The Mouthpiece.
Even though I didn’t pick up this book for Warren William I’m tempted to seek out the following year’s edition now just to see if he fared better. After all, we think of this era as his zenith, yet it looks like he’s having a hard time getting out of the gates. I don’t expect The Match King to rate anywhere near Grand Hotel, but I figured it’d rate. At least Warner Brothers is impressed enough to include him with their top 16 moving forward.
This leads my mind to wonder how the typical Warren William pre-code film played in the big city vs. small town America. Since each critic is allotted the same vote the cites are well outnumbered, does his low showing in 1932 mean that small town folks weren’t accepting of his typical city slicker crooks and con men? I’d imagine that’s very possible but completely allow for the fact that I’m probably jumping to conclusions. Your thoughts?
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VErrrrry interesting. What I’m amazed by is the incredibly tiny amount of votes that The Mouthpiece received in their Top 10 poll. It was widely lauded upon release and made Warren a genuine star, so where’s the love? I’d be curious to hear the full Top 10 list, presumably all liked better by the critics than The Mouthpiece.
The interesting thing is on that cover, there are stars who got a bit more attention than deserved. I leave it as an exercise to the reader as to who might not belong.
As for rating of films (and the top 3 films seem unsurprisingly banal choices), remember that distribution and promotion matter as much as the films (otherwise, where’s Fox with their Will Rogers films, which would play well in rural areas?) A film like I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang would likely be downrated for its brutal depiction of the justice system of the south. Warner grit just may not have been appreciated.
Had a feeling I might have been selectively teasing with the mentions I included from that list! May as well post the whole thing.
Again this is for films released between November 1, 1931 and October 31, 1932. The “Ten Best Pictures of 1932” (plus 47 other films receiving 10 or more votes) as chosen by “a total of 368 motion picture critics and editors throughout the country.”
Grand Hotel 296
The Champ 214
Arrowsmith 192
The Guardsman 170
Smilin’ Through 168
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 161
Emma 154
Bill of Divorcement 141
Back Street 136
Scarface 135
—————–
Shanghai Express 117
Broken Lullaby 92
Man Who Played God 75
Blessed Event 68
Love Me Tonight 60
Washington Merry-Go-Round 60
Trouble in Paradise 56
Bring ‘Em Back Alive 55
Washington Masquerade 51
Arsene Lupin 46
As You Desire Me 45
Congress Dances 43
Hell Divers 42
American Madness 40
Private Lives 37
Movie Crazy 36
One Hour With You 36
A Farewell to Arms 35
Life Begins 34
Phantom President 33
Mati Hari 33
Once In a Lifetime 31
Wet Parade 29
Frankenstein 28
Tarzan, the Ape Man 26
Night of June 13 25
Doomed Battalion 24
Union Depot 21
What Price Hollywood 21
Horse Feathers 19
Red Headed Woman 18
So Big 18
Big Broadcast 17
Tiger Shark 15
Dance Team 14
Blondie of the Follies 13
Last Mile 13
One Way Passage 13
The Mouthpiece 13
This Is the Night 13
Lady and Gent 12
Miracle Man 12
Tom Brown of Culver 12
Bird of Paradise 11
Merrily We Go to Hell 11
Cabin the Cotton 10
Letty Lynton 10
mndean probably nailed it regarding promotion and distribution as MGM owns a lot of heavy hitters in this point tally. Fugitive was released a few weeks too late to qualify.
Blessed Event scored lower than The Man Who Played God? I like Arliss, but that’s screwy. And as much as I might like Washington Merry-Go-Round, it’s nowhere near Trouble In Paradise. The list is fascinating and I’m glad you put it up. I notice the highest Fox film I can find is Dance Team, waaay near the bottom. As for MGM’s distribution power, their corporate parent Loew’s, at least in our city, had three theaters in the downtown area in the early ’30s, and no other distributor chain had more than one. I don’t think Warner/First National even had a theater here. Often a Warner/First National film would open in a Loew’s theater.
Hey, I just realized there’s only seven films on that list I haven’t seen!