STERLING SUPPORT - The 1930's

                The night sky’s a big place. A canvas that needs a lot of stars to fill it. Movie screens need stars too. And  not just the big ones. So much of what makes movies fun comes from the secondary players. And, so often, the best ones leave a more lingering glow than the luminaries they’re there to aid and abet.

                I love the movies of all eras. But I probably feel most comfortable – most at home – watching films from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. The period that crystallized and defined so much of what we want, expect and love when we watch a film.

                The  30’s represent the first full decade when the screen spoke. Not every silent star faded with the talkies.  Garbo, Colman, Crawford, Loretta Young, William Powell and W.C. Fields all shimmered brighter when the world heard them talk. But for every silent icon that lost their careers, ten newcomers lassoed  fame, using their voices as well as their faces to conquer the world. Or at least the very large part of it that went to the movies.

                Sound gave full scope to supporting players as well. They were the ones who reacted to the stars onscreen and made the stars react to them. Peppering the plot with comic or dramatic flourishes, supplying warmth and chills, villainy, vamping or valor as required.

                Like so many others, I’ve been watching these films and performers all my life. Mary Gordon, Donald Meek, J. Farrell MacDonald,  Jane Darwell are all like old friends. Eternally welcome. It’s such a  pleasure when you’re watching an old movie and one of these beloved players unexpectedly sweeps or bumbles or bustles or slips onto the screen. You feel like getting out the good china and inviting them to stay for a week.

                Anyway, I’m a list-a-holic. So here’s my chronological list of favorite supporting performances from the 30’s. You’ve probably seen many of these already. I can verify that they all stand up beautifully to repeat viewings. The ones you haven’t caught up with yet all represent  treats to look forward to.

                I could  spend  forever  watching  tiny, venerable Etienne Girardot dither and fume in 1934’s “The Firebird”. Ditto for Una O’Connor , sublimely freaking out over  Frankenstein’s monster.  Hold onto your man whenever cool blonde troublemaker Claire Dodd sidles into view.  Dodd’s  fantastic  in the Warners programmer “The Payoff.” And she doesn’t even get to play her last scene onscreen.  James Dunn just describes it to Patricia Ellis. But I‘ve pictured it so vividly in my head that, for me, it’s now a mythic Dodd moment.  Leaving me to wonder forever, was it actually filmed and left on the cutting room floor?  

                I wasn’t that high on Deanna Durbin. But I could never get enough of her sometime nemesis Helen Parrish – the 30’s greatest proponent of junior deb bitchiness. A bella donna blend of brisk entitlement and teen allure. The thing about Parrish was that she could play sweet girls beautifully too. The same year she ran maid Mary Treen ragged  in front of her gargantuan Park Avenue clothes-closet in Durbin’s “First Love”, she also played Deanna’s loving sister in “Three Smart Girls Grow Up.”  And made you want to settle down with her.

                Hugh Herbert is on this list four times. But I couldn’t leave off any of those performances, all of which have me in stitches whenever I watch them. To me, he and Lou Costello are the two funniest men I’ve ever seen in the movies.

                And speaking of funny men, I love W.C. Fields – but I’d have to say he’s never more fully Fields than when he’s sparring with Kathleen Howard and Tommy Bupp in “It’s a Gift”.  Possibly the two greatest foils he ever had.  Both marvelous.

              How many actresses have played difficult mothers-in-law?  A lot.  But no one has ever – ever – done it better than Lucile Watson in “Made for Each Other”.  Born in Canada, too, I’m proud to say.

                And “Gone with the Wind” was just the most visible peak in Hattie McDaniel’s career. I’ve gone on record before as saying this lady’s one of the goddesses. Give her a  whole hour or half a minute. It doesn’t matter. She makes magic.

                The Academy  didn’t get around to recognizing supporting performances till 1936. So for the better part of the decade, these performers and their  work  basically went unacknowledged. I’ve used asterisks to indicate performances that were nominated.  Double asterisks for actual winners.  As you’ll see the asterisks are few and far between. But that doesn’t detract a whit from the wonderful accomplishments celebrated on this list. And thanks to TCM and DVD’s, virtually all of them are out there

to  enjoy. So enjoy.

                                The 30’s -100 Favorite Supporting Performances

  1. HARRY EARLES “Freaks”(’32) Tod Browning

  2. GEORGE SIDNEY “High Pressure”(’32) Mervyn LeRoy

  3. MAE WEST “Night After Night”(’32) Archie Mayo

  4. FRED ASTAIRE “Flying Down to Rio”(’33) Thornton Freeland

  5. CLAIRE DODD “Footlight Parade”(’33) Lloyd Bacon

  6. J. FARRELL MACDONALD “Peg O’My Heart”(’33) Robert Z. Leonard

  7. UNA O’CONNOR “The Invisible Man”(’33) James Whale

  8. EDWIN PHILLIPS “Wild Boys of the Road”(’33) William Wellman

  9. GREGORY RATOFF “Let’s Fall in Love”(’33) David Burton

10. GINGER ROGERS “Flying Down to Rio”(’33) Thornton Freeland

11. ERNEST THESIGER “The Ghoul”(’33) T. Hayes Hunter

12. CLARA BLANDICK “The Show Off”(’34) Charles F. Riesner

13. HARRY C. BRADLEY “House of Mystery”(’34) William Nigh

14. TOMMY BUPP “It’s a Gift”(’34) Norman Z. Mcleod

15. FRANKIE DARRO “The Merry Frinks”(’34) Alfred E. Green

16. JANE DARWELL “Heat Lightning”(’34) Mervyn LeRoy

17. ETIENNE GIRARDOT “The Firebird”(’34) William Dieterle

18. KATHLEEN HOWARD “It’s a Gift”’ (‘34) Norman Z. McLeod

19. GUY KIBBEE “Dames”(’34) Ray Enright

20. FRANK MORGAN “Success at Any Price”(’34) J. Walter Ruben

21. MICKEY ROONEY “Hide- out”(’34) W.S. Van Dyke

22. DOROTHY TREE “The Firebird”(’34) William Dieterle

23. JANE WITHERS “Bright Eyes’(’34) David Butler

24. FRANK ALBERTSON “Alice Adams”(’35) George Stevens

25. PEGGY ASHCROFT “The 39 Steps”(’35) Alfred Hitchcock

26. ALICE BRADY “Gold Diggers of 1935”(’35) Busby Berkeley

27. JOSEPH CAWTHORNE “Gold Diggers of 1935”(’35) Busby Berkeley

28. BEBE DANIELS “Music is Magic”(’35) George Marshall

29. CLAIRE DODD “The Payoff” (‘35 ) Robert Florey

30. GLENDA FARRELL “Gold Diggers of 1935”(’35) Busby Berkeley

31. ETIENNE GIRARDOT “The Whole Town’s Talking”(’35) John Ford

32. HUGH HERBERT “Gold Diggers of 1935”(’35) Busby Berkeley

33. HUGH HERBERT “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”(’35) William Dieterle & Max Reinhardt

34. KATHLEEN HOWARD “The Man on the Flying Trapeze”(’35) Clyde Bruckman

35. HATTIE MCDANIEL “Alice Adams”(’35) George Stevens

36. JOHN MCGUIRE “Steamboat Round the Bend”(’35) John Ford

37. DONALD MEEK “The Whole Town’s Talking”(’35) John Ford

38. UNA O’CONNOR “Bride of Frankenstein”(’35) James Whale

39. EDNA MAY OLIVER “David Copperfield”(’35) George Cukor

40. BASIL RATHBONE “David Copperfield”(’35) George Cukor

41. ANN SHOEMAKER “Alice Adams”(’35)  George Stevens

42. MARY ASTOR “Dodsworth”(’36) William Wyler

43. MONA BARRIE “King of Burlesque”('36) Sidney Lanfield

44. HELEN BRODERICK “Swing Time”(’36) George Stevens

45. EDWARD BROPHY “Strike Me Pink”(’36) Norman Taurog

46. JOHN BUCKLER “Tarzan Escapes”(’36) Richard Thorpe

47. DONALD CALTHROP “The Man Who Changed His Mind”(’36) Robert Stevenson

48. FRANK CELLIER “The Man Who Changed His Mind”(’36) Robert Stevenson

49. JANE DARWELL “Ramona”(’36)  Henry King

50. JAMES ELLISON “The Plainsman”(’36) Cecil B. De Mille)

51. HUGH HERBERT “Colleen”(’36) Alfred E. Green

52. MARCIA MAE JONES “These Three”(’36) William Wyler

53. ALMA KRUGER “These Three”(’36) William Wyler

54. GAIL PATRICK “My Man Godfrey”(’36) Gregory LaCava

55. PHILIP AHN “Thank You, Mr. Moto(’37) Norman Foster

56. FAY BAINTER “Make Way for Tomorrow”(’37) Leo McCarey

57. JANE BRYAN “Confession”(’37) Joe May

58. BILLIE BURKE “Topper”(’37)  Norman Z. Mcleod

59. ESTHER DALE “The Awful Truth”(’37) Leo McCarey

60. BILLY HALOP “Dead End’(’37) William Wyler

61. HUGH HERBERT “The Singing Marine”(’37) Ray Enright

62. MARY NASH “Heidi”(’37) Allan Dwan

63. PARKYAKARKUS “She’s Got Everything”(’37) Joseph Santley

64. DITA PARLO “La Grande Illusion”(’37) Jean Renoir

65. SLIM SUMMERVILLE “Love is News”(’37) Tay Garnett

66. DOUGLAS WALTON “Flight from Glory”(’37) Lew Landers

67. SOLLY WARD “She’s Got Everything”(’37) Joseph Santley

68. EDWARD ARNOLD “You Can’t Take It with You”(’38) Frank Capra

69. GEORGE BRENT “Jezebel”(’38) William Wyler

70. JUDY GARLAND “Love Finds Andy Hardy”(’38) George B. Seitz

71. PAULETTE GODDARD “The Young in Heart”(’38) Richard Wallace

72. IGOR ILYINSKY “Volga-Volga”(’38) Grigori Aleksandrov

73. HENRY KOLKER “Holiday”(’38) George Cukor

74. MOORE MARRIOT “Old Bones of the River”(’38) Marcel Varnel

75. VARVARA MASSALATINOVA “The Childhood of Maxim Gorky”(’38) Mark Donskoy

76. ROBERT MORLEY “Marie Antoinette”(’38)   W.S. Van Dyke  *

77. DORIS NOLAN “Holiday”(’38) George Cukor

78. DONALD O’CONNOR “Sing, You Sinners”(’38) Wesley Ruggles

79. BRIAN AHERNE “Juarez”(’39)  William Dieterle  *

80. LIONEL ATWILL “Son of Frankenstein”(’39) Rowland V. Lee

81. ROMAN BOHNEN “Of Mice and Men”(’39) Lewis Milestone

82. HENRY BRANDON “The Marshal of Mesa City”(’39) David Howard

83. BILLIE BURKE “Remember?” Norman Z. McLeod

84. WALTER CONNOLLY “Fifth Avenue Girl”(’39) Gregory LaCava

85. OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND “Gone with the Wind’(’39)  Victor Fleming  *

86. ROBERT DOUGLAS “Over the Moon”(’39) Thornton Freeland

87. KAY FRANCIS “In Name Only”(’39) John Cromwell

88. SYDNEY GRENVILLE “The Mikado”(’39) Victor Schertzinger

89. MARGARET HAMILTON “The Wizard of Oz”(’39) Victor Fleming

90. SIR CEDRIC HARDWICKE “The Hunchback of Notre Dame’(’39) William Dieterle

91. J. FARRELL MACDONALD “Susannah of the Mounties’(’39) Walter Lang & William A. Seiter

92. HATTIE MCDANIEL “Gone with the Wind”(’39)  Victor Fleming  **

93. BUTTERFLY MCQUEEN “Gone with the Wind’(’39) Victor Fleming

94. DONALD MEEK “Blondie Takes a Vacation”(’39) Frank R. Strayer

95. EUGENE PALLETTE “First Love”(’39) Henry Koster

96. HELEN PARRISH “First Love”(’39) Henry Koster

97. JUNE PREISSER “Babes in Arms’(’39) Busby Berkeley

98. VERREE TEASDALE “Fifth Avenue Girl”(’39) Gregory LaCava

99. LUCILE WATSON “Made for Each Other”(’39)  John Cromwell

100. GEORGE ZUCCO “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”(’39) Alfred L. Werker