Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 1932-1933

The Contenders:

Leslie Howard: Berkeley Square
Paul Muni: I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Charles Laughton: The Private Life of Henry VIII (winner)

Old English

Film: Berkeley Square
Format: Turner Classic Movies on rockin’ flatscreen.

I’ve been recording rare movies off Turner Classic movies for a number of months. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t allow me to watch those movies that often, which means my DVR is getting full. Since I did hace the opportunity tonight, I figured why not get one of those recorded rarities out of the way? Almost at random I selected Berkeley Square. I’m pleased with it in only the most perverse way Watching it now means I can delete it from the DVR and I never have to worry about it again.

We start in the year following the American Revolutionary War. Young Peter Standish (Leslie Howard) has traveled to England on a slow boat to encounter and then marry his cousin Kate Pettigrew (Valerie Taylor). The Pettigrews need the marriage because they’re socially rich and cash poor and Standish has a great deal of cash. Everything seems to be fine until the moment that Peter is to enter the Pettigrew home, and he seems to vanish for a bit.