The Oscar win that led to write-in voting being banned forever

In 1934, The inimitable Bette Davis He appeared in the film adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, a semi-autobiographical novel about Philip Carey’s ill-fated love. The 1934 film was directed by the prolific John Cromwell and starred Leslie Howard as Philip. Davis played Mildred Rogers, a waitress in a café who he falls in love with, but she treats him very cruelly. It was a breakthrough role for Davis, who was only 26 at the time.

Article in Collider It indicates that Davis was under contract to Warner Bros. At that time, but in fact, truly He wanted to play Mildred, knowing it was an exciting role. “Of Human Bondage” was being produced by RKO, and Davis would need WB’s Jack Warner to loan her talents to RKO to work on the project. Davis recalled in an interview with TCM How much she begged Warner and how he eventually reluctantly allowed her to take the role. “Of Human Bondage” ended up failing at the box office, but Davis received much acclaim. At the time, it got a lot of Oscar buzz.

But Davis was not even nominated that year. According to the book “Mother Goddam: The Story of Bette Davis’ Career” Many Oscar voters were angry at the snub, and there was vague buzz about the possibility of voters writing in Davis’ name in protest. In a surprise development, the Academy heard the mysterious uproar and, at the last minute, announced that write-in voting would be allowed in the 1934 voting session. Davis did not win, but she did well with voters. Vanity Fair magazine once pointed this out Davis came in third place after winners Claudette Colbert and Norma Shearer.

The write-in rule was implemented for the following year as well, perhaps as an experiment by the Academy to see if a write-in vote could actually gain traction. When cinematographer Hal Mohr won the write-in vote for his work on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Academy put an end to the write-in vote almost immediately.

Bette Davis’ disdain for Oscar can be compared to the example in 2008 when Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” was not nominated For Best Picture at the Academy Awards (although Heath Ledger posthumously won Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker), causing uproar among critics. Many claimed that the Academy was out of touch with a mass audience, and that well-made fantasy films, which cheerfully made millions, were still shunned by awards bodies simply because of their genre. The following year, the Academy responded to these criticisms by expanding the Best Picture category from five to 10 nominees, hoping to incorporate more blockbusters and fantasy films.

The 1934 incident was merely a previous case of the Academy yielding to public pressure. If voters were indeed planning to write in Davis’ name as rumors suggested, the Academy thought they might as well allow that. When Davis didn’t win, the Academy likely breathed a sigh of relief. They would not have to notice that their nominations were less than completely legitimate. As a show of good faith, the Academy kept the 1935 film base.

But then Hal Mohr won in 1935, which threw the entire system into question. Nominees for Best Cinematographer that year included Ray Gunn for “Barbary Coast,” Victor Milner for “The Crusades,” and legendary photographer Greg Toland for “Les Misérables.” Although these three men did an exemplary job in their films, one can see why voters wanted Mohr to win instead. His work in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is nothing short of magical. He famously applied Vaseline to his lenses to capture the soft focus world of William Shakespeare’s fairies, and also painted trees bright orange to reflect more light. You can read his entire process 2009 academic paper written by Scott McQueen.

Mohr is the only person to have won a competitive Oscar by write-in vote. The Academy terminated the writing rule immediately afterward.

Article in Eagle He noted that Davis winning Best Actress that year was unlikely, since “Of Human Bondage” was released the same year as the juggernaut “It Happened One Night,” which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

However, an eagle was also found Old miscellaneous article Where Warner Bros. He openly campaigned for write-in ballots the following year, encouraging everyone to vote with their hearts, not with what the Academy nominated. They called for “registration in all classes in which one or more of their candidates have not been nominated through the regular channels for the final ballot.” It could have worked, as Michael Curtiz was on the ballot to direct WB’s “Captain Blood” and Paul Muni was a write-in nominee for his performance in “Black Fury.” Neither Curtis nor Mooney won…but Hal Mohr did. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was also a World Bank production.

There are two minds at work here. One could see write-in campaigns as a way to bring justice to an already weighted system. However, one could also view it as an opportunity for well-moneyed studios to launch Oscar campaigns to whomever they want, regardless of nominations, and happily put their thumb on the scale. A write-in campaign supported by studio money would allow studios to dictate the Oscars. One could argue that this is already the case, but at least there are now standards. The writing rules were discontinued in 1935 and have not been applied since.

Davis won her first Oscar in 1936 for Dangerous, and Mohr won her second in 1940 for The Phantom of the Opera. Meanwhile, Muni won for “The Story of Louis Pasteur” in 1936 Cortez won for “Casablanca” in 1942. So everything was settled in the end.