Back to Golden Days

The Academy Awards, widely known as the «Oscars,» are the most famous and prestigious competitive awards in the entertainment industry. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, they are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements. In anticipation of the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, which will be held three weeks from today, on April 25, here is the story of how it all began.   Part I: Louis B. Mayer and the creation of the Academy In early January 1927, MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer invited a few people to dinner at his home. Later in the evening, while he was playing solitaire, he overheard actor Conrad Nagel and other guests discussing the advisability of creating an organization that would benefit the entire Hollywood movie industry. Mayer, the «filmmaking force of his time,» was interested in the idea and soon arranged a meeting with Nagel, director Fred Niblo and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fr...

This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war. Original release poster Directed by Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) tells the story of a group of German schoolboys, led by the sensitive Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres), who decide to join the Kaiser's Army after their patriotic teacher, Professor Kantorek (Arnold Lucy), convinces them of how «sweet and fitting it is do die for the Fatherland.» Their romantic delusions are soon shattered, when they reach training camp and are bullied by their sadistic drillmaster, Corporal Himmelstoß (John Wray). Arriving at their billets, Paul and his friends meet a group of already hardened and cynical veterans of the war, including Stanislaus 'Kat' Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim), Deteri...