Presentation of Film Awards

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 12 (Supplement)

Presentation of Film Awards

NEW YORK CRITICS* CEREMONY With glasses tinkling cheerfully and a suite full of guests who paid little or no attention to the ceremony as such, the New York Film Critics — capitalised in type, if not in the financial records —presented recently their awards for the best picture, the best performances and the best direction of the screen year of 1935. It was no fault of theirs, says the New York Times, that the recipients could not be on hand at the Ritz-Carl-ton to accept their medals and scrolls; the presentation had to be made, it was made, and the critics and a coterie of motion picture luminaries made the best of it.

Charles Laugh ton of "Ruggles of Red Gap" and "Mutiny on, the Bounty" was winner of the medal for the best performance among the actors. But Mr. Laughton was in England, making another picture. What more appropriate, asked Robert Sherwood than to permit Sir Gerald Campbell, British Consul-General, to accept the prize for his countryman? Sir Gerald had no objection. He made a pun about Mr. Laughton's Mutiny winning the critics' Bounty, and that was that.

Next in order was the film reviewers' award to "The Informer" as the year's best picture and to John Ford, its director, for the finest direction. Mr. Ford happened to be in Hollywood, as was M. H. Aylosworth, chairman of the board of RKO Pictures, which produced the picture, and so were Victor McLaglen and Margot Grahame, its stars. For a moment it seemed that the critics had reached another stalemate, but radio saved the day. Mr. Aylesworth and Mr. Ford spoke up from Hollywood and Mr. McLaglen, Miss Grahame and Preston Foster did three scenes from the picture over the air. Mr. Sherwood mopped his brow, crouched once more before the microphone and prepared to present a modal to Greta Garbo of "Anna Karenina" for the finest performance of an

actress. Discovering that Miss Garbo had gone home to Sweden, he called upon the Swedish Consul-General in New York, Martin Kastengren, to accept the award. Mr. Kastengren did, admitting afterward that he had made an unconvincing double for Garbo, and the official ceremonies were over. That was, of course, far from being the end of it. Mr. Sherwood summed up the essential drama of the awards when he mentioned that it was the first time, to his knowledge, that "any group of critics anywhere has awarded medals to those whose works they havo been praising and panning, and, second, it is certainly the first time that any group of critics has ever invited its victims to a cocktail party."