31 days of Oscar: day 27

This month, Turner Classic Movies celebrates movies and the Academy Awards by presenting 31 Days of Oscar. Each Day from Feb.1 through March 3, a different category of the awards will be the theme of the day; featuring films that were nominated or won in that category. The Shelf will be joining in the celebration by giving you our Oscar pick of the Day!

Today's category is Best Screenplay - Nominees and Winners . This would be a difficult choice to make, as there are some really excellent films in the line-up, but we must make the hard decisions regardless. You don't have to tho'- you can watch 'em all if you want. I can sense TiVos going into overdrive! Here's today's schedule (all times are EST):

6:15 AM Watch on the Rhine (’43)
8:15 AM The Citadel (’38)
10:15 AM The Story of Louis Pasteur (’35)
11:45 PM A Place in the Sun (’51)
2:00 PM The Bad and the Beautiful (’52)
4:00 PM Ninotchka (’39)
6:00 PM After the Thin Man (’36)
8:00 PM My Man Godfrey (’36)
10:00 PM Wuthering Heights (’39)
12:00 AM The Little Foxes (’41)
2:00 AM The Pride of the Yankees (’42)
4:15 AM Johnny Belinda (’48)

And our Oscar pick goes to... My Man Godfrey! William Powell and Carole Lombard star in what is perhaps one of the best (and my favorite) romantic screwball comedies of all time. Lombard plays spoiled and airheaded socialite Irene Bullock who finds an apparently "forgotten man" (euphemism for homeless, or resident of a Hoverville), Godfrey, as part of an elaborate scavenger hunt for a group of wealthy people. Irene desperately wants a protégé and hires Godfrey as the family butler. And what a family! The household is full of loons, and Godfrey attempts to create order out of chaos where he can. The overly dramatic Irene soon falls for Godfrey, who gently rebuffs Irene, as a relationship between employer and servant would be improper. But Godfrey has secrets and a past which he isn't divulging, and could change everything as he changes everyone.

My Man Godfrey was nominated for 6 Academy Awards; and the first film to be nominated in all four acting categories, but did not win. You can watch the film today on TCM, or you can order the DVD through the usual online retailers and the TCM shop. The film has been available in several terrible public domain releases, but fortunately was also released in a good single disc Criterion release. This film is long overdue for a clean-up and the special edition treatment from Warner Brothers. Perhaps it may be available as part of the rumored William Powell (or Powell/Myrna Loy) box set.

For more information on TCM's 31 Days of Oscar, visit the Turner Classic Movies website.

Stay tuned for a special round-up- we'll be talking about the best from 2006 and look ahead to 2007. There isn't much coming out this week- so we won't be covering this week's releases. You'll want to save your cash for some great box sets coming in the next month or two anyway.



All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.