Evening star., 1938-12-25
Film Players
Select Bests
OF the Year
Star Critics Name
Top Actors and
Photoplays
By Harold Hefernan.
HOLLYWOOD

~ IL AH1 Os% AAOUOI SSNSSs
HOLLYWOOD.
The actors and actresses of Holly
wood believe "You Can't Take it
With You" was the finest motion
picture produced in Hollywood dur
ing 1888.
They think Bette Davis pulled so
far away from the rest of the fem
inine field through her performance
in "Jezebel" that she has no serious
rival for academy award honors next
March.
They go on record for Spencer
Tracy's Father Flanagan of Boys
Town" as the outstanding male per-
formance of the year.
They see in Harry Davenport's i'm
personation of the kindly, philo-
sophical judge of You Can't Take
it With You" the most delightful
incident" projected in any movie
of the past IL months.
These are 1888 "bests" as seen by
the boys and girls who act in Holly
wood motion pictures. They not
only act in the movies, they also go
to see many of them-not just those
produced in their own studios, but
offerings released by competitors as
well.
For the first annual stars turn
critics" poll, 100 outstanding acting
personalities last week pondered in
tently over printed blanks and then
linked in their selections.
With an alphabetically arranged
chart of all domestic and foreign
pictures released during 1888 to re-
fresh memories, the star critics"
eagerly listed individual choices for
10 best movies of the year, best per-
formance by an actress and actor
and best incident" seen in any pic
ture.
They also were asked to estimate
the approximate number of movies
seen during the year.
When the votes were tabulated
and winners established-as listed
above-experts agreed the actors had
balloted in typical fan fashion and
In such manner as to offer an ac-
curate forecast of what may happen
at the annual academy awards ban
quet next March, when official
statuettes will be bestowed on stars
chosen for outstanding achieve
ments.
Except in the race for best ac-
tress," competition in this first stars
turn critics poll was exceedingly
close all the way down to the finish
line. Winners were in doubt almost
until the last votes were registered.
You can't take it with youH had
no cinch in the best picture" clas-
siflcation. Boys Town" offered des-
perate rivalry and lost the accolade
only by a margin of nine votes. The
other eight pictures, rounding cut
the acting professions choices of Flo
best" for the year. were: -Four
Daughters" "Alexander's Ragtime
Band" TEST Pilot "The Citadel"
"Jezebel." Angels With Dirty Faces
Love Finds Andy Hardy" and Snow
White and the Seven DWarfs,' in
the order named.
An Englishman, Robert Donat.
scoring brilliantly as the doctor hero
of THE Citadel" was Tracy's most
dangerous competitor for best ac-
tor" plaudits A matter of only nine
votes separated Father Tracy from
DR.. Donat. James Cagney's grim
acting in ANGELS With Dirty Faces
won him third place.
Bette Davis victory in best ac-
tress" classification turned into an
utter rout for the feminine acting
field. Bette's only rival was Bette
Davis. She won the nomination
through votes given her for that
Scarlet OHara-like performance in
"Jezebel'-and she also swept up
second place money with votes from
those who liked her in THE Sisters. ~
Few actors agreed on choices for
the best incident" All seemed to
have their favorite bits, thus WIDEN
ing the possible winners to 30 or
more. Some, like Priscilla Lane. cited
the scene in "Algiers, where the de-
tective assures his friend, Charles
Boyer. he'll ultimately capture him.
Fay Banter and few others
thought Adolphe Menjous tragic
failure at his daughters debut in
"A Letter of Introduction" was the
top small part. Ginger Rogers voted
for Lionel Barrymore's interpreta-
ton of the income tax law in You
Can't Take 1t With YOU"
Adrienne Ames couldn't find any,
thing to compare with John Cara
dimes bit as the taxi driver in a
scene with Alice Faye in "Alexan-
der's Ragtime Band" The scene
where Gary Copper threw Merle
Oberon into the pool in Cowboy and
the Lady" tickled Fred Astaire' S
funny-bone and made him vote for
it. Clark Gable thought the chew
ing gum gag engineered by Spencer
Tracy in "Test Pilot" was the real
"bit" hit of the year Spence stole
half the scenes in Test Pilot with
that gum gag" Gable commented on
the ballot margin, "but I also liked
that income tax scene of Lionel
Barrymore's in You Can't Take it
With Wou'"
However, the final roundup gave
Harry Davenport's judge in "You
Can't Take it With You a close but
clean-cut victory of seven votes
Robert Taylor, Lewis Stone, Joan
Blondell, Edith Fellowes, Fred Mac
Murray and Madeleine Carroll were
some of the stars whose votes put
Davenport on top.
Whom did the winner vote for?
Well, Bette Davis wrote in "Snow
White" as her choice for best picture,
Margaret Sullavin in Three Com