70 years ago in Oscar history: Hello, 'Mr. Chips'
Today in 1939, a sleeper flick opened in U.S. movie theaters that would teach those "Gone With the Wind" hotshots a lesson. Make that an Oscar lesson — with Robert Donat at the head of the best-actor class.
At the 1939 Academy Awards, "Gone With the Wind" (13 nominations) seemed like a shoo-in to sweep most races, including best actor for Clark Gable, but he lost to Donat, star of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," director Sam Wood's adaptation of James Hilton's novel about a beloved boarding-school teacher. It was one of the other nine films up for best picture. How did Donat pull off the upset?
One popular myth claims that since both flicks were from MGM, studio chief Louis B. Mayer ordered the victory in order to spread the Oscar gold between his movies. That's nonsense. Yeah, voters wanted to spread the gold around, but among the acting contenders. Gable had won a few years earlier for "It Happened One Night" (1934) and Donat had a lot of pluses in the 1939 derby. One: he was a Brit (voters even back then were suckers for English accents). Two: he was a popular actor (star of "The Count of Monte Cristo" in 1934 and Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" in 1935) who held an Oscar I.O.U. He'd lost best actor in 1938 ("The Citadel") to Spencer Tracy ("Boys Town").
Donat was not present at the Coconut Grove when Tracy bestowed the new winner of the best-actor prize.
Photos: MGM
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