1931 Milstead Movie Awards

BEST PICTURE
THE CHAMP
MGM; King Vidor, Harry Rapf, Irving Thalberg & William M. Weiss
CITY LIGHTS
United Artists; Charles Chaplin
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Paramount; Rouben Mamoulian
DRACULA
Universal; Tod Browning & Carl Laemmle, Jr.
FRANKENSTEIN
Universal; Carl Laemmle, Jr.
THE FRONT PAGE
United Artists / Caddo; Howard Hughes & Lewis Milestone
LITTLE CAESAR
Warner Bros / First National; Hal B. Wallis & Darryl F. Zanuck
M
Nero Film; Seymour Nebenzal
THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Warner Bros; Darryl F. Zanuck
SKIPPY
Paramount; Louis D. Lighton

City Lights
City Lights
Also Considered:
A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ (Frank Clifford & Alexandre Kamenka); ARROWSMITH (Samuel Goldwyn); BAD GIRL (Winfield Sheehan); CIMARRON (William LeBaron & Wesley Ruggles); EAST LYNNE (Winfield Sheehan); A FREE SOUL (Clarence Brown); THE LAST FLIGHT (credit unknown); THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Ernst Lubitsch); TABU (credit unknown); TRADER HORN (Irving Thalberg)
 
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Wallace Beery as "Andy Purcell" - THE CHAMP
James Cagney as "Tom Powers" - THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Charles Chaplin as "The Tramp" - CITY LIGHTS
Maurice Chevalier as "Lt. Nikolaus Von Preyn" - THE SMILING LIEUTENANT
Jackie Cooper as "Skippy Skinner" - SKIPPY
Richard Dix as "Yancey Cravat" - CIMARRON
Alfred Lunt as "The Actor" - THE GUARDSMAN
Fredric March as "Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde" - DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Adolphe Menjou as "Walter Burns" - THE FRONT PAGE
Edward G. Robinson as "Enrico Bandello / Little Caesar" - LITTLE CAESAR

Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Also Considered:
John Barrymore (SVENGALI); Richard Barthelmess (THE LAST FLIGHT); Charles Chaplin (CITY LIGHTS); Colin Clive (FRANKENSTEIN); Ronald Colman (ARROWSMITH); Raymond Cordy (A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ); Ricardo Cortez (THE MALTESE FALCON); Leslie Howard (A FREE SOUL); Bela Lugosi (DRACULA); Michel Simon (LA CHIENNE); Robert Williams (PLATINUM BLONDE)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Virginia Cherrill as "The Blind Girl" - CITY LIGHTS
Irene Dunne as "Sabra Cravat" - CIMARRON
Sally Eilers as "Dorothy Haley" - BAD GIRL
Lynn Fontanne as "The Actress" - THE GUARDSMAN
Greta Garbo as "Mata Hari" - MATA HARI
Jean Harlow as "Ann Schuyler" - PLATINUM BLONDE
Helen Hayes as "Madelon Claudet" - THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET 
Norma Shearer as "Jan Ashe" - A FREE SOUL
Sylvia Sidney as "Roberta Alden" - AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
Dorothy Wieck as "Fraulein Von Bernberg" - MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM

Helen Hayes in The Sin Of Madelon Claudet
Helen Hayes in The Sin Of Madelon Claudet
Also Considered:
Elisabeth Bergner (ARIANE); Mae Clarke (WATERLOO BRIDGE); Marlene Dietrich (DISHONORED); Greta Garbo (SUSAN LENOX, HER FALL & RISE); Ann Harding (EAST LYNNE); Helen Hayes (ARROWSMITH); Ruan Lingyu (THE PEACH GIRL); Dorothy Mackaill (SAFE IN HELL); Janie Marise (LA CHIENNE); Barbara Stanwyck (THE MIRACLE WOMAN)

BEST DIRECTOR
Frank Borzage - BAD GIRL
Tod Browning - DRACULA
Charles Chaplin - CITY LIGHTS
Fritz Lang - M
Mervyn LeRoy - LITTLE CAESAR
Rouben Mamoulian - DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Lewis Milestone - THE FRONT PAGE
Wesley Ruggles - CIMARRON
Norman Taurog - SKIPPY
James Whale - FRANKENSTEIN

Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Also Considered:
Rene Clair (A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ); John Ford (ARROWSMITH); Frank Lloyd (EAST LYNNE); Ernst Lubitsch (THE SMILING LIEUTENANT); Rouben Mamoulian (CITY STREETS); F.W. Murnau (TABU); W.S. Van Dyke (TRADER HORN); King Vidor (THE CHAMP); Josef Von Sternberg (AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY); William A. Wellman (THE PUBLIC ENEMY)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Lionel Barrymore as "Stephen Ashe" - A FREE SOUL
James Cagney as "Jack" - SMART MONEY
Jackie Cooper as "Dink" - THE CHAMP
Dudley Digges as "Casper Gutman" - THE MALTESE FALCON
Boris Karloff as "The Monster" - FRANKENSTEIN
Peter Lorre as "Hans Beckert" - M
Paul Lukas as "Big Fellow Maskal" - CITY STREETS
Henri Marchand as "Emile" - A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Pat O'Brien as "Hilary Johnson" - THE FRONT PAGE
Lewis Stone as "Carlo Boretti" - THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET

Peter Lorre in M
Peter Lorre in M
Also Considered:
Richard Bennett (ARROWSMITH); William Collier, Jr. (CIMARRON); Donald Crisp (SVENGALI); Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (LITTLE CAESAR); Dwight Frye (DRACULA); Clark Gable (A FREE SOUL); Jean Hersholt (SUSAN LENOX, HER FALL & RISE); Guy Kibbee (CITY STREETS); Harry Myers (CITY LIGHTS); Roland Young (THE GUARDSMAN)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Helen Chandler as "Nikki" - THE LAST FLIGHT
Claudette Colbert as "Franzi" - THE SMILING LIEUTENANT
Minna Gombell as "Edna Driggs" - BAD GIRL
Jean Harlow as "Gwen Allen" - THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Miriam Hopkins as "Ivy Pearson" - DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Miriam Hopkins as "Princess Anna" - THE SMILING LIEUTENANT
Lotte Lenya as "Jenny" - THE THREEPENNY ORCHESTRA
Marian Marsh as "Trilby O'Farrell" - SVENGALI
Una Merkel as "Effie Perine" - THE MALTESE FALCON
Loretta Young as "Gallagher" - PLATINUM BLONDE

Miriam Hopkins in The Smiling Lieutenant
Miriam Hopkins in The Smiling Lieutenant
Also Considered:
Helen Chandler (DRACULA); Mae Clarke (FRANKENSTEIN); Frances Dee (AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY); Rolla France (A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ); Wynn Gibson (CITY STREETS); Evalyn Knapp (SMART MONEY); Una Merkel (PRIVATE LIVES); Irene Rich (THE CHAMP); Estelle Taylor (CIMARRON); Thelma Todd (MONKEY BUSINESS)

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTATION)
ARROWSMITH
Sidney Howard
BAD GIRL
Viña Delmar & Edwin J. Burke
CIMARRON
Howard Estabrook
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Samuel Hoffenstein & Percy Heath
FRANKENSTEIN
John L. Balderston, Garrett Fort & Francis Edward Faragoh
A FREE SOUL
John Meehan & Becky Gardiner
THE FRONT PAGE
Bart Cormack, Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur
THE GHOST TRAIN
Angus MacPhail & Lajos Biro
LITTLE CAESAR
Francis Edward Faragoh & Robert Lord
SKIPPY
Joseph L. Mankiewicz & Norman Z. McLeod

Little Caesar
Little Caesar
Also Considered:
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (Samuel Hoffenstein); LA CHIENNE (Jean Renoir); CITY STREETS (Oliver H.P. Garrett); FIVE STAR FINAL (Byron Morgan & Robert Lord); THE LAST FLIGHT (John Monk Saunders); THE MALTESE FALCON (Maude Falton & Brown Holmes); MARIUS (Marcel Pagnol); NIGHT NURSE (Oliver H.P. Garrett); THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Ernest Vajda & Samson Raphaelson); SUSAN LENOX, HER FALL & RISE (Wanda Tuchock, Leon Gordon & Zelda Sears)

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Rene Clair
THE CHAMP
Frances Marion & Leonard Praskins
CITY LIGHTS
Charles Chaplin
M
Fritz Lang & Thea Von Harbou
MONKEY BUSINESS
S.J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone & Arthur Sheekman
PARDON US
H.M. Walker & Stan Laurel
THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Harvey Thew, Kubec Glasmon & John Bright
THE SECRET 6
Frances Marion

The Champ
The Champ
Also Considered:
BACHELOR APARTMENT (John Howard Lawson & J. Walter Ruben); DISHONORED (Josef Von Sternberg & Daniel N. Rubin); HONOR AMONG LOVERS (Austin Parker); MATA HARI (Benjamin Glazer & Leo Birinski); PLATINUM BLONDE (Robert Riskin); SMART MONEY (Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Lucien Hubbard & Joseph Jackson); THE STRUGGLE (Anita Loos & John Emerson); TRANSATLANTIC (Lynn Starling & Guy Bolton)

BEST ART DIRECTION
A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Lazare Meerson
ARROWSMITH
Richard Day
CIMARRON
Max Ree
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Hans Dreier
DRACULA
John Hoffman, Herman Rosse & Charles D. Hall
FRANKENSTEIN
Charles D. Hall
M
Emil Hassler & Karl Vollbrecht
THE MAD GENIUS
Anton Grot
SVENGALI
Anton Grot
TRANSATLANTIC
Gordon Wiles

Dracula
Dracula
Also Considered:
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (Hans Dreier); CITY LIGHTS (Henry Clive); EAST LYNNE (Joseph Urban); THE LAST FLIGHT (Jack Okey); LITTLE CAESAR (Anton Grot); LE MILLION (Lazare Meerson); THE PUBLIC ENEMY (Max Parker); THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Hans Dreier); THE THREEPENNY ORCHESTRA (Andrej Andrejew); WATERLOO BRIDGE (Charles D. Hall)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Georges Perinal
CIMARRON
Edward Cronjager
CITY STREETS
Lee Garmes
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Karl Struss
DRACULA
Karl Freund
FRANKENSTEIN
Arthur Edeson
M
Fritz Arno Wagner
SVENGALI
Barney McGill
TABU
Floyd Crosby
TRADER HORN
Clyde de Vinna

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Also Considered:
ARROWSMITH (Ray June); CITY LIGHTS (Gordon Pollock & Rollie Totheroh); DISHONORED (Lee Garmes); THE LAST FLIGHT (Sid Hickox); LITTLE CAESAR (Tony Gaudio); THE MAD GENIUS (Barney McGill); THE PUBLIC ENEMY (Dev Jennings); THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (George Folsey); STREET SCENE (George Barnes); THE THREEPENNY ORCHESTRA (Fritz Arno Wagner)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CIMARRON
Max Ree
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Travis Banton
DRACULA
Ed Ware & Vera West
EAST LYNNE
Sophie Wachner
FRANKENSTEIN
Mae Bruce
THE SECRET 6
Rene Hupert

Cimarron
Cimarron
Also Considered:
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (Travis Banton); BAD GIRL (Dolly Tree); DISHONORED (Travis Banton); EAST LYNNE (Sophie Wachner); LITTLE CAESAR (Earl Luick); THE PUBLIC ENEMY (Edward Stevenson); THE SMILING LIEUTENTANT (credit unknown)

BEST FILM EDITING
THE CHAMP
Hugh Wynn
CIMARRON
William Hamilton
CITY LIGHTS
Charles Chaplin & Willard Nico
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
William Shea
FRANKENSTEIN
Clarence Kolster
LITTLE CAESAR
Ray Curtiss
M
Paul Falkenberg
THE PUBLIC ENEMY
Edward McDermott
TABU
Arthur A. Brooks
TRADER HORN
Ben Lewis

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Also Considered:
CITY STREETS (William Shea); DRACULA (Milton Carruth); FIVE STAR FINAL (Frank Ware); THE FRONT PAGE (Duncan Mansfield); THE LAST FLIGHT (Alexander Hall); THE MAD GENIUS (Ralph Dawson); THE MALTESE FALCON (George Marks); SKIPPY (credit unknown); THE SKIN GAME (A.R. Gobbett & Rene Marrison); THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Merrill G. White)

BEST MAKEUP
DRACULA
Jack Pierce
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Norbert A. Myles & Wally Westmore
FRANKENSTEIN
Jack Pierce

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Also Considered:
CIMARRON (Ern Westmore); CITY LIGHTS (credit unknown); SVENGALI (Johnny Willis)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Georges Auric
CIMARRON
Max Steiner
CITY LIGHTS
Charles Chaplin
DRACULA
Heinz Roemheld
FRANKENSTEIN
Bernhard Kaun
THE SMILING LIEUTENANT
Adolph Deutsch & Johnny Green
SVENGALI
David Mendoza
TABU
Violeta Dinescu & Hugo Riesenfeld
TRADER HORN
William Axt
THE WHITE MAN
Herbert Stothart

A Nous La Liberté
A Nous La Liberté
Also Considered:
ARROWSMITH (Alfred Newman); THE BLACK CAMEL (Samuel Kaylin); LITTLE CAESAR (David Mendoza); THE MAD GENIUS (David Mendoza); THE MALTESE FALCON (Leo Forbstein); THE PUBLIC ENEMY (David Mendoza); SKIPPY (John Liepold); THE STRUGGLE (D.W. Griffith & Philip A. Scheib); THE THREEPENNY ORCHESTRA (Kurt Weill); WATERLOO BRIDGE (Val Burton)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"A Nous La Liberte" - A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
Georges Auric
"When It's Sleepy Time Down South" - SAFE IN HELL
Leon René, Otis René & Clarence Muse
"While Hearts Are Singing" - THE SMILING LIEUTENANT
Oscar Strauss & Clifford Gray

Safe In Hell
Safe In Hell
Also Considered:
"There's Nothing Too Good For My Baby" - PALMY DAYS (Harry Akst); "Toujours L'Amour In The Army" - THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (Oscar Strauss & Clifford Gray); "Tramps At Sea" - THE CUBAN LOVE SONG (Herbert Stothart, Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields)

BEST SOUND
CIMARRON
Clem Portman
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
M.M. Paggi
DRACULA
C. Roy Hunter
FRANKENSTEIN
C. Roy Hunter
TRADER HORN
Douglas Shearer

Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Also Considered:
THE CHAMP (Douglas Shearer); FIGHTING CARAVANS (Earl S. Hayman); A FREE SOUL (Douglas Shearer); M (Adolf Jansen); SKIPPY (Gene Merritt); TABU (credit unknown)

BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Wally Westmore
DRACULA
Frank H. Booth, William Davidson & John Fulton
FRANKENSTEIN
John P. Fulton

Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Also Considered:
CREATION (Willis O’Brien); END OF THE WORLD (W. Percy Day); THE LAST FLIGHT (Fred Jackman)

Most Wins:

4 - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

3 - Frankenstein

1 - A Nous la Liberté; Cimarron; The Champ; City Lights; Dracula; Little Caesar; M; Safe In Hell; The Sin Of Madelon Claudet; The Smiling Lieutenant

 


Most Nominations:

12 - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde; Frankenstein

10 - Cimarron

9 - Dracula

7 - City Lights; M

6 - A Nous la Liberté

5 - The Champ; Little Caesar; The Smiling Lieutenant