Jackie Cooper (Skippy), Robert Coogan (Sooky Wayne), Mitzi Green (Eloise), Jackie Searl (Sidney), Willard Robertson (Dr Herbert Skinner), Enid Bennett (Mrs Ellen Skinner), David Haines (Harley Nubbins), Helen Jerome Eddy (Mrs Wayne), Jack Clifford (Dogcatcher Nubbins), Guy Oliver (Dad Burkey), Carl R. Botefuhr (Skippy, age 3), Beaudine Anderson (boy), and Dannie MacGrant.
Director: NORMAN TAUROG. Scenario: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Norman McLeod. Dialogue: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Norman McLeod, Don Marquis. Adaptation: Percy Crosby, Sam Mintz, from the comic strip by Percy Crosby. Photography: Karl Struss. Music: John Leipold. Supervisor: Louis D. Lighton.
Copyright 24 April 1931 by Paramount Publix Corp. New York opening simultaneously at the Times Square Paramount and the Brooklyn Paramount, 3 April 1931. U.S. release: 25 April 1931. 7,685 feet. 85 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Boys try to raise $3 to buy a license for their dog.
NOTES: Academy Award, Best Directing, Norman Taurog (defeating Clarence Brown's A Free Soul, Lewis Milestone's The Front Page, Wesley Ruggles' Cimarron and Josef von Sternberg's Morocco).
Also nominated for Best Picture (Cimarron); Best Actor, Jackie Cooper (Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul); Writing Adaptation, Mankiewicz and Mintz only (Cimarron).
Number 3 in The Film Daily's annual poll of U.S. film critics (Cimarron was first, Street Scene second).
COMMENT: Despite the stiff opposition (most critics today would rank Taurog's chances of beating this field at around ten thousand to one), Taurog deserved his Academy Award. His persuasively sympathetic handling of his child stars and the way he has given the film pace by extremely fluid camera-work is faultless.
It is unfortunate that the film suffers from the complete absence of a music score (except "natural" music during Skippy's show). That and its quaint costumes (as well as its naive conclusion) make it seem rather dated today, though some scenes still come across with a powerful impact.
The story is a simple framework on which the scriptwriters expend a fair amount of ingenuity in developing its plot. But the best thing about it is the dialogue, which has a natural ring to it, yet contrives to be amusing.
The children are more convincing and interesting than the adults in the acting department, though Jack Clifford has some glorious moments as the rough-voiced dog-catcher. Karl Struss' superlative photography is another major asset.
Production values are — with the exceptions noted above — otherwise excellent.
Director: NORMAN TAUROG. Scenario: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Norman McLeod. Dialogue: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Norman McLeod, Don Marquis. Adaptation: Percy Crosby, Sam Mintz, from the comic strip by Percy Crosby. Photography: Karl Struss. Music: John Leipold. Supervisor: Louis D. Lighton.
Copyright 24 April 1931 by Paramount Publix Corp. New York opening simultaneously at the Times Square Paramount and the Brooklyn Paramount, 3 April 1931. U.S. release: 25 April 1931. 7,685 feet. 85 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Boys try to raise $3 to buy a license for their dog.
NOTES: Academy Award, Best Directing, Norman Taurog (defeating Clarence Brown's A Free Soul, Lewis Milestone's The Front Page, Wesley Ruggles' Cimarron and Josef von Sternberg's Morocco).
Also nominated for Best Picture (Cimarron); Best Actor, Jackie Cooper (Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul); Writing Adaptation, Mankiewicz and Mintz only (Cimarron).
Number 3 in The Film Daily's annual poll of U.S. film critics (Cimarron was first, Street Scene second).
COMMENT: Despite the stiff opposition (most critics today would rank Taurog's chances of beating this field at around ten thousand to one), Taurog deserved his Academy Award. His persuasively sympathetic handling of his child stars and the way he has given the film pace by extremely fluid camera-work is faultless.
It is unfortunate that the film suffers from the complete absence of a music score (except "natural" music during Skippy's show). That and its quaint costumes (as well as its naive conclusion) make it seem rather dated today, though some scenes still come across with a powerful impact.
The story is a simple framework on which the scriptwriters expend a fair amount of ingenuity in developing its plot. But the best thing about it is the dialogue, which has a natural ring to it, yet contrives to be amusing.
The children are more convincing and interesting than the adults in the acting department, though Jack Clifford has some glorious moments as the rough-voiced dog-catcher. Karl Struss' superlative photography is another major asset.
Production values are — with the exceptions noted above — otherwise excellent.