The only silent movie to win the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’
Ah, the Oscars. A time for celebration, speculation, and for people to get really angry about films and performances that will all be forgotten in six months’ time. Ever since the first ceremony back in 1929, the Academy Awards have recognised the absolute cream of the filmmaking crop. Even though their popularity and relevance seems to dwindle year on year, they still hold a special place in the hearts of film fans and aren’t going to go away any time soon, despite what they doomsayers might think.
One of the great things about the Oscars having such a long and rich history is that they can be used to track the evolution of cinema over the better part of a century. During its early years, the ceremony witnessed one of the biggest transformations the business would ever undergo; the transition from silent films to ‘talkies’. As anyone who has seen Sunset Boulevard will know, this was a big deal – enough of a big deal to shoot someone into a swimming pool over.
Though ‘sound films’ had been around since the very early 20th century, they didn’t gain a foothold in Hollywood until the late 1920s. The Jazz Singer from 1927 is widely regarded as the first commercially viable talkie, although that came with only partial synchronised sound. With the success of this movie in the bag, talking pictures began their domination over the silent stories of yesteryear, including at the Oscars.
In its 95-year (and counting) history, only one silent movie has ever been awarded the grand prize of ‘Best Picture by the Academy. Your mind might immediately go to The Artist, the 2011 film set during the exact time period when silent films were beginning to fall out of fashion. Starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo as a pair of lovers on wildly different career paths, The Artist charmed audiences and critics alike, leaving the 2012 ceremony with five Oscars from 10 nominations. These included ‘Best Actor’ for Dujardin, ‘Best Director’ for Michel Hazanavicius, and the coveted ‘Best Picture’ gong. However, this is not the answer to our question
Whilst most of the film does play out in silence, two scenes make use of sound. The most notable is when George (Dujardin) falls into a dreamlike state and can hear the sounds of the world around him, symbolising the emergence of talking pictures and the decline of the industry that made him a star. Whilst this scene is very powerful, it does invalidate the movie’s claims to be a truly ‘silent’ work of art. According to The Academy itself, The Artist features “some sequences with sound effects, music throughout, and several characters with brief dialogue at the end of the film.”
In order to find the real solution to this conundrum, we need to go back – way back. The first and only completely silent film to win ‘Best Picture’ just so happens to be the very first recipient of that award – 1927’s Wings. Available with a synchronised (but crucially separate) soundtrack, Wings stars Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers and Richard Arlen as two World War I airmen competing over the heart of their shared love, played by Clara Bow.
Wings’ record is as old as the Oscars themselves. The Artist was the best shot at something breaking it, so it’s looking very likely that this fascinating statistic will remain intact, perhaps for the rest of time.
