How Luise Rainer Won Two Oscars In A Row

In 1938, Luise Rainer became the first actor to ever win consecutive Academy Awards. In this episode I explain how she benefited from the studio system, how freelancing disadvantaged her opponents, and how white privilege influenced the casting of The Good Earth.
I'll be posting a video for EVERY Best Actress Oscar, so be sure to subscribe to my channel and follow me on Twitter.
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[@outinsider]

Luise Rainer lived to be 104, and never regretted her decision to leave Hollywood. She outlived Mayer gladly.

[@irina9339]

@@richardmcleod5967 dont think she would give a shit if you or anybody else know her or not. if she cared she would not leave HW

[@katherinemorelle7115]

Richard McLeod that’s not too surprising. Seems she loved the job, but hated the stranglehold the studios had on how things worked. From your comments though, she seems to have gotten the best of both worlds- got to revisit acting and have critical acclaim, but got away from the tentacles of the studios.

[@jiananlee5482]

I remember someone said that winning the Oscar can make a person live five years more, so Louise still need to thank Mayer for giving her 10 more years 😂

[@abhisheksharma-sb3er]

@@richardmcleod5967 lol! If that wouldn't be him someone would have, she had the talent and sooner or later she would have shown that to the world.

[@abhisheksharma-sb3er]

@@jiananlee5482 lol! I know at least one actress who died the next year after winning.

[@andraste6746]

How devastating for Anna May Wong to not be able to have that role.

[@paulskyekahawaty6133]

To be honest she looks much more China ware seller than an actress, so it was better the cast Luise instead.

[@rosieweaselby]

Paul Skye Kahawaty idk what kind of racist bs this is, but your criticism is further invalidated by the fat that if you’d ever read the book, you would know that Olan was supposed to be unattractive. So it doesn’t make sense to cast a glamorous star anyway.

[@paulskyekahawaty6133]

@@rosieweaselby I've read the book and I know that O-Lan is very plain and unattractive and Wang didn't love her at first, however, the studios at the time want to invest on actresses who really have star quality regardless of the role. I suppose they might have seen Anna's contemporary mainland Chinese actresses like Ruan Lingyu, who was a head turner in every angle. So they knew just because Anna is the only Chinese actress in Hollywood, doesn't mean they should invest in her!

[@AddBowIfGirl]

Paul Skye Kahawaty This is not a good reason to cast a white person to play a Chinese person. You’re not very bright.

[@jase87]

Add Bow If Girl that’s only true by today’s standards, this was almost 100 years ago and its easy to point fingers with standards that wasn’t going to exist for a long, long time. Can’t possibly fathom how something normal nowadays will be judged in another 100 years time

[@ionadelfina]

I gasped when you said Greta Garbo $200 a week vs her male costars $10,000 a week. Truly shameful.

[@robbiduncan9823]

ionadelfina SAME!!

[@janinebasil]

Sian M except it hasn’t been disproved. Cherry picked data doesn’t make facts. Yes it’s less than it was then (and how you can turn that horrifying gap into “meh, that was then, not now” is pretty disgusting because that gap is absolutely disgusting) but it’s still there. Even if it’s a bit less than is often quoted, which adjusts for “women’s choices” it’s still there. Besides, all that adjustment actually tells us is the reasons for the pay gap, that it’s still mostly sexism, and not that it isn’t there at all.

[@ionadelfina]

@@danielintheantipodes6741 Umm...it's more like a woman making 800,000 to a mans 40,000,000. She was making 2% of what he was making and they were doing the exact same job. That's worthy of outrage.

[@zacharyantle7940]

ionadelfina who are we referring to tho, the 30s or now? And I’m with Daniel on this. The other thing is, these Hollywood people are basically American royalty. What they make for one film is what most of us won’t even make in a while lifetime, male or female. And their discrepancy in pay is such a first world issue! Why does no one ever talk about woman in the 3rd world, who get paid NOTHING for working like literal slaves, and who I’d imagine, would be SO grateful to receive the $80,000 salary, even if it was so much less then a male co-worker. I’ve never seen a single person who discusses the pay gap mention this. Really sad.

[@SantiagoSanMiguel]

Creta Garbo earned by film $250.000 at that time.

[@gabeguarin1096]

Luise Rainer deserved a better showcase for her talents, and Anna May Wong deserved better in general.

[@kashfiaislam9995]

Casting dark skinned black actor as King Edward VI in My Lady Jane is just as bad as casting white actors to play Asian characters in The Good Earth. 🎭🩰🎨

[@kevintan1104]

Thank you for mentioning Anna May Wong! Wish more people would know about her.

[@leroymccoy9008]

Good news; The popular Netflix miniseries "Hollywood" shined a light on Wong. Glad more people know about her now. ☺

[@kevintan1104]

​@@leroymccoy9008 I was so excited to see Anna May Wong's cameo when the series first premiered in May. It was awesome to see the Golden Age of Hollywood reimagined, particularly correcting past wrongs such as casting POCs in respectable roles and giving LGBT a moment to shine all the while weaving in real historic celebrities in the plot. However, in the end, it still depresses me to know how such fantasies (especially that of Anna May Wong being recognized by her contemporaries) never came to fruition in real life.

[@sct4040]

She should have played in the Good Earth.

[@adamnoman4658]

@@kevintan1104 : Woke is never woke enough, is it?

[@olavwilhelm6843]

Anna May Wong is not as unknown as you may think

[@108mariachi]

“Just ask Scarlett Johansson” *snaps* 😂

[@llongone2]

Skipping the Academy Awards where you might win your 2nd Oscar just because you want to spend a quiet night at home...is low key badass!

[@angelacarleton9575]

I like Lise Rainer for doing as she pleases. Louis B. Mayer wanted to make Luise Rainer another Greta Garbo who was upset because she was getting paid less money $200 per picture while her male counterpart was getting $10,000 per film. I now know why she got fed up with Louis B Mayer. What is interesting is Luise Rainer who felt like Greta Garbo so if Mr. Mayer was going to manipulate Luise Rainer - it was not going to happen. That is why she quit Hollywood and left after 3 movies. How shameful that Louis B. Mayer tries to think he can get away with it. I am surprised to learn many actresses were free-Lansing to get movie roles with various studios instead of being loyal to an anyone movie company. They wanted the option to pick their own roles and pictures from any movie company like Barbara Stanwyck who worked consistently with many others film companies. Now I see the reasons why so many actors/actresses were seen more in various movie companies. These were the clever ones that knew better even Gregory Peck did the same free Lansing to get better roles which he did.

[@Frosting1000]

Thank you for calling out the racism part of this story. It will trigger some people but it shouldn’t be excused just because it was from a different time period.

[@markallen4356]

Obviously not one of the great minds , are you?

[@jeremyheintz1479]

It was more cultural insensitivity than racism.

[@TheSongwritingCat]

It's 2020 and I'm still salty.

[@passthebutter6037]

TheSongwritingCat same I still do not like her or the movie to this day.

[@alixvhessen]

It is a great movie. Luise Rainer was Jewish and the Nazis would have killed her. That great lady had not a wee bit of racism in her and she played that Asian with all due respect.

[@dkaf1000]

I think Luise Rainer would have been indeed a new Garbo if she would have wanted. Her mysterious charisma, her German coldness and her unconventional acting were absolutely fascinating. However, she went against the fame and lived happily for 104 years in private while most of her famous workmates died much earlier of alcohol and drugs. Quite interesting when you think of all the people who desperately search for fame.

[@aagold76]

would her German coldness have translated in Hollywood in the 40s during WW2? Maybe not.

[@mmescarlettziegfieldvonbis4551]

@@aagold76 Maybe not. But Marlene and Hedy didn't suffer for it. O.k. it's a much bigger story, I agree. They worked at war efforts but they still found fame an work, no matter of their German name and background. And quite a thick accent may I add.

[@alixvhessen]

Darling, there are almost 83 Million of Germans. If we are "cold", what are Americans (except of burger-eating-machines)? Fight against stereotypes (!) And by the way: Rainer's aura was anything but COLD

[@ima.1766]

Sure! I watched her telephone scene in the great zeigfield and she was GREAT, it's a shame that she didn't wanted have a career, but in other hand she seemed happy

[@DRush76]

Luise Rainer was Austrian, not German.

[@nujeru99]

Luise was a terrific person, but had zero business playing Olan. Hollywood’s history of yellow face is as infamous (and even longer in terms of length of time used) as their history of blackface. I also LOVE that the whole plan of Mayer to replace Garbo with Rainer as the “queen of MGM/Hollywood” blew up in his idiotic face...when Luise left Hollywood, having no desire for the exact same things Garbo had no desire for

[@pbamse]

political correctness will kill us all.

[@kashfiaislam9995]

Casting dark skinned black actor as King Edward VI in My Lady Jane is just as bad as casting white actors to play Asian characters in The Good Earth. 🎭🩰🎨

[@lizzieallen3473]

Luise Rainer made an appearance at the Royal National Theatre in London to celebrate her 100th birthday. She was interviewed on stage. She was beautiful, charismatic & articulate about her MGM movie career & what happened with Mayer. I am so glad I went.

[@gmaddocks]

Eighty years later and Hollywood still has not completely freed itself from homophobia, racial stereotyping and prejudices.

[@dylanpsinakis7930]

Agree

[@garrettdavis6500]

If you don't like it DON'T WATCH THE MOVIE,,,,DUH,,,,,I don't like "Woke," movies,,,,,,,guess what,,,,,,,,I DON'T WATCH THEM !!!!! Quit with the delusion that you know better than everyone else. I'd bet my last dollar that you're both the biggest racist liberal-phonies, this side of the barn.

[@gmaddocks]

@@garrettdavis6500, you read far too much into my comment. I made no comments on movies, so I have no idea what that portion of your comment is about. I do not believe that I am better or know better than everyone else. My opinion is based on my observations during the years I lived and worked in Hollywood. As for your "last dollar' bet....you lose. I am a Reagan Republican.....even worked on both of his presidential campaigns.

[@eamonndeane587]

Don't forget ableism.

[@cross75man75]

Rainer and Garbo who where both European, both hated the studio system and Hollywood, both left early in the game and both ended up much better off than those who stayed until the bitter end being crushed by the system. There is a lesson in that for others to learn from.

[@jackanthony976]

How did Garbo and Rainer end up being better off for leaving the movies so early in their careers? Better off doing what?

[@cross75man75]

They both ended up living long happy lives doing exactly what they wanted to do and they didn't die broke. Most of the actresses that they left behind spent the rest of their lives trying to cling to an industry that didn't want them after they reached a certain age, so they spent all their money trying to stay young and relevant only ending up lonely, broke or alcoholic drinking themselves to death or suicidal. Very few of those Hollywood goddesses had happy ending.

[@jackanthony976]

I thought Rainer and Garbo left on their volition. I never had the impression that the public did not want them. I think Garbo could have gone on to play more mature roles. I saw her last film, Two Faced Woman and I thought she was amazing. She was offered parts after her last film but she turned them down. The director of The Trouble With Angels (1966) stated that he wanted Garbo for the Mother Superior role..she initially said "I'll think about it" but she did not show up for the script reading as she had promised. Roz Russell eventually played the part.

[@richardmcleod5967]

Norma Shearer and others who were Americans also left. Norma Shearer left the same year Garbo did just as many did when the "talkies" overtook silent films. Both had been the darlings of MGM. They didn't hate the studio system as much as one would think. It paid them too well and enough money for them to retire in their late 30's and live well for the rest of their lives. It wasn't so much the system itself as the system had to react to the changing times. World War II was on the horizon, and the men on those ships liked the pin-ups of the Betty Grable types to give them some type of solace and ability to forget about the perilous conditions in which they found themselves. Age was another consideration. A few had such a tenacity they could change with each decade, but they were few. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford lasted about the longest. However, I have to mention Lillian Gish who made her first movie in 1912 and her last movie in 1986. I doubt anyone in Hollywood can top her record. Garbo and all the greats from the 30's were getting older and that is another issue. It wasn't so much the system alone in creating such conditions, it was the system fighting to stay alive in a changing world. And with television looming (it was already being touted at the New York 1939's World's Fair), the Studio System knew their days were numbered and really they did end by the late 1950's. Just like today Sears Roebuck has just about played out due to changing economic conditions, but boy did they have a run while it lasted, and so did the movies from the Golden Era of Hollywood.

[@cross75man75]

Point well made and taken.

[@richardmcleod5967]

Luise Rainer did come back on many occasions to Hollywood throughout the years for the film Festivals of her films and also her daughter lives in Southern California. I met her twice at film Festivals of her films at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Auditorium in Beverly Hills. She was quite charming and signed several photographs and magazine covers of the day for me. She also gave a one woman LIVE recitation of Alfred Lord Tennyson's epic poem "Enoch Arden" at the University of Southern California in 1983 when one of her Film Festivals was also being given at the Academy. She also starred in a television show (The Love Boat) during the 1970's or 80's. She remained very active with her visits to Hollywood over the years after her prime period in the 1930's and had many enjoyable visits for years to come after her initial success in Hollywood.

[@medranochav]

pointing out racism really got some of you mad, huh?

[@jmeekselectric]

medrano chav nah, I just don’t think you can expect 1930’s Hollywood to be as sensitive to these matters like we are today. It’s easy to look back and feel superior but do you really think Rainer or Hepburn were racist for doing a yellow face role? Please. The problem was with the studio.

[@medranochav]

@@jmeekselectric I think that white folks in the 30's never minded the feelings of people of color. I think they never thought twice about the abuses of power and cultural violations they committed in their work. I think that we shouldn't make excuses for systemic racism. why were actors of color relegated to roles that exoticized them or caricaturized them? why was the humanized portrayal of a Chinese woman played by a German woman? i understand that it was a different time. but I think it's fair to acknowledge our racist past. I think it's worth noting instances of racism in our history. Why make excuses for white supremacist power structures nearly 80 years after the fact?

[@janinebasil]

Jimmy Meeks of course it’s racist. Not realising it’s racist doesn’t make it not racist. Mind you, I don’t always hold the actor accountable, and certainly not alone.

[@jefferyjones8399]

@@jmeekselectric Just because we have different sensibilities today doesn't make it right to begin with

[@AddBowIfGirl]

Jimmy Meeks Yes. They were indeed racist.

[@jamessandy5873]

Barbara Stanwyck, who I think deserved to win for “Stella Dallas”, was granted an Honorary Oscar in 1982 for her lifetime’s body of work. For me, by modern standards, she was a better actress even than Bette Davis, who was also a great actress of course but an even greater movie star. As mentioned in this short documentary, Stanwyck didn’t have a major studio behind her to lobby for her to win Oscars, but the fact that she was a free agent before most actors in Hollywood were contributed greatly to the fact that she was able to shine in such a diversity of quality roles.

[@danielstanwyck2812]

Right on!

[@HelloHello-tm7uc]

I agree-- watching Stella Dallas had me in tears, and it was because of her performances that it's considered one of the greatest melodramas of all time. Add to that Double Indemnity and you have a phenomenal career-- and that's just two of her movies

[@DRush76]

I never liked "Stella Dallas". It seemed to justify the class system in my eyes.

[@floris.927]

Barbara Stanwyck is constantly robbed ... I can't think of another actress who can truly act in ANYTHING, very sutble and nuanced acting style, at the same time very moving and effective.

[@stuartashbourne-martin9629]

You think Barbara stanwick was the better actress than Betty Davis I can't see Barbara

[@LPJack02]

RIP Anna May Wong (January 3, 1905 - February 3, 1961), aged 56 And RIP Luise Rainer (January 12, 1910 - December 30, 2014), aged 104 You both will always be remembered as legends

[@brookew.h.n5568]

Thank you sooooo much for highlighting white privileged and systematic racism in Hollywood with the Good Earth! Many people don’t understand how hard it is for actors to get work in a machine that was built to oppress them and strip them if their story and identity. It’s so frustrating this is still going on today!

[@brookew.h.n5568]

Sian M oh boy here is the classic white defensiveness retort about how film should only represent population by the percentage of people in America also the excuse of “other countries...blah blah blah”. I don’t live in China or Japan. I live here. This problem is America so stop diverting the problem of systematic racism in hollywood to somewhere else! Also, should mainstream media only pertain to white audiences only? No! Hell no! Your argument is flawed. We are a pluralistic society and must reflect the diversity of this nation. White folks use that excuse to stay in power and control the narratives of other people of color. You can afford to give up that power, honey. Or are you so threatened to lose it that you have to resort to tired old excuses to hold on to that power.

[@crossjay]

@Sian M As I watched this video I wondered when (snort, OK, if) the lofty, holier than thou, white guilt-ridden maker would ever turn her attention to the same behaviour in other countries' entertainment industries. Specifically, those operated by non-white people. It will never happen. If there were only one white person in a country of millions, that person would still be a privileged oppressor, and the lefties would chase that person to the ends of the earth to scold him or her. Unless it was a xe or xir or something... but then again, it would still be a white person, right?! By the way, I live in Australia, and I reckon most people would be shocked to learn that black people make up 14% of the population of the USA - movies and TV shows make it look like it's double that, or more. Anyway, good on you for commenting!

[@crossjay]

@Sian M Oh, can you imagine what a movie from Wakanda would look like? And the annual awards ceremony? Or, rather than imagining, just look at movies / ceremonies from China, Japan, India etc. There would be absolutely no diversity in Wakandan cinema, yet do you think people like that person you replied to would care?

[@brookew.h.n5568]

Sian M Sian M Dear Trigger Bleeding Heart White Person, I work in the film industry and went to film school and racism in Hollywood including yellow, black, and red face is well documented. This video (which I don’t think you watched as you would have understood the point of the video) highlighted the institutional racism in Hollywood. You are talking about so many things in your argument that clearly you don’t have a firm grasp on the subject. You are talking about population segregation as whites hold the majority (for now) of the population so they should have the ultimate say of how people of color are present and how many films people of color are allowed to make. As a Native American (not black as I think you assumed) we are less than 1% of the population and by your calculation that should be reflected in the films in Hollywood. Sorry to all the Native American film makers out there, you can’t make films because less than 1% of all films in America can be made by you. Racism is the power to hold people of color in their place and your argument about population segregation does just that. Also if you’re sooooo worried about all the problems in the world then the last thing you should be doing is commenting on a KZbin video! There is a horde of immigrants rushing the border as faux news and your white president is so worried about! What are you doing here! Fires in California! Quick go do something! Why are you wasting your time commenting on a video when you have the world to worry about! I for one can’t solve all those problems and will continue making films and commenting on KZbin videos all I want. You, my dear triggered snowflake can continue arguing about something that you clearly don’t understand.

[@helmaschine1885]

@@brookew.h.n5568 You have no argument so you decided to insult him broadening the perspective to the rest of the world. You're so ethnocentric on American politics you should get your money back from whatever institution you got you degree from. -sincerely, a leftie European who DOES watch foreign film and keep up with international crimes against goddamn humanity. Such as for example the African exclusion of white minorities as well as the horrifically under reported enslavement of African and Indonesian houseworkers by Muslim millionaires. You know your worldview is lacking if anything either of us told you were news to a supposed scholar of racial tensions like you. You can't have it both ways. Either you're informed, or you're just as generalising and prejudiced as any other racist.

[@oklahomorose]

Garbo was ROBBED. Her performance in "Camille" was one of the most amazing performances in the history of the cinema.

[@abandonedfragmentofhope5415]

I also think that of Anna Karenina.

[@angelacarleton9575]

Did you see what she got paid for her role $200 in Camille? When her counterpart got $10,000 to Garbo's miserable salary she got angry and demanded the contract be renegotiated for at least what they gave her was still low but at least $3000. No wonder she didn't wish to continue the charade these movie companies were making but refused to pay the actresses what they deserve. Unfortunately, this is what's going on in the movie business discrimination.

[@PaullyMiller]

Rainer looks so much like Meryl Streep its uncanny.

[@FerrariCarr]

Paul Miller I was just about to comment that!

[@RNCHFND]

It's the cheekbones

[@screenactorsguilable]

@@RNCHFND yeah you wicked Meryl

[@ms.rstake_1211]

Not really but I guess a lil' bit.

[@oxigen163]

Ha! I agree. In these scenes from "The good earth" she reminds me so much of Meryl in "Sophie's choice". Specially when the narrator says she finds Rainer's performance exaggerated, I thought: "If Meryl gave that performance, you would probably praise her."

[@PriscilaTV1]

Anna May Wong went to Europe and worked here for some years. I attended a screening of one of her silent works in Berlin and I can say that on a big screen, she was truly marvellous. Thalberg and Mayer go a lot of things right, but oh boy, when they made mistakes..they were terrible.

[@waywardwillard]

This is my favorite video of yours so far! I recently learned about Anna Mae Wong through research for my thesis, and I’m so glad you mentioned her as well as stressed the injustice of her not getting to play a sympathetic Chinese character in a movie about Chinese people.

[@michaelsimpson6970]

I am learning a lot from these videos.

[@howtubeable]

You're being brainwashed from these videos.

[@eric111121]

@@howtubeable Out of pure curiousity, how so?

[@MrsGamgee977]

Both Camille and Moulin Rouge are two of many adaptations of Dumas's La Dame aux Camélias.

[@monmothma3358]

Yep, there is also the opera La Traviata, which, like Camille, is closer to the original story than Moulin Rouge IMO.

[@steveweinstein3222]

She didn't exactly disappear. She went to New York to work on the stage, which was her first love.

[@akrenwinkle]

Google is our friend. She did very little stage work in NY.

[@steveweinstein3222]

@@akrenwinkle She left to be with playwright Clifford Odets.

[@miyoshinancyumeki7639]

You are so eloquent and your voice is soothing. Keep up the good work!

[@howtubeable]

So eloquent. Just like Tokyo Rose.

[@corean3polar]

Thank you so much for bringing about an asian actress and her struggle in Hollywood

[@io1380]

I was SO hopeful you would bring up Wong in this video, and then you did!

[@HuntingViolets]

Me too!

[@annnee6818]

That is such a scandalous pay gap, but people will still pretend it's a myth😠 Kudos to Garbo for showing Mayer what's what.

[@markallen4356]

I think Rainer's problem was not lack of talent or beauty.she was at MGM who had under contract Shearer,Garbo,Harlow,Loy,Sullivan,Russell,Crawford,Powell,MacDonald,Garland.

[@pbamse]

Sullavan.

[@alixvhessen]

Luise Rainer was a genius - and would outshine the other Hollywood bubble heads by far. What a great lady

[@ladym.7594]

I'll always be mad at the fact that Irene Dunne and Barbara Stanwyck never won the Oscars they deserved just because they had the guts to freelance... I think it was the same thing that happened with Cary Grant who also went freelance after leaving Paramount.

[@jhhone]

I'm sure freelancers were envied by others tied to the studios! You described Rainer's performance perfectly by referring to her as a zombie! She looks as if she was struck on the head with a 2x4! Stanwyck deserved the Oscar that year for sure!

[@FabiWe91]

What a depressing situation for Anna May Wong! Thanks a lot for mentioning her, she should be way widelier known than she is. Tilly Losch was Austrian though, not German ;)

[@aagold76]

I always heard her win for The Great Ziegfield was more controversial- I think it's the shortest screen time of any of the Best Actress winners.

[@Awesomenesswithacherryontop]

I think Patricia Neal was the Best Actress win with the least screentime, at 22 minutes in Hud

[@newbiechu7024]

Judie Dench was more controversial with a cameo role as The Queen in Shakespeare's in Love and yet won as Best Supporting Actress.

[@elijahsackville-glucksburg]

@@newbiechu7024 but frankly, Judi Dench is the only reason to watch Shakespeare in Love.

[@elijahsackville-glucksburg]

Her role in 'Ziegfield' is Supporting. It's a Hollywood problem in the classic era.

[@aagold76]

@@elijahsackville-glucksburg they still do that- some supporting winners win for actual lead roles, but they're not as known yet- so they get promoted as supporting and some win lead for supporting- Louise Fletcher in Cuckoos Nest is a great example of that

[@larrydirtybird]

I think that you forget an important factor in her win: the contrast between the sparkling, glamorous role she won an Oscar for the previous year, to the dull, unglamorous role she played in The Good Earth. She was funny and charming a bubbly and pampered in The Great Ziegfeld. In The Good Earth she was shy and oppressed and worn out. Quite a difference. And her playing an East Asian woman was a plus in 1938, unlike now where it is considered offensive. People thought her believable as a Chinese peasant. I remember reading an article from back then praising Rainer by saying, "Could you imagine Greta Garbo becoming a poor Chinese slave?" Those back to back performances showed Rainer's versatility. I agree that the studio machine helped her to win, but her cross-racial performance back then was considered real acting.

[@jichuulimario2093]

Agreed Rainier in my opinion give justice to her role as a Chinese peasant not accustomed to the life she was thrust with her husband.

[@markallen4356]

Bravo

[@patriciahenderson2096]

No but Anna Mae Woo was also considered for this roll. As much as liked Ranier's performance. Anna Mae should have gotten it. It was the studio politics at the time.

[@HuntingViolets]

Wong.

[@nobodyaskedbut]

None of those other four nominees could have pulled off that role as well as Rainer did. It was her contrast of roles in back to back years which was the deciding factor. She wasn't the only actress who got hyped that year or any other year.

[@SM-gl8yo]

Excellent short! So many wonderful informative facts weaved in so well. The plight of beautiful Anna May Wong is a heartbreak. How AWFUL they were not willing to cast 'The Good Earth' leads with Asian actors. I add this as I have read the wiki page on Miss Wong. Apparently the Chinese Government also influenced MGM NOT to cast Miss Wong as O-Lan as it would be perceived as a disgrace for China. Good grief!

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

It is mortifying and embarrassing that Asian and black actors were blocked from Hollywood. Hattie McDaniel, notoriously, was not permitted to sit at the GWTW table, but had to take a place at the back of the hall and only David Selznick's begging even got her there! Having said that, some of the western actors did great justice to the parts they played. I think Luise Rainer was great as Olan and I think, for what it may be worth, that she certainly deserved the award. Thank you for the video!

[@kashfiaislam9995]

Casting dark skinned black actor as King Edward VI in My Lady Jane is just as bad as casting white actors to play Asian characters in The Good Earth. 🎭🩰🎨

[@lindaeasley4336]

Barbara Stanwick should have gotten the Oscar for Stella Dallas

[@warholcow]

I seriously am loving your channel.

[@baebanxx6942]

I’m watching the first few episodes of “Hollywood” on Netflix and I’m just now learning of Anna May Wong’s story. I guess this is a bit of a spoiler, but it’s an important story to be told and I’m glad to see her represented, although it is sad it’s important to remind folks of the dark side of sexism&racism in Hollywood’s history.

[@roycerowland2699]

I loved Hollywood on Netflix and I was glad that even if it was fiction she got her an Oscar

[@TavoRuiz]

Do one about the famous tie (Hepburn/Streisand) that would be cool.

[@jmeekselectric]

Tavo Ruiz if Streisand hadn’t voted for herself she’d have lost by one vote and never known. I hate that the tie was over a role Hepburn should have won outright easily. The pity Oscar the year before didn’t stop her from winning though which is good.

[@paribasbanque1862]

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[@benjaminjackson9449]

@@jmeekselectric have you seen Funny Girl?

[@iangalbraith1993]

I’m binging on this channel. Soooooo good! Thank you so much. Beautifully put together with great insights!

[@tudorjason]

I've realized for some time that the Oscars has been used by studios to attract people to the movies and to continue going to theaters to get more revenue. After learning the Oscars was, in part, spearheaded by an MGM executive, I've now realized it's always been this way. I only use the Oscars to get a sense of films I would enjoy seeing. Although usually a trailer will immediately tell me if a movie is just another idiotic comedy, films that are made well-known due to Oscar buzz also helps. For example, I never would have seen The Shape of Water if it wasn't for Oscar buzz.

[@chrispines9509]

Thank you for such a wonderful history of Academy Award winners. I had been wondering why Louise Rainer disappeared following such massive success...now I know. Nevertheles, she was a great actress with super personality.

[@jhenriquebl]

I LOVE YOUR ACCOUNT!!!!! Thanks for making videos of such Quality!

[@cobolsaurus]

I wish you analyzed the Jennifer Hudson's win for "Dreamgirls".

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

She has only done Best Actress winners so far, not Best Supporting Actresses.

[@Asylum07MasterMadman]

Yeah, but that was disgraceful and generated a scandal at the time because Hudson was the lead. So it may impact that year's best actress video

[@SchnarphStudios]

​@@Asylum07MasterMadman For that, you can blame both the studios and the Academy. Dreamworks and Paramount pushed Beyoncé as their Best Actress nominee for DREAMGIRLS from the beginning. Understandably, there was some logic to their decision: nobody had ever heard of Jennifer Hudson outside of American Idol, and Beyoncé was (is) the biggest pop star in the world. It was all about strategy for them, because Beyoncé's star power was big enough to ensure votes; after all, if Cher could win an Oscar, why couldn't Beyoncé? (It's because Cher is a fucking good actress obviously, but I'm just trying to capture the studios' mindset.) Ironically enough, given that Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand both won Oscars from their debut performances (in musicals, no less,) Jennifer historically had a better shot than Beyoncé did. But even then, that year's winner was Helen Mirren playing the title role in THE QUEEN, which was about the Royal Family dealing with the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Given the Academy's preference for British themes, the resonance of the tragedy, and the regard Helen Mirren is held in as an actress (not to mention that Meryl was nominated the same year for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA,) Hudson had about a snowball's chance in hell if she went in for Best Actress.

[@elijahsackville-glucksburg]

@@Asylum07MasterMadman If she was campaigned as the lead, she wouldn't get in anyway. Aside from technical awards, the only other thing that Dream Girls deserved to win is a Supporting Actor for Eddie Murphy. that's it.

[@angelforyou]

IMO, Dunne (Theodora Goes Wild) and Garbo (Camille) should've won during the two years that Rainer won.

[@claranism]

Agreed on Garbo, but I'll vote for Carole Lombard for My Man Godfrey for 1936. Actually Rainer's perf in The Great Ziegfeld shld be consider as supp as she was hardly in the film. The Leads are clearly Powell & Myrna Loy... but LB Mayer wld never put his latest star discovery under the supp category, the first yr it was introduced, which was meant for character actors and real supporting players and stars tt were on the 2nd rung or as we called it now, the B-list or C-list

[@lisaa8795]

The research that goes into these 20 minute segments is phenomenal. The snippets of original newspaper columns or reports are great. Your theories seem plausible - the one expressed about why Luise Rainer won back to back Oscars makes a lot of sense. Keep 'em coming!

[@ChrisL04]

This series is great...vids are so well done! Thanks!

[@PhoebeFayRuthLouise]

Watching this video means I have watched your entire playlist in the last 24 hours! I love learning the history, so much of which I don’t know! I have subscribed, and I’m looking forward to more videos!

[@virginagobetz4756]

Excellent and enlightening video.I always wondered why Anna May Wong didn't play Olan.What a shame she didn't get that chance she was perfect for the part.

[@jellybean_91]

Your videos are just wonderful. So well researched. Awesome! Would you perhaps be able to do in-depth videos on Anna May Wong and Dorothy Dandridge, please?

[@andytaylor5476]

Your videos are amazing. Really interesting.

[@joelgarcia3907]

You’re amazing! The depths, facts, research, and opinions blend to make such compelling narrative. Thank you for bringing up Anna May. It’s still happening to Asians now. To blacks and Hispanics to an extent but nearly 100 years after Anna May and Asian actors are still no where close to getting equality and justice unless they play type cast roles: foreigners, marital arts, etc.

[@geniehossain3738]

Main takeaway from these videos: Studio Execs screwing over talented actresses always always ALWAYS works against them.

[@scattygirl1]

I vividly remember bringing my sister to tears just by telling her the plot of Stella Dallas. We were teenagers and it was back in the day when old films were shown on terrestrial channels at the weekend. No chance of our kids doing the same on a rainy Sunday afternoon these days :-( I can no more get my daughter to watch an 80yo film than nail jelly to the wall.

[@pongthornsangthong8309]

You've done marvelous job. Keep going. Please do one of my fav - Diane Keaton, Frances Mcdormand, Cate Blanchett and Charlize Theron.

[@pongthornsangthong8309]

Ed Miller My bad, sir. Sorry

[@pongthornsangthong8309]

Ed Miller But the marvelous mrs. Blanchett is my all time fav. I really really love her. My love for her is unfathomable. Can’t forgive myself , haha. I wish Cate Blanchett is not gonna mad at me just because I added one single little ‘e’ on her last name.

[@chiedu90069]

As usual, you fire on so many cylinders and unpack so many layers. Thank you for this wonderful channel.

[@Lgevirtz]

Barbara Stanwyck should have won that year.

[@jiananlee5482]

To be honest, after watching the film, I realised it wasn’t a easy film to make. I think Louis did a pretty good job even after 80 something years

[@lisettemartinez3752]

Love your work!!

[@lovelykiller7077]

My 1st choice: Stanwyck. 2nd: Garbo.

[@alixvhessen]

whoever you are .... lol

[@randyacuna3248]

She had talent. She should be more well known.

[@roycerowland2699]

In hindsight I think that Barbra Stanwyck or Greta Garbo should had won the Oscar for best actress. Luise Rainer got the last laugh in the end. I wish that somebody would make a real movie version of The Good Earth with an all Chinese cast.

[@mateojohn9149]

Love this videos! Great job

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

No wonder Luise Rainer lived 104 years

[@ioannistsakmaklis8789]

I really enjoyed this presentation. Looking forward for new ones.

[@cjturner7361]

I loved her in 'the good earth' I know that year of nominatees we're classic. However Miss Rainer was pure Hollywood Gold.

[@gregcervantez2828]

Another epic behind-the-scenes mini-doc! The difference in pay scale has always been outrageous. Women are always the focal point in every film! Louis B. Mayer knew that! Crawford was one of the first actors to make that accusation! So sad that Anna Mae Wong did not play Olan. It would have changed everything. However...when I first saw "The Good Earth" in cinema class...it was Paul Muni who caught me off guard with his laughter and contemporary-sounding voice, so I wasn't sure if I could believe the rest of the film. Charley Grapewin reeled me back in...but it was Luise Rainer who devastated me. Never once noticed her accent. I was completely absorbed by her performance...the wife and mother who does everything possible to keep her family together. It was a riveting piece of drama. The book became my favorite novel of all time. And I tell everyone...watch this film and witness just how heroic one woman can be. I understand the political machine and the pros and cons of a movie factory, but every time I see that face, or watch that end scene...I bow to the female gender. That's how powerful the film is to me.

[@arman0612]

Great video! Such a great and interesting channel! It was definitely a great group of nominees, but I think Rainer was amazing in both of her Oscar-winning performances and deserved both awards.

[@patrickryan1515]

Luise Rainer looks a bit like Meryl Streep who is also adept at playing ethnic roles. 8/2019

[@daltonbelflower7331]

Let me start by saying this: I am in love with these videos! I stumbled across them a couple of weeks back, and I've binged all of them, some of them having watched many times. The information is so well conducted and assembled, and with a sincerity and genuine love from the narrator for the subject at hand. I'd love to see some videos on Janet Gaynor, the first Best Actress winner, Mary Pickford winning for Coquette, Meryl Streep, or some just on actresses in general that broke the stereotypes in their time, even if they kick-started some stereotypes themselves. Keep up the good work! I can't wait for more!

[@XX-gy7ue]

EVERYONE OF THESE WOMEN DESERVED​ THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR THEIR BRILLIANT WORK IN THESE GREAT MOVIES - THAT'S WHY COMPETITION HAS NO PLACE IN THE ART WORLD ! THESE FILMS ARE A GIFT TO ALL HUMANITY !

[@Zeldarw104]

These video(s) are fantastic & wonderfully made and so full of hollywood, history and information, I love-it, you must make more real soon! Excellent work!👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@michalfreidson1122]

It should be mentioned that most of these German speaking actresses of the 30's and 40's didn't just happen to land in Hollywood. With the exception of Dietrich, they were Jewish refugees who were forced out of their native countries with the rise of the Nazis. The most famous are Louise Reiner, Hedy Lamarr, Elizabeth Bergner, Lilly Palmer. They all led complicated complex lives. Some denied their Jewish roots, others embraced them.

[@aeromundos]

That remais true until today , if we think every winner in every category was deserving of an Oscar we have to think again and see the big picture and the circumstances of that given year , to understand the reason for that win. Like Akira Kurosawa never winning a Best Director Oscar for example.

[@tillynaidoo7238]

Im so glad you putting out videos almost every week now I look forward to your videos yours is true unbiased and real for the times we live in keep making good videos girl

[@fashiondolldreamer]

These videos on Academy Awards history are terrific! Keep up the great work!

[@RafaelBatista1993]

I had never heard about this actress until recently. It's an impressive story and I love your point of view!

[@collinsje5]

One lesser, additional reason that Rainer left Hollywood was the death of producer Irving Thalberg in 1936 at age 37. He had a bad heart. In an odd twist, Rainer herself died in 2014 at 104. BTW, in The Good Earth, she looks like she ate a handful of Xanax.

[@zoec6944]

When you talked about Greta Garbo’ spay difference I had to turn off the video and fume for a moment. (I already knew about Anna May Wong, otherwise I probably would’ve been hit with a one-two punch of anger)

[@crystalgridart3610]

The way you deliver information is so educational and impartial, even when you insert your opinion(if that makes sense). Thank you for the phenomenal content. I love your editing and your tone. Please keep it up!!! I can't wait for the next video! You're killin' it!

[@mehdirajabpour3031]

Louis B. Mayer was a monster.

[@CafeDeDuy]

I believe there was an interview with Rainer towards the end of her life. And she said there was another actress, Anna, who wanted the part more than her. And that Anna was far better than her. Luise went to Mayer and asked him to consider Anna, and he grabbed her by the throat and forced her to do the role

[@dashazimcneal9543]

I was born in China and lived there for more than 30 years. I was amazed by Luise Rainer's acting in "Good Earth". It was so convincing! I never had a moment to think that she was a German lady when I was watching the movie. She created a vivid Chinese woman, A Lan and She deserves the award!

[@pbamse]

Agree

[@wflowersflower5460]

I'm native Chinese. Actually Chinese think highly of this film and her performance. The biography of Anna May Wong depreciated Louise's performance and wrote like Chinese didn't like the film to highlight his own point. It's not true. Chinese didn't care political correctness that much. It's the acting that matters, not the color.

[@pbamse]

@@wflowersflower5460 well said.

[@josersandoval]

Garbo wasn’t LB Mayer’s sweetheart. She was “difficult” for him to work with, even though Irving Thalberg adored her. MGM (and by “MGM” we all mean “LBM”) kept ceaselessly renegotiating Garbo’s contracts, they gave her “power” as producer and paid her more and more money. But MGM never got to understand Garbo’s motivations and desires. In 1930’s she had better paychecks than many other actors/actresses, but she was too difficult to control, therefore yes, is understandable why MGM never put a “For Your Consideration” campaign on her behalf. Yet, as Stanwyck and Dietrich (highest paid woman in any filed at that time), Garbo did not need the Oscar to be remembered and leave a mark in culture through celluloid.

[@elizabethj8510]

Very well stated. LB Mayer didn't like people who stood up to him, were too original or didn't subscribe to his image of American virtues. Cases in point: Billy Haines, Buster Keaton and Greta Garbo.

[@robbiduncan9823]

I would love to see you do a video about Halle Berry’s win! But I’ll watch what ever you put out!! You post great content!!

[@subversivelysurreal3645]

I loved the movie, “The Good Earth”! It doesn’t stop me from loving Chinese film, “ To Live “...

[@nobodyaskedbut]

Both are great films. In fact they are both in my all-time world top ten.

[@skylar_kada]

I remember watching this movie with my mom when I was 9. And reading the book at 16. Glad I was introduced to stuff like this at an early age.

[@nivbri]

It’s not like when Katharine Hepburn’s Chinese in dragon seed

[@HuntingViolets]

Why isn't it?

[@subversivelysurreal3645]

She has had an incredibly interesting life, and she talked about it to Robert Osborne of TCM! If I find it, I will mention it, but TCM is a pretty excellent group of people,so that you can call them and ask them to please show this conversation. I just want you to know that Robert Osborne died, so bear that in mind if you contact them🌹

[@spockboy]

Luise Rainer died in 2014 at the ripe old age of 104 years old. :)

[@cam21333]

Extremely insightful!

[@larkpraise]

Stanwyck was THE BEST! She was robbed! In my opinion I would have ranked them this way: 1. Stanwyck. 2. Dunne. 3. Garbo. 4. Rainer. 5. Gaynor.

[@alixvhessen]

Whatever your inferior opinion: it does not count :)

[@willsteele793]

You run a truly well done KZbin channel. Good job.

[@danidua100]

This KZbin series is truly insightful and fascinating. I find myself surprised and borderline shocked at some of these back stories but I suppose I shouldn't be. We idolize their body of work, not their character and how they treated each other. It seems we always turn a blind eye to how people treat one another, especially at work. It inspires me to view things from another's point of view. In this way I can gain another perspective. In fact, I find myself choosing my words more carefully now than I ever have before. I'm enjoying this program and look forward to more.

[@kengeorgejones6855]

I think that David Shipman or Pauline Kael said that the telephone scene Luise played in The Great Ziegfeld was long held as an example of fine screen acting (they didn't seem to agree...). Another great video. I was wondering, if you ever have time of course, could you do a video on the year Louise Fletcher won? I remember reading that there was controversy because she was seen as supporting, to the point where apparently Ellen Burstyn even went on TV and complained about supporting actresses being nominated for leading categories.

[@chilln2009]

What a brilliant channel!!! Love the videos here♥️

[@michalhrdy577]

excellent video, thank you!