Photoplay Medal of Honor

[Mike Gebert]

The Photoplay Medal of Honor, given by the magazine of that name, was the most important movie award of the 1920s and a good indicator of what might have won the Oscar for Best Picture in the years before the Oscars came along. I've seen vintage photos of the medals but Gagman 66 had a couple of sharp modern photos of the one that went to Beau Geste on Facebook, so I thought I'd share the images here; they come from this page and someone called Stairstars:




They gave the award in some later years through 1968 but in different formats; the original run was 1920-1939, and the winners were:

1920: Humoresque
1921: Tol'able David
1922: Robin Hood
1923: The Covered Wagon
1924: The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln
1925: The Big Parade
1926: Beau Geste
1927: Seventh Heaven
1928: Four Sons
1929: Disraeli
1930: All Quiet on the Western Front
1931: Cimarron
1932: Smilin' Through
1933: Little Women
1934: The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1935: Naughty Marietta
1936: San Francisco
1937: Captains Courageous
1938: Sweethearts
1939: Gone With the Wind

[bobfells]

The Photoplay Medal was awarded to the studio, not to any individuals. When Warner Bros. won for DISRAELI (1929) Harry Warner had Cartier's Jewelers make an exact replica but in solid gold that he presented to George Arliss.

[missdupont]

A few years ago, Randy Haberkamp of AMPAS showed all the silent Photoplay winners during his Summer of Silents.

[Rick Lanham]

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for posting them here.

Rick

[syd]

Speaking of Beau Geste, are there any restoration plans on the horizon?
Have more prints been discovered that are in good condition?

[stairstars]

Thank you, I am Stairstars. The actual gold medals were made by Tiffany & Co. and were awarded to the studio. Bronze copies, like the BEAU GESTE, were made by Whitehead & Hoag, and later by Medallic Art, and given to the people involved. I know of another BEAU GESTE to exist.

I recently added this studio owned 14KT gold one:




It comes from the Lamar Trotti Estate, along with a large Laurel Award ( for "I'LL CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN" shot here in GA.) and his lifetime WGA award. He only lived to see the Laurel, as he passed suddenly six months before the Gold Medal was awarded. It is my surmise that Zanuck presented it to his widow. Trotti was from Atlanta, and I was pleased to bring them back here. There is a small archive of his leather bound scripts, given by his son, at UGA.

rick

[Mike Gebert]

Sorry, didn't realize you were a member here!

Thanks for sharing the photos.

[stairstars]

No problem, Mike, I am very pleased to be here in spite of being a left handed knife in a right handed world.

And, I always appreciate any of my treasures being noticed.