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The year is 1938 and the nominees are:

1. Luise Rainer - The Good Earth
2. Irene Donne - The Awful Truth
3. Greta Garbo - Camille
4. Janet Gaynor - A Star is Born
5. Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas
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In 1938 Luise Rainer became the first performer to win back-to-back Oscars as well as the first performer to have two Academy Awards. Her first Oscar was won the year prior for The Great Ziegfeld. If you weren’t aware, this is perhaps one of the most controversial Oscar wins because Luise Rainer, a German born woman, is portraying a Chinese woman in yellow face in The Good Earth. A big part of her win for this Oscar was the major financial support from the MGM studio she was represented by. The other nominees gave career standouts in their respective films but were freelance actors and couldn’t campaign to the same lengths as a major studio. Luise Rainer was only in Hollywood for a total of 3 years before eventually leaving as a result of the lack of interest in “the glam” of movie stardom. Regardless, she set an Oscar record that has only been repeated (in leading roles) by Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Tom Hanks.

Join host Kyle Brownrigg with guest host Chris as they discuss.