From scandal to trivia, the Academy Awards piques our interest.
By Caroline Thomas/Special to The Malibu Times
It’s that time of year again when the world’s eyes are on Hollywood. The Academy Awards race stays true to its ever-escalating frenzy of campaigning for the big prize, and those on the fringe look on in fascination.
Interested outsiders may simply see the Oscars as an evening of Hollywood glamour, but this company town (Los Angeles and Malibu included) view this season as a time of cutthroat quests for the bonus that brings millions of dollars in new revenue to studios, moguls and stars.
There is a great deal that is interesting when it comes to Oscar lore, beginning with the nasty smear campaigns of the last few years. Some have compared the current Oscar race to the worst of the mud-slinging political campaigns. The personal attacks on Nobel Prize winner John Nash, the subject of the nominated film “A Beautiful Mind,” have shocked director Ron Howard. There has been criticism claiming that Nash may be bisexual and an anti-Semite. Howard compared the assault to the low-ball tactics launched against Michael Dukakis in the campaign against Bush Sr. in 1988.
What began as a pat on the back seems to have evolved into high stakes contests.
It all began in 1929 with a 15-minute presentation during a dinner at The Roosevelt Hotel. Four awards were given out, with the World War I drama “Wings” taking Best Picture. That ceremony had the shortest duration on record-the longest being four hours and nine minutes for the 2000 ceremony.
No one ever knows exactly what the evening will bring. Rarely has one film been a shoo-in for more than one category, but in Oscar’s 73-year history, three films have been able to make a five-award sweep. “It Happened One Night” (1934), “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) took best picture, actor, actress, director and screenplay statues.
Few actors have been able to return to the stage in a consecutive year. Often, voters seem to shun last year’s winner. “Gladiator” Best Actor recipient Russell Crowe may be the brunt of that conundrum when fellow voters consider his performance in “A Beautiful Mind.” Tom Hanks managed to take two in a row (“Forrest Gump,” “Philadelphia”), as did Spencer Tracy, Jason Robards, Katharine Hepburn and Luise Rainer.
Rarely are the auteurs able to direct themselves to an Oscar. Laurence Olivier made it work with his 1948 “Hamlet.” Fifty years passed before another unique individual made Academy history: Roberto Benigni made his way to the stage with his famous walk across the seat backs to accept his 1998 Best Actor award for “A Beautiful Life.”
Four leading men showed off their talents with nom-inations-though not necessarily wins-for directing, writing and acting in a single film. Orson Welles was the first over-achiever with “Citizen Kane” in 1941. Woody Allen followed 30 years later with “Annie Hall” (1978), and was matched with nominations in the same year by Warren Beatty with “Heaven Can Wait.” “Annie Hall” took picture, actress and director that year, but Beatty soon returned with nominations for “Reds” (1981), which at least sent him home with the Best Director statue. Benigni was the latest to join this group.
Winners come in all ages. If you factor in the special honorary awards, then Shirley Temple was the youngest Oscar holder; she received an award in 1934 at age 6. In 1973, Groucho Marx was given a statue. He was 83. The youngest and oldest winning actors are Richard Dreyfuss, 29 (“Goodbye Girl”), and Henry Fonda, 76 (“On Golden Pond”). Young and “not so young” actresses were Marlee Matlin, 21 (“Children of a Lesser God”), and Jessica Tandy, 80 (“Driving Miss Daisy”).
Only one acting winner has been awarded a Best Actor Oscar posthumously. Sadly, Peter Finch died before he was honored for his outstanding role in “Network.”
So, what’s it all worth to a star and their studio?
This 13-and a-half-inch gold-plated knight can generate millions in theatrical and ancillary (foreign and home video) revenue. If the studio is happy, then the actor’s bankability-as it’s often called-can go through the roof (e.g. Hanks’ $20 million per picture salary). It might be that kind of night for “A Beautiful Mind,” Russell Crowe, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Connelly and Ron Howard. Then again…it might not.