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There are few symbols that attract so much international
attention the way it is done by a gold-plated statuette annually awarded
by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize
achievement in the film industry. Designed by movie director Cedric
Gibbons shortly after the Academy was established in 1927, the prototype,
featuring a knight standing on a reel of film and holding a sword, first
appeared on a restaurant tablecloth at the Hollywood Baltimore Hotel. A
Los Angeles-based sculptor, George Stanley created the original statuette
based on Gibbons’ design and the Dodge Trophy Corporation then cast it
in bronze with 24-karat gold plating. The statuette stands 25 centimeters
tall and weighs just over 3 kilograms. Each statuette costs around
250 dollars but the winners promise never to sell their hard-earned trophy.
The statuette only got its current name in 1931 and the origins of its
nickname, Oscar, are traced to three sources, the most credible belonging
to the Academy itself. When Academy librarian Margaret Herrick recounted
her first days on the job, she said she noticed that the statuette looked
much like her Uncle Oscar. Hence the name of the best known prize
in cinematic history. The Oscar’s creator, Cedric Gibbons was one
of those to see the most of this award and was the first to win it in 1929
and adding nine more in the best director category.
72 years after the first Oscar was awarded in 1929, cinema
has moved from black and white format with primitive sound recording, editing
and effects to near perfection using cutting-edge computer technologies
and other frills. Thanks to the Oscar award, the very best films
have gained currency far and wide learning from life itself and helping
people to better understand the world they live in…
The Oscar Awards presentations have always been full of nice
and not so nice surprises. The first one came already in 1929 when,
along with Charles Chaplin, William Wellman and other celebrities, one
such trophy went to a Joseph Farnham He was neither a director, nor actor
or scriptwriter, but he won the one and only Oscar for providing the best
subtitles to a silent movie. Great as those subtitles might be, the
film community was rattled by the decision, which they saw as comparing
their work with that done by some unimportant editor. The Academy took
the hint and no more Oscars have since been given out in the “best subtitles”
category. Well, the era of silent movies was drawing to a close, anyway…
Almost a decade later, the awarding ceremony was soured by
the biggest scam in Oscar history. When Alice Brady was given the “best
supporting actress” nomination but failed to show up because of a broken
leg, a good looking young man walked out on stage and, saying he was acting
on Mrs. Brady’s behalf, said thanks and bowed out with the gold-plated
statuette. He was never to be seen again no matter how hard Alice Brady
and the police tried to track him down…. Eager to restore justice,
the Academy wanted to give Mrs. Brady a copy of the stolen Oscar but it
was too late – she died months after the hard-hitting scandal…
In 1940 a similar fate befell literally all members and guests
of another Oscar presentation. Originally the names of the award winners
had been given to the press in advance with the stipulation that the information
not be revealed until after the awards’ presentation. However, the
Los Angeles Times printed the names of the 1939 winners in an early evening
edition before the ceremony actually kicked off draining the event of all
its suspense during one of the industry’s biggest years. The Academy learned
its lesson and since then the winners’ names have been a closely guarded
secret until the official announcement at the awards ceremony.
People usually talk profusely during Oscar presentations,
but sometimes you don’t really have to say much, just like David Nieven
did in 1974 climbing the stage wearing only a pair of tennis shoes.
For a few brief seconds the audience and the millions of others watching
the ceremony on TV were spellbound by the sight of a stark naked actor
who, walking up to the microphone said that the best way one can possibly
keep people happy is to get his things off and show all he’s got… Well,
Oscar is not a serious thing, really and Humphrey Bogart had exactly this
in mind when, receiving the award in 1952 for the African Queen he said
that to give out an Oscar for acting, they will have to make them all play
Hamlet and see how they do it. But he feared they will all bend up with
laughter if they do… Well, the Oscar presentations are fun to watch the
way they are…
Aside from bestowing international recognition and prestige,
an Academy Award can play a crucial artistic and financial role in the
success of the major winners. Not all of them have been duly reverential
towards the much-coveted award though. Actress Helen Heyess used the Oscar
she got in 1932 as a stopper to keep her door open. Francis Marion who
won the prize in 1930 and 32 describes the Oscar as the ultimate symbol
of the movie business – a powerful figure holding a shining sword with
part of the head missing exactly where the brains are supposed to be…
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