Tag Archives: academy awards

The Oscars in History

Posted on March 2, 2014 | 2 comments

Today is Oscar Sunday, and your author is in rain-soaked Los Angeles today trying to stay dry. Tonight, right down the street and for the 86th time in history, the Academy will pick what it considers to be the best achievements in filmmaking over the past year.

To many people, the Oscars are synonymous with glamour, fame, chic, and high fashion. The one night when the stars we see on the screen come together to celebrate the best among them, in the best outfits from the best designers. We see joy at wins and barely masked sorrow at losses, a lavish ceremony punctuated by long breaks for expensive commercials. It has become a moneymaker and a television extravaganza, and genuine appreciation for the talented winners is often trumped by concern for corporate sponsors and commercial breaks.

But it has not always been this way. The Oscars of today would be almost unrecognizable by those who attended the first Academy Awards 86 years ago, in a small room in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929. It was a private dinner with awards announced in advance for the best and brightest of the years 1927 and 1928. Janet Gaynor won a Best Actress Oscar for 3 roles (Seventh Heaven, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, and Street Angel), while the Best Actor Oscar went to Emil Jannings for two (The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command). The entire ceremony lasted for 15 minutes, and it was not broadcast over any medium.

Janet Gaynor receives her Oscar from Douglas Fairbanks.

Janet Gaynor receives her Oscar from Douglas Fairbanks.

Over the years, the Oscars morphed into what they are today. With the advent of television and corporate sponsorship of the telecast, the ideas, morals, and priorities have shifted to make the Oscars primarily a moneymaking endeavor for the network on which it is broadcast. That does not mean, however, that the Oscars themselves have lost their significance. Despite the capitalistic drive of the Oscar telecast, the Oscars remain an integral part of the industry and influence forever the lives of all who are nominated or win. They have become a part of our cultural fabric.

Owing to the mass audience that the Oscars attract and the interconnection between the ceremony and culture as a whole, the Oscars have a reputation for being political, whether those politics manifest in choice of winners, in speeches, or in occurrences during the ceremony. National and world struggles have often been reflected during the Oscars, and they have helped shape the lens through which we perceive what goes on in our world.

Here are some classic Hollywood Oscar moments that have interwoven into our national dialogue.

HATTIE MCDANIEL WINS BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS FOR GONE WITH THE WIND, 1940

For a film whose premiere she was not allowed to attend, and at a segregated ceremony in which she was relegated to the back of the room, Best Supporting Actress nominee Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind at the Academy Awards in 1940. Her speech is, in my opinion, one of the most eloquent and heartfelt of any speech ever given at the Academy Awards.

SIDNEY POITIER WINS BEST ACTOR FOR LILIES OF THE FIELD, 1964

In the same vein, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964, Sidney Poitier won Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. It marked the second Oscar in history for a black actor, after Hattie McDaniel’s historic win in 1940. After the ceremony, Poitier declined to comment on the significance of the occasion to reporters, preferring to reflect further before making a statement so important given the times.

JANE FONDA WINS THE OSCAR FOR KLUTE, 1972

In 1972, Jane Fonda won the Oscar for Klute in the wake of her active campaigns against the Vietnam War. She was a very controversial figure in Hollywood at this time and during her speech she acknowledged the controversy by saying “There is a great deal to say…and I’m not going to say it now.” A few months later, Fonda went to Hanoi to continue her anti-war campaigning, becoming known to a generation as “Hanoi Jane.”

2 Comments

Posted in Lara Gabrielle Fowler

Tagged , , , , , ,

“…and the Oscar goes to…”: A PREMIERE SCREENING AT THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

Posted on January 25, 2014 | 4 comments

By Lara Gabrielle Fowler

On February 1, TCM will begin its annual salute to the Oscars, 31 days of Oscar-winning films shown back to back until the Academy Awards ceremony on March 2. Kicking off what TCM calls “31 Days of Oscar” this year will be a new documentary from acclaimed filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, produced as a joint effort between TCM and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and celebrating the history of the Oscars and where they came from. The production is called …and the Oscar goes to…, and I had the great privilege to be able to see its world premiere this past Thursday night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

It was a real event, and TCM pulled out all the stops. In attendance were several TCM luminaries including Ben Mankiewicz (who gave a pre-screening introduction) and Illeana Douglas who has served as a guest host on the network. Also there was George Chakiris, best known for his Oscar-winning role as Bernardo in West Side Story and for his role as a dancer in several high profile musicals. I was also glad to see many of my fellow classic film bloggers, along, as I was, to cover the screening.

George Chakiris, here in the red jacket as Bernardo in WEST SIDE STORY, attended the screening of …AND THE OSCAR GOES TO… on Thursday.

Before the film began, we heard a talk by the directors and saw a beautiful promo for TCM’s “31 Days of Oscar.” In the 31 days leading up to the Academy Awards, TCM often makes some of its most brilliant programming choices–as the films chosen are all Oscar winners, they are almost universally superb, and TCM’s “31 Days of Oscar” is a highly anticipated event in the classic film community.

…and the Oscar goes to… began at 7:30. It tells the story of the Oscars from its inception in 1927 straight through to the present day, with ample anecdotes and stories behind many of Hollywood’s finest Oscar moments. It draws on interviews from contemporary stars and directors such as Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Moore to illustrate what the Oscars are all about, and uses plenty of archival footage to show the audience what the Oscars were like before the popularization of television. I was happy to see the film feature several of my very favorite Oscar speeches of all time, including those given by Hattie McDaniel at the Academy Awards of 1940 and Dustin Hoffman at the Academy Awards of 1980.

In Dustin Hoffman’s speech, he talks about the fallibility of the Oscars and the inherent unfairness in competition between peers. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the film is quite unbiased in its attitude toward the Oscars. Instead of the Academy flouting what it does as somehow the be-all, end-all in Hollywood, it highlights several people who emphasize the idea that the Oscars are not really what Hollywood is all about. My absolute favorite quote from the film came from a director who said that everyone thinks the Oscars are the real Hollywood. They are not, he said. He continued on to say that the real Hollywood is seen when the actors, directors, and crew members show up on the set the day after the lavish Oscar party, wearing jeans and eating bad doughnuts and drinking stale coffee. Hollywood is not the Oscars, he emphasized. Hollywood belongs to the people who work all day and all night for the perfect shot and put their blood, sweat and tears into what they do.

Following that quote, the entire theater burst into applause.

There are a number of awkward segues that could be fixed in the editing room, but all in all, the film was a success and lots of fun to watch. This screening was the first time …and the Oscar goes to... has been shown in public, and I would venture to say that the awkwardness of the segues may be fixed before the film airs on TCM. I would highly recommend that you catch it when it kicks off “31 Days of Oscar” on February 1 at 8:00 PM EST, as I think it provides a wonderfully intimate glimpse into this storied Hollywood tradition.

See you next time!

4 Comments

Posted in Lara Gabrielle Fowler

Tagged , , , ,

What Happened at the 23rd Academy Awards?

Posted on May 17, 2013 | 28 comments

As the Academy Awards are broadcast from Hollywood, Gloria Swanson anxiously awaits the announcement of Best Actress.

By Lara Gabrielle Fowler

On a whim yesterday, I removed my trusty VHS of Sunset Boulevard from its spot in my movie library (organized alphabetically, by year) and put it in for an  impromptu viewing. Sunset Boulevard is one of those movies with everything–flawless plot, perfect script, skillful directing, and tour-de-force acting by Gloria Swanson, whose portrayal of fictional fallen screen star Norma Desmond, whose life has unraveled to the point of insanity, is one for the ages. As a friend of mine puts it, “Gloria Swanson tore her heart out and bled that role.”

Rightly, she was remembered in the Best Actress Oscar nominations for 1950, along with Bette Davis (All About Eve), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday), Anne Baxter (All About Eve), and Eleanor Parker (Caged).

All About Eve is similar to Sunset Boulevard in many ways. Both were directed by writer-directors (Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s script for All About Eve is a phenomenal triumph, and Billy Wilder’s script with Charles Brackett for Sunset Boulevard is famous for being the pair’s last collaboration) and both deal brutally with the issues of stardom as one ages. The main characters are stubborn and vulnerable larger-than-life personalities. We are led to realize the unfairness in life that has been dealt to them–where Norma Desmond’s fragile mental state leads those close to her (namely her strangely devoted butler Max) to treat her with kid gloves, no one takes Margo’s guff and it is assumed that she can take care of herself–when in reality she is in desperate need of protection.

Hollywood loved its own. It was going to be either Bette Davis or Gloria Swanson, no one else had much of a chance.

But when the announcement was read, there was an upset.

So what happened?

I think the nomination of two actresses portraying similarly themed characters, both giving the performance of their respective careers, was too much for that year. The votes were split down the for Davis and Swanson, relegating each of them to the minority allowing Judy Holliday to win with the “outlier” votes. Essentially, 1950 was so good, it backfired.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think Judy Holliday was brilliant in Born Yesterday. It remains one of my favorite movies of 1950, and Judy Holliday was what made it. Check out this wonderful scene of her playing cards, and the subtle expressions and physical movements that drive the scene. I apologize for the poor quality, but it’s very much worth watching.

Had this been any other year, I would have applauded Holliday’s win, but it was an inappropriate result for a category that included Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis in All About Eve.

I would like to pose the question to you, readers–what are your opinions on the 23rd Academy Awards? Who do you think should have won? What do you think happened? Leave a comment in the comments section and let’s discuss it!

I look forward to reading your comments!

28 Comments

Posted in Lara Gabrielle Fowler

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The Aesthetics of “Sunrise” (1927)

Posted on September 19, 2012 | 6 comments

A scene filmed in double exposure in “Sunrise.”

A foreseeably grim story about a man intent on killing his wife in order to live with a seductress gradually fades into a simple, beautiful, heartwarming tale of devotion and love, in this 1927 silent masterpiece by F.W. Murnau. Starring Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien, Sunrise (the full title is Sunrise: A Story of Two Humans, but it is most often referred to as simply Sunrise) is considered to be one of the best silent films ever made, and like the seminal film The Jazz Singer, released later the same year, it incorporated a wide variety of synchronized sounds occurring throughout the movie. We hear car horns, the squeal of a pig, even human voices in the sounds emanating from a large crowd. To audiences in 1927, this was a real spectacle.

Following the release of The Jazz Singer, movie studios were faced with the reality that the future of silent pictures would be extremely short. Though silents did not disappear overnight, they began to slowly fade until 1929, when silent cinema all but became extinct. Sunrise, though released 2 weeks before The Jazz Singer,seems to bridge the gap between the great silent films and the beginning of great sound films, incorporating truly the best of both worlds–the fading silents and the rising talkies.

In addition to the film’s use of audio, it also utilizes magnificent cinematographic techniques that enhance all of the emotions involved in the story. A rather odd font choice is used for the intertitles, suggesting a scary story to come with its large, uneven, drippy type. However, the intertitles are used very sparingly, and Murnau relies most heavily on the environment and the actors’ faces to tell the story. The use of double exposures, cross-fades, and skillful cuts transports us from one mindset to another–from hating the husband as he is about to kill his wife, to sympathy for him in his guilt in ever wanting to commit such a crime. It also brings worlds together–in the opening shots, in which it is shown through a superimposed intertitle that this is “Summertime, vacationtime,” we are taken from a bustling train station in the city to a shot of vacationers sunning themselves on a beach, to a shot of people boating on a tranquil lake in a serene countryside. Each is clear in its emotional intent, and the scenes work together in harmony to create a lovely wholeness to the feeling of summertime.

The temptress and the man, with the beckoning of the city apparent with the city party scene looming over their heads.

The temptress, who urges the man to kill his wife, is shown in a beautiful double-exposure shot almost as a demon inside his head. She appears and disappears like a specter, and he is possessed by her power. At the end, when all is well with the man and his wife, Murnau creates the opposite image–she returns to the city on the back of a cart, dejected, with her head down, the defeated warrior for a man’s affections. The image is powerful, and I, as a rather oversensitive human being, felt bad for her.

Janet Gaynor, as the wife, is truly stunning in this role. Playing a beautiful innocence and naïveté, but with a soul you can feel, she inhabits the character and you feel that under that innocence lives a strong woman. Her performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress of 1927/28, in the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. It was one of three films that earned her the award, due to the nature of the Academy Awards for the first three years of its existence, and in addition to Sunrise she won for her performances in Seventh Heaven and Street Angel.

Janet Gaynor receiving her Oscar from Douglas Fairbanks at the first Academy Awards ceremony.

The title is interestingly symbolic–though at the outset, it may be read as simply the timing of the last shot of the film, it also symbolizes the rise of a new understanding and relationship between the husband and wife. The beginning of the film is bleak and dark for both of them, as the husband is intent on a life with his mistress. When he realizes how much he loves his wife, this is the beginning of their own personal sunrise. The majority of the film leads up to this moment, where the physical sunrise in the sky meets with their personal sunrise as a couple. Given the progressive nature of this work, it is also, in a way, ironic that the film is called Sunrise–as coming on the heels of both The Jazz Singer and the rise of talkies, it heralds the dawn of a new era in filmmaking.

The final shot of the sun coming up over the house of the man and his wife.

6 Comments

Posted in Lara Gabrielle Fowler

Tagged , , , ,