Forecasting the Oscars ® since 2003

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THE TOP 10 OPINIONS: MOMENTS IN OSCAR'S HISTORY

A Writer's Point of View

Did Marisa Tomei really win her Oscar?

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By Josh Kirschenbaum

Note: All research was done using the book Movie Awards by Tom O’Neil

As the race heats up, it is important that we look to the past in order to predict the future. Past trends are one of the few tools that an Oscar prognosticator can use. So in order to hone my prediction skills I spent a few hours looking through some Oscar history books and websites. In doing so, I learned more about the history of the ceremony than the actual winners. Apparently, ballots were counted the night of the ceremony for the first few years of the Oscars. This practice was discontinued after a lot of big egos started to get hurt. I think it is important that we take a step back from the race to look at some of the big moments that have defined the Oscars. Here is my Top 10...

10. Paddy Chayefky presents the writing awards (1977 Oscars)

For those of you who don’t know, Paddy Chayefsky is probably the greatest screenwriter of all time. He won three Oscars for his screenplays for Marty, The Hospital, and his masterpiece (and my favorite movie of all time) Network. That’s why it was such a huge event when the Academy had him present the awards for Best Adapted and Original Screenplay. To my knowledge it is the only time they had a non-actor present the writing awards. In fact, the only time I can remember a non-actor presenting any award is last year, when they Academy got directing giants Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas to give Martin Scorsese his Oscar. But Chayefsky never had, and probably never will have, the fame of those three. It was a very nice tribute to him and the art of screenwriting in general to have him go onstage and give out the screenplay awards for the year. Of course he was involved with another big Oscar moment that night, but that’s later in the countdown.

9. Streaker (1973 Oscars)

It is widely known that the Oscars are an uptight event. Just this past year they refused to allow Sacha Baron Cohen to present an award as Borat. They freaked when Chris Rock decided to make fun of some people (mostly Jude Law) at the ceremony. This prudishness is the main reason why this Oscar moment is one of my personal favorites.

The host of the show, David Niven, was onstage and about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor (who would be presenting the award for Best Picture) when a naked man ran across the stage behind him. After the audience had time to respond, Niven reacted by saying “Ladies and gentlemen, that was bound to happen. Just think. The only laugh that man will probably ever get is for stripping and showing off his shortcomings.” The night went on as usual, Taylor came on saying, “That’s a pretty tough act to follow.” Although interestingly enough, a man wearing nothing but a jockstrap ran across the stage only a few weeks earlier at the DGA awards that same year.

8. Marisa Tomei (1992 Oscars)

In what would come to be known as the greatest Oscar upset of all time, Marisa Tomei won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny. The actresses she beat: Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson, all in acclaimed roles. The number of precursors Tomei won: zero. Tomei’s victory to this day is the only Oscar surprise that I simply do not understand at all. It is also the only Oscar event that started a conspiracy theory that Jack Palance (who presented the award for Best Supporting Actress that year) read the wrong name on the envelope, and that his mistake was covered up by some of the head people in AMPAS.

7. Laurence Olivier doesn’t read envelope for Amadeus (1984 Oscars)

I feel sort of bad for Sir Laurence Olivier, the brilliant British actor who’s empty-headedness in his old age caused this Oscar moment. Olivier was chosen to present Best Picture. He came onstage and looked at the teleprompter for the list of the nominees. Unfortunately, he thought that the teleprompter would tell him the winner. He read off the first name he saw: Amadeus. It was lucky for him that Amadeus was the actual winner for the year, or his mistake might have had much for fallout than it actually did.

6. George C Scott snubs and bashes Oscars, wins anyway (1970 Oscars)

If there was ever a performance guaranteed to win an Oscar, George C. Scott’s stunning turn in the WWII biopic Patton would be it. His performance was so powerful, so raved by critics, so respected, that an Oscar was assured. But Scott wanted nothing to do with the Oscars, denouncing them as “a weird beauty or personality contest” and later as “a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons.” AMPAS gave him the award anyway. With a performance that good they pretty much had to. Strangely enough, Scott did accept one award, the New York Film Critics award, calling it “the only film award worth having.”

5. Alfred Hitchcock wins Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1967 Oscars)

It is no secret that AMPAS has trouble honoring the best directors in their greatest years. Kubrick never won a directing Oscar, nor did Alfred Hitchcock, despite being widely considered the greatest director of all time. The Academy continually snubbed his work, even Psycho, perhaps his greatest achievement and one of the most influential films of all time, failed to garner a nomination for Best Picture. One of Hitchcock’s films, Rebecca, actually won Best Picture (though Hitchcock himself lost best director to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath). In 1967, AMPAS decided they had been too hard on Hitch’s work and gave him their Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. It would seem that years of rejection really got to the man, as he only said two words, “Thank you,” before leaving the stage.

4. Michael Moore wins Best Documentary (2002 Oscars)

Michael Moore may be the most polarizing figure of our day. Liberals hail him as the harbinger of truth and an essential force in attacking corporate America. Conservatives condemn him as a fear mongering incendiary liar. Whatever your opinion may be, there is no denying the man can make a heck of a documentary. His skill behind the camera won him the award for Best Documentary for his film Bowling for Columbine, about the infamous school shootings and America's gun culture. Moore used the opportunity to make a personal statement about the upcoming war in Iraq, saying, “We are against this war, Mr. Bush! Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Shame on you!” The statement drew some cheers and some boos from the crowd, but Moore’s tirade is nothing compared to the next Oscar moment…

3. Vanessa Redgrave’s acceptance speech and Chayefky’s response (1977 Oscars)

Vanessa Redgrave is widely known as a stanch Anti-zionist. According to Sidney Lumet, it was her political opinions that motivated Paddy Chayefsky to refuse to let her be cast in Network. When Redgrave won Best Supporting Actress for Julia, her acceptance speech attacked several protesters outside of the ceremony, saying “You should feel proud that in the last few weeks you’ve stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world.” When Chayefsky took the stage to present the writing awards, he had this to say: “Before I go on, there’s a little matter I’d like to tidy up, at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say - personal opinion of course – that I’m sick and tired of people’s exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda. I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple ‘thank you’ would have sufficed.”

2. Marlon Brando wins Best Actor (1972 Oscars)

Marlon Brando’s performance in The Godfather is perhaps the greatest leading performance of all time. It was also something of a comeback for Brando, winning him worldwide acclaim and a slew of awards. He refused to accept a Golden Globe because of “a lack of honor in this country today.” When the Oscar ceremony rolled around, he was assured the win, but nobody was quite sure who would pick up the statue. Brando’s name was announced and a woman dressed in Native American clothing walked onstage and accepted it on his behalf. She said her name was Sacheen Littlefeather and that she was accepting the award for Brando, who refused it because of “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.” She later went backstage and read a 15-page statement from Brando. Strangely enough, Littlefeather wasn’t an actual Native American, further adding to the absurdity and making this the second biggest Oscar moment.

1. Oscar and commies (1956 Oscars)

The biggest moment in Oscar history did not take place during the ceremony itself. During the 56-57 award season, there was a somewhat popular film by the name of Friendly Persuasion, directed by William Wyler. The adapted screenplay was written by Michael Wilson. In 1951, Wilson was blacklisted after invoking the Fifth Amendment in front of the House committee on Un-American Activities. Both the film’s distributor and Wyler denied his authorship of the film. However, the Writers Guild of America stood by Wilson. Academy leaders did not want to nominate a suspected communist. They made a new rule that “[disbarred] anyone from receiving an award if he or she has admitted membership in the communist party and has not renounced such membership, or has refused to testify before a congressional committee, or has refused to respond to a subpoena.” The WGA responded by condemning the new rule and giving their award for Best Written Drama to Wilson. The rule would be thrown out in 1959.

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