The Oscar (1966)

[movieman1957]

Nancy:

Could we get a picture? Please, huh, please, huh, pretty please.

Just kidding, but it would be fun.

Me

[knitwit45]

Actually, I can think of one (somewhere) that would be perfect. It was taken when I met my husband on R&R from Vietnam in 1968. It was taken at the Don Ho nightclub on Waikiki Beach. Now if only I knew where it was.....

[egolden]

Re the pale orange bouffant hairdos: I am embarrassed to admit it, but in the late 60's, I sported one of those... my hairdresser at the time loved the "champagne" blonde look, and to be honest, around here anyway, it was all the rage.

Oh, the things we do when we are young and stupid!

Oh, gosh, remember in the late '50s, early '60s, when "champagne blonde" and that wonderful pinkish orange were all the rage? I wish huge bouffant wiglets would come back in, they would detract attention from my nose and my Reagan-neck.

In The Oscar, Hedda Hopper wears a bouffant that's actually bigger than she is--I admire how she managed not to topple over under its weight.

[Lzcutter]

If you missed this film when it was shown earlier this year (thanks Bill Maher for that one and the analogy that Stephen Boyd was basically playing the same role as he did in Ben-Hur, only 2000 years later), be sure to catch it on its encore viewing, Tuesday evening at 11:45 pm EST/ 8:45 pm PST.

If you can't stay up that late, fire up your tivo or whatever recording device you use.

Bottom line, you don't want to miss this one.

It defies description and has to be seen to be believed.

Trust me. If you have a sense of humor or enjoy campy movies in the vein of The Carpetbaggers or Valley of the Dolls, if you enjoy scene chewing acting or you have a soft spot for really bad movies (or all of the above), you won't want to miss this one.

[MissGoddess]

Thanks, Lynn---I've heard so much about this movie
over the years that I simply have to record it and see
what all the fuss is about!

[moira finnie]

Hey, it just occurred to me that those of us who have gotten such a kick out of The Oscar might need to see other movies that are almost as loopy. Has anyone else seen Elia Kazan's The Arrangement (1969)?

You can read about this movie here, which has a phenomenal cast, featuring Kirk Douglas, Deborah Kerr, Richard Boone, and Faye Dunaway, among others. It was directed by Kazan from his novel, and is a stew of oedipal tensions, identity crises, swinging sixties, women as martyrs-doormats-harridans-muses. Most of the film takes place in Kirk's addled brain, btw, which does little for making it a coherent film. Everybody in the movie seems to have lots of dough and time to brood about themselves. It is often entertaining and boring at the same time and although it may have appeared to be "hip" and "racy" at the time of production, it seems indicative of a good director (Kazan) and a star (Kirk) who have been left in the dust by the tsunami of the counter-culture. That aspect of the movie makes it rather sad, though it is so wrongheaded and self-aggrandizing it is quite funny too.

My favorite scene: Kirk in bed with himself, dressed and undressed, but enjoying a corona corona cigar!!


Btw, you can watch the entire movie (which is on dvd) at youtube, beginning here if you prefer.

[MissGoddess]

I never even heard of The Arrangement, and that surprises me,
I seem to gravitate to many of those weird 60s movies. After
that image of Kirk in bed, however....

[Vecchiolarry]

Dear Miss G & Moira,

Eeeh Gads!!! I'm certainly not ready for Kirk Douglas in bed and in the nude!!! Although mercifly it's from the 60's and not now!!! EEEEK....

As for "The Oscar" - - I saw it when it first came out and seem to recall that it's pretty accurate as far as many people portrayed there.
Merle Oberon is in it too and wears her turquoise and diamond jewels in it; or maybe that's in "Hotel"?????
I remember she wore them in some movie and always thought it was this one.. Let me know??

Larry

[MissGoddess]

I'll definitely keep my eye on Merle's jewels and let you know, Larry.

[MissGoddess]

It really lived up to all the "hype", lol! But I am afraid I fell asleep after
Frankie passed a few dollars to maitre-d', Peter Lawford. And
I missed Tony's "meltdown"!

[youtube][/youtube]

(It looks like this clip automatically segues into footage from
"Something's Got to Give", Marilyn's last, incomplete film.
Even incomplete, it's still better than The Oscar! )

[moira finnie]

To assist us in our appreciation of this Sunday's Oscar ceremony, I thought I'd post these particularly splendid moments from the greatest movie about Inside Showbiz that has ever been made,
The Oscar (1966-Russell Rouse).

Btw, this epic is being broadcast on TCM at the same time as the real Oscars on Sunday, March 7th.
Lest we forget, there was a script, scribblers and at least one great writer behind this baroque morality play, sixties-style: Richard Sale, who wrote the novel that started it all, Russell Rouse, who also directed, and Clarence Greene--as well as the gifted and often frequently hilarious Harlan Ellison.

Highlights of the best (oh, those immortal lines!)
[youtube][/youtube]

Jack Soo lends Frankie Fane (Stephen Boyd) an ear
[youtube][/youtube]

Tony Bennett's Immortal Meltdown, followed by Boyd's diatribe:
[youtube][/youtube]

[jdb1]

I had zero interest in the real thing last night, and I didn't even watch the execrable Red Carpet nonsense to see the gowns.

So I thought I'd watch The Oscar to pass a bit of time and -- ouch -- it's even worse than I remember it. I had had more than enough at the 30 minute mark. I think this one is far worse than Valley of the Dolls, which I can manage to sit through. The dialogue sounded, for the most part, as though it had been randomly picked out of those refrigerator magnets with words on them that you're supposed to make nonsense sentences with.

I've never cared for Stephen Boyd, and he's more show-offy and hammy than usual here. I stand firm in my contention that Jill St. John is beautiful, and looks great in clothes, but can't act her way out of a Baggie. All Eleanor Parker did was make strange faces that were probably supposed to be either haughty or passionate. She seemed to be trying to be Joan Crawford, and not too successfully. Elke Sommer was less forthcoming than a block of wood, and I thought she looked quite tense and nervous in many of the scenes. In sum, IMO the only one who actually didn't stink too much was non-actor Tony Bennett, who at least managed to wrest some sympathy out of a sympathetic character.

I can only imagine how much more entertaining The Oscar could have been on Mystery Science Theater 3000. A great opportunity missed.

[moira finnie]

King, I'm so glad you got to enjoy The Oscar! Part of the fun of this shlockfest were real world references to figures like Burt Lancaster that were just a bit off center, but credible, like "Burt Lancaster in THE SPANISH ARMADA" and I love the fact that Frank Sinatra won instead of Stephen Boyd! (Life did imitate art)

Btw, even though I went fast asleep after the first half hour of the real Oscars (that cure for insomnia never fails), I understand that the In Memoriam segment was particularly painful to watch by anyone who might have thought that a few people (Farrah Fawcett, Pernell Roberts, and Gene Barry, for three), ought to have been given a nod. Were there many others? The Academy really needs to re-think this segment and put more care into it, if they are going to do it at all. I'm still brooding about the year they left Dorothy McGuire out of the mix.
[youtube][/youtube]

[Lzcutter]

M,

According to others, there was a shot of Jennifer Jones identified as Jean Simmons during Simmons brief moments of remembrance.

Which, if true, is rather appalling.

King,

Glad that you got to see The Oscar in all its glory. It's one that's not to be missed!