Posted by Tom Stockman in Featured Articles, General News, Not Available On DVD | 1 comment
NOT Available on DVD: OSCAR
“You finally made it, Frankie! Oscar night! And here you sit, on top of a glass mountain called success. You’re one of the chosen five, and the whole town’s holding its breath to see who won it! It’s been quite a climb, hasn’t it, Frankie? Down at the bottom, scuffling for dimes in those smokers, all the way to the top. Magic Hollywood!” This ripe narration opens the 1966 movie THE OSCAR, a cynical look at how an Oscar nomination goes to the head of its nominee and the lengths an unscrupulous man will go to win the coveted gold statuette. With an undeserved reputation as one of the lousiest Show-biz soap operas from the 60’s, THE OSCAR portrays Hollywood as a cesspool where you sell your soul and it’s certainly amusing for its campy dialog and sleazy situations. Sure, THE OSCAR is brainless tinseltown trash full of shameless clichés, but it’s no worse than dozens of other similar melodramas from this period and it has actually aged into a tremendously nostalgic, if unrealistic, look at the movie business and movie buffs will enjoy the cameos by many movie legends. Fun if taken in the right spirit, THE OSCAR is a movie that deserves to be reassessed… but you can’t, because it’s NOT available on DVD.
THE OSCAR tells the story of movie star Frankie Fane (Stephen Boyd) and opens as he’s about to hear if he’s won a best acting Oscar at the ceremony hosted by Bob Hope. Cue the flashback and Frankie’s best friend Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett) narrates, reminiscing about Frankie’s journey to fame, beginning as manager for his low-class stripper girlfriend Laurel (Jill St. John). After relocating to New York City, Frankie dumps Laurel after meeting budding fashion designer, Kay (Elke Sommer) at a “swinging party in the Village”, which leads to an introduction with horny talent scout Sophie Cantaro (Eleanor Parker) who arranges (after being “serviced”) for him to be signed with Hollywood agent “Kappy” Kapstetter (Milton Berle) and Frankie is soon a huge star. Frankie receives an Oscar nomination and, being the immoral jerk he is, hires a crooked private investigator (Ernest Borgnine) to leak damaging information on his rivals in a scheme to influence voters and ensure himself a win. The climax in THE OSCAR comes as Oscar presenter Merle Oberon (playing herself) announces the winner. When she says the name “Frank,” Frankie rises from his seat preparing to strut proudly to the stage. But when she follows “Frank” with “Sinatra.”, Frankie is left completely humiliated and all those he has wronged are witness to his shameful comeuppance of not receiving an Oscar for his first nom!
THE OSCAR is supposed to be a drama, but with its ludicrous, overwrought script, it often plays as unintentional comedy. It’s one of those over-heated ensemble potboilers, such as VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1967) or THE CARPETBAGGERS (1964) that were so popular in the mid-60’s. The pulpy script was adapted from Richard Sale’s novel by legendary Science Fiction author Harlan Ellison who wrote many episodes of “Star Trek”, “Hitchcock Presents”, and “Outer Limits. THE OSCAR was his only feature screenplay and is a pessimistic look at fame. Frankie is a despicable first-class bastard who uses, then discards others in his rise to stardom (“He used them like Kleenex,” Bennett quips in voiceover “Once, and threw ‘em away”). Played by Stephen Boyd without one redeeming quality, Frankie is unsympathetic from beginning to end. Unfortunately, Boyd spits out his lines in a pent-up hostile tone and you never understand why this loathsome cad would have had the charisma to be an Oscar-nominated actor in the first place. Stephen Boyd had won a Golden Globe as Ben-Hur’s childhood friend Messala in BEN-HUR in 1959 and starred in such early 60’s epics as GENGHIS KHAN (1965) and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964). Though he starred in FANTASTIC VOYAGE the same year, his career never recovered from the howling reviews he received for THE OSCAR and he died suddenly in 1977 at age 45. Tony Bennett was (and still is) an incredibly popular singer and THE OSCAR, his first and last acting role, is supposedly a huge embarrassment that killed his chance at a movie career. While it certainly didn’t do for Bennett what FROM HERE TO ETERNITY did for fellow crooner Sinatra, he’s not as bad as legend has it (The Medved Brothers gave Bennett their “Golden Turkey” award for ‘Worst Performance by a Popular Singer’) and the decision not to act again was likely his own. His Hymie Kelly (an Irish Jew I guess) is hunched over and just looks uncomfortable, like he’d rather be singing (which I’m surprised producer Joseph E. Levine didn’t have him do).
Eleanor Parker was a leading lady in the 40’s and 50’s and had been Oscar-nominated herself three times. By 1966 she had reached the ripe old age of 44 and was stuck playing matronly supporting roles like the one in THE OSCAR and she handles the campy dialogue with theatrical flair. Jill St. John and Elke Sommer are both foxy, the other stars do their best under the circumstances, and Russell Rouse directs a fast-paced feast of kitschy ’60′s production design, fun clothes and enormous hairdos. Besides Hope, Sinatra and Oberon, keep your eyes peeled for Joseph Cotten, Edie Adams, Peter Lawford, Walter Brennen, Edith Head, Hedda Hopper, Ed Begley, Broderick Crawford, Nancy Sinatra, Army Archerd, Anitra Ford, Phyliss Davis, Edy Williams, and Joan Crawford in walk-ons.
THE OSCAR was produced by Embassy Pictures and distributed by Paramount. It was briefly available on VHS on Embassy’s home video label in the mid-80’s but that tape is now very hard to find. The Academy of Arts and Sciences gets a special mention during the opening credits of THE OSCAR. The Academy is so controlling of their brand and trademark image that it’s surprising that they endorsed and cooperated in the making of the film (something they would never do today). Bob Hope was a common Oscars host during this time (and still holds the record for number of ceremonies hosted) and perhaps the Academy thought the film would receive a few noms or awards, resulting in some clever cross-promotion. Edith Head’s costumes were nominated as well as the film’s art direction but alas, no presenter that year was able to open the envelope and announce “The Oscar goes to….THE OSCAR!”
I love "The Oscar" – deliciously trashy.