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The Oscar (1966)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 5/24

Oscars
5/24: Despite the ripped-off introduction, The Oscar is much better than All About Eve.

Stephen Boyd has done a great job, and that's exactly why he was chosen to play Messala in Ben-Hur. I had wondered who the story was based on and thought of Tony Curtis the most. His career arc feels similar to what happened in the film. Tony Curtis achieved tremendous success during the 50's, having been Oscar-nominated in 1958, but his popularity faded away dramatically which began in 1960. He married a blond-haired woman named Janet Leigh of Psycho fame, and they divorced in 1962. Afterwards, Tony Curtis was relegated to tons of TV work with a throwaway role in some forgettable bad movie here and there.

People have mocked The Oscar because of its high campness, but the whole thing is honestly great. The writing is terrific and not talky like the dreadful script of All About Eve. There are decent supporting performances especially by Milton Berle and Elke Sommer, and everything looks outstanding. The opening shot is of an actual Academy Awards ceremony that took place in 1965, and it's nice to see many Hollywood luminaries, most especially Edith Head who was responsible for the costume design in countless films.

If there's a negative, it's Tony Bennett's awful debut performance. He should've taken some acting lessons first, but to his credit, he never did another film outside of cameos by being himself. Historically speaking, winning an Oscar isn't always everything. Sure, a few big-time projects will come their way for the time being, but it'll be over before they know it. Those who had been affected by the bug are Adrien Brody, Elizabeth Taylor (after her second win), Mira Sorvino, Hattie McDaniel, Robert Donat, Paul Lukas, and Gloria Grahame, among others.

All in all, the critics ripped The Oscar apart because they didn't want to admit the truth that many A-list thespians weren't any different from Frankie Fane and that this was how Hollywood operated for real.