The biggest scandals and controversies in the history of the Oscars
The darkest story of the brightest awards.
Despite the prestige of the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards have not been exempt from a series of controversies, scandals and controversies throughout their 92 editions since they debuted in May 1929. Some are justified by the classic "they were other times", while others have not yet found a convincing explanation.
On the occasion of the Oscars 2020, we review in the following lines which have been these cases that gave a lot to talk about.
1936: Dudley Nichols, first rejection of the award
Despite taking only a few editions, the Academy had to see how a winner declined to receive his golden statuette. The informer (1935) had Dudley Nichols as a screenwriter and it was decided to award the film directed by John Ford for its libretto. However, Nichols rejected the award in solidarity with the Writers of the United States, who were in not very respectable condition.
1940: Racism and discrimination against a winner
Hattie McDaniel will always be honored as the first African American to win an Oscar. Her role as Mammy, the Maid in Gone with the Wind (1939) earned her the Best Supporting Actress award, beating her partner Olivia de Havilland, who had also been nominated in the same category. What would have to be a celebration was tainted with discrimination in the form of segregationist norms that prevented them from sitting with their white colleagues. In the Coconut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where the ceremony was held, she and her companion were forced to sit at a separate table at the back of the room.
1942: Citizen Kane runs out of prize
Citizen Kane (1941), many times considered the most influential film if not directly the best in American cinema. For this reason it is also common for people to think that he won the Oscar, when he only won the Best Original Screenplay. He is responsible for several innovations in the art of directing, such as the structure or the use of a soundtrack, but these achievements were not recognized at the time, giving him the award for ¡Qué verde era mi valle! (1941).
1964: The Forbidden Kiss
Picking up the baton from Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier became the first African-American actor to win the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Lilies of the Valley (1963). Actress Anne Bancroft wanted to congratulate the actor with a simple kiss on the cheek that caused a scandal for the most conservative viewers at the time, considering it a "forbidden kiss."
1969: The tie of discord
The shadow of the tongo and the amano flew over the gala in 1969. Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied in the final vote for the Oscar for Best Actress with exactly 3,030 votes each for their roles in Funny Girl (1968) and The Lion in Winter ( 1968) respectively. "Fortunately", Hepburn did not attend the gala, so the delivery was no more grotesque than it could have been.
1971: The Oscar scorned
It cannot be said that she had not noticed. George C. Scott had advised the Academy that he would reject any awards that might be given to his role as General George S. Patton Jr. in the film Patton (1970) for "not believing that creative performances could be compared" . The Academy ignored it and Scott was nominated and won the Best Actor statuette. Fulfilling his notice, he declined the award.
1973: Marlon Brando in vindictive mode
One of the most famous images of the Oscars was when Marlon Brando rejected his award in 1972, something that nobody expected. He won it for his role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), but instead of going on stage (he didn't even go to the gala), he sent an Apache Native American named Sacheen instead. Littlefeather. There, she explained that she was on behalf of the actor and "unfortunately, rejected the award." The reason? A protest against the representation of natives in Hollywood.
1974: Exhibitionism at the ceremony
If on TV we have seen more than one spontaneous who wants to attract attention in sporting events or the world of entertainment, the Oscars also suffered a particular case. It was in 1974 when Robert Opel, a staunch defender of human rights and equality, decided to appear naked at the gala to "vindicate the gay community." The face of David Niven, who was trying to present an award, was a poem but he kept smiling.
1975: The anti-war speech
Hearts and Minds (1974) was a documentary that criticized the Vietnam War and won the Academy Award in its category. Producer Bert Schneider took advantage of his speech to do exactly the same thing as the film: an anti-war speech and to thank the activists of this cause. Despite the praiseworthy gesture, it was not very well received by the audience and the organization of the gala had to read - by Frank Sinatra - a clarification that would leave the patriots proud of such a war happy, explaining that "We are not responsible for any political references produced in the program and we are sorry they took place tonight. "
1993: Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins go off script
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were two of the presenters chosen to present one of the awards. They took advantage of their moment on screen to go off script and ask for the reception in the United States of Haitians suffering from AIDS isolated in the North American base of Guantánamo. The organizer of the ceremony, Gil Gates, decided to veto them for future galas. "For someone I invite to present an award and use that time to postulate a personal political belief, it's not just outrageous, it's disgusting and dishonest."
1993: Richard Gere in favor of Tibet
Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon weren't the only ones singled out that night. Richard Gere also wanted to take advantage of his privileged position after the hit Pretty Woman to criticize human rights in China and the oppression of the Chinese in Tibet. In the end he was banned for 20 years, until in 2003 he returned to a gala.
1993: Marisa Tomei won by mistake?
It has never been proven, but the controversy has accompanied since 1993 until the Moonlight and La La Land scandal - which we will talk about later - dismantled the conspiracies. Basically, as in many other cases, it was considered that the award was not given to the most deserved. In this specific case, Marisa Tomei, the current UCM Aunt May, won Best Actress for her role in My cousin Vinny (1992). They all believed that it was impossible that Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson had been imposed, and that presenter Jack Palance would have misread the name, suffered a slip or any other reason and that the Academy simply did not want to admit the error.
