Sunday, February 29, 2004

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In Oscar land, there are snubs, surprises and outright upsets.

Barbra Streisand was snubbed when "Yentl" was ignored at nomination time, except for its music, art direction/set decoration and supporting actress Amy Irving. Some observers thought voters did not "Do the Right Thing" by Spike Lee, who wasn't nominated for Best Director. He did compete in the original screenplay category, won by "Dead Poets Society."

Snubs are one thing. Surprises give Oscar night a jolt that freezes fingers on the remote or lures viewers away from the mesmerizing sight of microwave popcorn ... popping.

But upsets produce gasps among the black-tie audience, stop Academy Award pool participants in their tracks and go down in history books. They're a reward for the East Coast viewers who stay up until midnight or 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m., when the final thanks of the final acceptance speech is over. Finally.

Last year was such a year. Roman Polanski. Adrien Brody. Ronald Harwood. Michael Moore. Eminem. It was a doozy. Here, then, are some of the more notable upsets, keeping in mind that every year produces an upset -- causing an uproar in the homes of millions of viewers, as favorites fall and dark horses streak across the finish line.

Victory in Exile: Conventional wisdom said Rob Marshall or Martin Scorsese would be named best director of 2002. The Oscar certainly wouldn't go to "The Pianist" director Roman Polanski, who had fled the country after pleading guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. So, when Harrison Ford called out Polanski's name, the audience emitted an involuntary gasp. The only bigger surprise would have been if Polanski had been in the Kodak Theatre, trying to elude authorities who had vowed to arrest him. He wasn't.

By a Nose: It was a two-man race between Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson last year ... until Adrien Brody was crowned Best Actor for "The Pianist." Unlike Charlize Theron, Renee Zellweger or Robert De Niro, all of whom gained weight for roles, Brody lost 30 pounds and shed many of his possessions to play real-life pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. The kiss he planted on Halle Berry and heartfelt acceptance speech were Hollywood highlights.

Moore Was More: Maybe he was steeling himself, but even "Bowling for Columbine" filmmaker Michael Moore predicted he would go home empty-handed on Oscar night. The day before, Moore said, "The last time a documentary that was a box-office success won the Oscar was 'Woodstock' in 1970. So, historically, it's not in the cards for tomorrow. If it happens, I'll say whatever's on my mind at that moment." Boy, did he.

Love Trumps War: It was Harrison Ford, again, who opened the final envelope of the night on March 21, 1999, and called out "Shakespeare in Love" as the Best Picture rather than the expected "Saving Private Ryan." Steven Spielberg had received the directing Oscar, setting the stage for the big one, which eluded him that year.

Mirror, Mirror: Even the actress summoned to the podium in March 1997 acknowledged, "I'm so surprised." Juliette Binoche from "The English Patient" had been named Best Supporting Actress instead of sentimental favorite Lauren Bacall, poised to win for "The Mirror Has Two Faces." Like the oddsmakers, Barbara Walters had virtually anointed Bacall the winner in the taped interview that aired before the show. Binoche had prepared no remarks, telling the worldwide audience, "I thought Lauren was going to get it, and I think she deserves it."

Bloody Shock: "Apollo 13" seemed to have the right stuff for Oscar voters, but "Braveheart" won five prizes, including picture and director, making Mel Gibson a two-fisted winner. In his official history, titled "75 Years of the Oscar," Robert Osborne writes: "Soothsayers were caught napping this time: 'Braveheart,' the film named by Academy voters as 1995's Best Picture, hadn't collected a single Best Picture prize from any other award group prior to Academy Award night."

The Yute Vote: Backstage at the 65th Academy Awards, Marisa Tomei said, "I almost tripped on the way up there, I was so surprised." She was surprised? The race for supporting actress had been considered a

three-way contest among Judy Davis, Miranda Richardson and dark horse Joan Plowright. The other nominee was Vanessa Redgrave. Tomei's win for "My Cousin Vinny" sparked rumors that presenter Jack Palance had read the wrong name.

Last Laugh: It's an Oscar truism that comedians never win or, as it turns out, almost never. Supporting actor Kevin Kline, a nominee for "A Fish Called Wanda," took the 1988 prize and Alec Guinness, Martin Landau, River Phoenix and Dean Stockwell stayed home or in their seats. Kline wasn't the only funnyman in the house; that was the year of the infamous Snow White-Rob Lowe duet of "Proud Mary," which was all anyone could talk about the next morning.

Au Revoir: Director Louis Malle's 1987 autobiographical movie, "Au Revoir, Les Enfants," was considered a lock for Best Foreign Language Film. But Denmark's "Babette's Feast" was the winner. Malle also lost the original screenplay award to "Moonstruck's " John Patrick Shanley.

0 For 11: The makers of "The Color Purple" and participants in Oscar pools everywhere were stunned when the movie received 11 nominations but won nothing. "The Turning Point" managed the same unenviable feat eight years earlier.

First-Place Finish: "Chariots of Fire" raced past "Atlantic City," "On Golden Pond," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Reds" to win Best Picture in 1981. The book "Inside Oscar" recounts a New York Post headline: "Hollywood Fuming Over Win by 'Chariots of Fire.' " An unidentified Academy official reportedly said, "I'm afraid this could be the beginning of a trend we saw in the 1960s. Twenty years ago, we started a love affair with the English that lasted about 10 years." The next year, "Gandhi" won, but Americans reclaimed 1983's top prize with "Terms of Endearment."

Networking: Beatrice Straight spent three days rehearsing and three days filming her three scenes as William Holden's es-

tranged wife in 1976's "Network," but it was enough to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Her formidable competition: Jane Alexander, Jodie Foster, Lee Grant and Piper Laurie.

Godfather Gasps: The night of March 27, 1973, was a shocking one for reasons including the appearance of "Sacheen Littlefeather" on behalf of Marlon Brando. She had followed the news that "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola lost the Best Director award to Bob Fosse ("Cab-aret.") The mob epic won Best Picture, as did "The Godfather Part II," which earned Coppola a directing Oscar.

Dark-Horse Candidate: It didn't require brainwashing for columnists to pick Angela Lansbury as the favorite for her supporting work in 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate." But 16-year-old Patty Duke arrived at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium with a pet Chihuahua named Bambi tucked into a bowling bag and left with an Oscar for "The Miracle Worker."

Oscar Lust: The title of 1956's "Lust for Life" proved prophetic for Anthony Quinn. His roughly eight-minute performance as artist Paul Gauguin (to Kirk Douglas' Vincent van Gogh) won the supporting actor statue. The book "Inside Oscar" reports Mickey Rooney turned to fellow nominee Robert Stack and said, "We wuz robbed."

Oscar Lust, Part II: In a commentary in The Los Angeles Times this month, Kirk Douglas recalled what he thought would happen that same evening nearly half a century ago. "Before Oscar night, I had been told by my friend, the producer Michael Todd, that he had confidential information that I was the winner. Apparently many others thought so, too, because on the night of the Oscars, the lobby of the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was swarming with photographers and journalists." Right up to the moment when "The King and I" star Yul Brynner was proclaimed the winner.

Best Laid Plans: NBC, broadcasting the March 1955 ceremony from Hollywood and New York, was thinking ahead when it positioned TV cameras outside the hospital room of Judy Garland. Nominated for the top acting prize for "A Star Is Born," she had just given birth to a boy, Joseph Luft. The infant didn't have to compete with Oscar for her attention, since the award went to Grace Kelly for "The Country Girl."

Gotta Dance: Sure, "Chicago" was the Best Picture of 2002, but musicals generally are considered a long shot for the top prize. That was the case with "An American in Paris," named the top film of 1951 over favorites "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "A Place in the Sun." MGM was gracious in victory and, as Osborne's book recounts, ran a trade ad with its Leo the Lion looking modestly at the statue and contending, "Honestly I was just standing In the Sun waiting for A Streetcar."

All About Judy: The Best Picture of 1950 might have been "All About Eve," but the Best Actress wasn't Bette Davis or Anne Baxter or even Gloria Swanson or Eleanor Parker but Judy Holliday from "Born Yesterday." Holliday and the "Sunset Boulevard" star were in New York, not Hollywood, and Swanson reportedly asked the winner, "Darling, why couldn't you have waited till next year?"

Doting Daughter: In 1948, Rosalind Russell was considered a shoo-in for Best Actress for "Mourning Becomes Electra." When Fredric March opened the envelope, he started to say her name, then realized the statue was going to Loretta Young for "The Farmer's Daughter" and did a double take. Young double-checked the name in the envelope once she got to the stage and yep, it was hers.

Twice Honored: No one expected Harold Russell, a World War II veteran who lost his hands during the war, to win an Academy Award for his supporting turn in "The Best Years of Our Lives." So, the Board of Governors voted him a special Oscar for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans." Turned out he won the acting honor, too. He is the only person to win two Oscars for the same performance.

They'll Always Have Paris: And a Best Picture Oscar for "Casablanca." Today, we think of the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman love story as a classic. But when it was named top picture, the audience at Grauman's Chinese Theater on March 2, 1944, "gasped in amazement, then quickly regained its composure and heartily applauded the results," the book "Inside Oscar" reports. Expected to win: "The Song of Bernadette."

Gone With the Wind: The sweeping Southern saga set a then-record with 13 nominations and eight wins -- including for film, director, actress and supporting actress -- but Clark Gable went home empty-handed. So did Laurence Olivier, Mickey Rooney and James Stewart, with "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" star Robert Donat being named the winner.

E-mail this story   Print this story