Main Cast: Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker, Joseph Cotten
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 119 minutes
Plot
A heartless actor scrambles to the top of show business' sleazy summit in this drama. Frank Fane (Stephen Boyd) is a Hollywood leading man who is desperate to boost his career by winning an Academy Award, and he doesn't care who he has to betray to achieve his goals -- including his former best friend and PR man, Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett), lonely acting coach Sophie Cantaro (Eleanor Parker), slimy agent Kappy Kapstetter (Milton Berle), and long-suffering girlfriend Kay Bergdahl (Elke Sommer). However, as Frank waits for his name to be called, certain that victory is in his grasp, fate has a little secret in store for him. The Oscar marked Tony Bennett's onscreen acting debut. The screenplay, based on the novel by Richard Sale, was written in part by award-winning author Harlan Ellison, who is known to often take comical potshots at the film, which he considers a low point in his career. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The Oscar is one of those so-bad-it's-good movies beloved by camp aficionados. Intended as a sordid little melodrama, The Oscar is an unintentionally hilarious comedy. How can it not be, with dialogue like "Here you sit on top of the glass mountain called success," "I'm not some sort of garbage pail you can slide a lid on and walk away," and "It's the village locksmith. It sounds like he wants to turn the key on you"? This kind of over-ripe, deliciously horrible dialogue is scattered throughout the film; indeed, it's hard to go for more than a few moments without some improbably memorable line working its way out of the mouth of one unfortunate actor or other. Of course, one shouldn't ignore the clichéd situations that produce these little gems, nor the outrageous characters to whom they are assigned: bad, very bad even, but undeniably entertaining. None of this is redeemed by the actors. Despite the big-name talent that was involved (many of the biggest names being relegated, thankfully for their reputations, to cameos), there's precious little here that can be called acting. But there's a whale of lot that can be called indicating, posturing, over-emoting, and just plain hamming it up. Stephen Boyd is charmless and charisma-free, a good looking hunk of meat with no flavor. Tony Bennett, Elke Sommer, and Milton Berle are even worse -- but much more enjoyable. It's not fair to blame the actors, since the material would be unbearable played any other way, and director Russell Rouse was clearly no help to them. There are a few aspects of Oscar -- its costumes and sets -- that actually are good. But it's the over-the-top qualities of the film that give it its distinction and make it one of those car-wrecks-of-a-film that are so much fun. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
As movie star Frankie Fane (Boyd) is about to hear if he won a best acting Oscar, his friend Hymie Kelly (Bennett) reminisces about Fane's struggle to the top, beginning as a spieler for his stripper girlfriend Laurel (St. John). After moving to New York, Frankie dumps Laurel for a budding fashion designer, Kay Bergdahl (Sommer), which sets up a chance meeting with talent scout (and "cougar") Sophie Cantaro (Parker). Sophie arranges for him to be signed with agent "Kappy" Kapstetter (Berle) and brings Frankie to Hollywood, where he quickly becomes a rising star.
At each turn, however, Fane is an unprincipled heel, using and hurting others and causing them to recoil from him. His life into a tailspin, he unexpectedly receives an Oscar nomination, which Kappy believes is the result of Fane's portrayal of a "man without morals", therefore portraying himself. In order to ensure his victory, he secretly employs the services of a crooked private investigator (Borgnine), who leaks information that should influence voters to support Fane's Oscar candidacy. The moment of truth comes as presenter Merle Oberon (playing herself) announces the winner.
While the film is technically a drama, many consider it to be an unintentional comedy, with critics skewering the script and performances. Tony Bennett "won" a Golden Turkey Award (from authors Harry and Michael Medved, The Golden Turkey Awards) in the "Worst Performance By a Popular Singer" category. (Bennett never made another feature film.) Others consider it most likely to be a burlesque, given the stature of the actors involved.
The Oscar made its network television debut on February 12, 1969, on ABC's Wednesday Night Movie. Ironically, ABC moved the film up a half-hour (to 8:30 Eastern) due to the quick cancellation of another notorious flop: Turn-On, a comedy show axed after just one episode. Other TV airings have been sporadic at best: TBS once included it in a film series called "Bad Movies We Love".
The film was produced by Embassy Pictures, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. In later years, full rights to the film would revert to Embassy, and are now owned by StudioCanal.
