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OSCAR COUNTDOWN… 2010

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Administrator in News

by Christina Ochoa Lopez

It is T minus 3 days for entertainment’s most talked about ceremony, and we all have our favorite nominees. Coming to mind are the controversial ex-spouses James Cameron and Katherine Bigelow-both heading the “Best Movie” and “Best Director” categories-sure to ruffle some feathers when the award is given, not to mention an immediate reaction shot of the losing party at the moment of the announcement.  To start off this countdown, and in anticipation of the hopefully memorable 2010 Oscar ceremony, we look back at the shocking and bizarre unexpected moments of the past…

Although the Academy Awards have been around since 1929, its only since 1952 Hollywood’s biggest night has been televised. Before that, they were  broadcast on radio, and not always the complete ceremony. Hell, before 1940, the results weren’t even in a sealed envelope. They would be printed in the next day’s newspapers. But its a good thing they televise them now, because otherwise they would rob us of great and shocking moments; from a puffed-up Sean Penn defending Jude Law to joking host Chris Rock—a moment that made Spicoli fans everywhere wonder where his sense of humor had gone. Or how about host Jerry Lewis, who had twenty minutes to kill in 1958 when the show ran early and tried to tell some jokes. In 2003, Adrien Brody gave presenter Halle Berry a long, passionate kiss after his unexpected Best Actor victory over Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis. “I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag,” he then told a stunned Berry.

So here’s a look back at a couple of past moments that are both famous or just plain bizarre:

Jack Palance does one-armed push-ups.

Veteran character actor and perennial villain Jack Palance picked up an Oscar for spoofing his bad guy image in 1991’s “City Slickers.” While he probably deserved one for the legendary western “Shane” or little-known film noir “The Big Knife,” Palance proved that, at 72 years old, nobody was tougher. After receiving his statue, he got down on the floor of the auditorium and did one several armed push-ups. His “City Slickers” co-star (and Oscar host) Billy Crystal used Palance as fodder for his jokes all evening, giving the audience updates on the virile old man’s after-show activities: “Jack Palance has just bungee-jumped off the Hollywood sign.”

Jolie in love with her brother?

Maybe one of the most shocking moments starred a newly awarded Angelina Jolie in 1999 for her role of Lisa in “Girl, Interrupted.” A stunned and smiling Jolie stood on stage and professed her not only shock over the win but the fact that she was madly in love with her own brother. Apparently in a candid moment just before her acceptance, Angelina’s brother, James-Haven, held his sister close to him and professed his love for her as well with a then-deemed very inappropriate kiss. The result: an unclear and shocking remark that lead to unending tabloid rumors as to the exact nature of the siblings’ relationship still talked about in interviews today.

Crawford evens the score.

Joan Crawford was a notoriously competitive movie queen (ever seen “Mommie Dearest”?) whose real-life animosity for co-star Bette Davis came through in the campy psychological thriller “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” In 1963, when Davis was nominated for Best Actress for the film and not her, Crawford wrote each of the other nominees and offered to accept the award if they were not able to attend. Sure enough, Anne Bancroft won the statue that night and wasn’t able to be there, so Crawford slithered up to the stage to bask in the glory while Davis sat in her seat and gave her the evil eye.

Brando refuses award.

The most puzzling event of any Oscar telecast was occurred in 1973 when Marlon Brando won his inevitable Best Actor award for “The Godfather.” He sent a woman who claimed her name was Sacheen Littlefeather onstage, dressed in traditional Native American garb, to refuse his award. Why? “Marlon Brando very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award … the reason for this being the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry, excuse me, and on television in movie re-runs, and also the recent happenings at Wounded Knee.” Huh? It turns out Littlefeather was really a struggling B-movie actress of largely Mexican descent named Maria Cruz. The speech caused Clint Eastwood to joke that night whether the Best Picture award should be accepted “on behalf of all the cowboys shot in John Ford westerns over the years.” Seven months later Cruz appeared, sans costume, in Playboy.

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Tags: Angelina Jolie, Jack Palance, Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, Oscar, Oscar Countdown