Comments on She Blogged By Night: The Oscar (1966) - The Movies About Movies Blogath...

I love this movie. Deliciously trashy.....and SO ...

2010-01-22T23:25:57.024-06:00

I love this movie.

Deliciously trashy.....and SO bad it's GOOD!

You're right, Chris, I do! Augh, how could I mali...

2008-09-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

You're right, Chris, I do! Augh, how could I malign such a good film by confusing it with such a bad one?!

I saw the death scene with Boyd when TCM showed "Ben-Hur" a few weeks ago and again I was underwhelmed. But I'm really not a big fan of the Heston "Ben-Hur", although I love the silent.

I believe you mean "The Maltese Bippy," Stacia, th...

2008-09-13T17:17:00.000-05:00

I believe you mean "The Maltese Bippy," Stacia, though "The Oscar" wasn't *intended* to be bad. I agree with vanwall about Boyd's Messala in "Ben Hur" -- incredibly good as an SOB, even with a crushed body and dying, mean to the end. Either Boyd was woefully miscast in "The Oscar" or his skills had deteriorated to Tony Bennett-level by 1966.

Vanwall, the story about your aunt is terrific! I...

2008-09-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

Vanwall, the story about your aunt is terrific! I recall my mother once saying she avoided the movie because a friend had seen it and told her how bad it was, but never knew anyone who saw it on the big screen.

Thad, I pretty much have to agree, although I think "The Maltese Falcon" wins at being the worst 1960s film ever.

Jack, I've heard about the SCTV parody and I have got to get a copy of it. "The Oscar" spoof plus Joe Flaherty, who I have had a crush on since 1989? Gold!

SCTV did a magnificent parody of this movie. Joe F...

2008-09-03T16:59:00.000-05:00

SCTV did a magnificent parody of this movie. Joe Flaherty did a great Tony Bennett impersonation, and Dave Thomas did Bob Hope as the host of the Nobel Prize ceremony. It was called "The Nobel," about a thuggish young doctor who crawls over everyone who cares for him on his way to the top of the brain surgery profession. In the big fight scene, someone uses an entire chest of drawers as a weapon! I could babble about this skit all day and in fact I think I just did.

Oh christ, I said at least four times during this ...

2008-08-26T10:57:00.000-05:00

Oh christ, I said at least four times during this thing, "This movie SUCKS." Aloud.

Great analysis of it. It's everything that was wrong with American movies in the 60s rolled into a neat little package.

Your dismantling was better. My god, this one is b...

2008-08-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

Your dismantling was better. My god, this one is bad - it's really the greatest collection of badliness all in one neat package. My aunt - a beatniky 22-year old when this movie came out - was living with us, and she loved Stephen Boyd, why I couldn't tell; as a 12-year old nerdy/jock then, I heard the name Frankie Fane come out breathlessly between her lips, and I just started cracking up - boy, was she pissed. Come on now, a name like that when all the Rocks, Tys, Rorys, and Troy boys were loose - it sounded like a bad comic book moniker even back then. Then she saw the movie - she was in shock, I think, and she never said a word how bad it was - she didn't have to: my parents went to see it a little later, and my Mom, who was a little stickish, said it was a creepy piece of filth. My Dad said he agreed, but he'd've said creepy piece of shit. He didn't swear often, so I knew it was a real stinker, and his use of words was more for awfulness of the acting than the awfulness of the script, I'm certain - he always blamed actors for the atrocious things that might come out of their mouths.

I'm afraid the general consensus back then was, as I fondly remember, that Fane was un-attractively despicable, and Boyd was a bug-eyed disaster - no need for societal changes and a long wait for a look back at this farrago. I could only remember Boyd as Messala after I was dragged to see "Ben-Hur" - he was pretty damned good at bein' a sadistic, calculating prick there, tho, which should've been great prepping for this movie, but he was no good at all without nice, firm direction. He should've stayed away from roles that required deep emotions on loud display, that didn't have him in action most of the time, that called for regular street clothes, or...oh, yeah..facial hair, 'cause those were roles he was sure to ham it up in. The exception, "Lisa", was his best non-historical work, he was very low-key excellent in it, and Dolores Hart gave him a good run for prettiness there - she beat him by a chin dimple, I think. Say, weren't you always hoping for a film with Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, and Stephen Boyd innit - whose chin would've sliced thru six feet of steel-reinforced concrete first?