Screwed on Oscar Night

[Garbomaniac]

It is a cryin' shame Cary never won, but didn't he get a lifetime achievement statue? Garbo did. I remember watching a clip or something on Gary Cooper, and it said that even though he had won before, that award meant more to him than either of the others because it embodied all of his work. Of course Garbo didn't show to get hers, no one could expect that, but I wonder just how much it meant to her. I have read countless books on her and never once read (at least I can't remember) anything about how she felt about her "final" Oscar.

[Garbomaniac]

Well, since I just accidentally made multiple posts of my last post, I will just replace them with photos:

Here are two of Garbo in Grand Hotel with Rafaela Ottiano, at least the film won an Oscar.



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[Garbomaniac]

And, here is a montage I put together on Cary.



Nominated twice, once for Penny Serenade in 1942 and again for None But the Lonely Heart in 1945.

[mongoII]

Garbomaniac, I'm happy to report that Cay Grant did get an Honorary Oscar in 1970 for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with the respect and affection of his colleagues.
He showed up to receive the award and he looked swell...as usual.

[srowley75]

oooooooooohKay...I'm going to go out on a limb here....because I don't watch the Oscars or have much use for the "Academy" because I know how much "push" has to do with the outcomes. HOWEVER....I do believe that if "merit" is to be the ultimate criteria---and nothing else, then I don't think it should matter how "many" times you win or were nominated---IF you earned it. But, rather, it should matter how often you deserved to.

Perhaps I wasn't clear, but I don't harbor any assumption that the Academy members base their votes on "merit" alone. There's historical evidence that attests to the fact that other factors influence Academy votes, and I don't think you have to look any further than the winners of certain years to give evidence to that charge. And I personally refuse to believe that many members even see eligible/nominated films before the Awards - I'm sure many simply rely on critical response to help them figure out the individuals they nominate and/or vote for. Even allowing for the technological advances of the present day, I highly doubt that many members (especially actors) forego parties, premieres, time with family, workouts, trips, skin treatments, and whatnot to sit for hours at a time viewing films in order to vote in the Oscar contest, the SAG awards, etc. Hell, if I were an actor, I'd probably not even worry about participating. I'm sure many of the "old school" do make up the voting bloc because they're the ones who aren't as busy with work.

The two contests that I cited baffle explanation of any kind, from my perspective. Outside of their harboring some sort of life threatening illness (which to my knowledge neither young lady possessed at the time), I simply cannot understand how either of these ladies could've snagged the award, considering the others nominated or eligible in their given years. Perhaps you can, but I'm at a loss. With regard to the directors, considering everything (yes, even merit), I can't understand a Capra win over (the unnominated) Hawks in 1938, or Ford over Welles in 1941, or Wyler over (the unnominated) Hitchcock in 1946.

But I really don't take awards seriously at all. Good Lord, most of the intriguing films I've seen in the last few years are movies that Academy members probably haven't even heard of, let alone seen. Awards are fun for discussion, interesting for historical reasons, but from my perspective, that's all. They can be frustrating if you consider those actors and technicians who've been wounded at having been snubbed for recognition (Judy Garland was one such example), but from my perspective they truly are meaningless.

[srowley75]

OT, but I'm left to wonder if anyone has ever used this thread title as a "Dear Abby" signature.

[charliechaplinfan]

I wonder what means more to an actor, winning an award voted for by his/her peers or a long lived career appearing in a well received movies? I'm just thinking for all those actors and directors who didn't win oscars they did have the satisfaction of knowing that they were loved by the public at large.