The Oscar [Blu-ray]

Director: Russell Rouse Russell Rouse

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/04/2020
UPC:	0738329242619
Original Release:	1966
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	31,272

Special Features

Audio commentary by Patton Oswalt, Josh Olson and Erik Nelson (Special thanks to sound recordist Austen Zajonc and Harlan Ellison's archivist, Jason Davis); Audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger, Stave Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson; Trailers; 1920x1080p

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Stephen Boyd	Frank Fane
Elke Sommer	Kay Bergdahl
Milton Berle	Kappy Kapstetter
Eleanor Parker	Sophie Cantaro
Joseph Cotten	Kenneth H. Regan
Jill St. John	Laurel Scott
Tony Bennett	Hymie Kelly
Edie Adams	Trina Yale
Ernest Borgnine	Barney Yale
Ed Begley	Grobard
Walter Brennan	Orrin C. Quentin
Broderick Crawford	Sheriff
James Dunn	Network Executive
Peter Lawford	Steve Marks
Jack Soo	Sam
Jean Hale	Cheryl Barker
Eddie Ryder	Marriage Broker
Chris Alcaide	Ledbetter
John Dennis	Sid
Peter Leeds	Bert
John Holland	Stevens
Jean Bartel	Secretary
John Crowther	Wally
Ross Ford	Lochner
Walter Reed	Pereira
Edith Head	Herself
Hedda Hopper	Herself
Bob Hope	Himself
Merle Oberon	Herself
Frank Sinatra	Himself,Herself
Johnny Grant	Himself
Percy Faith	Composer

Technical Credits

Harlan Ellison

Russell Rouse	Director
Harlan Ellison	Screenwriter
Clarence Greene	Producer
Paul K. Lerpae	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

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.