HeadScratcher No. 78: Lord of the Rings

iaflvy sqfgdum Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 05:20 AM EST

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Fatima Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 07:19 PM EST

This whole time I was thinking it was Jimmy Stewart who never won a competitive Oscar, but it was actually Cary Grant. I think I've told this to people actually! Yikes.

Mikey Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 06:57 PM EST

"The Greatest Show on Earth" isn't particularly great--but "the worst movie ever to win a Best Picture Oscar"? It has some tough competition. As noted in previous comments, "Crash" and "Around the World in 80 Days" are pretty bad. Anyone tried to sit throught "The Great Ziegfeld" lately? It's not a terrible movie, but it's pretty tedious and was hardly the "Best Picture" of 1936. What about "An American in Paris"? How on earth did *that* movie win the Oscar? Or "Out of Africa"? I've never seen "Broadway Melody", but it's been said that it hasn't stood the test of time. I disagree that "Greatest Show on Earth" is truly the worst of the lot!

Rich Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 04:44 PM EST

1991 was a slow year for movies. Can anyone else believe that 'Beauty and the Beast' was nominated for Best Picture that year? Like, really..?

Ep Sato Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 04:32 PM EST

Kit, Clif, Sara, you are all correct! Chariots had a cool theme song and I'd argue that's about it. Shakespeare in love had Affleck, and oi vey was Crash one heck of a preachy and stereotype filled movie!

My guess is Crash won for political reasons too. As in "you are racist if you vote against Crash". So while the establishment leans more to the left in Hollywood of today, it seems a lacking backbone's the only requirement for Academy admission.

furry_philistine Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 04:31 PM EST

The worst best picture EVER was that Casablanca. Round up the usual suspects? More like round up the usual pile of crap.

Cliff Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 04:15 PM EST

My pick for worst Best Picture winner is 1987's The Last Emperor...if you only have three hours to live, spend them watching this Bertolucci travelogue--it'll feel like a year.

Rose Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 03:34 PM EST

When I first saw Chariots of Fire I was ten years old and I fell asleep. I watched it again when I was 25, thinking I was more mature and would appreciate it better. But I fell asleep again! At least this time I was home instead of in the theater!

kit Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 03:06 PM EST

Sorry gang, Shakespeare in Love is the worst movie to get the Oscar for best picture -- as bad as The Greatest Show on Earth is, it did have such *real* stars as Stewart, Crosby, et al and not Ben Affleck.

Sara Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 01:38 PM EST

I think "Crash" trumped all the bad best picture winners when it won last year. What's that you say? Racism = bad?

nathan Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 11:57 AM EST

Amen Anna, Around the World in 80 Days is completely unwatchable, that bullfight scene seemed to last 2 hours and David Niven has never been more dull.

Anna Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 11:18 AM EST

I haven't seen this movie but it must be pretty bad if it's worse than "Around the World in 80 Days."

furry_tom Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 08:33 AM EST

RE: Well, clowns are funny people
Clowns are supposed to be funny? I always thought they were some sort of arcane punishment for children. "If you don't behave on your birthday, I'm going to pay a man with a ghost-white face and bloody-red lips to watch over you while I get drunk by the pool."

Bre Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 07:36 AM EST

Jimmy Stewart won an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story.

Dougie Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 05:31 AM EST

And if it's snobbery to notice that a movie is a ridiculous bit of badly-written claptrap, then yes, I'm a snob for quality.
But I own a DVD of this movie, as it's always good for some big laughs, just not from the clowns.

Dougie Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 05:29 AM EST

This hilariously terrible movie contains one of my all-time favorite lines of stupid dialogue. During a dramatic scene, Betty Hutton asks "Buttons" the Clown, Jimmy Stewart, why he has no girlfriend, and he replies, in all seriousness, and without irony, "Well, clowns are funny people."

It's alsmost as bone-headed as the great clunker in "The Ten Commandments", Anne Baxter purring: "Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool."

Stewart is on the run from the cops, so he hides out as a clown who never takes off his make up, like that wouldn't make everyone suspicious.

And then there's the climax, as two model trains crash on a tabletop. Who did the special effects? Gomez Addams?

Bill Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 11:12 PM EST

Such snobbery. It seems entertainment writers love to place themselves "above it all" when it comes to films from the past (most they don't even bother to see, but echo the sentiments of other writers). GREATEST is corny as all heck, but it was and is a great piece of entertainment. Spielberg and Scorsese have often sung its praises. I'll join them.

EP Sato Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 10:55 PM EST

The Greatest show won because of HUAC. High Noon was Fred Zinneman's middle finger to Hollywood establishment for hiding with their tails between their legs when the House UnAmerican Activities Committee blacklisted folks.

In fact, High Noon writer Carl Foreman left the US, and wrote "Guns of Navarone" and "Bridge over River Kwai" while in exile. He died in 1984, but was un-blacklisted in 1997.

The Quiet Man deals with the Ireland, who's status as a republic in those days irked many, and Moulin Rouge was made by a foreign company.

Ivanhoe, about a rich guy who joins forces with Robin Hood (taking from the rich and giving the proceeds to poor folks), and tries to overthrow the President of the USA...I mean, King of England. Also not "McCarthy" friendly.

Simply put, the non "Greatest Show" candidates would have run afoul of Congress. Bad as the academy's selections can be, our elected officials seem clueless by contrast.

Susman, big "no prize" for you for missing this story.

Ceballos Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 10:32 PM EST

Who in the world did "Singin' in the Rain" NOT get a Best Picture nomination...not just in 1952, but that classic is deserving of a nod regardless of what year it came out.