The Oscar (Kino Lorber Blu-Ray Review)

Is The Oscar Treasure or Trash?

Blu-ray Distributed By Kino Lorber / February 4, 2020

Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Tony Bennett, Edie Adams, Ernest Borgnine, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker, Joseph Cotten, Jill St. John, Ed Begley, Walter Brennan and Broderick Crawford co-star in this overheated camp-classic masculine version of All About Eve. Frankie Fane (Boyd) has clawed his way to the top of the Hollywood heap. Now, as he’s preparing to win his first Oscar, his friend Hymie Kelly (Bennett) reminisces about their life together, his ruthless struggle to the top and the people (see above) he’s stepped on to make it there. Nominated for 2 Oscars for Art Direction-Set Decoration (Color) and Costume Design (Color). Includes cameos by Hollywood legends Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Edith Head, Merle Oberon, Nancy Sinatra, Joan Crawford and Hedda Hopper. Directed by Russell Rouse (The Thief, The Fastest Gun Alive, The Caper of the Golden Bulls), with a screenplay by the great Harlan Ellison (The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone), Rouse and Clarence Greene (Pillow Talk, D.O.A.), based on a novel by Richard Sale (The White Buffalo, Driftwood).

Jamie’s Take (2.5 / 5)

And the Oscar goes to…not The Oscar.

This was a film that absolutely baffled me. It’s so odd and so campy but yet strangely entertaining, I didn’t know what to make of The Oscar and the movie absolutely was not what I expected it to be. It’s such an amazingly failed film with so much talent behind and in front of the camera, it’s bewildering that this movie turned into such a laughably bad film. Apparently this film made co-screenwriter Harlan Ellison cry upon seeing the film for the first time because it was so bad.

The star of the movie is Stephen Boyd (Ben-Hur, Fantastic Voyage) whose performance is something that must be seen to be believed. This is an actor who can be wooden and then over-the-top in the same scene. I don’t think I have ever seen such a thing. Boyd plays Frankie Fane, a two bit hustler that travels to run-down, shaddy bars with his partner Hymie Kelley (Tony Bennett in his only acting appearance) and stripper girlfriend. After a confrontation with a bar owner and the town sheriff where the trio are thrown in jail temporarily, Frankie breaks off from his friends to try and turn his life around.

Frankie, who happens to be a hot-head egotistical ass, impresses a theater agent after he mocks some of the actors on stage due to their performance (ironic) and so she lands him some acting gigs on stage, also hoping to jump in bed with Frankie. Quicky, he gets an agent (played by Milton Berle who looks slightly embarrassed most of the time) and starts landing movie roles and all too quickly, he becomes a star.

Frankie marries Kay (Elke Sommer who does her best and runs circles around Boyd when she’s in a scene with him) but treats her like garbage so it’s a little off-putting that she would even be around this jerk. As Frankie’s popularity rises, so does his ego and temper and when he is finally awarded an Oscar nomination, he decides to leak information about his past that may help his chances in winning but it ultimately backfires. It’s such a stupid and ridiculous scheme that anyone with an I.Q. over 75 would know this idea would no doubt cause him more harm than good.

The Oscar is a mess. It’s campy as fuck. It’s laughably bad and yet as I said, there are moments I loved. The dialog is hilarious and some of Frankie’s zings on others had me laughing as he’s such a dickhead. I loved watching the last reminisce of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the amount of cameos in The Oscar is pretty impressive. Funny enough, there are a few sequences that I thought were actually decent such as Peter Lawford playing a washed up actor who is now a maitre’d, telling Frankie that fame will soon leave him as it leaves them all. Ernest Borgnine playing a goofy private eye lifts the film from sagging anytime he’s on screen.

What I find strikingly odd about The Oscar is that the character of Frankie never really changes. He was always an asshole. Sure, fame goes to head but he was always an egotistical blow hard that even if the film was competently made with better performances and script, the movie wouldn’t ever quite work because the character goes from asshole to asshole, never changing nor seeing the error in his ways. Even if the writers wanted it to end with him being a jagoff, at least show him start off as a decent human being. Nope, the guy sucks even at the beginning of the picture so the viewer is never going to be fully invested in the film since the protagonist is basically the antagonist.

Now let’s talk about Tony Bennett. We can all agree he’s a wonderful singer and he’s a legend. As an actor…dear God…he is bad. I mean really bad. Apparently, Bennett admitted he was an awful actor and never acted again. Take a look at the clip I provided above to see his speech in The Oscar‘s climax.

Kino Lorber’s blu ray transfer does look pretty nice and the rarely seen film, having only been available on VHS, looks marvelous. There are two audio commentary tracks that are both worth listening to. If you are a fan of MST3K, the commentary track with Patton Oswalt, Josh Olson and Erik Nelson is pretty damn funny. All three men admit this film stinks but yet love it for it’s sheer shittiness. Their track is a must listen. The other track by historian Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson offers much more insight on the making of the film. Again, another great commentary track.

Is my rating of 2.5 too high? Maybe. But damn it, The Oscar is entertaining and put a smile on my face. It’s such a failed film with some great over the top performances (and some bad ones) and a laughably bad script that this melodramatic dud is worth a look. This will split viewers for sure; some will hate it and others will like it. They may really really like it.

Jamie says: One’s Trash is Another’s Treasure.