Thursday
Jul082021
Little Gold Men on 1934's "It Happened One Night"
Thursday, July 8, 2021 at 9:15PM by Nathaniel R
The year of guesting on podcasts continues (after no invites forever I'm suddenly mouthing off everywhere!) with Vanity Fair's "Little Gold Men" podcast. I join Katey and Joanna to talk about the early Best Picture winner It Happened One Night. The story of Clark Gable's bare chest sending undershirt sales plummeting is old school famous, of course, but Joanna's additional research nuggets kind of blew my mind. I'd seriously never heard the bit about Bugs Bunny before (whaaa?!). We also talk briefly about the 2021 Academy invitees previously discussed right here.
Have a listen and even a watch (the movie is streaming free on Crackle with ads). What a great film.
Reader Comments (8)
That’s so funny because I thought of Bugs Bunny the first time I saw that scene and said, “Nooo…” Loved this episode and your appearance, Nathaniel.
You did great, Nathaniel (ditto your guest spot on Pfeiffer Pfridays)! An enjoyable listen to a delightful discussion about one of the all-time greats. I had heard about the Clark Gable-Bugs Bunny thing, but it's always funny which factoids/bits of Hollywood trivia manage to elude us. (For example, my mind was blown to find out that Gary Oldman and Lesley Manville were married and have a son!)
I enjoyed this very much. I love knowledgeable folk discussing Oscars.
I enjoyed the discussion of Frank Capra prompting an honorary award for retired filmmaker DW Griffith to generate enthusiasm for the Oscar ceremony with a discontented membership. The anecdote reminded me of the the Board of Governors taking a page from Capra's playbook in 1972 to calm the waters after George C. Scott refused his Best Actor prize for Patton.
Charlie Chaplin won his first honorary Oscar at the first ceremony. After Chaplin received nominations for The Circus (Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay), the Board of Governors feared Chaplin would sweep. Since the awards were designed to help promote the box office of a variety of films, they voted to rescind Chaplin's four nominations and present him an honorary Oscar instead.
In 1952, J. Edgar Hoover had the US Attorney General revoke English citizen Chaplin's reentry permit to the US. Chaplin has earned Hoover's ire for his political leanings and his recent marriage to Eugene O'Neill's teenage daughter, 36 years his junior. The government's action prompted to Chaplin to quietly withdraw to live in Europe for the next two decades.
In 1971, George C. Scott refused his Oscar for Patton. The act split Hollywood. Veteran filmmakers cried foul while Young Hollywood celebrated Scott's defiance of the system. The Academy was rocked by discontent. To bring unity, a decision was made to award Chaplin a second honorary Oscar "for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century." Chaplin was returning to Hollywood after a 20 year exile.
After winning the octogenarian Chaplin a two month visa to visit the US, the Academy prepared for a momentous tribute for the welcoming of the revered filmmaker. It promised to be a memorable night. The recognition of Chaplin was set for the final event of the night, following the presentation of Best Picture.
The emotional moment didn't disappoint. After a brief introduction from AMPAS President Daniel Taradash, the audience awarded Chaplin a 12 minute standing ovation, the longest in Oscar history. The infirmed legend was moved to tears. His remarks were brief, "Oh, thank you so much. This is an emotional moment for me, and words seem so futile, so feeble. I can only say thank you for the honor of inviting me here. And you're wonderful, sweet people. Thank you."
The exquisite moment served to quiet the naysayers and unite the Academy for the evening in a very public televised event.
loved this episode!
I always love it when you and Katey Rich get together, and this episode was a joy.
Great discussion of that wonderful and influential film.
Loved hearing you and Katey on a pod together again. Great episode!
Wonderful podcast, makes me want to watch It Happened One Night all over again! (also The Awful Truth for the first time). Way to go, Nathaniel!
Watching classic movies, the only conclusion I can come to is that comedy is the genre that has lost the most quality over all these years.