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Academy Awards: Lauren Bacall getting one, but you don't get to see it

Lauren Bacall made one of the greatest debuts in film history. In 1944's "To Have and Have Not," she told Humphrey Bogart's character, "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and ... blow."

Wow.

Bacall will receive a special Academy Award, but you won't get to see it because the academy is moving the presentation to a November dinner and off the telecast next year.

So much for film history.

That means no Bogart whistling. (They are pictured in that 1944 movie.) That means no montage of clips from Bacall's biggies: "The Big Sleep," "Key Largo," "How to Marry a Millionaire," "Written on the Wind," "Designing Woman," "Harper," "Murder on the Orient Express," "The Shootist" and "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (the only time Bacall received an Oscar nomination).


My favorite Bacall movie is the thriller "North West Frontier," but when ABC aired it decades ago, it was known as "Flame Over India." As a kid, I found it just thrilling.
Well, forget that. Forget longevity and the timeless treasures of Hollywood.

The Academy Awards are more interested in promoting today's movies, so 10 movies from 2009 will be nominated for best picture.


But the poignant film tributes to the old stars and directors have given the telecast its memorable moments. I think of the salutes to Cary Grant, Lillian Gish, Orson Welles, Rosalind Russell, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Deborah Kerr, Kirk Douglas, Stanley Donen and Robert Altman.

They were priceless moments. Yet the academy doesn't know its own worth.

Other honorary awards this year will go to cinematographer Gordon Willis ("The Godfather" movies, "Annie Hall"), mogul Roger Corman and producer-executive John Calley. It's just a huge oversight that Willis never won.

But the Bacall clips are what the public will miss. I think back to "To Have and Have Not," when Bacall kisses Bogart.

"I've been wondering if I'd like it," she says. And she doesn't know if she does.

They smooch again.

"It's even better when you help," she says.

The same goes with film tributes. The academy should be saluting her in a global forum.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/season/ ... mmond.html

Bacall, Corman, Calley and Willis: Newest Oscar recipients a diverse bunch
The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences knows you can't keep a secret in this town, so it announced the honorees of its first-ever Governors Awards event as soon as voting by the board of governors was finished about 11 p.m. Thursday.

Three deserving people, Lauren Bacall, cinematographer Gordon Willis and producer Roger Corman, were selected to receive honorary awards, meaning the Oscar statuette that has eluded each of them for a lifetime. Producer and veteran studio executive John Calley will receive the Irving G. Thalberg award, which is presented for excellence in producing and was last given to Dino De Laurentiis in 2001. No Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be presented -- Jerry Lewis got it in February.

This event is one of the academy's major changes this year, in addition to expanding the best picture category from five to 10 nominees. The academy board decided that, in order to trim the telecast and focus solely on the current year in film, these kinds of "special" award presentations would be better served as its own show a la the scientific and technical presentations. On Nov. 14 at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom, home of the Governors Ball, the new honorees will get their awards.

Former academy President Sid Ganis, who announced this change before he left office, told me that the academy will do everything possible to make sure these industry veterans are also recognized in the Oscars telecast on March 7. Whether that is done by a short clip reel of the Nov. 14 event or somehow acknowledging them in person -- or both -- is unclear. Ganis did confirm that no broadcast of the inaugural ceremony will take place this year, because the academy wants to see how it all works out first before getting too ambitious.

The honorary awards have often been highlights of Oscar shows and provided an emotional punch sometimes lacking during the rest of the evening. Who can forget Charlie Chaplin receiving his special statuette in 1972? Or when Cary Grant got his? I, for one, would not have wanted to miss director Stanley Donen's musical acceptance or Blake Edwards' slapstick turn when he won. One of the most memorable honorary awards was to an absent Gary Cooper in 1961, accepted by his friend James Stewart, who broke into tears inadvertently signaling Coop was very ill. He died a month after getting the Oscar (his third statuette). There are so many other great moments. The only time 12-time nominee and four-time winner Katharine Hepburn was ever lured to an Oscar ceremony was in 1974 to present the Thalberg to her longtime friend Lawrence Weingarten. Whatever happens this year will mostly just be seen by however many people they can squeeze into the banquet, and it will be interesting to see how the industry accepts this change.

The board of governors has found itself in a dilemma year after year unable to present as many of these honors as it would like, and this was said to be part of the reason for the big change this year.

As for the honorees, Bacall, who will turn 85 Wednesday, has not made all that many movies in her 65-year film career (a little over 30), but many have been unforgettable, including the group she made with husband Humphrey Bogart, starting with "To Have and Have Not" in 1944.

Most Oscar observers were dead certain she would win on her first (and only) nomination for 1996's "The Mirror Has Two Faces," including presenter Kevin Spacey, who said he kept practicing saying her name in preparation for the presentation that night. After all, she was the sentimental favorite and had won all the precursor awards, including the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award for supporting actress. But even eventual winner Juliette Binoche, swept in on the wings of an "English Patient" rout, was shocked and said in her speech that Bacall should have won it. Later that night at the Columbia Pictures party in West Hollywood, I told Bacall she was robbed, and although she's far too classy to say it, I could tell she agreed. Now thanks to the board, she's going to be one of the "Haves," no longer a "Have Not."

It's ironic that acclaimed cinematographer Willis has won only two Oscar nominations in his long career and they weren't for his most iconic work. The man who shot two Oscar-winning best pictures, "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II," was not even nominated for either of them, but was up for the far less-praised "The Godfather Part III." And the man who shot the Woody Allen classics "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" was instead nominated for one of Allen's lesser films, "Zelig." Go figure. Clearly this honorary statuette is probably going to say, " Sorry, we screwed up, hope this makes up for it, Gordon."

In general, the kinds of quickie films Roger Corman has made his entire career, from "The Raven" to "The Trip," are not exactly Oscar fodder, but the 83-year-old legend has been responsible for the launching of so many stellar careers, including those of Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme. He once made a feature film in just two days, a feat in itself worthy of an Oscar.

As for Calley, he was prominently tipped for the Thalberg award by academy insiders last year, but time constraints on the telecast precluded the governors from giving out more than one special award (Lewis' Hersholt award). Alan Ladd Jr. was also talked about, but guess he'll have to wait until next year. The academy rules state that only one Thalberg and/or Hersholt can be presented in a single year. Up to four honorary statuettes can go out, but the academy kept that list to three this year.

So, as the award season is just getting underway with the Venice, Telluride and Toronto festivals, we already have a brand-new set of Academy Award honorees. It seems a little odd coming just after Labor Day, but congratulations to all and get ready to become a permanent part of Oscar lore Nov. 14.

Posted by Pete Hammond on September 11, 2009

So Lauren Bacall finally wins an honorary Oscar (13 years after she was "robbed") and she gets robbed again by not having a moment in the interminable awards ceremony? Ya that makes sense.

Bacall may only have made around 30 films (I think it's a lot more than that), but she's kept working with recent major roles in films like The Walker.

silentfilm wrote:[url]
My favorite Bacall movie is the thriller "North West Frontier," but when ABC aired it decades ago, it was known as "Flame Over India." As a kid, I found it just thrilling.

Indeed this is a curiously underated film, even in England. If it had been made a decade or so earlier it would be much more celebrated than it is. Some of the opening scenes, and the scene on the damaged railway bridge, are very effective, deeply scary to me as a child.

Well deserved Ms Bacall.