An Oscar Winner As soon as Had Its Award Revoked

Over the previous few years, the Oscars have had their justifiable share of notable, eye-catching moments, from Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s little oopsie once they inadvertently introduced the improper winner for Greatest Image to “Parasite” dominating to Will Smith and the notorious slap. However whereas moments like “La La Land” briefly taking the Greatest Image Oscar from “Moonlight” are as unforgettable as they’re awkward, they solely tiptoe so near the precipice of absolute, wild madness. It is not as if “La La Land” truly did steal an Oscar away, for instance. And it is not as if a movie or individual has received an Oscar solely to lose it. 

As unprecedented as that sounds, although, you solely must solid your gaze way back to the 1969 Oscars ceremony to glimpse some actually jaw-dropping one-time occasions. As an example, that is the yr when the Greatest Actress Oscar went to 2 folks: Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand, within the solely performing tie in Oscar historical past. Oh, and it is also the yr {that a} movie received an Oscar … after which had it rescinded. That doubtful honor goes to the documentary “Younger People,” which might be why you nearly actually have not heard of this case. It will be one factor if a extra main launch got here so near Oscar glory and had it wrested away from them; it is one thing else for a movie with a much less recognizable background to have its victory revoked.

In the event you take note of the ins and outs of the Oscars annually, you understand that eligibility is a really tough factor. For instance, a movie like “Toy Story” is nominated for Greatest Unique Screenplay as a result of it is not primarily based on pre-existing materials (even when it does reference real-life toys). However its 2010 threequel “Toy Story 3” was nominated for Greatest Tailored Screenplay, regardless of not being primarily based on a guide or different materials other than its predecessors. However one of many best definitions of annual eligibility is straightforward sufficient: a movie has to play in a movie show in america for a minimum of one week within the yr by which it is nominated. If, as an illustration, the Sean Baker movie “Anora” had been proven at a movie show for every week in 2022, it could not be eligible for the 2024 Oscars. That appears fairly easy, and but, it wasn’t the case for “Younger People.” The upbeat documentary from the late director Alex Grasshoff centered on a youth present choir of the identical identify as they put together to tour america by bus. Little doubt the healthful matter and tone of the documentary made for a bracing counterargument to the upheaval in america within the late Sixties surrounding protests in opposition to the Vietnam Conflict and the struggle for civil rights. As an alternative of younger folks concerned in these protests, right here was a movie about chipper and happy-seeming youngsters that may be simple to swallow for the Academy.

That might be why “Younger People” received the Oscar for Greatest Documentary Characteristic, however there was only one downside: the movie had performed at a small theater in North Carolina in 1967, a yr earlier than the movie’s eligibility for the following Oscars ceremony. Now, we will surprise about why the Academy did not understand the movie ought to have been disqualified from the beginning, however such was the case. Though Grasshoff and his spouse had been in a position to take pleasure in a right away honeymoon with the Oscar statue, they had been quickly contacted by none apart from Atticus Finch himself, Gregory Peck (who was then the President of the Academy), and knowledgeable that they wanted to return the statue with the honour revoked. When Grasshoff handed away in 2008, his widow spoke with the Los Angeles Instances in regards to the distinctive circumstances of successful after which shedding the Oscar, saying that “it was a significant disappointment” that stemmed from the truth that “Younger People” had, in October 1967, had “a trial sneak preview in some little city.” It was sufficient for the Academy to take the award again, as excessive because it sounds.

It is easy to roll our eyes on the Oscars and their guidelines typically, however they do follow their weapons regardless of who’s affected. A number of years after the “Younger People” debacle, they needed to institute a second vote for the Greatest Unique Dramatic Rating Oscar as a result of one in all that yr’s candidates was discovered to have re-used a theme from a late-Fifties launch. The offending movie and rating? Why, that may be “The Godfather,” with a rating composed by the incomparable Nino Rota. If the Academy was prepared to refuse to award the rating from one in all that yr’s most huge and beloved movies (and a rating that, let’s not neglect, is among the biggest of all time), then it is no shock that they might uphold the identical sort of toughness for a movie that wasn’t practically as well-known. And people guidelines prolong to high-ranking members of the Academy, too. In 2014, the composer Bruce Broughton was discovered to have used his affect as a former Academy governor to persuade voters to appoint him for his music from the movie “Alone But Not Alone;” as soon as his vote-whipping was revealed, his nomination was rescinded. (Granted, this was the identical yr that “Let It Go” received the Greatest Unique Music Oscar, so it is not as if this different music had a preventing likelihood. However nonetheless.)

Despite the doubtful honor of successful after which shedding an Oscar, Alex Grasshoff continued to have a fruitful profession within the business. He would go on to direct episodes of a handful of ’70s-era TV collection akin to “Kolchak: The Night time Stalker” and “CHiPs,” in addition to helm a number of extra documentaries such because the 1973 movie “Journey to the Outer Limits.” (That movie netted a Greatest Documentary Characteristic nomination, although it didn’t win.) He additionally received an Emmy and a Peabody for his 1981 movie “The Wave” a couple of real-life experiment by a schoolteacher to indicate simply how disturbingly simple it might be for folks to just accept the rule of the Nazi regime. Although Grasshoff’s identify will at all times be synonymous with this odd little Oscars quirk, it did not sink his profession in any respect. Many years later, we will solely remind ourselves that as memorable because the Oscars will be, and as many slip-ups as they might make (typically within the greatest public setting), they at all times stick by their guidelines, expectations be damned.