ANSWERS
1. James Whitmore’s Best Actor nominated performance in “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry” (1975). The film was shot-on-video but released theatrically on 35mm; its later home video and TV presentation was on video.
2. The Uruguayan film “A Place in the World” had its nomination for 1992 Best Foreign-Language Film revoked when it was determined the film did not meet Academy eligibility rules in this category.
3. The Best Original Screenplay nomination went to “High Society” (1956), a Bowery Boys comedy. Academy voters were under the impression they were voting for the MGM musical “High Society” starring Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly. The producers of the Bowery Boys film acknowledged the obvious error and happily volunteered to remove themselves from the competition.
4. Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 silent classic “The Gold Rush” received Oscar nominations for Best Music Score and Best Sound when it was re-issued in 1942.
5. Maximilian Schell originated the role of German defense attorney in the original 1959 television production of “Judgment at Nuremberg” and repeated it for the film version in 1961.
6. George Bernard Shaw, who won the Oscar for his adaptation of the “Pygmalion” screenplay and the Nobel Prize for Literature. Jean-Paul Sartre also won the Nobel Prize for Literature and was an Oscar nominee for his screenplay of “The Proud and the Profane” (which was up against the Bowery Boys’ “High Society”!).
7. Dudley Nichols refused to accept his Best Screenplay Oscar for “The Informer” in 1935.
8. The Woody Woodpecker cartoon “Wet Blanket Policy” (1949), which was nominated for Best Song for “The Woody Woodpecker Song.”
9. Peter O’Toole received Oscar nominations for playing King Henry II in “Becket” (1964) and “The Lion in Winter” (1968) while Al Pacino was nominated for playing Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” (1972) and “The Godfather Part II” (1974). Neither man won the Oscar for these roles.
10. “Marty” (1955) ran a slender 91 minutes.
11. Laurence Olivier in “Hamlet” (1948) and Roberto Begnini in “Life is Beautiful” (1998).
12. None. Believe it or not, “King Kong” did not receive a single Oscar nomination.
13. No. Five Israeli films did get Oscar nominations: “Sallah” (1964), “The Policeman” (1971), “I Love You, Rosa” (1972), “The House on Chelouche Street” (1973), “Operation Thunderbolt” (1977) and “Beyond the Walls” (1984).
14. The Beatles won the Best Original Song Score Oscar for “Let it Be,” (1970), but the band had already dissolved before the film’s release and did not accept the award.
15. Are you kidding?
