The Oscar

Released Mar 4, 1966

1 hr. 59 min.

Drama

List

12%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

29%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Frank (Stephen Boyd), his girlfriend, Laurel (Jill St. John), and their mutual best friend, Hymie (Tony Bennett), are cabaret performers in New York City. Desperate for success, Frank dumps Laurel for Kay (Elke Sommer), a costume designer, and he uses her to get to Sophie (Eleanor Parker), a drama coach with connections in Hollywood. Soon, Frank becomes an established actor, but he's also a heartless publicity hound, and his arrogant behavior begins to alienate everyone who cares for him.

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Steve D

It seems like it wants to be a comedy.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/27/23

Full Review

CodyZamboni

Movie is comically trashy. The lead character a total jerk. Jill St John is stunning. Movie has lots of famous cameos, and it was nice seeing Tony Bennett in a dramatic performance. Overall, movie is watchable more as a time capsule of the mid 1960s fashion, culture, art design, and moral attitudes.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Forty years after reading about it in THE FIFTY WORST FILMS OF ALL TIME, I finally saw THE OSCAR, from 1966, starring Stephen Boyd, Tony Bennett and a cavalcade of stars from the era. Unlike SHOWGIRLS, which plays like a spiritual reboot, the Fox suits have done an admirable job burying this film from view and accessibility. Never released to video in any form, I saw this from a DVD that ripped a TCM midnight showing. Stephen Boyd plays loser schmuck turned actor Frankie Fane, who could be SHOWGIRL's Nomi Malone's father. Fane destroys anyone that gets in the way of his thirst for power. Singer Tony Bennett, in his only acting role, tells the story in flashbacks, which are so pompous and over the top they defy belief. Screenwriter Harlan Ellison never got to see the rushes, and reported wept at the premier screening. Released in March, Boyd would save his career when FANTASTIC VOYAGE dropped in August. Fifty years on, this begs for a restoration with commentaries and a book. In a just world, this would have been a midnight movie riff fest. Like CATS, you can't unsee this, but you can't resist it either.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

***Due to the recent RT changes that have basically ruined my past reviews, I am mostly only giving a rating rather than a full review.***

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Tacky Tinseltown soaper, logging the unscrupulous rise to stardom of an Academy-nominated actor in a succession of flashbacks, featuring numerous stellar walk-ons and dreadful dialogue.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

eric b

"The Oscar" is bad, sure, but it's not as hilariously bad as I was led to believe. Not bad enough to worth taking the time to see. The script has many terrible attempts at "snappy wit," but the stale lines aren't as notable as Stephen Boyd's awful lead performance as a heartless, second-tier actor conspiring to save his career -- he adopts some ape-like mannerisms that are truly bewildering. An incredible set of stars passes through the film (Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Merle Oberon, Peter Lawford, Hedda Hopper, Broderick Crawford, Ed Begley Sr., Joseph Cotten, Tony Bennett), and Milton Berle (as Boyd's agent) and Ernest Borgnine (as a shady private investigator) have some good moments in supporting roles. But if you're looking for campy laughs from this era, other silly bombs such as "Skidoo," "Valley of the Dolls," "Candy," "The Cool Ones" and "Myra Breckenridge" provide greater rewards.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Russell Rouse

Director

Stephen Boyd

Frankie Fane

Elke Sommer

Kay Bergdahl

Milton Berle

Kappy Kapstetter

Eleanor Parker

Sophie Cantaro

Joseph Cotten

Kenneth Regan

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Variety Staff

Variety

This is the story of a vicious, bitter, firstclass heel who rises to stardom on the blood of those close to him. Without a single redeeming quality, part played by Stephen Boyd is unsympathetic virtually from opening shots.

Dec 20, 2007

Full Review

Time Out

Tacky Tinseltown soaper, logging the unscrupulous rise to stardom of an Academy-nominated actor in a succession of flashbacks, featuring numerous stellar walk-ons and dreadful dialogue.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

A piece of expensive claptrap, loaded with harrowing clichs.

Rated: 1.5/5

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

At two hours, The Oscar is just way too long and drags and drags and drags. It's not entirely unwatchable but it comes pretty darn close to it.

Rated: 1/5

Mar 6, 2023

Full Review

Judith Crist

New York Herald Tribune

Nowhere, on stage or screen or even in a revue skit, has there been so complete a cliché of the Hollywood-heel-on-the-rise-and-fall theme to the tune of such ripe dialogue. "Ripe"? The word is all too feeble, and "dialogue" itself inadequate.

Aug 15, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

A melodrama whose seriousness is so overbearing that it's long been hailed as a kitsch classic in some circles.

Rated: 2/4

Feb 22, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Frank (Stephen Boyd), his girlfriend, Laurel (Jill St. John), and their mutual best friend, Hymie (Tony Bennett), are cabaret performers in New York City. Desperate for success, Frank dumps Laurel for Kay (Elke Sommer), a costume designer, and he uses her to get to Sophie (Eleanor Parker), a drama coach with connections in Hollywood. Soon, Frank becomes an established actor, but he's also a heartless publicity hound, and his arrogant behavior begins to alienate everyone who cares for him.

Director: Russell Rouse
Screenwriter: Harlan Ellison, Clarence Greene, Russell Rouse, Richard Sale
Distributor: Embassy Pictures
Production Co: Greene-Rouse Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 4, 1966, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Sound Mix: Mono