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While Katie-Bar-The-Door and I were vacationing in Alaska, I received an e-mail from Kate Corbett Pollack, a researcher with the American Pomeroy Historic Genealogical Association in Syracuse. Appropriately enough, given her place of employment, she's been researching Roy J. Pomeroy and she asked if I would spread word of his story and of a special request from the Association.
You remember Roy Pomeroy, don't you? If you're a silent film buff and an amateur Oscar historian like me, you immediately thought "Ah, yes, he won the first Oscar for special effects." Engineering effects, it was called then. He provided the sound effects for Wings, the first movie to win the Oscar for best picture, and invented what I guess you'd call rear-projection or maybe blue screen—dropping in a background behind an actor without requiring the actor to film on location.
He also worked, uncredited (nobody much got a credit in those days), on the special effects for Cecil B. DeMille's silent version of The Ten Commandments—remember the parting of Red Sea, using Jell-o? That was Pomeroy. And he was one of the original founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). For his efforts, he made over a $1 million a year in salary.
All around, well done, Mr. Pomeroy.
But then, as is often the case with triumphs, the world continued to turn and discovered it could live without Roy J. Pomeroy, particularly his salary demands and his autocratic behavior. Paramount fired him, no other studio would work with him, and his attempts to form his own company, Pomeroy Laboratories, were largely fruitless.
On September 3, 1947, Pomeroy was found dead in his laboratory of an apparent suicide. He was fifty-five.
And there the story of Roy J. Pomeroy sat until a few years ago when AMPAS began looking for Pomeroy's Oscar. Turns out no one has any idea where it is or even if Paramount forwarded the Oscar to him after it fired him.
"We would love to gain more readership for this story," Kate writes, "and perhaps an answer to the mystery of Roy's death (which looks like a suicide) and the missing Oscar. I thought by contacting others who write about Old Hollywood, this could be a way to do it."
So what say you, faithful Monkey readers? Can we spread the word and write a happy ending to Roy Pomeroy's story?
Gone But Not Forgotten Dozens of times, actors and filmmakers have been nominated for Oscars posthumously. James Dean, the only actor to be nominated twice after his death, received his second nomination for Giant (1956). What 1955 film marked his first?
One And Done Only three times has a film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and no other Oscars. One was a 1932 drama set in Berlin with an all-star cast headed by Greta Garbo and John Barrymore. Name it.
Nominated For Playing A Nominee Several actors and actresses have been nominated for playing Oscar nominees. For what 1978 comedy did Maggie Smith win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing an actress who loses an Oscar?
And with that, TCM's 31 Days of Oscar comes to a close, and with it, the 31 Days of Oscar Trivia. Tomorrow, I'll do the math and let you know who answered the most questions correctly. The smart money is on MovieNut14 ...
The Most Honored Producer Hal B. Wallis holds the record for the producer with the most Best Picture nominations (19, although the award was not officially given to a film's producer before 1951). What nominated Wallis film was a 1942 musical biopic starring James Cagney?
And don't forget to click on over to All Good Things for round two of the March Madness/Best Actress tournament. Some tough match-ups today: Garbo v. Loy, Lombard v. Dietrich, Stanwyck v. Dunne and Shearer v. Colbert. Don't get left out of the action.
Two By Four Many times in Academy Award history, the same character has led to more than one Best Actor nomination. Who was nominated for playing the self-destructive actor in the 1937 version of A Star Is Born before James Mason turned the same trick in the 1954 version?
Oscar Mosts Which movie, a 1972 musical set in Berlin, won the most Oscars (eight) without winning Best Picture?
The Oscars are over for another year, but Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days Of Oscar marathon continues. So does the trivia.
The Lion Roars Before 1951, the Best Picture Academy Award was officially a competition among the studios, rather than individual producers. MGM was the studio with the most nominations (41). Among them was a nod to a gritty 1949 World War II drama starring Van Johnson. Name it.
Nomination In A Bottle? Doezens of times actors have been nominated for portraying alcoholics. Name the actor who took home a Best Actor Oscar for his harrowing performance in The Lost Weekend (1945).
Real Women Like men, women who play real people are often nominated for an Academy Award in the leading category. Which actress was nominated for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960)?
Notable No-Shows Joan Crawford may or may not have actually been ill when she stayed home in bed on the night she won her only Oscar as Best Actress for a 1945 film. What was it?
On Second Thought Sometimes remakes of classic films turn out fine, as in this redoing of a 1931 crime drama, first remade under the title Satan Met A Lady in 1936. Name the definitive, Oscar-nominated 1941 version starring Humphrey Bogart.
The Big Five Only three times in the history of the Academy Awards has a film won in each of the five major categories—Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay. Name the 1934 comedy with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable that was the first to accomplish this.
Sister Acts Only two sisters have both won Academy Awards as Best Actress. One is Olivia de Havilland, who is the other? (Hint: Her award came for the 1941 Suspicion.)
Rookies Of The Year Among those who received acting nominations in their film debuts was this smoldering new star, nominated as Best Actor for The Search (1948). Name him.
Five For Four Nine times a movie has had five nominations for acting awards. One such occasion came when Albert Finney, Hugh Griffith, Diane Cilento, Edith Evans and Joyce Redman were all nominated for the same classic 1963 comedy. Name it.
Most Honored Foreign Director Federico Fellini's movies have won the most Oscars (four) for Best Foreign Language Film. Name the landmark 1963 film starring Marcello Mastroianni that took the prize.
Awards By Association Alec Guinness' films have won more Oscars (35) in various categories than those of any other performer. What 1951 crime comedy starring Guinness and directed by Charles Crichton won for Best Story and Screenplay?
Most Directing Nominations Which filmmaker leads the pack with 12 nominations for Best Director? (Hint: He directed the 1959 Ben-Hur.)
Sound Bites As head of the Columbia sound department, John Livadary holds the record for consecutive nominations in the Best Sound category—13 times for 1934 to 1946 releases. One of his nominations came for the musical biopic A Song to Remember (1945), featuring the compositions of what famous composer?
Best Picture, But Not Most Academy Awards The winner of the best Best Picture Oscar usually wins more awards than any other film that year. But 14 times the Best Picture winner didn't at least tie for the most wins. What political drama named Best Picture of 1949 won three Academy Awards while competitor The Heiress won four?
Two In One Seventeen times in Academy Award history the same film has produced two Best Actor or Best Actress nominations. Name the women nominated for the title roles in Thelma & Louise
Oscar Onlys Who is the only Oscar to win an Oscar? (Hint: He actually won two, one of them for the lyrics to the song "It Might As We Be Spring" in the 1945 musical State Fair.)
Nominated For Best Director, Not Best Picture While the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars are often closely tied, often at least one film is nominated in one category but not the other. What celebrated 1949 espionage thriller brought Carol Reed a nomination as Best Director while not scoring one as Best Picture?
From Stage To Screen Many times a performer has taken an acclaimed stage role and turned it into an Oscar nomination or win. For what 1964 film did Rex Harrison win a Best Actor Oscar to go along with his Tony for playing the same role on stage?
The Most Supportive Actor Walter Brennan holds the record for most wins as Best Supporting Actor (three) and is tied for the most nominations (four). For what 1941 drama about a World War I hero did he receive his final nomination?
Clean Sweeps Five times in Academy history has a Best Picture winner won in every category in which it was nominated. Only three times has this happened when more than five nominations were at stake. One such instance was a 1958 Vincente Minnelli musical. Name it.
Oscar ♥ New York While Hollywood's on the other coast, it seems that New York is the setting for more Oscar-nominated films than any other city. What 1949 musical about sailors on the loose in the Big Apple won the award for Best Scoring?
The Most Writing Wins Four people share the record for writing Oscars, with three each. Three of the writers are Francis Ford Coppola, Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett; who is the fourth? (Hint: He wrote the 1955 Marty.)
The Most Best Actor Nominations Jack Nicholson has the most acting nominations for a male (12), including both lead and supporting roles. But another actor holds the record for most Best Actor nominations (nine, winning twice). Name him.
How To Earn An Oscar Nomination? It seems that playing a prostitute gives women a leg up on earning a nomination or an Oscar as Best Actress. Name the 1960 film that brought Elizabeth Taylor the award for playing a semi-professional call girl.
Auspicious Debuts Some directorial debuts have been nominated in the Best Director and Best Picture categories. Name the 1981 Best Picture winner from debuting (and Oscar-nominated) director Hugh Hudson.
You know, one of the advantages of running all this Turner Classic Movies Oscar trivia every day is that it disguises the fact that I've only written about three substantive posts this month (okay, four, but who's counting). I'm going to miss it when TCM's 31 Days of Oscar marathon ends on March 3.
On the other hand, the daily posts tend to bury the long-form essays I do write. Like yesterday's essay, The Silent Oscars: 1906-1914, Part Three. I encourage you to check it out if only to see Asta Nielsen's hundred year old version of freak dancing. To quote Ralph Kramden, "Humina humina humina."
Now, on to today's trivia, courtesy of Turner Classic Movies, the classiest network on television:
Oscar Firsts What Italian actress became the first person to win an acting Oscar for a performance in a language other than English? (Hint: The film was released in the U.S. in 1961.)
It's An Honor Just To Be Nominated The man most nominated as Best Actor (Peter O'Toole), received the first of his eight nominations for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Who directed the film?
Note: I think TCM meant that Peter O'Toole was the most nominated for Best Actor without winning. Here, by the way, are the films he was nominated for and the actor he lost to:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) — Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird)
Becket (1964) — Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady)
The Lion in Winter (1968) — Cliff Robertson (Charly)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) — John Wayne (True Grit)
The Ruling Class (1972) — Marlon Brando (The Godfather)
The Stunt Man (1980) — Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)
My Favorite Year (1982) — Ben Kingsley (Gandhi)
Venus (2006) — Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
Even though I personally think Lawrence of Arabia is O'Toole's best performance, I'd bet 1968 is the one the Academy wishes it could do over. What do you think?
French Kisses France is the country with the most nominations (36) for Best Foreign Language Film. What 1980 French drama, directed by François Truffaut and starring Catherine Deneuve, received a nod in that category?
The Most Writing Nominations Who has received the most nominations (14) for his writing? (Hint: One nomination came for the 1990 fantasy Alice.)
From Turner Classic Movie's Now Showing magazine:
Oscar Falls In Love Among the romantic Best Picture winners shown in honor of Valentine's Day is the 1940 screen version of a Philip Barry play starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Name it.
All In The Family Sometimes members of the same family collaborate on a film and are rewarded with nominations. What writer-director was nominated for best Adapted Screenplay of 1982 while guiding his wife to a Best Actress nomination as the star of his musical-comedy?
They Shoot, He Scores Alfred Newman has been nominated for his film scores an amazing 45 times, tying him with John Williams for the most by any composer. For what 1947 Betty Grable vehicle did Newman win an Oscar for Best Scoring of a Motion Picture?
It Takes Two Very rarely has the same film win two different writing awards. Name the 1947 Christmas classic starring Edmund Gwenn that won for Best Original Story and Best Screenplay.
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