Most readers recall the night of February 26, 2017, when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty took to the stage at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony. That was the year “La La Land” was nominated for a whopping 14 Oscars, tying the nomination record of films like “Titanic” and “All About Eve.” In the Best Picture category, it faced off against “Arrival,” “Fences,” “Hell or High Water,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hidden Figures,” “Lion,” and “Manchester by the Sea.” They were all defeated (most would argue rightly) by Barry Jenkins’ subdued queer drama “Moonlight.”
Of course, when Best Picture was announced, a mixup was revealed. Beatty and Dunaway were handed a backup envelope for Best Actress by mistake. Emma Stone had just won Best Actress for “La La Land,” but the “spare” envelope was still backstage. When Beatty opened it in front of an audience of billions, he looked a little confused. He showed the envelope to Dunaway, and she merely saw the title, “La La Land” under Stone’s name. She announced that “La La Land” was Best Picture, and its producers leapt to their feet in joy. They took to the stage and began giving thank-you speeches.
After two minutes, however, the ceremony’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, stepped in front of the mic to announce that there had been a mistake. Fred Burger, a “La La Land” producer, interrupted his own speech to say “we lost, by the way.” “Moonlight” was the Best Picture winner. The actual envelope was opened, and the winner was revealed on camera. It was a mistake that became an instant part of Oscars history.
And, funny story, it wasn’t the first time such a mix-up occurred. Back in 1964, Sammy Davis, Jr. was tapped to announce the winner of the Best Music Score (Adapted) at the 36th Oscars. He announced that the winner was John Addison for “Tom Jones,” who wasn’t even nominated in the category.
Sammy Davis, Jr. announced the winner in the wrong music category
It’s worth recalling that in 1964, there were two scoring categories. One was called “Best Music Score — Substantially Original,” while the other was called “Best Scoring of Music — Adaptation or Treatment.” The two categories were necessary, given how many notable stage musicals were being adapted to film at the time. Academy voters felt that adapting an extant Broadway score to the big screen required a different skill set than writing a new score wholesale, so they separated the skills into two categories.
At the 39th Oscars, Sammy Davis, Jr. was to announce the winner for the Adaptation or Treatment category. The nominees that year were Johnny Green for “Bye Bye Birdie,” Leith Stevens for “A New Kind of Love,” Maurice Jarre for “Sundays and Cybele,” and George Bruns for “The Sword in the Stone.” The ultimate winner was to be Andre Previn for his work on “Irma la Douce.” Davis, however, opened the envelope, and proudly announced that the winner was John Addison for “Tom Jones,” the winner of the Substantially Original category. The audience, having already witnessed Addison accept his award, were confused.
One can see the kerfuffle in the above clip, as well as Davis’ utter professionalism. He quickly pointed out that “they gave me the wrong envelope.” Then he immediately quipped “Wait ’til the NAACP hears about this.” When he received the proper envelope, he put on a pair or reading glasses, saying “I ain’t gonna make no mistake this time, baby.” What a class act. Previn was given his award, and the rest of the evening went smoothly. “Tom Jones” won Best Picture.
The Oscars, we must all recall, are a live show, typically constructed without a full-cast rehearsal, and mistakes happen frequently. Given that there have been only two notable envelope swaps in the show’s 98-year history, I’d say the track record is pretty clean.
Sammy, meanwhile, is still slated for a biopic.
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