Oscar Night is a time of celebration when the motion picture industry honors its own. For those of us watching at home, it is a time to remember the movies that made last year special, enjoy the glamour of the red carpet, mourn for the talented individuals who have passed, and revel in the joyful experience a movie can bring. From a lifetime of watching the Oscars, here are some of my favorite memories.

By: Deborah Ground Buckner

Oscar Night!  It is a time of celebration when the motion picture industry honors its own.  For those of us watching at home, it is a time to pause and remember the movies that made the preceding year special, enjoy the glamour of the red carpet, mourn for the talented individuals who have passed from this world, and revel in the thoughtful, joyful, provoking experience a movie can bring.  From a lifetime of watching the Oscars, here are some of my favorite memories.

10     I was eight years old on Oscar night in 1968.  My older brother and I had become obsessed with the movie Bonnie and Clyde (of course, there's no way I would have let my children see this film at age eight!).  My brother had begged our parents to take him to see it, and whither the rest of the family went, so went I.  I do recall my mother commanding me in her stern whisper “Shut your eyes!” through many of the more violent parts of the film.  That Hallowe'en, we trick-or-treated as Bonnie and Clyde (carrying pillowcases with dollar signs drawn on them to make our “loot” bags look like they were taken from a bank), and, when the Oscar nominations were announced, we whined until our parents took us to the theater to see it a second time.  The 1967 Oscars nominations gave much recognition to our favorite film, with nominations for Best Actor (Warren Beatty); Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman); Best Actress (Faye Dunaway); Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Estelle Parsons); Best Cinematography; Best Costume Design; Best Director; Best Picture; and Best Screenplay.  For the first time, my parents allowed me to stay up past bedtime on a school night to watch the Oscars.  We excitedly saw Burnett Guffey accept the award for cinematography, and Estelle Parsons receive the award for Best Supporting Actress for her magnificent portrayal of Blanche Barrow.   But the night wore on with no more Oscars awarded to “my” film.  In the final moments, when In the Heat of the Night received honors as Best Picture, all the fatigue, frustration, and disappointment of the night hit me and, as my father described it, I “threw back my head and just bawled.”  It was an Oscar night my family never let me forget.

9.     I'm not old enough to remember this one first hand, but I have read the story and found it moving.  In 1939, Hattie McDaniel received the nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her brilliant portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind.   The other nominees included:  Geraldine Fitzgerald, Wuthering Heights; Edna May Oliver, Drums Along the Mohawk; Maria Ouspenskaya, Love Affair; and Olivia de Havilland, also for Gone With the Wind, for her breathtaking portrayal of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes. The award went to Hattie McDaniel, the first time an African-American had been so honored.  There is no question Miss de Havilland's work in the same film was equally deserving of the honor, and it was unfortunate that two actresses who had worked so closely with each other on such a monumental project became competitors. In the 1993 book, Hattie: The Life of Hattie McDaniel, by Carlton Jackson, Miss de Havilland recalled her personal disappointment in not receiving the honor, but told this story:  “One morning I woke up in more ways than one, filled with delight that I lived in a world where God was certainly present, and where justice had indeed been done . . . .  I suddenly felt very proud . . . that I belonged to a profession which honored a black woman who merited this, in a time when other groups had neither the honesty nor the courage to do the same sort of thing.”

8. Emma Thompson, accepting the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility at the 1995 awards ceremony said:  "Before I came, I went to visit Jane Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral to pay my respects, you know, and tell her about the grosses.  I don't know how she would react to an evening like this, but I do hope-I do hope she knows how big she is in Uruguay."

7. At the 1969 Academy Awards, the legendary Cary Grant demonstrated his great charm in accepting an honorary Oscar "for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with the respect and affection of his colleagues."  He said:  "You know that I may never look at this without remembering the quiet patience of directors who were so kind to me, who were kind enough to put up with me more than once, some of them even three or four times. I trust they and all the other directors, writers and producers and my leading women have forgiven me for what I didn't know. You know that I've never been a joiner or a member of any particular social set, but I've been privileged to be a part of Hollywood's most glorious era." 

6. The Academy recognized Charles Chaplin at the 1971 Oscars, presenting him with an honorary Oscar "for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century." At the time, Chaplin was living in exile in Switzerland, after FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover arranged with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to bar his re-entry to the United States following a European trip.  Chaplin declined to attempt re-entry, citing the persecution he had endured from "powerful reactionary groups" and the press in the United States.  But he returned in triumph to accept his honorary Oscar, and received a standing ovation lasting over five minutes, the longest in Academy history.

5. Handsome, charming, and witty David Niven was in the midst of hosting the Academy Awards in 1974 when a "streaker" ran across the stage behind him.  This was the height of the streaking craze, when people would appear running through public places, in the words of Ray Stevens, "wearing nothing but a smile."  It was a moment on live television that would have been the undoing of many an emcee. Niven dryly commented:  "The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping . . . and showing his shortcomings." 

4. For the 1996 Academy Awards, Kenneth Branagh received the nomination for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for his stunning adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet.  As part of the honors for that night, Branagh introduced a film montage of Shakespeare references, including film adaptations of his plays or references to his works in other films.  A great moment for all Branagh and Shakespeare fans!

3. At the 1973 Academy Awards, the Academy honored Groucho Marx with an honorary Oscar "in recognition of his brilliant creativity and for the unequaled achievements of the Marx Brothers in the art of motion picture comedy."  Groucho, then 83, wore his trademark frock coat for the occasion.  A manic Marx fan, I was so proud of Groucho, and he had me in tears as he said, "I wish Harpo and Chico could be with me here tonight." 

2. At the 75^th Annual Academy Awards presentation in 2003, Olivia de Havilland returned to Hollywood from her beloved Paris to appear in a segment honoring past recipients of the Oscar (she herself is a two-time winner of the Best Actress Award for To Each His Own in 1946 and The Heiress in 1949, and was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind in 1939, and Best Actress for Hold Back the Dawn in 1941 and for The Snake Pit in 1948).  Dressed in a stunning blue evening gown, she reminded us all of what true movie star glamour should be.

1. The family tradition of watching the Oscars goes full circle.  For three consecutive years, we celebrated the beginning of winter break from school by taking our son and his friends to see each of the three films of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  On Oscar night for the 2003 honors, I gave my son a checklist of all the awards, and he happily scanned the nominations for The Return of the King:  Best Art Direction; Best Costume Design; Best Director, Best Film Editing; Best Makeup; Best Music (Original Score); Best Music (Original Song); Best Picture; Best Sound Mixing; Best Visual Effects; Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).  Even more happily, as the night wore on, he kept checking off his list as his favorite film received award after award, winning in every nominated category.  It was a night that demonstrates just how joyful a celebration of favorite movies can be.  The little girl in me who cried for Bonnie and Clyde could rejoice in this memorable Oscar night.