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Greatest Oscar Injustices: The Last Picture Show
Dying towns and writing about them
I would never argue that 1972 posed the absolute greatest outrage in Oscar history, because I know what happened to Citizen Kane (RKO), and I know that Dennis Hopper won for Hoosiers (Orion) in 1987, when his role as “Frank Booth” in Blue Velvet (De Laurentiis Entertainment) was a legitimate killer. Besides that, I really like Gene Hackman, William Friedkin, and The French Connection (20th Century Fox).
That these three won in their respective categories, again, brings me little pain, even though I would have voted The Last Picture Show (Columbia) as Best Film. Still, I understand why a person would have chosen The French Connection: its raw power, its cinematography, its examination of international drug trafficking and police corruption speak to us even now, and like so many critics and viewers, I understand that it contains the greatest chase scene in film history.
Chase scenes certainly get my blood pumping, but what exactly do I learn from them other than to get out of the way when anyone named “Popeye” gets behind the wheel?
So okay, it won and my favorite lost for Best Picture. But what about Best Adapted Screenplay category? Surely The Last Picture Show grabbed that one.
