When a shirt and tie won an Oscar for Best Costume

In my opinion, a lowlight of Oscar history was when Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) won the Oscar for Best Costume Design.

I feel it's one of the great under-achievements in the history of the Oscars, as I've observed numerous times on this blog (here) and (here).

For those of you you have never seen the film, let me explain.

Virginia Woolf is a depressing black and white picture about a deranged middle-age couple who verbally torture each other and a younger couple over the course of one night.  It's a cast of only 4 principal actors, like the stage play it is based on. No other human beings (other than a couple of restaurant employees) can claim to appear in the picture.

So let's talk about these 4 actors and their so-called costumes.

1) Richard Burton. He wears the same shirt, tie, and cardigan sweater throughout the picture.

2) George Segal. The only "costume" he dons is a gray suit and a black tie with white shirt.

3) Sandy Dennis, playing "Honey", the wife of Segal. She wears the same dress through the picture.

4) And finally, Ms Elizabeth Taylor. I counted 3 wardrobe changes. In the beginning she has a black v-neck dress on. To look sexy and appealing for Segal, she slips into a low cut blouse and tights. After the diner scene, she changes again into a light sweater and jeans.

All of these clothes could have been found in a thrift shop. I have nothing against thrift shops (I get clothes there all the time), but I mean I don't get how it won a competitive award.

In the video clip below, Robert Mitchum and Candace"Candy" Bergen reveal the winner in one of the most infamous moments in the history of the Oscars (video courtesy of The Oscars YouTube channel).






As KC of Classic Movies observed on a previous post on the subject, perhaps the clothes succeeded in making the characters look pathetic. Indeed they did.

Ship of Fools (1965)

The year is 1933. Hitler is now in power. A cruise ship is making its way to Germany.

The passengers include numerous German citizens as well as Americans (including Lee Marvin and Vivien Leigh, in her final film appearance).

It's kind of a long film with several interconnected story lines. A reoccurring theme explores the German character's feelings and attitudes about the changing political climate of the country.

Among the Germans aboard is Jose Ferrer's character, an obnoxious publisher who won't stand to eat with anyone who is a Jew.  Lee Marvin's character (a washed-up American baseball player) observes this behavior and asks someone "What's he got against the Jews?".

Oscar Werner plays the German ship's doctor, and he's good. All throughout the film he's politically agnostic, and later he's suspected of being Jewish. But the truth is never truly revealed to us. Instead, we learn that he longs for something more in life, and he longs to be with Simone Signoret's character, a humanitarian that he admires and adores.

The movie ends by showing all of the characters leave the ship, and the audience is left to wonder what is to become of them all throughout the 1930s and beyond. It's assumed that some of the Americans are just there in Germany for a short visit - Lee Marvin leaves the ship and quickly tries to meet a pretty young blond woman. And we assume that some of the Germans will grow to support the emerging Nazism, including an old woman (who previously showed sympathy to Jews) who greets and hugs her awaiting son - who is wearing a Nazi armband.

A very patriotic and proud German Jew (Heinz Rühmann) views the coming years optimistically, and is oblivious to any of the horrors that will emerge from Hitler's dictatorship. The ship's philosopher, Michael Dunn, says to him at one point "you might be the biggest fool on this ship".

With George Segal, Lilia Skala, Jose Greco, Elizabeth Ashley.
Director: Stanley Kramer

Writers: Katherine Anne Porter (novel), Abby Mann (screenplay)

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Jason Robards as Al Capone, about to slug a couple of mugs

A rare big-budget, big-studio (20th Century Fox) classic directed by Roger Corman, where we learn almost everything we ever wanted to know with the main characters associated with the infamous shootout from 1929, including south side gangster Al Capone (Jason Robards) and his rival, north side gangster Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker).

To prepare for this movie, I booked a tour on Chicago's Untouchables Tour Bus, a popular attraction in the city. It takes visitors to famous gangster sites, including the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (SVDM). According to the guides, the Corman film gets almost all the facts right, right down to the German Shepard dog who was left behind in the garage.

The title card says it all

The SMC Cartage Company storefront is recreated.

I love the sets in the film, and there's some great period music to set the mood. I wonder if Corman ever had the idea to shoot this in black-and-white; I'm sure the studio pushed for color.

An old fashioned motor coach on Clark Street (where the SVDM took place)

Corman does a great job of staging the numerous shootouts in the movie: windows shattering, glass flying everywhere. Just when we think the gunfire is over, there's more. George Segal, his first film after Virginia Woolf, plays one of the Bugs Moran's henchman "Goosey" Peter Gusenberg; you can tell he's having fun with that tommy gun.

Some of the scenes are violent, including the gun-down of Polish gangster Hymie Weiss in his "flower shop", which was just a front for his bootlegging business. . As I learned on the tour bus, Hymie's flower shop was right across the street from the most well-known and one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in the city: Holy Name Cathedral, which is still an active congregation (photo below)

Sidenote: If you visit Chicago and go to the cathedral today, you can still see a bullet hole from one of the shootouts that took place right outside. (photo below)

Jason Robards is excellent as Capone and is intense as he erupts in a fit of rage after discovering one of his associates was bumped off. In another scene, we see Capone about give gangster Joe Aiello a "Sicilian necktie", which is what someone gets when their necks are sliced open and their tongue is pulled through the neck.

Corman regular Dick Miller and Little Shop of Horrors co-star Jack Nicholson have bit parts as Capone gangsters posing as cops and only appear toward the end of the film during the SVDM sequence. Bruce Dern has a small part as Johnny May, family man who gets messed up in the Moran gang (and is killed in the SVDM).

As each character makes his first appearance, a voice over biography is given by narrator Paul Frees, who is famous for all of his cartoon narrations such as George of the Jungle and many others.

Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker)
avoids the bloodshed
intended for him

As the day of the SVDM unfolds, our narrator tells us what every one of the victims was doing "on the last morning of his life..." Which is really satisfying and makes us feel like we have gotten a taste of each of these gangster's lives.

The final ten minutes of the movie leading up to the massacre are exciting, even though we know what will happen. We see Bugs Moran go into a cafe for some coffee; while he's in there, the SVDM takes place. Al Capone is not happy that Bugs got away, let me tell you; I'll just say he whips out a baseball bat and starts swinging.

I recommend this film especially if you want to learn more about these gangsters.

If you have time check out this 5-minute video I took from the bus tour; the guide gives a good overview of the entire ordeal, which pretty much is how the movie plays out. Way to go! You can also get a chance to see the neighborhood where the massacre took place.

The SMC Cartage Building was torn down right around the time this movie came out. The old Mayor Daley didn't want Chicago associated with gangsters. But it still is no matter what. Bricks from the building were saved by some collectors; a few bricks can be seen at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

Today the actual site is a parking lot. Across the street, the “look-out” stations where Jack McGurn stayed are still there.

2122 N. Clark Street, Chicago

Nearby buildings give a taste of the era

Check out the gray building below in the 2011 photo and again in the 1929 photo. This was right next door to the SMC Cartage building.

2122 N. Clark St - Source: Google Maps

Here is another review of this movie from Cinemachine

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This post is part of the Roger Corman Blogathon hosted by
Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) One of my least-favorite movies

That's right. This is one of my least-favorite movies of all time. It's mean. Manipulative. Depressing. Sad. Ugh. I've never been a fan of it, even though I have seen it several times, own a copy on DVD (!) and have seen the play at least two times. I really don't understand its appeal. This is regarded as a film classic, and even the AFI hailed it as one of the Top 100 of all time (strange choice I feel). Now I like all the actors in it - including real life husband-and-wife (at the time) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They play married college professors who have a passion for drinking and are constantly playing mind games with each other.

The story takes place in one night: Geroge and Martha entertain guests: new professor Geroge Segal and his wife Honey (Sandy Dennis, who won Best Supporting Actress). The guests are insulted and ridiculed, and George and Martha drink to their heart's content, slurring insults at each other.

One thing I never understood is how this movie could win an Oscar for Best Costume Design. There are only 5 costumes in the entire movie. Burton wears a cardigan sweater and a black tie. This has got to be one of the strangest Oscar wins ever. In one of my rants about this (in another post), one of my readers brought a good point in that the costume designers succeeded in making the characters look pathetic.

The film is a nearly word-for-word adaptation, and there's some great camera angles and a decent set design (the cinematography and art direction won Oscars - more deservedly than Best Costumes).  Directed by Mike Nichols, known for his comedy, this film is a 180-degree switch.