The Oscars: "The Artist" Speaks Louder Than Words

Image via WikipediaThere's a new landmark in Paris to go along with the Eiffel Tower.  It's "The Artist", the mostly silent black-and white film that won five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards Sunday night.  That includes awards for Best Picture, Michel Hazanavicius' directing, and Jean Dujardin's acting.  The last silent movie to win the Best Picture Oscar was the first one, "Wings" in 1929.

In keeping with the French theme, "Midnight In Paris" won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Woody Allen.  In keeping with his own tradition, Allen did not show up to accept his award.

Nearly every major award, including the ones that "The Artist" won, seemed to be pre-ordained.  Not so with the Oscar for Best Actress, which went to Meryl Streep for inhabiting former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady".  But then again, it's never really a surprise when she gets nominated for nearly every movie she's in.  The last time Streep won for Best Actress was for "Sophie's Choice" back in 1982.

"The Artist" hearkened back to the days when movies were in black and white, and the transition was being made from silents to talkies.  Octavia Spencer became the fifth African American to win an Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress in "The Help".  Spencer has something in common with the first African American Oscar winner, which was Hattie McDaniel in "Gone With The Wind".  They both played maids.  This is progress?

Christopher Plummer won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in "Beginners".  At 82, Plummer became the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar.  But he'll still be better remembered for "The Sound of Music".

So how was the telecast?  It was over three hours long, but it didn't seem that way.  Billy Crystal, in his ninth stint as host of the ABC telecast (and first since 2004), was as predictable as the winners themselves.  Crystal did his usual Oscar schtick, inserting himself into clips from the nominated movies and singing a medley incorporating their titles.  It wasn't Crystal at his best, but he was better than any of the other hosts  that came along since the last time he did this.

Crystal made a couple of jokes about the Kodak Theater, which has been home to the Academy Awards for the last few years.  Kodak has filed for bankruptcy, and is thinking of taking its name off the building.  The Academy is reportedly in negotiations to move the Oscars to the larger Nokia Theater. 

If "The Artist" proves nothing else, it will become a catalyst for folks who want to check out this thing called silent movies.  May we suggest Turner Classic Movies, which is available on your cable or satellite provider.  In addition to running most of the greatest films in Hollywood history (and some not so great), TCM will sometimes carry silent films dating back nearly a century.  Most films are uncut, and are presented without commercial interruption.  If you are any kind of movie buff, this is your destination.