As the movie world waits to find out which film will follow last year’s Best Picture winner “Moonlight.” Here’s a look at five major moments in Oscar history:
Charlie Chaplin receives the longest standing ovation
After being branded a communist and banned from America by Sen. Joseph McCarthy 20 years earlier, the movie legend returned to the US for the first time in 1972 to collect an honorary Oscar. The filmmaker was visibly moved by the warmth of his reception, as his peers gave him a standing ovation lasting 12 minutes, the longest in the history of the awards.
Sylvester Stallone and Mohammad Ali sparring onstage
In 1977, rising star of American cinema, Sylvester Stallone — who starred in that year’s Best Picture winner “Rocky,” beating “Taxi Driver” to the Oscar — was joined onstage by Mohammad Ali. The legendary boxer teased the “Rocky” star, declaring himself to be the real Apollo Creed before the pair jokily sparred with each other onstage.
Roberto Benigni’s joyous victory
Italian director Roberto Benigni could barely contain his joy on hearing Sophia Loren say his name when announcing the 1999 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The filmmaker jumped up onto seat backs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, including Steven Spielberg’s seat a few rows in front. In total, the director received three golden statuettes for his Holocaust tragi-comedy “Life is Beautiful” at the 71st Academy Awards.
A record-breaking selfie
In 2014, Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres snapped a selfie with several major Hollywood stars, including Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence, before posting it on Twitter. The photo was retweeted 3.4 million times, a record that was beaten in May by an American man’s need for nuggets.
An historic gaffe in 2017
While you’d expect the Oscars to be a pretty well-oiled machine by now, the 89th ceremony proved that mistakes can always happen. After the whole “La La Land” team had been onstage for several minutes, thinking they had won Best Picture, and with speeches well underway, one of the film’s producers took to the mic to announce the gaffe. “There’s a mistake,” said Jordan Horowitz. “‘Moonlight’, you guys won Best Picture.” “This is not a joke,” he continued to the flabbergasted audience, “Moonlight has won best picture.”
