Oscar the Scab*
The “uncomfortable” story of the origins of the Oscar Awards
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently opened its Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in the old May Company building my Grandmother once worked at. According to the Academy, its Museum “will tell complete stories of moviemaking — celebratory, educational, and sometimes critical or uncomfortable.”
One “uncomfortable” story not being told at the Museum is its own — how the Academy was formed as a company union, used to suppress real unions, keeping the industry under the thumb of the producers, and their bosses on Wall Street. This untold story should have special meaning today, in light of the recent threatened strike by crews under IATSE, and the actual walkout on the Rust set over safety conditions, just before the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. The Industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself, any more than it can be trusted to tell its own story.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded at a dinner party hosted by Louis B. Mayer at the Biltmore Hotel on May 11, 1927. Only a year before, the industry was forced to sign its first Basic Agreement with skilled crafts. The studio chiefs feared that unionization would spread to other workers in the industry, especially the “above the line” talent (writers, directors and actors). After dinner, Fred Niblo (director of the 1925 silent version of Ben Hur) announced his plan to head off this disaster by creating an organization which would ostensibly represent the talent, but would really be under the control of the producers. To build morale and loyalty, awards could be given out in each field and skill in the industry. The idea met with immediate approval among the producers, and within a year the Academy was giving out its first awards.
The Great Depression tested the Academy’s role as a company union. On March 8, 1933, several studios announced that they could not meet payroll. The next day, the President declared a bank moratorium. The following day, a major earthquake hit the region, with a devastating loss of life and property.
