MovieChat Forums > The Band Wagon (1953) Discussion > Why? And How Could this Happen!

Why? And How Could this Happen!

posted 14 years ago by mattsmith89
11 replies | jump to latest

I've always been a big fan of "The Band Wagon." It's one of those great musicals from the studio era-- and one element that really propels this movie into the stratosphere is that anthem of entertainment, "That's Entertainment." This song isn't from the Broadway show, but rather written just for this film version by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.
So the question I'm asking is how the hell did this NOT at the very least get an Oscar nomination for Best Song? I know the academy has several arbitrary rules regarding this category (it must be written JUST for the film and cannot have been featured in any other movie, stage musicalm album or any other medium to be eligible for a nomination), but I thought this song WAS written just for "The Band Wagon"? WTF Academy.
...Well, this is the same group of people who completely overlooked Kander & Ebb's brilliant "New York, New York" written for the film of the same name. How did that happen? It deserved at the least, AT THE VERY LEAST, a nomination-- and is certainly of the same caliber of (and in my opinion better than) that year's winner,"You Light Up My Life."

Academy, you've got some 'splainin' to do!

[–] jerryflo 14 years ago

Here's another one. I'm sure the music of Saturday Night Fever should have gotten a nomination of some sort. Never understood the Music branch of the academy.

[–] laurence01 11 years ago

Here's another one. I'm sure the music of Saturday Night Fever should have gotten a nomination of some sort. Never understood the Music branch of the academy.

Saturday Night fever would not qualify as not so much as one note was written for the film.

Let Zygons Be Zygons.

[–] filmmekker 13 years ago

The Oscars have gotten things wrong more times then they've gotten it right.

Open the door for Mr. Muckle!!

[–] Beau_Buffet (324) 2 years ago

Exactly. I don't know why self-proclaimed cinephiles keep talking about the Oscars : IT'S OF ABSOLUTELY NO IMPORTANCE AT ALL.

We love art, who cares about what the pseudo-consensus of the academy.

[–] Eightythreeyearoldguy 13 years ago

Sorry, but I absolutely hate "New York, New York". I'm a fan of the Triple Crown horse races, and really groaned when the tracitional song sung at the Belmont Stakes, "Streets of New York", was replaced by "New York, New York".

I'm the kind of guy, when I move - watch my smoke. But I'm gonna need some good clothes though.

[–] logicalskeptic 12 years ago

For me the Academy's biggest musical blunder occurred in 1944 when Jerome Kern's "Long Ago and Far Away" from "Cover Girl" (which won the Oscar for best score) along with "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night", "I'll Walk Alone" and "The Trolley Song" lost out to the "Going My Way" novelty song (very popular in those dark days) "Swinging on a Star".

Only two things are actually knowable:
It is now and you are here. All else is merely a belief.

[–] doug7347 12 years ago

That's a blunder, but it was easily exceeded when "Sweet Leilani" was named the best original movie song of 1937, in spite of the fact it made its debut in 1935, was competing with the Gershwin brother's great song "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and to top it off George Gershwin had just recently died.

[–] bradford-1 11 years ago

Bah! None of the aforementioned tunes can hold a candle to "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp."
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

[–] snsurone 8 years ago

That's funny, brad, LOL.
Actually, that was one of the reasons I quit watching the Oscars.

My personal favorite Best Song Oscar winner is "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head".

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5947) 7 years ago

The list of what was nominated that year:
https://www.google.com/search?q=1953+academy+award+best+song+nominees

[–] marktayloruk (2375) 7 months ago

Or how could they prefer.Born Free to Georgy Girl?