In a 2.17 N.Y. Times piece about some especially memorable Oscar moments, Anita Gates‘ list of big surprises somehow omits Roman Polanski‘s winning the Best Director Oscar for The Pianist in ’03. That was stunning. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.
Gates recalls (1) Pollock‘s Marcia Gay Harden winning over the favored Kate Hudson for her performance in Almost Famous, (2) L.A. Confidential‘s Kim Basinger beating Titanic‘s Gloria Stuart for Best Supporting Actress, (3) Linda Hunt‘s winning the same prize for her acting in The Year of Living Dangerously, (4) The Goodbye Girl‘s Richard Dreyfuss taking the Best Actor Oscar from Equus nominee Richard Burton, (5) West Side Story‘s Rita Moreno “beating out grandes dames Lotte Lenya, Fay Bainter, Una Merkel and Judy Garland” in ’62, and (6) Cecil B. DeMille‘s The Greatest Show on Earth taking the Best Picture honor from High Noon and The Quiet Man.