ORIGIN OF THE STORY

“The Oscar” is based on Richard Sale’s best-selling novel of the same title.

Harlan Ellison, who wrote the screenplay with Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene, writing in Cinema Magazine recently, had this to say:

“I wish I could say it was a shoo-in, a simple job of translation from the form of the novel to the screenplay, but it wasn’t. There were some very definite problems . . . .

“We spent six full months harrying and chivvying ourselves into a script that at once captured the glamour of the town, the fascination of the industry, the dedication of the majority working therein, and the specialized sort of evil practiced by a few men in the motion picture arena. Rather than a Sammy Glick, again we opted for the less stereotyped protagonist. If Frankie of “The Oscar” must be compared to someone, he is a blood relative of Hud. His mark of Cain is not that of immorality, but rather, amorality. He commits the most despicable acts without actually understanding the nature of his crimes. He uses people not because they are beneath him, or through a sense of greed, but because he is an unknowing student of Bishop Berkeley – he sees himself as the center of the universe, what is good for Frankie is good for everyone. And they are handy.

“Our treatment, prior to the first draft script, was an unheard-of-144 pages (average treatments run between 25 and 50 pages), with a background history of Frankie that plumbed his teen-age years long before he came to Hollywood. None of this material appears in the film itself, but it lends a fullness to the character that a sketchily-delineated on-screen presentation could never have achieved. It gave him a past, and according to star Stephen Boyd, has been of inestimable aid in fleshing out the screen characterization. A great deal of love and vitality and honesty has been poured into this film . . . .”