"Mini-Oscar" statuette from Columbia Pictures' 15th anniversary for the "Big Five" Oscar sweep of It Happened One Night....

Description

"Mini-Oscar" statuette from Columbia Pictures' 15th anniversary for the "Big Five" Oscar sweep of It Happened One Night. (1935) Vintage original miniature Academy Award "Oscar" statuette made by Columbia Pictures Corporation in 1935 to celebrate their 15th anniversary and the film It Happened One Night becoming the first motion picture to achieve the "Big Five" sweep at the Academy Awards winning Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Columbia's president Harry Cohn is thought to have conceived of the idea of issuing these miniature Oscars, which served as table decorations at the anniversary celebration. Manufactured by Gorham & Co., this male statuette stands 5.5 in. tall with the cast gold metal figure measuring 1.5 in. wide by 4.25 in. tall. The beveled black base is 2.5 in. round at the bottom, tapered to 1.25 in. where the base attaches to the film reel that forms the integral foot of the metal statue. Engraved on a plaque affixed at the front of the base is, "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences First Award Columbia Pictures For the Best Picture of the Year" and on a similar plaque at the back of the base, "15th Anniversary Columbia Pictures 1920-1935". Previously a B-movie studio with successful westerns and serials, It Happened One Night helped move Columbia into the big time and, with Frank Capra's other films, helped to keep the studio going through the Depression, as well as inspiring American men to forego undershirts like the bare-chested idol Clark Gable had in the film. Very few of these statues ever reach public hands. The mini-Oscar exhibits heavy plate rubbing, an aged patina, and chipping to the lacquered base. In vintage good condition.

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