Oscar for Outstanding Motion Picture presented to producer Darryl F. Zanuck for How Green Was My Valley....

Description

Oscar for Outstanding Motion Picture presented to producer Darryl F. Zanuck for How Green Was My Valley. (TCF, 1941) Historical "Outstanding Motion Picture" Academy Award trophy presented to producer Darryl F. Zanuck for the Twentieth Century-Fox production of How Green Was My Valley. The powerful period drama, directed by John Ford and based on a novel by Richard Llewellyn, chronicled the plight of Welsh coal miners in the South Wales Valley. The film pulled off what has come to be regarded as one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history when it beat out Orson Welles' Citizen Kane for Outstanding Motion Picture honors. Considered a classic in and of itself, most of the enduring appeal of the film is attributed to its casting and the masterful direction of John Ford, who replaced William Wyler after Fox moved production from Wales to California citing concerns with European shooting after the outbreak of World War II. For his part, Zanuck had a profound influence on the ultimate film, coming up with the idea of the character "Huw's" voice over narration, an innovation at the time, and deciding that the character should not age - Tyrone Power was originally slated to play the adult counterpart to Roddy McDowall's young Huw in later sequences of the film. This male statuette stands 12 in. tall with the cast metal, gold-plated figure measuring 3.5 in. wide by 10.25 in. tall. The beveled black base is 5.5 in. round at the bottom, tapered to 4 in. where the base attaches to the film reel that forms the integral foot of the metal statue. Sculptor George Stanley (who also fashioned the famous Muse Fountain at the Hollywood Bowl) sculpted Cedric Gibbons' original design in clay and Sachin Smith cast the statuette in 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper and then gold-plated it. The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois. Since 1983, Oscars are fabricated each year in Chicago by Illinois manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company. A 1.25 x 1 in. cast metal plaque reads "Academy First Award to Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation for the Production of 'How Green Was My Valley'" and is affixed to the front of the base. This particular instantly recognizable example of the world famous trophy represents one of the most controversial award decisions in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. One of an extreme few Oscars ever made available to the public. Overall in vintage fine condition.

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