Gentleman's Agreement (TCF, 1947), "Best Picture" Academy Award "Oscar"....

Description

Gentleman's Agreement (TCF, 1947), "Best Picture" Academy Award "Oscar". 20th Century Fox Studios head Darryl F. Zanuck was determined to make this film version of Laura Z. Hobson's bestselling novel after being refused membership to the Los Angeles Country Club, because it was incorrectly assumed that Zanuck was Jewish. When filming was announced, Jewish film executives including Samuel Goldwyn beseeched him not to go ahead with the project, fearing it would not sit well or "stir up trouble". The Hays Code was in full swing and principal enforcer Joseph Breen had been known to express some anti-Semitic views. To compound concerns, the character of divorcee "Kathy Lacy" (Dorothy McGuire) could offend the National Legion of Decency. But the film was made and earned eight Oscar nominations, winning three: "Best Director" for Elia Kazan, "Best Supporting Actress" for Celeste Holm, and this trophy for "Best Picture". Gentlemen's Agreement was among Fox's highest grossing films of 1947. In the entertainment industry and the world over, the "Oscar" statuette is indisputably the most treasured and iconic symbol of the filmmaker's accomplishment and the public's romance with Hollywood glamour and movies. This vintage male statuette stands 13.25" tall with the cast metal, gold-plated figure measuring 10.25" tall by 3.25" wide. The beveled black base with green felt footer is 5" round at the bottom of a 3" tall pedestal base that 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. One of the finest examples of this instantly recognizable and world-famous prize and one of extremely few Oscars ever made available to the public. Exhibits expected patina on gold surfaces with chipping and 3" dent to the bottom edge of the black base with additional residue which raises the felt on base. Poster for reference only, not included with lot. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

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