Robert Riskin 1934 Best Writing Academy Award for Frank Capra's It Happened One Night....

Description

Robert Riskin 1934 Best Writing Academy Award for Frank Capra's It Happened One Night. (Columbia Pictures, 1934) Vintage original "Oscar" trophy awarded to Robert Riskin for "Writing Screen Play" for the American romantic comedy starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and Walter Connolly. Classified as a "pre-Code" production, It Happened One Night is among the last romantic comedies created before the MPPDA began rigidly enforcing the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code in July, 1934. The movie was released just four months prior to that enforcement. 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 "Oscar" 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 5.25 in. round at the bottom, tapered to 4.5 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. Consisting of a pewter-like alloy called "Britannia metal", which is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24-karat gold. 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 2 x .75 in. cast brass plaque reads "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences First Award 1934" and is affixed to the front of the base. Etched in the mold at back of film reel, "George Stanley 1928, Art Bronze Foundry". The black felted bottom features an inset medallion engraved, "Academy First Award for Robert Riskin for Writing Screen Play of It Happened One Night". The movie would go on to win Oscars in all 5 categories it was nominated for including Best Picture for Columbia, Best Director for Frank Capra, Best Actor for Clark Gable, Best Actress for Claudette Colbert and this award for Best Writing. Riskin is also known for writing Lost Horizon, You Can't Take it With You, Meet John Doe and other classics. The statuette's finish exhibits very minor rubbing and age. Affixed medallion exhibits expected age and patina and is loose. The black base exhibits light wear. In vintage good to fine condition. This is an early example of this instantly recognizable and world-famous prize and one of extremely few Oscars ever made available to the public.

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