Oscar Archives: Fifty years ago, the academy embraced changing mores

This year’s awards contenders feature scenes of foul language, drug addiction and underage gay sex (“Moonlight”), nudity (“Nocturnal Animals,” “Toni Erdmann”), sexual violence (“Elle”) as well as graphic violence (“Hacksaw Ridge,” “Nocturnal Animals”). The stage for such images on the big screen may have been set 50 years ago when movie audiences witnessed full-frontal female nudity in a mainstream studio film, “Blow-Up,” as well as strong language in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and controversial topics in “Alfie.”

Though sweeping epics such as “A Man for All Seasons” and “The Sand Pebbles” were still in the forefront, several small British films and their stars made an impact in 1966, including Michael Caine (“Alfie”), Lynn Redgrave (“Georgy Girl”) and Vanessa Redgrave (“Morgan”).

It turned out to be a watershed year for cinema and also for the 39th Academy Awards.

Not only was Hollywood’s studio system on its last legs, so was the Production Code, which held filmmakers in a vice-like grip of censorship for more than three decades. The rules and regulations didn’t reflect the ’60s and the decade’s fight for civil rights for African Americans, the growing anti-Vietnam War sentiment and the sexual revolution.

The loosening of the code, said author-film historian Joseph McBride (“Searching for John Ford,” “What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?”), was “reflected in the Oscars.” He cited “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” the acclaimed adaptation of Edward Albee’s Broadway play and director Mike Nichols’ directorial debut, as the “film that ended the code. The language was really controversial and influential at the time — suddenly the floodgates opened to language.”

“Virginia Woolf,” which starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and George Segal, dominated the Oscar nominations in 1967 earning a staggering 13, including film, director, actor for Burton and supporting actor for Segal and won five — including Taylor for lead actress, Sandy Dennis for supporting and black-and-white cinematography for Haskell Wexler.

McBride noted that the nomination slate reflected that Hollywood had its feet in both the shifting mores of the present and the less challenging past. Besides “Virginia Woolf,” best picture nominees included the frank British drama “Alfie,” which featured a devastating abortion scene involving supporting actress nominee Vivien Merchant (and brought Caine his first Oscar nomination); the sweet Cold War comedy “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” starring Alan Arkin in his film bow as a Russian sub captain; and two traditional epics: Robert Wise’s “The Sand Pebbles,” set in China in the 1920s, and Fred Zinnemann’s historical drama, “A Man for All Seasons.”

It was the stately, intelligent “Man for All Seasons” that won the top prize as well as five other Academy Awards.

“They gave Oscars to films like that,” said McBride. “They were obviously weighty subjects based on a distinguished play, directed by a revered Hollywood veteran who was not flashy and all of that, but it’s a very well-crafted film, beautifully acted.”

Still, the offerings of 1966 showed that studios were no longer afraid to release a film without a Production Code seal. Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni’s British murder-mystery “Blow-Up,” for instance, failed to receive approval from the Production Code because it contained full-frontal nudity, so MGM unveiled it without a code. “Blow-Up” went on to receive two Oscar nominations — for Antonioni’s direction and for screenplay, which he co-wrote.

“‘Blow-Up’ was a huge influence,” said McBride. “Here’s an art-house film made by a Hollywood company. It’s a very avant-garde film.”

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