It’s always nice to see the deserved films get recognition on the night of the Oscars, but there have been a more than few instances when things don’t go as fans imagined. While started as the ceremony to celebrate the best films, over the course of 96 years, there have been several notable snubs, including the Academy’s decision to crown Green Book over BlacKkKlansman.
But the most infamous snub in the Academy’s history, which changed the Award landscape for all the years to come, involves Miramax’s Shakespeare in Love, which defeated Saving Private Ryan.
Harvey Weinstein’s Obsession to Taste the Oscar Glory
The 71st Academy Awards wasn’t just the regular yearly celebration of the best films of the year but was the climax of a months-long battle between Miramax and DreamWorks. While campaigning for movies to cement them in the minds of Academy voters has been the case since the 30s, disgraced producer and convicted r-pist Harvey Weinstein took it to a new level. In the nineties, the former head of Miramax took aggressive campaigning measures for their releases, and in 1997, the Indie company, at the time, finally had its first Best Picture win with The English Patient.
In Peter Biskind’s Down and Dirty Pictures (via BBC), the former Miramax head said:
“In those days, the studios had a lock on the Oscars, because none of the indies campaigned aggressively. The only thing that we did to change the rules was, rather than just sitting it out and getting beat because somebody has more money, more power, more influence, we ran a guerrilla campaign.”
And heading into the 1999 Oscars, Weinstein was hellbent on tasting the glory of the golden statue once again. But considering Steven Spielberg‘s Saving Private Ryan was the favorite to pick the Oscars for the right reasons, the disgraced CEO stooped to a new low to earn Miramax another win.
Harvey Weinstein Resorted to Negative Campaigning to Defeat Saving Private Ryan
Released under Miramax’s umbrella just ahead of the 71st Academy Awards, the campaigning for Shakespeare in Love changed the way studios approached the Oscars. While aggressive campaigning was one thing, things spiked when he secretly tried to plant the idea that Spielberg’s feature tail off after its opening 20 minutes to journalists.
On the other hand, Spielberg didn’t feel the need to schmooze voters and allowed his work to do the talking. But when the night arrived, thanks to the campaigning, Shakespeare in Love had 13 nods under its belt, as opposed to Saving Private Ryan‘s 11, with the former even snatching the Best Picture win.
The Disgraced Miramax Head Even Snatched Producer Edward Zwick’s Moment of Glory
While it was uncommon for Studio heads to climb up to the stage, having credited himself as a producer on the film, Weinstein took the stage to celebrate the win. But being the Hollywood bully before he was convicted and charged, he denied producer Edward Zwick his moment of glory as he elbowed his way to the top. In an extract from his memoir (via Air Mail), Zwick stated:
“As I stand there, the rictus of a frozen grin immobilizing my face, it occurs to me to shove him over the edge of the stage into the orchestra pit.”
Although there’s no denying that Shakespeare in Love is a great film, Saving Private Ryan deserved to be crowned that year. And even decades after the snub, the consensus surrounding the 1999 Ceremony remains the night the Weinsteins bought the Oscars.
Saving Private Ryan is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
Shakespeare in Love is available to stream on Max.
