And the Best Presenter Oscar goes to... Rita Moreno (with a peak at West Side Story)
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 8:31AM Nathaniel R
In the matter of one of the "smaller awards" (haha) like Best Picture, the Oscars chose to go very big and noteworthy indeed. Screen star and EGOT legend Rita Moreno (whose classics include The King and I, Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, and Carnal Knowledge... though Hollywood obviously never did right by her denying her the lead roles she clearly would have aced) did the honors. She was a perfect choice both for her all-generations appeal, and her estimable comic gift. In introducing the Best Picture category she memorably joked that the most important award was "Best Supporting Actress" and her winning role came in a movie that won some other 'smaller awards,' too. She remains a reliable energetic funny delight at 89. Sadly, this great great moment didn't come at the end of the broadcast (argh!) but a couple of prizes too early. To understand how big a deal it is that Rita Moreno presented you have to also understand the history a bit...
Rita with her daughter on the red carpet
In the 93 year history of the Academy Awards, this honor has usually been reserved for men. It took Oscar twenty years until they let a woman do the honors, despite 3 of the original 36 founding members being women and one of them a huge movie star and true power player in town (Mary Pickford). At the 21st ceremony honoring Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948) the Academy's then-current Best Supporting Actress OBSESSION Ethel Barrymore presented, becoming the first woman to do so. The Academy loosened up a bit on their 'boys club' routine shortly after that (round about the time the Oscars started being televised in the early 50s) and actresses semi-regularly popped up. All but two of them they chose, marked with an asterisk, were Best Lead Actress winners: Mary Pickford, Audrey Hepburn, Janet Gaynor, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey again, Olivia de Havilland, Audrey again, Julie Andrews, Elizabeth Taylor, Liz again, Audrey again, Lillian Gish*, Loretta Young, Carol Burnett*, Cher, and Barbra Streisand who presented to Dances with Wolves.
Curiously, the Oscars retreated back into their "Men Only!" stance just as the 1990s (the era of "girlpower!") kicked off. Women were occasionally invited to duet with a man to present the biggest award, but NONE solo for 28 years. You read that right. Between the 63rd Oscars honoring Dances with Wolves (1990) and the 91st Oscars honoring Green Book (2018), no women were invited to present Best Picture solo.
Perhaps hearing our collective decades-long agonized cries of "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU FOR NOT VALUEING ACTRESSES?!?", they finally let women present the biggest award again (solo) starting with Julia Roberts for Green Book. Then Jane Fonda for Parasite. And now Rita Moreno for Nomadland.
Rita Moreno giving one of the most sensational performances in cinema history
Didn't mean to focus so much on Oscar trivia in this post ("Too late!") even though it's a kink we embrace and celebrate on the regular. But it's a way of underlining how rare and wonderful this Rita Moreno moment was. West Side Story is my personal movie of all time so any chance to celebrate Rita Moreno, we should.
The beauty of this moment wasn't just that the Oscars were finally embracing one of Hollywood's living elderly legends (which they've been weirdly reticent to do these past couple of decades and Best Picture presentation is a perfect place to do so!). It's also that it was a Best Supporting Actress winner and a woman of color! In fact, she's the first woman of color to ever present Best Picture solo (multiple men of color have done it), though we should note that Michelle Obama did it in tandem with Jack Nicholson for Argo (2012), and is the only non-actress to have done so though men who are not actors have occassionally done so (usually directors).
Was Rita Moreno's appearance also a publicity stunt? Sure! It always helps to have something to promote and this year could be a very big year in terms of communal love headed Moreno's way. A new doc on Rita Moreno that's been on the festival circuit, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It hits theaters on June 18th.
And then six months later on December 10th, the day before Rita's 90th birthday, Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story hits theaters.
This time Ariana DeBose (The Prom) will be playing "Anita" and Rita Moreno herself will be playing the role that used to be "Doc"... only she's named Valentina in a gender and racial swapped choice. Theoretically Rita could be back at the Oscars in the Best Supporting Actress race again and even up against a younger version of her most iconic role (but that's getting WAY too far ahead of ourselves).
Or is it? This teaser trailer is clearly meant to play off of the idea that this is the prestige musical to end all musicals. It looks very self-consciously huge and prestigiously photographed (like a moving FYC ad) while also paying respect to the original with that graffiti text and the whistling to kick it off. Will next year's Oscar race be two huge Latin-American musicals up against each other with The Heights and West Side Story both arriving?
No. no. Let's save these questions til the "April Foolish Oscar Predictions"... in... um... mid May this year since the Oscars were so late. We'll get to it soon!
more from Oscar night
The Ceremony Reviewed
Best Dressed
Best Presenter - Rita Moreno
New Oscar Records
Directing Actors to Nominations & Wins - Some Statistics
Oscar Tweets
Winners List
Reader Comments (36)
How can something so woke put so many people to sleep?’
Rita Moreno could be the first person to win an Oscar for performing in an original and remake.
Random side trivia: When Ethel Barrymore opened the envelope and had to announce the winner, everyone saw that she was visibly upset. She hated Olivier's Hamlet and believed that her brother's version was much better. She wasn't thrilled and didn't hide it.
Wouldn't be surprising to see a huge Latinx presence at next year's awards.
In the Heights + West Side Story + Ana de Armas as Marilyn (maybe this is our next non-white Best Actress) could make for some headlines.
Pushing the latino narrative a bit too soon. It must suck to be an American with all these hidden agendas everywhere.
Rita Moreno should present all of the awards. And accept many of them too. She always has and continues to have the most wonderful stage presence. Before presenting the Foreign Language Film Oscar 3 years ago, I believe her only presenting appearance at the awards was to Ed Begley the year after she won. And I believe her only post-win appearance at the Tonys was to present a special Tony as part of a group to when she was about to open in her most recent Broadway appearance. This is no way to treat an EGOT!
Please don't forget Being the Ricardos. I can play a latina too!
You are putting a lot of stock in this been there, done that remake (in what will be a very competitive year) that doesn't look much different from the familiar original. I can see Rita Moreno's nomination and little else.
It’s good to have women presenting as well. However I rather not have actors present Best Picture. Early Oscars you had issue with were by studio executives and producers for most part. I think that makes more sense for Best Picture that actors who already present so many categories and are visible anyway. Nowadays while female studio executives and producers aren’t as common still as men they do exist so maybe we could get back to that? In addition to some directors and writers maybe.
I am exited by all musicals coming up next year. Since even musical adaptations like West Side Story, Into the Heights and Dear Evan Hensen will have most likely something new for Oscar contention and Encanto is new musical maybe next year the original song category isn’t mostly made of end credits songs. And pretty likely that some Latino will win something.
jules -- am I? I haven't revealed any predictions yet. Just asking a question in the post -- it's going to be a big topic film even if the Oscars dont respond. But they usually respond to Spielberg films.
chinoserie -- well once they started televising, it was always going to be movie stars presenting the biggest award. But at least they did try a couple different tactics a few times (like a trio of directors) and spielberg solo.
nathanielb -- her treatment in the industry is a bit puzzling given her dynamic screen charisma. I suppose its what comes from being a pioneer. you pave the way for others but you dont necessarily reap the benefits yourself always
I'm still skeptical we need a new WEST SIDE STORY - if there were ever a film that *doesn't* need a remake, it's that one, yes, even with its brownface and its non-singing leads - but I will await the reviews. It's interesting, judging from the trailer, how much homage it seems to be paying to the original, at least in the costumes (Maria's dress in particular).
But yes, everything is better with Rita Moreno, including the Oscars.
Nathaniel - To be fair, Spielberg is kind of hit and miss with the Oscars. Who would have thought, a year in advance, that The Post would end up with only two nominations?
Two recent remakes have done well in terms of Oscar nominations, Little Women and A Star Is Born. Both were reinterpretations where their source material was recast with a 21st century perspective. As Lynn said, we'll wait to see, but the trailer looks as though that's not the case here. I think the contrast with In the Heights could make this film look even more stodgy.
Jules -- is he though? all of his Best Picture seeking films in the past 15 years have been nominated, The last time he was aiming with something that missed that was technically doable was THE TERMINAL way back in 2004. even the Post got nominated which they obviously weren't crazy about in general. but i see your point about In the Heights. Hopefully that's great.
I hope the academy continue this trend! I want so manny forgotten legends to present best picture! Imagine someone like liza Minnelli to do so 🤩
P.S
Isn't Rita the oldest best picture presenter ever?
Why didn't the Academy think to have George Chakiris present with her? :)
I get the sense that WEST SIDE STORY will do about as well as other recent Spielberg films at the Oscars: a handful of nominations and maybe a couple of wins. LINCOLN did okay, but that was an odd fluke of a success, I think--something about it got people in small town America and red states to the theater who averaged one movie outside of the home every two years.
As good as THE POST, BRIDGE OF SPIES and WAR HORSE were, they were never frontrunners for Best Picture and only took in one win between the three of them. Although a bunch of theater fanatics pounced on me for suggesting the new WSS was not needed--who knew Broadway queens hated the original film so much?--I think it's quite possible that average filmgoer will look at this version and say, "Yeah, I had to watch that in the 5th grade. Why watch it again?" On the other hand, IN THE HEIGHTS could well be the surprise hit of the season. Critic screenings had already begun before COVID hit last year and critics like Bilge Ebiri who saw are letting it be known that it's VERY strong.
Rita Moreno - who can't love her? - is the most obvious baiting for an Oscar win I've ever seen in my life... Spielberg casts her in the film, she's "magically" introduced to present in the ceremony that also marks the debut of the trailer of her Oscar-winning movie remake, and it even seems that the character may have been written specifically for her and for the new version. One year in advance, they are starting the campaign for Supporting Actress - among others. The narrative is clear, a living legend in a different role in the same story... regardless of the final quality, I find this a new stunt a new record in desperate Oscar hunt (not Moreno's fault by any means, beware!)
The first shots in the West Side Story Teaser Trailer could belong to the original movie, so now I'm really intrigued.
"Rita Moreno - who can't love her?"
Sally Struthers was on Marc Maron's podcast recently and described Moreno as "just a mean, difficult human being" when they worked together on The Odd Couple.
@Mike M.
didn't know that... that could easily debunk her chances to construct a narrative to win again...
Nathaniel -
please forgive me while I wipe away a furtive tear at your forgetting The BFG, one of my very favorite films of the last decade - a film that flopped so bad it made the regular news. Spielberg got it so right! I think its a wonderful movie, and it ended up getting 0 Oscar nominations, not even for its fantastic score or for Visual Effects (even Ready Player One got one there). And as we see, it's now already forgotten. Forgive me while I try to compose myself.
To honour all the wonderful women who've presented the best picture Oscar it's too bad you didn't list those who presented in tandem with an actor. I can remember Faye Dunaway presenting with Warren Beatty celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bonnie and Clyde and coming back again the next year because of that La La Land / Moonlight envelope mishap. Were there any others?
Does any male presenter come close to Audrey Hepburn's four best picture presentations? That really shows her star power and how much she was respected and adored by the Academy
@Pat, Jack has done it 8 times total, but five times solo. As a kid, I was always surprised when it wasn't Jack presenting.
I liked what the producers did the year of the '08 winners: have a group of actors/actresses on stage presenting the acting awards and speaking to their 'favorite' of the performances. Doesn't even matter if it's scripted... I loved imagining a reality where, say, Anjelica Huston talks about Cruz's winning performance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (SUCH a delicious win!).
Also, I think Oscars should commit to longer clips for each performance, and a sizzle reel for each tech category. Hell, I might even settle for the return of the original score suites from the '90s and early '00s.
This awards show is about the movies, the craft of filmmaking, the performances we remember and also, sometimes, wish to forget.
The producers always find some way to pad a show that does NOT need ANY padding. Always.
'Tis a shame, as I do think the perfect Oscar ceremony exists out there... "Somewhere a place for us..."
@Pat - This century, Diane Keaton presented with Jack Nicholson when the Departed won, and Barbra Streisand presented with Dustin Hoffman when Million Dollar Baby won (and as Nathaniel mentioned, Michelle Obama remotely presented with Jack Nicholson when Argo won). Before that you have to go back to Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman presenting Silence of the Lambs.
I hated most everything about this Oscar ceremony except Rita Moreno's million dollar presentation of the misplaced Best Picture award. She was charming, engaging and engaged and instead of trying to look like a runway model as so many do she looked like the star that she is.
I worked in the original WSS and Moreno was a negative for me. I was a total underling. The only scene I was in was at the dance.
Also, she did not like Natalie Wood and let every one know it. On the other hand, Natalie was very nice. She was quite conscious that she was not a singer or dancer. So the work was even harder for her.
Rita Moreno is a bitch. She had to be in order to survive in the biz.
Rita Moreno... LEGEND. And ELITE!
Not digging the look of the remake at all. I understand they have to distance themselves from the original in some way, but making it look so drab and dull (like a lot of recent Spielberg films) just feels wrong and also screams of them wanting this to be seen as a SERIOUS movie. I'll see it for Rita and Ariana, though.
I met her at an ABC affiliate meeting in 1983 - not the most pleasant of people, a bit snippy and condescending. Sometimes the celebrities are pleasant / sometimes they are not. BTW - Sally Struthers was super fun / nice / chatty! but that’s ok. I enjoy moreno’s work.....even on Sesame Street. Rockford files. She had an awful “golden girls” spinoff.
Celebrating the 59th anniversary of West Side Story was an odd choice (See also Bonnie and Clyde).
The film "West Side Story" was released in 1961 - making it the 60th anniversary.
When Rita Moreno appeared I thought she was going to present a special award or something else. When i saw " Best Picture" in the background I thought - was I in the bathroom when Best Actor and Actress were presented???
But when I discovered the producers put the Acting awards last , I realised they were hoping for a teary finale with Mrs Boseman making a speech on behalf of Chadwick.
And yes we all know how that turned out.
There were good things about this telecast and some not so good things. Kinda what we expect from the Oscar telecast.
I hope next year the producers incorporate what was really good and toss out the not so good.
Best Picture should always be the final award and the Director award should be just before the Lead Acting awards.
Oh and that whole 'lets play a game' thing was cringeworthy. The sort of crap that Letterman did a few years ago.
I didn't want to be the first one to say it, but Rita Moreno does seem to offend people She came to give a speech at Texas A&M a few years ago. I wasn't there, but a (Latinx) professor who was there told me that Moreno basically publicly humiliated an undergraduate who got tongue tied trying to ask her something during the Q&A. This professor friend told me he always liked her before that night but was totally soured to her as a result of it. It's one thing to be tough to survive in Hollywood, it's another to embarrass an 18 year old college kid in front of his friends because he got star struck trying to ask you a question. If that behavior is typical of her, maybe we have an answer as to why she never got an Emmy nomination for her excellent work on ONE DAY AT A TIME...
@Baby Jane These were 93rd Annual Academy Awards, celebrating the films of 2020. West Side Story hadn't even been released at this time 60 years ago and was rewarded with 10 wins at the 33rd Academy Awards which took place in April 1962.
If they wanted to celebrate a legendary Oscar winning film on it's 60th Oscar Anniversary with an iconic star in attendance then they should have chosen The Apartment and invited Shirley MacLaine along.
The Oscar gods clearly don't approve either as look what happened when Faye and Warren were chosen to hand out Best Picture on Bonnie & Clyde's 59th anniversary. The fiasco that ended this years ceremony as well was not a coincidence!!!
You're making things too complicated. It's the 60th anniversary of WEST SIDE STORY's release year, 1961. Not the year it won its Oscars.