For better or worse, The Oscars are not simply America’s film awards, they are Hollywood’s film awards.
Synonymous with prestige in the public’s eye, winning an Oscar is a big deal, but perhaps more of a career achievement than an artistic one in the eyes of certain cynics. In the Academy’s 94-year history, there have only been two ties in an acting category and there hasn’t been once since the 1969 instance when the legendary Katharine Hepburn (for The Lion in Winter) and then-newcomer Barbra Streisand (for Funny Girl) shared the Best Actress honor.
So then, what resulted in this tie?
Hollywood received a rather glamorous upgrade in the 1950s (carrying on to the mid-1960s) to compete with the television box sprouting in homes across America. The movies were getting larger in scale: the runtimes, the aspect ratios, the production value; Hollywood wanted audiences to view a night out to the movies as an event.
This approach would create historical epics such as The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and lavish movie musicals such as West Side Story (1961), My Fair Lady (1964), and The Sound of Music (1965). All these films received the Best Picture award, with only The Ten Commandments walking away empty-handed (losing to the adventure epic Around the World in 80 Days). For about ten years from the late 50s to the late 60s, the Academy practically swapped Best Picture honors back and forth between epic dramas and extravagant musicals.
But as with most trends, this style fizzled out. By the late 1960s, the counter-culture movement was growing, and the escapism selling-point of Hollywood wasn’t selling like it used to.
By 1967, the New Hollywood movement was knocking on the door with the release of Bonnie and Clyde, a film hated by its distributor, and one rejected by established film critics, but loved by younger critics. Although it initially received a limited release with no promotion from Warner Bros., the film sparked such an enormous cultural debate that it would go on to become the third highest-grossing film of the year, behind Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and, at number one, The Graduate. While Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate certainly paved the way, the New Hollywood movement would be cemented by 1969’s Easy Rider (supported by Best Picture-winning Midnight Cowboy, and the highest-grossing movie of the year, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), leaving 1968 as an interim year for Hollywood to grapple with the changing times.
When one looks at Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand’s tie, it can be interpreted as passing the torch from Old Hollywood to New.
By 1968, Katharine Hepburn already achieved her legend status, and her nomination for The Lion in Winter was her 11th, tying the record for most Oscar nominations to an actress. For Streisand, her Funny Girl nomination was her first because, well, it was her first film performance. Streisand was far from unknown though, already establishing herself as a singer and receiving a Tony nomination for Funny Girl on Broadway. So clearly, there’s an age gap between the two actresses. In fact, Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win was in 1934, eight years before Barbra Streisand’s birth.
If we look at the movies each actress was nominated for, we’ll also see how the projects largely represent the Academy’s farewell to Hollywood trends of the day. The Lion in Winter fits within the historical epic trend, and although not as large in scale as films in previous years, the movie is certainly dramatic and fully embraces being a period piece. The film follows King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) and his estranged wife (if estranged means imprisoned in a separate castle) Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) during the days of Christmas court in 1183 as they maneuver political chess moves to ensure their respective favorite son is named King Henry II’s successor. To say simply, it’s Game of Thrones meets Succession. With the grand costumes and sets, political intrigue, and appearances by some noteworthy thespians acting their hearts out (including Anthony Hopkins in his feature film debut), it’s easy to see the Academy’s attraction to The Lion in Winter. Katharine Hepburn also delivers an absurdly confident and singular (well, why wouldn’t she?) performance where she weaves her political scheming with her deep-rooted personal conflict.
Funny Girl perfectly fits the musical genre. As the title promises, it is funny, the music is delightful, the technicolor pops on screen, and it has just enough drama to keep us interested in the movie’s back half. The film showcases a fictionalized portrayal of the rise of Vaudeville star Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand), and her whirlwind marriage to Nicky Arnstein (as in MISTA ARNSTEIIIINNNN) played by Omar Sharif. Although in the capable hands of director William Wyler, Funny Girl simply would not work without Barbra Streisand’s charisma and natural character. Streisand balances physical comedy, stunning vocal performances, and quiet moments as Fanny comes to terms with her personal life crumbling under the weight of her success. As Fanny says early in the film after she is invited to a high-profile audition “I haven’t suffered enough yet!” Don’t speak too soon, Fanny.
Neither The Lion in Winter nor Funny Girl would win Best Picture that night, Carol Reed’s Oliver! would take that honor, the fourth musical to win Best Picture within the 1960s, and the last to do so until 2002’s Chicago.
Hollywood trends may die down, but they are rarely gone for good. Even with Katharine Hepburn symbolically passing the torch to Barbra Streisand, Hepburn would be back to win Best Actress for a record-breaking fourth time (yet to be beaten) for 1981’s On Golden Pond.
We’ve seen close races in the Oscars before, but this was tight (obviously, given that it literally resulted in a tie); and yet it’s hard to argue with the outcome. The two actresses were at very different points in their careers with different personal narratives leading up to the ceremony, but still delivered worthy performances, all in the middle of a cultural change that went beyond Hollywood. There’s an inherent celebration in the tie: a celebration of a passing Hollywood style, and an earnest recognition of what was to come.
FEATURED MOVIES:
The Lion in Winter (1968, dir. Anthony Harvey, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Funny Girl (1968, dir. William Wyler, Stream on Amazon Prime, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Drive, Vudu)
ALL MENTIONED MOVIES:
The Lion in Winter (1968, dir. Anthony Harvey, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Funny Girl (1968, dir. William Wyler, Stream on Amazon Prime, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Drive, Vudu)
The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Ben-Hur (1959, dir. William Wyler, Stream on HBO Max, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962, dir. David Lean, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
West Side Story (1961, dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, Stream on HBO Max, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Vudu)
My Fair Lady (1964, dir. George Cukor, Stream on Netflix, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
The Sound of Music (1965, dir. Robert Wise, Stream on Disney+, Rent on Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956, dir. Michael Anderson, Stream on HBO Max, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, dir. Arthur Penn, Stream on HBO Max, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, dir. Stanley Kramer, Stream on Starz, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
The Graduate (1967, dir. Mike Nichols, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Easy Rider (1969, dir. Dennis Hopper, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Vudu)
Midnight Cowboy (1969, dir. John Schlesinger, Stream on Kanopy, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, dir. George Roy Hill, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Oliver! (1968, dir. Carol Reed, Stream on TCM, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
Chicago (2002, dir. Rob Marshall, Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu)
On Golden Pond (1981, dir. Mark Rydell, Stream on Amazon Prime, TCM, Kanopy, Rent on Apple TV, Vudu)