A Nazi cops an Oscar.

• Author: Gehring, Wes D.
• Position: REEL WORLD

OSCAR ODDITIES are legion, and they usually occur the evening of the Motion Picture Academy ceremony. The offbeat incidents at the Academy Awards have ranged from silly to somber. At the April 2, 1974, event, a streaker ran past co-host David Niven, who quipped, "Just think, the only laugh that man will probably ever get is for stripping and showing off his shortcomings." On a more solemn note, another outlandish development occurred on March 27, 1973, when Apache-garbed Sacheen Little feather (Native-American actress Marie Louise Cruz) declined, on behalf of Marlon Brando, the Best Actor award for "The Godfather" (1972). His reasons ranged from Hollywood's longtime detrimental portrayal of American Indians, to support for the then-ongoing Native American protest and occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D.

Maverick moments even can spring from normal traditions, such as thank-yous. For instance, on March 4, 1943, Greer Garson won the Best Actress award for "Mrs. Miniver" (1942). Claiming she was "practically unprepared," the actress' acceptance speech lasted nearly six minutes. At the time, people joked it ran longer than her role in the movie. Besides inspiring time limits on future thank-yous, over the years legend had her prattling lasting an hour.

A favorite Oscar myth--as well as the most provocative of Academy statuette facts--is an outgrowth of the first Motion Picture ceremony (May 16,1929), which then included movies that had opened between August 1927 and July 1928. German actor Emil Jannings won for his first two American films, "The Way of All Flesh" (1927) and "The Last Command" (1928). At that time, the award could be based on multiple films. Yet, almost immediately, the myth began that Jannings' vote tally actually lagged behind that of another German "actor," the dog "Rin Tin Tin." (As late as Susan Orlean's 2011 biography of the famous canine, the claim still was being made--although noted film historian and former spokesperson for the Academy, Anthony Slide, maintains this is nonsense.)

Regardless, the German shepherd was found in an enemy trench during World War I and brought back to Hollywood by Capt. Lee Duncan. Trained for the movies, the pooch was so popular in Warner Brothers' silent serials that he received top billing and provided the studio with a key source of income as it struggled through the 1920s. The almost immediate myth about a mutt miscarriage of justice no doubt was fueled by people thinking the movies were...