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WHEN THINGS GO AWRY, Continued.
THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE OSCARS
Bernds sent the Academy a telegram. The Academy sent Bernds and Ullman a thank you letter for getting them out of a jam. Bernds contends that if they hadn't withdrawn, the Bowery Boys film could have won. The Academy sent them their Academy nomination plaques; Bernds hung his in his office.
But how did it happen? How did the guys in the writers' department of the Academy make this mistake? That's like not being able to tell the difference between caviar and corn beef hash. According to Huntz (Sach) Hall, in The Bowery Boys Interviews DVD, MGM wanted to use the title, High Society, but, as Hall says, "We owned it...the Bowery Boys." Apparently, Allied Artists cut a deal with MGM; Halls says, "...money was...changed hands."
Huntz Hall (Sach), and Leo Gorcey (Slip), with Gabriel Dell, David Gorcey (in hat), Buddy Gorman, and Billy Benedict (Whitey).
Alright, so the deal was made and MGM's High Society went on to garner several nominations. But, how did the Best Original Screenplay mix-up occur? Hall claims it has to do with the nomination itself. Best Original Screenplay. MGM's High Society was not an original work, but an adaptation of a 1940 film titled The Philadelphia Story, which itself, was an adaptation of a Broadway play. So, Hall concludes, the writers got together and decided to nominate the Bowery Boys film for the award to get this point through.
The interviewer on the DVD remembers the Academy's realization of the 'mistake' as "a terrible commotion." Huntz Hall referred to it as a "big deal." Our heroes, Terrence Aloysius 'Slip' Mahoney, Horace Debussy 'Sach' Jones, and the Bowery Boys had Hollywood in an uproar. But Edward Bernds intervened, and MGM didn't have to send Sinatra over to Allied Artists to set things straight. Just kidding, Frank.
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