An old Hollywood treasure was discovered in an unlikely place this weekend. It was a special Oscar for the 1935 Clark Gable film classic. “It Happened One Night”He was given to Covington, Kentucky as a donation.
Cincinnati newspaper CityBeatThe Oscar was reported to have been included in a box for the Be Concerned food pantry, which also runs a thrift shop. The organization’s executive director Andy Brunsman said that they received the award this past summer and have had it sitting on their shelves for sale seemingly unnoticed.
“Some generous donor rang the back doorbell, gave us a box of what we like to call treasures – could be junk, could be good stuff. We didn’t really know what [the statuette] was, so it went up with the trinkets and knick-knacks on the shelf for a bit,”He stated.
The award was no longer in its glory, but the Be Concerned team suspects that it might not be a tourist souvenir. They reached out to the Academy Museum Los Angeles to confirm that the award in the thrift shop belonged to Frank Capra in 1935. “It Happened One Night.”
It was only the sixth Academy Awards. “It Happened One Night” became the first film to sweep the top five categories — Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress and Screenplay. Capra took the awards for Best Picture and Director, with screenwriter Robert Riskin also taking honors with lead stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert winning for their performances as a jobless newspaper reporter and a spoiled heiress, who famously hitchhikes by showing off her leg in the film to get a driver’s attention.
Only two other films in Oscars history have won all five of these categories. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”In 1975 “The Silence of the Lambs”1991 The Be Concerned mini statuette was an award that was given to the cast of “It Happened One Night”To commemorate this rare accomplishment, although it is not known exactly who was awarded.
Now, the statuette will be going to the Academy Museum where it will be displayed along with other Oscars from the past decades. Be Concerned will receive $1,000 for the return of the statuette. According to the organization, it will take that money and use it to feed more Cincinnatians in need.