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Hollywood Reporter is doing some solid work today, catching up with Eileen Bowman, an actress who, in 1989, played Snow White opposite pre-sex scandal Rob Lowe in one of the most disastrous Oscars musical numbers of all time. It was an especially interesting read for me, since I’m too young to remember the number in question (older I get, the more I enjoy saying that). But I’m including the longest video of it I could find. My God, it’s so painful. It goes without saying, but there was a lot of cocaine going around in the late eighties.
The campy live number, arranged and conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, was as over-the-top as the man who masterminded it, Grease producer Allan Carr, a bombastic Hollywood oddball famed for wearing caftans and hosting debauched parties at his disco-equipped house in Benedict Canyon. (That residence, Hilhaven Lodge, is the current home of Brett Ratner, leading some to joke that the place is cursed, at least where producing the Oscars is concerned.)
The bit featured background actors dressed as stars with black leggings and Merv Griffin singing about coconuts, for 15 minutes, even longer and more painful than an SNL cold open these days. Just how bad was it?
Carr was uniformly shunned at industry canteen Morton’s the following day. Disney, which then had no stake in ABC, was furious over the unauthorized use of its copyrighted version of Snow White and filed a lawsuit against the Academy. And 17 Hollywood heavyweights — among them Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Julie Andrews and Billy Wilder — signed an open letter deriding the telecast as “an embarrassment to both the Academy and the entire motion picture industry.”
This is at an event for an organization that invited Billy Crystal back to host last year. You can imagine how bad a bit would have to be to inspire an open letter.
[Bowman, during the audition process] Our first stop was Allan Carr’s house. I remember his swimming pool had pink water in it. He had a 30-foot Oscar outside his door and auditioned us in a robe. The other girl and I looked at each other thinking, “What is happening?”
My dress was bought for $23,000 by someone involved with the production who was buried in it. It was a man. I’m leaving it at that.
[The next day after the Oscars] My phone never stopped ringing. It was awful. All I can say is what Rob Lowe said, “Never trust a man in a caftan.” [THR]
Anyway, it’s a great read, and I’d definitely urge you to check it out. I’d like to think Brett Ratner has since had Allan Carr’s pink disco pool filled with nacho cheese. Disco pool —> Crisco pool.
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Why Snow White? We need an extensive oral history regarding this.
I assume they choose Snow White, because even when it comes to drugs the Oscar writers can help but go for bad puns. ( [www.urbandictionary.com] )
And that cocaine was coming from Peru, definitely not Columbia.
For fuck’s sake, it’s ColOmbia.
Jesus, don’t bring up Colombia again. If this starts back up the whole of Central America’s entertainment media will be calling on Vince to apologize for smallpox.
Obviously the ColOmbian slanderer Mr. Mancini is nostril deep into an 8-ball today based on his quick temper, ay caramba!
That’s Meester Veence to you, cabron!
That was LITERALLY the worst Oscar musical number ever.
*runs 50 laps around the office park*
Eileen Bowman!! That was, the WORST intro, EVER! But your dress, was, spectacular!
I have a vague recollection of seeing this and my mom wondering under her breath, “what the hell is this?” It’s a living fever dream.
Did this post say anything other than “debauched parties at his disco-equipped house”? Because that’s all I’m left with.
“This was very disturbing, and I don’t think anyone in the audience got what they were doing. They didn’t explain it or provide a context, and that’s why it was offensive to me and to other people. This is a theatre in Hollywood. I’m sure lots of people have personal connections to “Snow White”, or have family members who died in cocaine-fueled song-and-dance on-stage abortions. I’m surprised that someone would think this was a good idea.”
– Sullivan McIntosh-Smith, Freshman, Bucknell
I’m too lazy to find the thread to paste this into for comments of the week but @Silance, that was awesome.
I mean, the mere insinuation that Snow White can count in Spanish…
Well, at least it doesn’t involve rap or dubstep “music” These damn kids today….
This performance is a little worse than an episode of Glee. But way less hate-able than an episode of Glee.
Pause the video at 9:15 and tell me that’s not Oscar from The Office high-stepping it????
Other than that, Mr. Peck, how was the show?
what is happening at the end where snow white waddles out with the whole theater attached to her cabbage? Is she dreaming of the theater or something?
this is the greatest thing i have ever seen, stars with human legs, dancing tables, a confused audience, the pained look on snow whites face, rob lowe singing off key, and copy right infringement up the ass. not to mention that none of it made sense. this is the best career killing thing in the history of ever.
1:15 : Martin Landau (the wonderful actor who actually smiles and holds poor Eileen’s/Snow White’s hand during her living nightmare): you are truly the best of the best. If only all of the actors and actresses were as kind and understanding as you were and are. I hope to the Heaven’s above that someone is there for me when things are this dark.
While I realized the media needs a new story every 10 minutes and this is the latest, it’s incredibly sad that Alan Carr’s other Oscar achievements have been forgotten. It is undisputed that the ’89 Oscar opening number was atrocious, but off the top of my head, there are three things Mr Carr contributed that year, that are still being used, that we clearly love, or they would’ve changed those aspects of the Oscars.
1. Without Alan Carr there would be no red carpet Oscar fashion show. It was his idea to highlight the actresses and what they were wearing. Something that has now become an event unto itself. As well it was Carr who encouraged fashion designers to allow the actresses to wear their designs for free, for the publicity.
2. Mr. Carr felt “and the winner is” was crass and somewhat hurtful to the losers. He decided it should be announced, “and the Oscar goes to” which again, is something we still hear on the Oscars today.
3. He was the first to bring in corporate sponsorship.
He also changed the format of the show, but I can’t remember the exact details so I’ll leave to you to find out. I learned all this from reading Alan Carr’s biography Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll.
While he didn’t always make the best creative decisions, he is the man that also brought us Grease. The way that he was vilified after the ’89 Oscars is shameful.
It would behoove many to read the book about the man instead of focusing on 1 unknown actresses impressions of her short time with him.
I’m not saying Alan Carr didn’t do anything good for the Oscars, but I will say that none of your examples strike me as positives.