Oscar (1991 film)
Encyclopedia
Oscar is a 1991 American comedy film directed by John Landis
. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake
of the 1967 film of the same name
, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era
New York City
and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight. The film stars Sylvester Stallone
, Marisa Tomei
, Ornella Muti
, Tim Curry
, and Chazz Palminteri
and was a rare attempt by Stallone at doing a comedy role.
Angelo “Snaps” Provolone promises his dying father (Kirk Douglas
) that he will give up a life of crime, and instead "go straight".
A Month later, Snaps awakes at his mansion and begins his important morning. He has a meeting with several prominent bankers, as he hopes to donate a large sum of cash and join the bank’s board of trustees, thereby having an honest job and keeping his word to his father. Anthony Rossano, Snaps's young, good-natured accountant, arrives at the mansion and sets all events in motion. Anthony tells his boss that he’s in love, asks for a 250% raise, then tells Snaps the true love he speaks of is actually "Snaps's daughter." After Anthony professes his love for the daughter, Snaps does not want his daughter marrying Anthony and goes to talk to his daughter.
Lisa Provolone is the only child of Snaps and Sofia. Lisa is a spoiled daughter whose dreams of seeing the world’s great sights run into a roadblock because of her overly protective father. Wishing to move out of the house, she lies to her parents (at the suggestion of the maid, Nora) and claims to be pregnant. Snaps, believing the father to be Anthony (as he wants to marry "Snaps's daughter"), is shocked when Lisa says the father is Oscar, the former chauffeur
who is now out of the country.
Things get even more complicated when Anthony learns that Theresa, the woman he fell in love with, is not actually Snaps' daughter, but was merely pretending to be. Before Anthony can catch on, Snaps tricks him into agreeing to marry his actual daughter, Lisa, who is supposedly pregnant but without a husband. Both Lisa and Anthony are unhappy at the hasty arrangement, and the pair luck out when Lisa falls in love with someone else – Dr. Thornton Poole, Snaps' dialectician
.
Meanwhile, local police lieutenant Toomey is keeping an eye on the mansion, believing that Snaps is meeting with Chicago
mobsters
soon. Also watching Snaps is mob rival Vendetti, who, too, believes that Snaps is meeting Chicago mobsters. Vendetti plans a hit on Snaps in the early afternoon while Toomey plans a raid at the same time to catch Snaps red-handed.
While Anthony seeks out Theresa, Snaps meets his mansion's new maid, Roxie. As it turns out, Roxie is an old flame of Snaps, and the pair talk memories and the life that never was. Theresa comes to the mansion and is revealed to be Roxie's daughter - who was actually fathered by Snaps long ago - making Snaps her dad after all. The impromptu celebration of both his daughters' engagements is cut short by the arrival of the bankers. During the meeting, Snaps senses the bankers are giving him a raw deal. The meeting is interrupted by police officers and Toomey, who is embarrassed to find no money or gangsters present on site. He leaves the mansion just in time for Vendetti's car full of armed men to crash right outside. Toomey smiles for reporters and arrests the men.
With no hope to actually become a banker, Snaps decides to abandon his short-lived honest ways and return to a life of crime. The final scene of the movie shows a double wedding for both his daughters. Oscar himself finally appears and objects to Lisa's marriage, but he is carried off by Snaps' men and the weddings end happily.
and is based around Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville. In the Varese Sarabande edition of film soundtrack, there are liner notes from John Landis about the score:
The opening track is Largo Al Factorum from The Barber of Seville, performed by Earle Patriarco. Track Cops and Real Crooks concludes Finucci Piano Boogie composed and performed by Ralph Grierson. The Varese edition of the film's soundtrack also contained four songs which appeared during the film: Sweet Georgia Brown (performed by Bing Crosby
), Rockin' In Rhythm (performed by Duke Ellington
& His Orchestra, Tea For Two
(performed by Fred Waring
& His Pennsylvanians) and Plain Dirt (performed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
).
There are currently two versions of the soundtrack. The first comprises four tracks used in the film in certain scenes. These are:
This is the May 1995 version of the soundtrack and does not include the selections by Elmer Bernstein.
The second includes all of the selections from the film, including the tracks from the other soundtrack:
version was released November 11. The VHS release was September 11, 1991, and the DVD was released May 6, 2003.
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...
. Based on the Claude Magnier stage play, it is can be considered a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1967 film of the same name
Oscar (1967 film)
Oscar is a French comedy of errors movie from 1967, directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Louis de Funès. In the movie, Louis de Funès plays an industrialist named Bertrand Barnier who discovers over the course of a single day that his daughter is pregnant, he has been robbed by an employee,...
, but the settings has been moved to the Depression era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and centers around a mob boss trying to go straight. The film stars Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
, Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...
, Ornella Muti
Ornella Muti
Ornella Muti is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome as Francesca Romana Rivelli, to a Neapolitan father and Russian mother. Her maternal grandparents immigrated from Leningrad , Russia, to Estonia...
, Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
, and Chazz Palminteri
Chazz Palminteri
Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
and was a rare attempt by Stallone at doing a comedy role.
Plot
In the prologue, GangsterGangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
Angelo “Snaps” Provolone promises his dying father (Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
) that he will give up a life of crime, and instead "go straight".
A Month later, Snaps awakes at his mansion and begins his important morning. He has a meeting with several prominent bankers, as he hopes to donate a large sum of cash and join the bank’s board of trustees, thereby having an honest job and keeping his word to his father. Anthony Rossano, Snaps's young, good-natured accountant, arrives at the mansion and sets all events in motion. Anthony tells his boss that he’s in love, asks for a 250% raise, then tells Snaps the true love he speaks of is actually "Snaps's daughter." After Anthony professes his love for the daughter, Snaps does not want his daughter marrying Anthony and goes to talk to his daughter.
Lisa Provolone is the only child of Snaps and Sofia. Lisa is a spoiled daughter whose dreams of seeing the world’s great sights run into a roadblock because of her overly protective father. Wishing to move out of the house, she lies to her parents (at the suggestion of the maid, Nora) and claims to be pregnant. Snaps, believing the father to be Anthony (as he wants to marry "Snaps's daughter"), is shocked when Lisa says the father is Oscar, the former chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
who is now out of the country.
Things get even more complicated when Anthony learns that Theresa, the woman he fell in love with, is not actually Snaps' daughter, but was merely pretending to be. Before Anthony can catch on, Snaps tricks him into agreeing to marry his actual daughter, Lisa, who is supposedly pregnant but without a husband. Both Lisa and Anthony are unhappy at the hasty arrangement, and the pair luck out when Lisa falls in love with someone else – Dr. Thornton Poole, Snaps' dialectician
Dialectology
Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features...
.
Meanwhile, local police lieutenant Toomey is keeping an eye on the mansion, believing that Snaps is meeting with Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
mobsters
Mobsters
Mobsters is a 1991 crime-drama film detailing the creation of the The Commission. Set in New York City, taking place from 1917 to 1931, it is a semi-fictitious account of the rise of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.-Plot:This highly dramatized...
soon. Also watching Snaps is mob rival Vendetti, who, too, believes that Snaps is meeting Chicago mobsters. Vendetti plans a hit on Snaps in the early afternoon while Toomey plans a raid at the same time to catch Snaps red-handed.
While Anthony seeks out Theresa, Snaps meets his mansion's new maid, Roxie. As it turns out, Roxie is an old flame of Snaps, and the pair talk memories and the life that never was. Theresa comes to the mansion and is revealed to be Roxie's daughter - who was actually fathered by Snaps long ago - making Snaps her dad after all. The impromptu celebration of both his daughters' engagements is cut short by the arrival of the bankers. During the meeting, Snaps senses the bankers are giving him a raw deal. The meeting is interrupted by police officers and Toomey, who is embarrassed to find no money or gangsters present on site. He leaves the mansion just in time for Vendetti's car full of armed men to crash right outside. Toomey smiles for reporters and arrests the men.
With no hope to actually become a banker, Snaps decides to abandon his short-lived honest ways and return to a life of crime. The final scene of the movie shows a double wedding for both his daughters. Oscar himself finally appears and objects to Lisa's marriage, but he is carried off by Snaps' men and the weddings end happily.
Production
The film is directed as if it were a film of that time, with humor and dialogue delivered in a manner reminiscent of old Hollywood comedies. Director John Landis had saidThe little black bag
One of the main ways that so many different subplots are tied together is with three black suitcases that are mistaken for each other. One suitcase contains jewels that Antony Rossano purchased after he stole $50k from Snaps. The second suitcase contains Nora's underwear. The third suitcase contains another $50k, this time in cash, that Rossano stole from Snaps. There are two different scenes where Snaps wished to give either jewels or cash to the Doctor but instead opens up the suitcase to find underwear. The bags are switched out a number of different times with the intention of returning Nora's underwear to her and the Jewels/Cash to Snaps but by the end of the movie Nora has both the suitcase with the jewels and the suitcase with the cash. This leaves only the suitcase with the underwear in the house when the NYPD arrive to start making accusations. Toomey opens up the bag of underwear as reporters snap photos.Cast
- Sylvester StalloneSylvester StalloneMichael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
as Angelo "Snaps" Provolone is a feared gangster who, at the beginning of the film, promises his dying father that he will give up a life of crime, and instead "go straight". - Ornella MutiOrnella MutiOrnella Muti is an Italian actress. She was born in Rome as Francesca Romana Rivelli, to a Neapolitan father and Russian mother. Her maternal grandparents immigrated from Leningrad , Russia, to Estonia...
as Sofia Provolone: Snaps' wife. - Marisa TomeiMarisa TomeiMarisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...
as Lisa Provolone: the only child of Snaps and Sofia. Lisa is a spoiled daughter whose dreams of seeing the world’s great sights run into a roadblock because of her overly protective father. Wishing to move out of the house, she lies to her parents (at the suggestion of the maid, Nora) and claims to be pregnant. - Vincent SpanoVincent SpanoVincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...
as Anthony Rossano: the kind yet wily accountant of Snaps. Anthony’s early morning arrival to the mansion sets all events in motion. Anthony tells his boss that he’s in love, asks for a monumental raise, then tells Snaps the true love he speaks of is actually "Snaps's daughter." After Anthony professes his love for the daughter, Snaps agrees to let him and his daughter marry. What Anthony soon learns is this: The woman he fell in love with is not actually Snaps' daughter, but was merely pretending to be. - Elizabeth Barondes as Theresa: revealed later to be Snaps illegitimate daughter via Roxanne.
- Tim CurryTim CurryTimothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
as Dr. Thornton Poole: a linguistics expert who arrives for an elocution lesson with Snaps. Poole is a world traveler, who giddily traverses the country in his studies of the sub-dialects of the English language. - Peter RiegertPeter RiegertPeter Riegert is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos.-Early life:...
as Aldo: Snaps’s top man who took over the role of house butlerButlerA butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
when his boss went straight. Often underappreciated, Aldo tries to keep all the mansion henchmen in line in preparation for Snaps’s important meeting with the bankers. - Chazz PalminteriChazz PalminteriCalogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
as Connie: a loyal but dim-witted button manButton ManButton Man is a comic strip created for leading British comic 2000 AD, written by John Wagner and illustrated by Arthur Ranson.-Plot:...
for Snaps. Connie’s penchant for carrying numerous weapons and his slow wits make for several humorous moments. - Joycelyn O'Brien as Nora: the maid.
- Linda GrayLinda GrayLinda Ann Gray is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.-Career:Prior to acting, Gray began working as a model in the 1960s...
as Roxanne: a replacement maid sent over by the service after Nora’s sudden departure. Snaps recognizes Roxanne (“Roxy”), as the two are actually former lovers who had a fling many years ago, before Snaps became a gangster. Roxanne reveals she left Snaps one night because she was pregnant. She is extremely surprised to see her daughter in the mansion – Theresa. Connie then puts all the facts together and reveals that Theresa is actually Snaps’ real daughter from a relationship 20 years ago. - Martin FerreroMartin FerreroMartin Ferrero is an American stage and film actor.Ferrero joined the California Actors Theater in Los Gatos, California. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles and began to act in Hollywood. He is widely remembered for his role as the ill-fated lawyer Donald Gennaro in Jurassic Park...
as Luigi Finucci: one of a pair of Italian tailors who arrive early to find Snaps the perfect suit for his important meeting. The Finucci’s are constantly disrupted as problems around the house continue to occur. - Harry ShearerHarry ShearerHarry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
as Guido Finucci: Luigi's brother. Snaps manages to convince Anthony that the Fenucci’s are vicious assassins who will murder Anthony on a moment’s notice should he step out of line. - Kurtwood SmithKurtwood SmithKurtwood Larson Smith is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop and stern parental characters , and for his appearances in the genre of science fiction...
as Lt. Toomey, Chicago PD - Eddie BrackenEddie BrackenEdward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...
as stuttering stool pigeon Five-Spot Charlie - Richard RomanusRichard RomanusRichard Romanus is an American actor of Lebanese descent. Among other roles, he has appeared in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and provided voices for Ralph Bakshi's animated films Wizards and Hey Good Lookin'. He played Lorraine Bracco's ex-husband, later husband again, in three episodes of The...
as Vendetti: a rival gangster of Snaps' who's worried at how quiet Snaps has been recently. Vendetti gathers a group of men and plans to assassinate Snaps in the early afternoon. His car full of men crashes near the house though, right in front of Lt. Toomey, who arrests the whole group. - Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
as Eduardo Provolone: Snaps' dying father who makes him promise to "go straight". - Don AmecheDon AmecheDon Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
as Father Clemente - Jim MulhollandJim MulhollandJim Mulholland is an American television writer and film screenwriter. At nineteen, he was the youngest writer ever on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. He has since won a Writers Guild Award and has received twenty Emmy nominations in the late-night comedy category...
as Oscar - Yvonne De CarloYvonne De CarloYvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-born American actress of film and television. During her six-decade career, her most frequent appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as of Anna Marie in Salome Where She Danced ; Anna in Criss Cross ; Sephora the...
as Aunt Rosa
Soundtrack
The film score was composed by Elmer BernsteinElmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
and is based around Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville. In the Varese Sarabande edition of film soundtrack, there are liner notes from John Landis about the score:
The opening track is Largo Al Factorum from The Barber of Seville, performed by Earle Patriarco. Track Cops and Real Crooks concludes Finucci Piano Boogie composed and performed by Ralph Grierson. The Varese edition of the film's soundtrack also contained four songs which appeared during the film: Sweet Georgia Brown (performed by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
), Rockin' In Rhythm (performed by Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
& His Orchestra, Tea For Two
Tea for Two (song)
"Tea for Two" is a song from the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar. It is a duet sung by Nanette and Tom in Act II as they imagine their future.-Analysis:...
(performed by Fred Waring
Fred Waring
Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...
& His Pennsylvanians) and Plain Dirt (performed by McKinney's Cotton Pickers
McKinney's Cotton Pickers
McKinney's Cotton Pickers were an African American jazz band founded in Detroit in 1926 by William McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten pieces. Cuba Austin took over for McKinney early on drums....
).
There are currently two versions of the soundtrack. The first comprises four tracks used in the film in certain scenes. These are:
- "Rockin in Rhythm"
- "Sweet Georgia Brown"
- "Plain Dirt"
- "Barber of Seville" - (excerpts)
This is the May 1995 version of the soundtrack and does not include the selections by Elmer Bernstein.
The second includes all of the selections from the film, including the tracks from the other soundtrack:
- "Largo Al Factotum" (performed by Earle Patriarco) (4:42)
- "Grifting" (5:43)
- "Lisa Dreams" (3:46)
- "Tea and Romance" (4:29)
- "Revelations" (5:27)
- "Cops and Real Crooks" (composed and performed by Ralph Grierson) (5:45)
- "Sweet Georgia Brown" - Bing Crosby (2:54)
- "Rockin' in Rhythm" - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (3:21)
- "Tea for Two" - Fred waring and His Pennsylvanians (3:21)
- "Plain Dirt" - McKinney's Cotton Pickers (2:38)
Reaction
It was the number one movie in the US for two weeks. However, it still received very negative reviews and failed to bring back its $35 million budget. Oscar was nominated for three Razzie Awards: Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone), Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei).Home media release
The film was released on April 26, 1991 (USA) and nine international releases from June until September. The LaserdiscLaserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
version was released November 11. The VHS release was September 11, 1991, and the DVD was released May 6, 2003.