Oscar Speeches that don't suck!

I read this New Yorker article grading the Oscars speeches from last Sunday and thought I would weigh in. They gave Daniel Day Lewis an A+ for his and Quintin Tarantino a C for his. I thought their assessments were pretty much right. But that got me to thinking, what would be considered the best Oscar speeches of all time. I scoured the web for suggestions and have three suggestions:

Hattie McDaniel--an excellent example that less is more. It is also an example that Jim Crow was alive and well in the 1930s. McDaniel and her guest had to sit in a segregated area at the ceremony.

Source: AAMPAS via YouTube

Billie Wilder--This is a master storyteller telling a wonderful story. He surely would have gotten the Jaws theme this year, but the end of the story after such a long wind up is charming.

 

Source: AAMPAS via YouTube

 

One of the most fascinating is Marlon Brando's speech for his Oscar for The Godfather. He declined his award as the result of government treatment of the Native Americans...specifically Wounded Knee.



Source: AAMPAS via YouTube