The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a must-see for cinephiles but make no mistake that they could do a better job of honoring those who built Hollywood up.
If you remember from a few weeks ago, I wrote about the Academy Museum’s erasure of the founding Jewish studio moguls. After seeing and experiencing the museum for myself, it’s my main complaint. Yes, there’s something for everyone but how can you tell the story of Hollywood without at least having an exhibit honoring the moguls who built Hollywood from the ground up. How many people would know of Universal Pictures founder Carl Laemmle and how he saved some 300 Jews from the Nazis in the 1930s? My guess is only those who recently watched the Carl Laemmle film on TCM or ChaiFlicks.
After getting a pair of studio invites for events in Los Angeles, I made my way to the Academy Museum last Monday morning. There were a few groups of Critics Choice Association members touring the venue. I went over there with a pair of members from Oklahoma City, Jason Black and Craig Sanger. Before leaving back for the hotel, I found The Female Gaze in the Academy Museum Store. A few years ago, Alicia Malone asked me to contribute to the book so I wrote about Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen. Of course, I had to take a picture of myself holding the book and pointing to the blurb.
There are numerous exhibits highlighting multiple aspects of filmmaking. The Stories of Cinema exhibit takes place over multiple floors of the building. Citizen Kane fans, you will be able to get to see Rosebud up close! In the same exhibit, you can glance at an editing machine similar to what Thelma Schoonmaker has used during her career.
There’s an entire room dedicated to a timeline of the Academy Awards. As you peruse the history of what happened each year, a number of clips play along the wall. Among them are one of the shortest Oscar acceptance speeches in history from Rita Moreno when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story. In the same room, I found a photo from when my cousins, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein won an Oscar.
The highlight of touring the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is getting to win an Oscar at The Oscars Experience. It’s a small room and you get to see your name in the video. The downside is you don’t get to choose which Oscar you’re winning nor do you get to make a speech. I started a bit prematurely since you’re supposed to wait until you see the name on screen in front of you. As you can tell, there are cameras both in front and behind you!
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