Army gets back its Oscar

There have been a lot of Oscar custody battles over the years. There's been much written about the drama involving Oscars that once belonged to Mary Pickford (and Orson Wells). But here's an Oscar grab that appears to have a happy ending. According to City News:

A duplicate Oscar statuette honoring Frank Capra’s 1942 documentary “Prelude to War,” the first in the Army Special Services’ seven-picture “Why We Fight” series, was removed from the auction block and was back in the Army’s possession today. The statuette, which disappeared 38 years ago, was returned to the Army last night, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is not the original Oscar awarded for the film, but a duplicate given to the Department of Defense in 1958 in connection with a special exhibition. Following the exhibition, the award was in the care of the Army Pictorial Center. What happened to the statuette after the center closed in 1970 was unclear, but when academy officials saw that Christie’s auction house was offering the statuette for sale, they notified the Army, which asserted its claim on the statuette. Christie’s was pleased to return the statuette back to the Army’s care, according to the academy.

— Shelby Grad

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times