Speeches make up a big part of any award show, including the Academy Awards. When an artist’s name is called, they go up on stage to express their gratitude, inspire others, and maybe even advocate for a cause they are passionate about — these moments are understandably very impactful, with many even going viral shortly after. Some big winners have made speeches that impacted the community, further pushing the significance of celebrating their talents and love for the craft. Nowadays, however, winners have to make their speeches very concise. And if you are curious why award shows decide to do this, we have to go back to the 15th Academy Awards, when Greer Garson won the Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver and gave perhaps one of the longest speeches in any award show.
Who Is Greer Garson?
Garson was a British-American actress who crafted an impressive filmography during her career. But before stepping into the limelight, she studied French and 18th-century Literature at King’s College London and later pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Grenoble. The actress wanted to be a lecturer early on. However, she slowly became interested in the acting world and joined the popular Birmingham Repertory Theatre where she acted in some plays, such as Street Scene by Elmer Rice. Once she made her way to the prestigious West End, she started to get more attention from the public and industry people. Not long after, she was discovered by MGM head Louis B. Mayer and was eventually offered a contract. This was the start of her Hollywood career.
Despite suffering from a back injury during her first year in Hollywood, she was able to dip her toes in small roles, such as Goodbye, Mr. Chip (1939). This film was the push forward for her career once more, and the number of projects she was given multiplied after that. Some of her notable roles were Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940), Blossoms in the Dust (1941), and Madame Curie (1943), among others. During the height of her career, Garson became known for playing graceful yet strong-willed characters and was continuously praised for her performances.
Because of her incredible performances, Garson bagged multiple nominations and awards. Apart from being a seven-time nominee for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, she also made history by having five consecutive nominations under that category — a feat she shares with Bette Davis. One of Garson’s nominations led her to a Best Actress win in 1942, specifically for her role in Mrs. Miniver. And her inspiring speech for this award also made Oscars history.
Greer Garson Made Oscars History With Her Acceptance Speech for ‘Mrs. Miniver’
At the 15th Academy Awards, when the Best Actress category came up, it was announced that Greer Garson won. She, like previous winners, made a speech. However, this speech was one for the books as it was (and still is) considered the longest speech in Academy Awards history as it ran for over six minutes long. Her speech was like any other. There, she expressed her gratitude towards the awarding body and acknowledged the other winners and nominees for their performances. Garson insisted that there was no competition because everyone in the room won. Other than that, she thanked the armed forces (World War II was happening around that time). Although the speech was confirmed to be over six minutes long, the newsreel footage from the big night was only able to preserve about four minutes of it, so no one could find out what Garson said in full.
Still, due to her long speech, awarding bodies opted to set a time limit for winners’ speeches; this is usually 45 seconds. Of course, it is understandable that some actors go beyond the set limit because the time given is often insufficient to cover what they want to say. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is aware of this, and so their solution is whenever someone does not follow the time limit, they would have the orchestra play louder than usual to let the winners know that their time is up. This can be observed when Parasite (2019) w on Best Picture. While the crew was taking turns speaking into the mic, the Oscars turned the spotlight off because it went beyond 45 seconds, though the seated actors fought for them. Overall, while limiting speeches to a shorter time is quite understandable in terms of pacing, it limits the winners, and even urges them to speak faster, adding pressure to an already nerve-wracking moment.
Mrs. Miniver is currently available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the U.S.
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