Rex Reed & the 1969 Academy awards

Hack-critic Rex Reed insults Duke Wayne and gets censored by ABC. Meanwhile, Duke Wayne avoids combat duty during World War 2 and Dick Cavett avoids combat duty during the Vietnam war.

[@pianoman551000]

Rex Reed did have cinematic good looks in his early years.

[@DeanLeonard1]

Rex Reed was actually kinda pretty in his youth.

[@bashbrannigan]

Reed was a better personality than he was a reviewer.

[@773SleepyHollow]

I remember when he called Denzel Washngton's enslaved character in Glory a reverse racist. JFC, where to begin.

[@klausweasley]

He was right about John Wayne. He did NOT deserve to win for "True Grit". It's CLEARLY just a make up Oscar for the times they did not award him for "The Searchers", "Red River", "Stagecoach", etc.

[@gatewayski1]

+klausweasley DON'T EVER LET ANYONE TAKE JOHN WAYNE'S LONG-OVERDUE, WELL-EARNED OSCAR AWAY FROM HIM. IT WAS RICHLY DESERVED.

[@michaelbradley7595]

John Waynes work in the The Searchers was brilliant.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Precisely why I don't take "The Academy" seriously.

[@CaptainSpalding72]

He did deserve it. Its a fun peformance, this old queen is more wrong than he's ever been right or straight....

[@pa3997]

In 2023 at age 85, he still writes about 60 reviews per year.

[@capsfan3940]

Rex Reed is always so snarky. Thinks he is better than everyone.

[@TATSUFAN]

rex reed is so darn cute

[@linkbiff1054]

Rex Reed is the best dude to read a negative review from. He has so much fun writing them.

[@pudgeuncle]

The Academy has changed dramatically since then.

[@xander7ful]

I always liked Rex Reed because he's always been brutally honest and has never pulled any punches. And he actually takes his role as a critic seriously. He's not a political film critic trying to make sure stars and directors love him.

[@JustinCoasters]

Like how he left VHS 2 20 minutes in?

[@ShamrockParticle]

Great clip, thanks! Love the sound drop (network censored? 😏) Rex should have done more acting, though he wws great as a critic. (He also voiced his role in "The Critic", an underrated cartoon from 1994... I love his threads. 😊 Definitely a looker! 😍

[@jg2904]

Rex Reed is so damned cool.

[@SummerOfSam06]

jg2904 lol

[@dougmaclennan8654]

I found him to be a bore in this interview.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Regarding the video description, anyone who avoided the draft because they were compelled to stand against war on moral grounds is a hero in my eyes.

[@NativeMoon]

Id love to know what he said that was bleeped out....

[@citizen1163]

Don't think he'd be given this much air time in 2020! 😂 Respect that man! 👏👏👏👏

[@joycefolsom130]

He was good looking

[@squanto2]

I like Bill Murray's impression of Rex Reed.

[@xander7ful]

I'm a reincarnation researcher and I came here because I thought Adam Lambert reminded me of Rex Reed.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Both parties are still alive, genius.

[@snappymcburpy7629]

What did Rex say that needed to be censored at 7:05 ?

[@JordanjamesX]

Wow Rex Reed was very handsome when he was a young man he definitely looks like Adam Lambert when he was young.

[@SuperWolsey]

THANK YOU

[@kathrynmcelroy5658]

Rex was so handsome and SO SMART!

[@stephaniestanley8041]

And Ben Shapiro

[@booger1966]

I was thinking Adam Lambert looks like Rex Reed

[@JSmith380]

If anybody reading this is deaf, could you tell us what the hell he said at 7:04?

[@stevouk]

7:05 deleted words are "... a character close to his own personality..."

[@TheOriginalMouth]

any lip readers in the house?

[@65wiseman]

Kind of looks like Elvis.

[@robertfreedman6651]

MIDNIGHT COWBOY did win and Everybody was talkin'.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I would have agreed with Reed back then. Oscars, then and now, have always had a habit of picking "respectable" movies and MC looked like a longshot.

[@TheLithopedian]

What did they bleep out about John Wayne????

[@runnerlegend7726]

Rex Red was trippin! LOL!

[@stevenjukes8208]

+Runner legend He WAS on something (the eyes, always the eyes), entertaining waspish queen. Bad, naughty Rex. lol

[@mustafaaltindag7475]

Rex reed very COOL❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@aliciasaracino1233]

I was just thinking how much Adam Lambert looks like him Now I know everyone has a double.

[@GGiblet]

i've always loved rex reed you may not like what he thinks but he's very honest in his reporting & reviewing his interviews are recorded observations

[@valleus]

rex reed was such a fox

[@Kemster79]

Reed was spot on about The Damnned, it's a masterpiece. He was a good critic.

[@Janster59]

ofcourse it's good-Dirk Bogarde is in it

[@margyrowland]

Well Rex Reed? He could be right here, right now. Love from Australia 🇦🇺

[@bertbrains]

they are speaking of films from 1969 awarded in early 1970

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

Rex Reed was an occasional actor now I know why

[@waldcast]

Sorry unfortunatebeam..yet, 30 years after the duke's death..he still ranks in poll after poll of the most popular actors. Amazingly, he's the only dead one in the poll ! Its probably because he is so real to so many on video--the people polled can't shake his memory. You may not like him--but, in that poll, john wayne shows up for decades on end. That's what you call a phenomenon.

[@inkyguy]

So are STDs.

[@FungusMossGnosis]

Reed is a terrible critic, but he's so right about Luchino Visconti's 'The Damned' - it's a magnificent picture that deserves more notice. Hhmm, Costa-Gavras's 'Z' was nominated for Best Picture AND Best Foreign Film that year?! Weird times. John Wayne deservedly won the Actor Oscar that year - anyone who said otherwise is a ball-less varmint.

[@meb1982]

Does anyone know what Rex had said that got censored. And where can I find more videos with Rex Reed?

[@bartvanos1466]

This must be in 1970, because the Oscar nominations are announced the following year.

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

His predictions were correct

[@johnsweeney5946]

Just think how nice it would have been if Cavett would have shut up.

[@jellywaltz6334]

I'm going to bring back argyle!

[@littlecasino60]

I wonder if he was filming Myra Breckinridge during this time? It came out the next year.

[@Bonobo3D]

Yes. Dick Cavett mentioned in the intro, "he writes about films and he's also an actor in them now."

[@jarett_m445]

Joe Piscopos impression of Rex Reed was really good on snl

[@BobMori]

a great clip. does REX REED know how funny he is? talk about taking yourself seriously. relax queen. Academy Awards, USA: 1970 Best Picture Winner: Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Jerome Hellman Best Actor in a Leading Role Winner: True Grit (1969) - John Wayne (I) Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Winner: Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Waldo Salt

[@RCGoetzke]

RR was an early"flamer".

[@Melinda8162]

@Robert G. 😂😂🤣. I thought so. Never hear about him anymore ..?

[@pa3997]

Still active and writing reviews at 81, although he had some controversies because he is still harsh and not quite "pc". He has never openly stated that he is gay though.

[@pookie67]

Very interesting, it certainly shows the vibe of the times regarding the clash of old Hollywood vs the new Hollywood. When the old fashioned big studio films were flopping, bankrupting the business and films like Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider were the favored trend. Listen to how people cheer for Midnight Cowboy and groan at Anne of the Thousand Days. This was the dawn of a new era in cinema

[@gnrchild]

"oh you must be quite a bit older than I am" Dick Cavett when he finds out he is in fact the older of the two: 😬

[@runnerlegend7726]

What did he say that they had to bleep it out?

[@JSOMERSETJSOMERSET]

it looks like asshole who kills Indians but i am not sure

[@vai82]

love his outfit! who is this guy?

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

What did he say that was bleeped? I think the first bleeped word was "house".

[@jl3322]

Those late 60’s outfits 😂

[@littlecasino60]

I saw both 'The Damned' and 'Midnight Cowboy.'

[@angelthman1659]

1:15 June Pricer? Is that a real person? I couldn't find her.

[@brucee6123]

June Preisser - never heard of her too, but apparently was very popular at the same time as Judy Garland and the late 1930s' teen flicks

[@Pisti846]

I wonder what he said???

[@michaelmuldowney8]

A film winning best foreign film and not best picture. Yep - that will never happen. Oh wait !!

[@lesmorris10]

tells it like it is and he was right!!!

[@jimmyl324]

The Damned is an excellent movie

[@unfortunatebeam]

anyone know what he said about John Wayne?

[@Neville6000]

@Eargasm1978: Don't try to argue logic with a member of the Tea Party or any other neocon-your head will just explode.

[@user-fc8hd6kh2f]

he could play Larry Tee in the club kid scene of the 90s

[@Phd12741]

He was right about Midnight Cowboy at least.

[@gatewayski1]

In retrospect, the other nominees in that category for Best Actor, among them Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, felt John Wayne deserved to win and that he gave the Best Performance of the five nominated. Personally, I felt it was one of the more deserving wins by an actor EVER! Rex Reed doesn't know everything. He did predict Maggie Smith to win and he was certainly right about that win, considering she was up against Jane Fonda and Liza Minnelli, who would have thought she had any chance.

[@mikereif7240]

Wow if you close your eyes and just listen to his voice he sounds like Tom Banks.

[@mikereif7240]

I mean tom hanks

[@elizabethhestevold1340]

Funny. friend was member, I used to go to see the films prior at Academy Theater in Burbank. CA.🇩🇰🇺🇸🦅🗽💌

[@knowzmyname]

Your right dear, Rex Reed does look alot like Adam Lambert. Adam seems to enjoy himself but somehow Rex never appears to, ......just my opinion.

[@Neville6000]

@pookie67: And it didn't last, because people got tired of it.

[@unfortunatebeam]

@Onry1 what's he smitten by? and i wouldn't call him "nerdy", doesn't fit the stereotype anyway.

[@lenwelch2195]

Rex reed didn’t give a shit what other people thought , that added to his aura. Older his crusty personality( Wayne won ) rubbed off on his looks .

[@TryTheBLT]

It looks like he's saying something like "playing house other than with a child." I haven't seen the film so maybe he's referring to something in the film itself and is being sarcastic. I know there is a young girl in it and that's what he means when he says he's "playing house" with a child.

[@Neville6000]

@FungusMossGnosis: Anybody BUT Wayne-he was playing a caricature of himself in the role of Rooster Cogburn anyway. It should have been either Jon Voight or somebody else.

[@danielbisson8032]

he is a southerner

[@tomthefunky]

It's gay Elvis!

[@dagnabbit6187]

Good God I wish Cavett would shut his piehole and let Reed talk . I think this is where Egotistical I always got to smarm out comments might have come from . Maybe there were more before Colbert, Letterman, and Carvey but I prefer to here what people have to say. Johnny Carson took some heat but I always remember how he would let the guest talk and perform. His philosophy " Any laugh or applause my guest gets makes me look good !"

[@siggylloyd3566]

Hard to get a word in edgewise against that absolute yammering blowhard Reed. You have seriously got to be tripping; when did Cavett get to say more than half a sentence before Reed's sanctimony kicks in?

[@craigrobertson8364]

did Rex avoid vietnam?

[@203207ab]

He was wrong near the beginning. Leisure suits would become big in the 1970s.

[@BellaFirenze]

Rex is sucha queen.

[@WilliamSelassie]

You got that right on, couldn't put it better... Plus, it was '69, chances are he was just a little stoned is all

[@rr7firefly]

Reed was young in 1969. But he is 79 years old now. He was a horrible actor in the movie "Myra Breckenridge." Always priding himself for acerbic comments that he thought made him sound hip, his reviews degenerated into bullying over the years. He was denounced not too long ago for criticizing Mellisa McCarthy for being an overweight no-talent.

[@tapeduk]

Rex is at the Dakota

[@spudwas]

It's kinda funny, Hello Dolly is now regarded as one of the better musicals filmed...but not so back then.

[@UNOwen1]

+spudwas Really? I think was kitshy-trash then, and… wait a sec; 'BETTER'? than what?

[@robertblenheim3336]

No, sorry. "Hello, Dolly" is considered as big a smelleroo as it was when it came out. One of the BETTER musicals filmed????? Don't make me laugh.

[@spudwas]

Sure, I'll give you a laugh ...look at "Grease!"

[@robertblenheim3336]

(Doubling over with laughter)

[@Starkardur]

The movie is NOT CONSIDERED one of the better musicals filmed. The musical itself is iconic - the movie is NOT.

[@unfortunatebeam]

You could easily say what he said about the academy awards now. Piss on anyone who doesn't like it.

[@ottoskidoo]

the last great year of 60's cinema. rex reed is wrong on everything. he topped his appearance here by appearing in the masterpiece "myra breckinridge."

[@slartibartfast68]

didnt butch cassidy and the sundance kid win?

[@Neville6000]

@RascalsArchives: So millions of young actors make you sick? I wonder how that works?

[@venusprobeproductions1430]

Sorry Rex--Orson Welles shared the Academy Award for best writing, original screenplay for Citizen Kane, with co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. U should have know that over 40 years ago. Aw hell, he wouldn't have listened anyway.

[@unfortunatebeam]

Oh! Well...goes to show you how much I knew about the draft. I just thought it would be strategically logical to raise the age so as to ensnare more men...

[@519djw6]

Does anyone have any idea of what Rex Reed said about John Wayne that got beeped out in this clip?

[@unfortunatebeam]

"I'm thrilled to remember a world of books and ideas, and a time when the Academy Awards didn't look like a family reunion because everyone had the same face" pfff yeah sure, and what fake and romanticized time would you be referring to now? btw, i think youtube is actually doing the opposite you suggest it's doing: it's allowing discussion/argument with all kinds of people that wouldn't have been possible before and opening up parts of our society we would otherwise have lost/forgotten.

[@sandrashevey8252]

Yes!!!

[@sirreadsalot786]

Adam Lambert vibes.

[@Rodin99]

Enjoyed Myra Breckinridge much more than The Favou rite. Actually I hated the latter. Don't think the Academy has changed. Did Z win for foreign...I think it did. Deserved to. Good for Rex and his caustic wit.

[@mnoe817]

yeah -- he's the same age as my dad, who served in cold-war germany in the late '50s. I wouldn't consider my dad a vietnam draft dodger. weird comment, even from someone called cavettbiter.

[@SuperWolsey]

Uncanny, innit?

[@unfortunatebeam]

@Bobb999 it shouldn't even be considered "gay" for a man to put on a little eye-liner or whatever. Straight men too should feel FREE to do so, and not have to be denigrated for it or worse...thank god we now have the emo/metrosexual revolution that's changing this...it's just about freedom baby.

[@robertbates6249]

he reminds me of Jerry Lewis in the 60's with his swagger

[@coronaflo]

A New York snob who was wrong about best picture.

[@UNOwen1]

+coronaflo Uh, VERY wrong. He's from Texas. There's a big difference between 'culture' and 'snob,' and one doesn't have to be both. 'Culture has to do with being educated. 'Snob' has to do with nothing but 'liking/disling' based on absolutely nothing. Example; The 'utter trash K-rda-ia-s would fall into the latter - they're most definitely NOT cultured by far.

[@lesmorris10]

He knew Midnight Cowboy should have won!

[@Neville6000]

@FungusMossGnosis: Well, I'll be a ball-less varmint and say that 'The Duke' didn't deserve it all all for True Grit (he did deserve it for his 1950's films, though.)

[@zzzzz87]

His predictions are so off, but I can see why he made them, back when things were more unpredictable and there were few precursors. He was right about John Wayne winning, though! And listen to that modern audience moaning at that! But also, it's not stupid for a foreign film to be up for both Foreign and Best Picture because obviously a foreign-language film would never win the main award anyway.

[@jimmyl324]

Z is a great film