A somewhat confusing question I admit. I’m looking for what was the first movie to win a Best Picture Oscar that was available in mainstream home release (presumedly back in VHS format) at the time it won its Oscar.
I know Silence of the Lambs is one of the few that had been out on tape well before its award, but I’m not sure if it is the first.
I am pretty sure Silence of the Lambs was the first movie that was on VHS release at the time it won Best Picture. It was also the earliest film released to have won, opening Feb 14, 1991 and winning in March 1992.
I can’t get an exact date, but the laserdisk version of Ordinary People (Best Picture 1980) was released in 1981. Whether or not this was before the 1981 Academy Awards broadcast (March 31) I can’t yet say.
Doubtful, as according to imdb.com the film came out in Sept 1980.
Yep, and that is the main reason it was on tape already.
Follow up quesiton:
What is the next “earliest release” to win? My bet is Gladiator, which was a summer release.
I realize. I searched for people selling the disk to get a look at the cover art, in case it had “Academy Award for Best Picture!” blazoned across it. No dice.
It’s highly unlikely to meet the OP’s conditions but worth mentioning anyway, I figure, at least until more detail comes to light.
I have to admit, I thought we’d get a definitive answer on this one. Is there a web site that contains original VHS release dates for movies?
**Silence of the Lambs **is the definitive answer. I used to be obsessed with that movie and read every piece of trivia on it I could find. I remember reading a magazine article written after it won the Oscars stating that at the time it was the *only *film released on home video before winning the award. So the only thing to do would be to check the dates of home releases for films that won afterwards.
The next film to be on home video when it won was Gladiator, which was released on DVD Nov 11, 2000. (It opened May 5, 2000.)
**Crash **was released on DVD Sept 6, 2005 and opened in theaters May 6, 2005.
**The Departed **came out on DVD Feb 13, 2007, two weeks before the Oscars on Feb 25, 2007.
And lastly **The Hurt Locker **was released on DVD Jan 10, 2010 and then won the award March 7.
Not even close. The one to beat is It Happened One Night, which was released in February 1934, and won the Oscar over a year later.
The longest to win any award is clearly Limelight, which won Best Original Score 20 years after its first release.
Yeah, but I bet those weren’t out on VHS at the time. Just sayin’.
Casablanca had its US premiere in Nov. 1942 and didn’t win its Oscars until March 1944.