The Overwhelming Favorite
The 59th Academy Awards in 1987 had what many considered a sure thing. The legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone was nominated for his work on The Mission. Morricone was already a giant in the industry, the genius behind the iconic scores for films
like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, yet a competitive Oscar had always eluded him. His score for The Mission was seen as his masterpiece: a breathtaking blend of majestic liturgical choirs, Indigenous drumming, and soaring orchestral themes. It was emotionally powerful and critically adored, and the film's producers were so confident they flew Morricone to Los Angeles for the ceremony, something he rarely did. Everyone in the room, and everyone watching at home, seemed to believe his moment had finally arrived.
The Unexpected Winner
But when the envelope was opened, the name announced wasn't Morricone. It was jazz icon Herbie Hancock for the film 'Round Midnight. The film, a tribute to the lives of expatriate jazz musicians in Paris, featured a score largely composed of new arrangements of existing jazz standards, performed live on set. Hancock, a revered musician in his own right, had crafted a beautiful and atmospheric soundtrack that was central to the film's identity. However, its victory immediately sparked debate. The score that won the award for being the most original was, in fact, not entirely original.
A Category's Identity Crisis
This is the real reason the upset happened: a perfect storm of category definition and artistic philosophy. At the time, the Academy's rules for Best Original Score were loose enough to allow for scores that were primarily arrangements of pre-existing material. Herbie Hancock's work on 'Round Midnight was a brilliant work of adaptation and performance, but many voters and critics felt it was fundamentally different from what Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith (Hoosiers), and James Horner (Aliens) had done by composing entirely new music from scratch. Morricone himself called the situation a "theft," noting that while Hancock's arrangements were excellent, they couldn't be compared to a truly original work. The controversy wasn't about one score being 'better,' but about whether they belonged in the same competition.
The Aftermath and Morricone's Redemption
The fallout from the 1987 Oscars was significant. The Academy's music branch moved to tighten the rules to ensure that a score's eligibility would depend on it being substantially original. This led to the eventual creation and refinement of different categories over the years to distinguish between original dramatic scores and adapted or musical scores, preventing a repeat of the 'Round Midnight situation. For Morricone, the snub became a defining part of his Oscar legacy. He would be nominated several more times without a win before finally receiving an Honorary Oscar in 2007. True vindication didn't come until 2016, nearly 30 years after the infamous upset, when he finally won his first and only competitive Oscar for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. While many felt that award was as much for his entire career as for that specific film, it closed a chapter that began on that controversial night in 1987.
