For those of us who prefer our movie stars to recite lines of dialogue rather than left-wing talking points, the 1972 Academy Awards represented something of a high point. That year, Ben Johnson won Best Supporting Actor for his incomparable performance as Sam the Lion, the weathered old cowboy in The Last Picture Show.

At the end of his speech, Johnson said, “Now what I’m about to say probably will stir up a lot of conversation around the country. There’s something I’d like to leave in everyone’s minds throughout the world.” Although Johnson was best known as a member of John Ford’s stock company —  and thus an undoubted political conservative — at that moment, he held the audience in the palm of his hand. What was he going to talk about? Vietnam? Nixon? Finally, he spoke: “This couldn’t have happened to a nicer feller.” That was what was going to “stir up” everybody — it was a joke.