Oscar, AWOL for 40 Years, Back in the Army

The Oscar won by director Frank Capra for his storied Why We Fight propaganda films has been returned to the U.S. Army after a mysterious absence of 40 years.

The statuette, who's a bit under-dressed for military duty, is actually a duplicate of the Oscar the director, a major in the Army, received in 1948. The original remains with Capra's estate.

The official, numbered copy was created for a special Army exhibition, and was kept on display at the "Army Pictorial Center" until 1970, when the center closed. It disappeared, and only recently was put up for auction at Christie's, when the Army asked for it back. It was returned in a ceremony earlier this month in Los Angeles.