Academy says that’s no Oscar

An Oscar statuette that was scheduled to be sold at auction this month was declared by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be a forgery Friday.

The auction house, Mastro Auctions, had asked the academy to verify the statuette’s authenticity, After the the finding, it canceled the Aug. 16 sale, the academy said in a news release.

The Oscar had been touted as the award given to Leo McCarey for directing “Going My Way” (1944). But the statuette was too heavy and differed in other respects from the genuine article, the academy said. In addition, McCarey’s daughter told the academy she was in possession of all three of his Academy Awards.

Academy executive administrator Ric Robertson said the organization would attempt to track down whoever unlawfully tried to reproduce its copyrighted award.