Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020095
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SOME HIGH POINTS FROM OSCAR NIGHT
We tuned in the Oscars with a friend of ours, a veteran Hollywood watcher.Frank Rose has written extensively about movie matters for national publications and is now in the middle of his fourth book, a history of the William Morris agency, which has dominated the movie talent business for decades.
Rose is of the firm opinion that Billy Crystal has single-handedly saved the annual industry back-pat from crushing boredom.
I have to agree, though I believe Jack Palance has helped. When he came on stage to present the award for best supporting actress, you could almost hear a collective intake of breath. It's fun to see all those preening egos scared of an unpredictable bigger ego.
Ironies, as usual, abounded. This year, the ceremonies saluted women in movies, though women claim that it's still a business dominated by men.
High points of the ceremonies were the presentation of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Elizabeth Taylor and the late Audrey Hepburn. These are women who used the power and influence they acquired to advance the common good. Hepburn fought to end world hunger, and Taylor has tirelessly worked in the crusade against AIDs.
Other Hollywood types with agendas to advance should look to these two women as examples instead of using the awards ceremonies as a podium.
Other areas of the show weren't as exemplary.
Take the clip from "Howards End," nominated for best picture. It won a best-adapted screenplay award for Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, one of the few women to win a major off-screen award. It also earned Emma Thompson a best-actress award.
The movie is a genteel drama with several knock-out performances from actresses. Yet the clip uses the one truly violent scene in the movie during which one man whips another with a sword and then the hapless fellow is slammed by a falling book case.
Equally bothersome were the production numbers.
"Whole New World" from "Aladdin," a G-rated animated feature, won best song. Yet the live-action production number featured undulating, scantily dressed belly dancers, one of whom was caressing a snake. In tone, it was a whole new world away from the G-rated feature that launched the song. I personally have nothing against scantily dressed belly dancers, but they seemed inappropriate here, despite the Middle Eastern setting of the movie. This production number gets a PG-13.
We have been hearing rumors of a return to the '70s, and Liza Minnelli's song-and-dance routine seemed to be an alarming indication that this dreadful decade in American pop culture could indeed be the subject of a nostalgic revival. Minnelli has boundless talent - but, hey, Liza - leave the bell bottoms at home.