1999 Archive
Back to Main Back to Archive

1999 ACADEMY AWARDS WILL BE MORE INTERESTING THAN USUAL

March 21, 1999

Truman Capote once commented during a television interview about Marlon Brando that a large percentage of actors are dumb. He later retracted this statement but the recent fuss about tonight's Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan may vindicate Capote's original appraisal.

Mr. Kazan is the Academy Award winning director of such prestigious films as ``On the Waterfront,'' ``Streetcar Named Desire,'' ``East of Eden,'' and many others. There is no doubt that his body of work deserves this award but Mr. Kazan, a former Communist, has been persona non grata by the self-righteous division of the Hollywood community because of his testimony in 1952 before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

His critics assail Mr. Kazan's motives for testifying as self-serving and the ultimate betrayal of his fellow thespians. They accuse him of placing his career before integrity and principle. This hypocritical condemnation is laughable coming from the land where the term ``casting couch'' originated. Hollywood actors and actresses are renowned for placing careers before family, fidelity and standards but now some assert that Elia Kazan should have sacrificed everything before submitting to the demands of an ``evil'' Joe McCarthy.

This section of the Advance is called Perspective and perhaps we need to put this issue into perspective. In 1952, Joseph Stalin was in power over a very real ``evil empire'' which had sworn to bury the United States. This was the height of the cold war and espionage and infiltration was a powerful weapon for the Soviet Union.

Mr. Kazan, like many Hollywood socialists had been an idealistic member of the Party who had become disenchanted with it long before the House committee held its hearings. He quit the Party in 1936 and by the fifties when he was called to testify he no longer sympathized with Communist dogma. Many of the people he named had already been identified to the Committee or were about to be named.

Here is the irony. If Elia Kazan had been a former KKK clansmen and decided to identify fellow clansmen in the industry, he would have been hailed as a hero. Surely, the Soviet Union under the murderous Stalin responsible for millions of deaths was just as big a threat to our country. KGB more benign than the KKK? I think not.

There is, however, a romantic image of the Communism of the '30's that Hollywood seems reluctant to abandon. Many in the community had joined the Party naively believing that it was an altruistic movement for the common man. The precepts of Lenin and Marx that may have invoked such romanticism were never the basis of the Soviet Union then bent on our destruction. Nevertheless many in the film industry still dispute the threat it represented to our national security.

It will be interesting to see if Mr. Kazan gets the same standing ovation that other recipients of this award received. It has been predicted that his appearance will provoke boos and catcalls. As unseemly as this may be, I'm not too surprised. I lost respect for the Academy of Arts and Sciences many years ago when I realized that these coveted Oscars are awarded more by politics than merit.

If the Oscars were truly to be awarded for merit, Rod Stieger would have won his award for ``The Pawnbroker,'' instead of ``In the Heat of the Night.'' This last was a consolation prize awarded as a sop for his loss to Lee Marvin's Oscar for the flippant ``Cat Ballou.'' As for more recent examples, if fine acting were truly the standard for an Oscar, Kim Basinger would never have won last year’s. Ditto Frances McDormand in 1997 for ``Fargo.'' Their performances were merely adequate not awe-inspiring.

Awards should be given for excellent performances that are challenging not just entertaining or interesting. John Wayne won his Oscar for ``True Grit,'' which was a role he could have slept through. He should have won it for, ``The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.'' True brilliance and achievements in acting are overlooked if they’re in a film that lacks aggressive marketing or are deemed politically incorrect. Eddie Murphy’s tour de force performance in ``The Nutty Professor,’’ didn’t have a prayer for an Oscar.

Studios now spend small fortunes, campaigning for the Oscars. They send elaborate perk packages with videotapes to all the members of the Academy to influence their selection and consequently undeserving but well marketed films sometimes win. It is truly phenomenal when a deserving low budget but extraordinary film gets picked for an Oscar for Best Film.

This year's top contenders are two big budget studio products-``Saving Private Ryan,'' and ``Shakespeare in Love.'' In a sensible world this would be an easy decision with ``Private Ryan '' having no competition but ``Shakespeare'' has become a hot rival because of two factors. First, Miramax Studios had spent an unprecedented amount of money ($5 million) marketing its film. Second, there is, believe it or not, a backlash against ``Private Ryan.'' It seems that the boomer generation is getting a bit tired of an unfavorable comparison to the greatest generation depicted in this World War II epic.

``Shakespeare'' on the other hand, is a frothy, light-hearted celebration of sexual appetites in Elizabethan England and represents a morality closer to current standards. Still, I believe that ``Private Ryan'' will prevail because it is such a remarkable work of art.

I'm going to go out on a limb and make some predictions for the major Oscars. Best Picture-Saving Private Ryan; Best Actor-Nick Nolte; Best Actress- Gwyneth Paltrow; Best supporting Actor-Ed Harris; Best supporting actress-Judi Dench.
These are my predictions but if great acting were truly a criterion, then Meryl Streep would win Best Actress and Kathy Bates would win the Best Supporting Actress award. If they win, I will be shocked, completely shocked but encouraged. It will be very interesting, indeed, to see who wins tonight.

E-mail me with your choices and comments then break out the popcorn and enjoy the show.


Copyright (c) Alicia Colon 2005