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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-03-29, Page 6Why All The Stir About Oscars? In Hollywood an Osoar Meana Innen more today than just an *ward for clnematio achievement. t is the sun and stars and Alad- in's 1a p lumped into one rigid, mpass,e, gold figurine. It can zalc%' careers, And in cold im- 1persbnal box office cash it is quite literally worth a million. • It is only human, therefore, that people no longer merely wait and work and hgpe and xray to win one, They campaign Por it. Nominations for the 1961 Acad- emy Awards are now - known. I Performers and craftsmen in two dozen categories are now within reach of this most coveted award In the motion pioture world, And the "campaigning," which began with the New Year, will continue in the weeks between now and April 9, wiien at least two dozen dreams will come true in a misty -eyed . climax before millions of television viewers, It was not always thus. Back in 1927 the Academy Awards were established as a family af- iair. The idea was that the award ceremonies would be quiet, un- pretentious occasions in which performers would be honored for outstanding achievement by a jury of their peers, There was never any intention or expectation then that it would become newsworthy. Motion pic- tures in those days were held in low repute, widely regarded as mostly frivolous timekillers, in- tellectually only a cut above pro- fessional baseball and perhaps a out below the Chautauqua. But as the years rolled by radio began to cut in on the last 15 minutes of the ceremonies to record who won the acting awards. Then radio began airing the entire ceremony, and the Academy Awards began moving toward its present mixture of ober recognition of quality and TV spectacular. Last year's Academy Award presentations drew a larger TV Audience than the Presidential inaugural. And in direct propor- tion that the Hooper ratings have increased, so has the yearning after an Oscar within the film in- dustry. Actor Wendell Core y, the handsome, affable president of the Academy of Motion Picture ,Arts and Sciences, says with can- dor: "An Oscar must mean some- thing or people wouldn't struggle so hard to get it," The most obvious outward evi- dence that people do indeed struggle hard to get it, or at least to be nominated for it—which is almost as good for egos and ca- reers as winning—is the adver- tising campaign hopefuls wage in Hollywood trade publications. One observer who has followed the Academy since its earliest days estimates that the number of ads run each year in the trades has increased 10 times in the past • 10 years. Only five years ago, before nominations, 77 full pages of ads appeared in the trades calling attention to potential awards win- ning performances or pictures. Another 77 pages appeared after nominations. Last year a whop- ping 321 pages of ads ran before nominations and 2171/4 between nominations and awards night, Nobody in the Academy really objects to this. It's not the quan- tity of ads that irks, but their sometimes offensive quality. "We don't really care how many ads a person wants to run urging Academy members to see his pioture," says one high -rank- ed Academy official. "What we object to is when a performer or somebody comes out flatly and says 'vote for me'," Last year quality became par- ticularly offensive, eausing the Ae;idemy's board to promulgate a code of advertising ethies, This code was alined not at stemming quantity, but at cutting out ques tioneble quality. There Is no proof that "cath-' paigning" for an Oscar has ever influenced any outcome. People repeatedly win who haven't spent a dime. And despite some admitted faults, the Academy has kept the Oscars in the cinematic world. the Oscars free from taint. No award in the cinemetie world is So enduring or so dearly covet- ed. And this would not be so if the winners were determined by full page ads in Daily Variety. There is little doubt, however, that an Oscar can skyrocket ca- reers and fill pocketbooks, And nobody in the Academy really objects to that either, An Osoar is widely conceded to be worth an extra $1,000,000 at the box office for whatever pic- ture wins one, "And if an agent had a client who had won an Academy Award or a nomination," adds Mr, Corey, "and didn't use that fact as a level for negotiating contracts, he would be a pretty lousy agent" But none of this is really so important as another question that is often widely overlooked: Have the Academy Awards in their 34 years done anything to improve the quality of motion pictures? That was the main reason they were established in the first place. But anybody who tries to assess the success or failure in this fundamental goal must re- sort to hunches, impressions, and dead reckoning. Nobody knows for certain if films have become better because of Oscars or not, Mr. Corey can't even say for certain if they have. But he will say that "an award for excel- lence is bound to upgrade some- thing. More people are trying now to win Academy Awards. And you've got to make a good piclure to do it." How You Can Kill Any Organization 1. Do not conte to the meeting; or, if you do, come Iate, Do not think of coming if the weather does not suit, or if you have another engagement of less im- portance. 2, If you attend a meeting, find fault with the work of the offi- cers (Particularly the secretary) and other members. 3. Never be nominated for the committee. It is far easier to criticize than to do things. Be. sure, however, to be annoyed if you are not appointed to a com- mittee, 4, If you are asked by the chairman to give your opinion on an important matter, tell him that you have nothing to say. After a meeting tell everyone what should have been done. 5. Do nothing yourself, If other members get busy, grumble and declare that the association is run by a clique, 6. Do not listen to the business, and afterwards say that nobody ever tells you anything. 7. Vote in favor of something, and then do exactly the oppo- site. 8, Agree with everything that is said in the meeting and dis- agree outside. 9. Get all the benefits you can through the work of the asso- ciation, but do not contribute anything yourself. 10. If you are asked to pay your overdue subscription, re- sent such impertinence and ten- der your resignation. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—Jimmy Pitts, 3, didn't quite make it to Wonderland as Alice diad but he did see a construction project through ono of the six sidewalk superintendent -type portholes. ADVICE FOR YOUNGSTERS -Astronaut John Glenn, in his comments before the Senate Space and Aeronautics Com- mittee, advised young men who wont to take part in the space program to get the finest general education they can.. Well, have you all caught your second wind? Who would have thought last week would be so momentous . John Glenn final- ly going into orbit? For the next few days we heard of little else so I won't add to what you al- ready know — except to say this. To me the most heart-warming incident of the whole marvellous achievement was the attitude of John Glenn himself. His modesty, and his generous insistence that the success of the entire project was the result of good teamwork from start to finish. No doubt he was right but a man with less personality might have been ex- cused had he retained a little more of the honour and glory for himself. Another thing .1 like about him is his delightful sense of humour — which he certainly needed to help him endure all the publicity that came his way, So, like everyone else, I am glad to say "hats off to Lt. -Col. John Glenn". Now I hope the public will show a little understanding and give the poor fellow a chance to get a little peace and quiet- ness. As you know, after the Glean excitement, almost everyone in Ontario towards the end of the week came out of the clouds and down to earth with a vengeance — to an earth that was covered by ice and mountains of snow, driven by a strong east wind, This morning our driveway was completely filled in and the back- door blocked by a huge snow- drift, It was a mercy it was Sat- urday so that fewer people had to fight their way to work. Even so driveways had to be cleared from every house, so shovels were soon in action, Then after a double wheel track was clear- ed to the road the inevitable hap- pened — along came the snow- plough and blocked the entrance to all the driveways, More shovelling! But yet everyone, around here anyway, seemed to be in good spirits, neighbours resting on their shovels once in a while, joshing each other about our nice Canadian winters, In one house there was a temporary grass widow with two small chil- dren. Naturally the men rallied to her assistance although she insisted on helping with the job herself. Partner was busy most of the day and had wheel tracks dug before the delivery men came around, As for the things I meant to do during the week, some of them got done, some of them didn't. Between storms I man- aged to get to the hairdressers for a "perm" so I now feel like a different person, Wednesday was such an awful day snow, rain, fog and drizzle — that I went to bed quite sure I couldn't make it to Toronto next day. But in the morning it began to clear and I was able to catch the ten - thirty bus. After all, you think twine these days before cancell- ing an appointment with an eye - specialist. And am 1 glad I kept it! I thought my glasses needed changing - but they .didn't, 19.1 tell you what happened because my. experience may help someone else, For years I have been go- ing to a well-known Oculist who has built up a tremendous pias- tlee, Recently however, I haven't DRIVI WITH CARE 1 been satisfied. His patients were in and out of his office as if they were on an assembly line. He asked little and said less. I start- ed making inquiries and a friend told me how much she liked an- other eye -specialist. So I made an appointment with him and liked him immensely. Instead of a ten-minute consultation I was in his office two hours. As I said before he didn't change my glass- es. This doctor said my main trouble was dry eye -sockets --- terribly terribly dry. "Don't I know it," 1 exclaimed, "I have been trying to tell doctors and oculists that for five years. I don't suppose I could cry if I wanted to!" "And that's a pity," said the doctor, "a little cry sometimes does a lot of good." He gave me a prescription for some kind of eye -drops to act as a lubricant for the eyes. In less than two days there was a tremendous im- provement. I suppose the human body is much like any other form of machinery — and we know ball -bearings ,won't work with- out lubrication. That was the same day I was supposed to stay overnight with my daughter and to go to the Girl Guide Festival with her. But I phoned her that I was go- ing straight home — I couldn't take the mud and slush any long- er. I never saw Toronto in such a filthy mess. While waiting for the bus if I stood near the kerb I got plastered with slush; if I stood well back there was a chance of missing the bus. But I finally made it — and was never so pleased in my life to get back home. Next day there was promise of more bad weather on the way so I got the car out and rushed around paying bills and shopping, The storm came all • right but it found our refrigera- tor well filled. Today is Ross's birthday . . more excitement. And weather "probs" are for an- other storm from the east! There's never a dull moment any more. If variety is the spice of life, we're getting it! ! Even the Maple Leafs managed to wrest a game from the Bruins! She Prefers Love To Liberty The family of Paulius i.eonas would never forget that reunion at Chicago Midway Airport two short years ago. It was a raw, gray, and windy day but a joyous one, Reporters, photogra- phers, and more than 200 Chi - moans of Lithuanian extraction crowded around Paulius and his wifo, Elena, as they waited for the big DC -7C to touch down, Then at the top of the plane's ramp, pausing for just a second, stood blond,: blue-eyed, 20 -year- old Regina Leonas and her tow- headed, square -jawed, 17 -year- old brother 'Tomas, Por fifteen years, they had been separated from their parents by the Iron Curtain. The crowd cheered and ap- plauded and the two children raced down the ramp into the arms of their parents. All four wept and embraced as micro- phones were thrust at them from every direction. "1 can thank Khrushchev and the American press," said Paulius. "This is a joy, This a free and wonderful. country. This is` the most excit- ing day of my life, They are free . they are free ..." Paulius Leonas did, indeed, owe the Soviet Premier thanks. The Leonases, Lithuanian -born American citizens, had fled the Russian wartime ,advance into their country, leaving Regina and Tomas with grandparents. When Khrushchev visited the U.S. in September 1959, the Leonases caught up with him in the lobby of a Des. Moines hotel, tearfully begged him to let their children come to America. Khrushohev promised he would and after a four-month delay, kept his word. Yet even . as Regina radiated smiles at the reunion with her parents, there were strains of sorrow in her heart. Left behind in Lithuania was her schooldays' sweetheart, 25 -year-old music teacher Stasys Bikulalus. ' As time wore on, Regina went to work as an inventory taker in a downtown Chicago clothing store, attended night classes to learn English. But she was shy and refused to date American boys. She thought only of Stasys, and in the two years since their separation they wrote about 160 letters to one another. She also tried to have him brought to this country, but her efforts failed. Having reached a hard deci- sion, Regina was interviewed one day last week in the red -carpet- ed living room of the Leonases' new, two-story brick combina- tion home and real-estate office on Chicago's South Side, Her talkative father sat on a sofa on one side of her, her quiet, her- vous mother on the other. Re- gina, too, seemed nervous, and spoke in Lithuanian. Her father acted as translator for the inter- view. Having failed to bring Stasys here, she was going back to Lith- uania to marry him. "I think she is taking a very big chance," her father said. "There's a great pos- sibility she -might not be allowed to leave. I think she's making a mistake, and if it were up to me, I'd stop her from going. But it is inevitable. So I have to live with that. "When they are married, she. will apply for his entry. Since he is her husband, he will not conte under any quota, Whether the Russians will let him leave is to be seen." If her husband is refused permission to leave Lith- uania, Regina will remain there with him. Late the next afternoon, Re- gina went to Chicago's O'Hare airport to begin the long jour- ney back behind the Iron Cur- tain. Her parents were there, her brother, seven family friends, and a priest. There were no smiles this time. ISSUE 11 — 1962 "This is like a funeral to me, Said Paulius Leonas. Will Regina return with Stasys? ."X have ne grudge against Khrushchev, He fulfilled his original promise. But if he wants to be 150 per cent, he can do this and lot them return." From NEWSWb1EK. Wiling Along OMd Ontario Roads This begins with praise of certain roads in southern Ontario as they were thirty or more years ago. They were not considered important roads. Some had been marked off as what the province called concession lines, but for one reason or another they had never been opened to traffic roads in intention only, Others had fallen into partial or com- plete disuse. Some were not properly roads at all, but aban- doned railroad rights of way. But they all shared this one peculiar- ity that, eculiar-itythat, for the few human trav- elers Who frequented them, the road itself was a destination, in- stead of merly leading to one. They were for those who believe that it is better to travel than to arrive They had no particular beginning or end, and to hurry along them was impossible. One of the best of these roads ran from east to west through part of the township of Enn - ismore, a long peninsula betweea two lakes of the Kawartha chain. Ennismorehad a casual, easy- going way about it, and this par- ticular road was steeped in the very essence of Ennismore. It ran and dipped and turned as if to a "... and don't forget to wash behind the fenders," fiddler's tune. 1t afforded, glimpses cf the blue lake to the south, and thesmell of the Iake was in the air. Farms'did not face upon the road but backed up to it, and wild ducks often flew in from the marshes along the lake's edge to feed in the grain fields. That road stays most clearly in memory as it was in October, with a lively wind out of the west sending the fallen leaves flying across it, and appleson the neglected old trees along the way already touched by frost, ` The lake had changed colour, reflect ing the clearer blue of the sky, and those were good days for watching the habits of clouds. The land lay bare, and its beauty,. now that the hardwoods had lost their leaves, was rather of line and form than of colour. Only the wintering birds remained, and toward dusk of a gusty day the sky would fill with the honking of Canada geese, their wedges pointed south. To one on foot, whose only concern was to fill his eves and his mind, there was nothing sad about October weather. It tingled with life, and yet it was leisurely — which spring never was. Just possibly, this idling along old roads may becondemned as escape, as an attempt to get away from duties and responsibilities. But fhe workaday world is only part of an older and much wider world into which we are born. If this is escape, itis to a rich and living freedom. Ft is the return if a prodigal, the resumption of a birthright. It is going back to a place we may leave but never wholly lose. -From "Speak to the Earth," by William A.;Breyfogie. TONY ATTENDS FIRST SESSION — The Earl of Snowdon and his wife, Princess, Margaret, leave the House of Lords offer Lord Snowdon's first attendance at a session of the upper house of .Parliament Less than on hour after he took his seat in a quair't and colorful ceremony, he found himself in still another controversy over his job on a London newspaper: The Institute of Journalists expressed "profound regret" that he had joined another union, the National Union of Journalists.