HANDICAPPING THE OSCAR FIELD

‘Amadeus,” 6-5; “The Killing Fields,” 7-5; “A Passage to India,” 7-5; “A Soldier’s Story,” 5-1, “Places in the Heart,” 10-1.

It’s Oscar mania again, when the year’s loftiest cinematic achievements get all the respect of five nags in the fifth at Santa Anita. The betting odds above for the Monday-night Oscars are the Las Vegas line from handicapper Lenny Del Genio at the Frontier Hotel there.

Anyone suspicious of Del Genio’s qualifications should know that Lenny’s father is an actor in New York. Lenny goes to a lot of movies himself and he’s personally acquainted with “a number of people in the entertainment industry, including some writers and producers.” We’re talking inside information.

The Vegas odds for best picture are actually a fair reflection of the inside line in Hollywood. The Golden Globes, the Los Angeles Film Critics and the Directors Guild of America have all helped “Amadeus” gather momentum against “The Killing Fields,” which is a bit political for the Oscar crowd, and “A Passage to India,” which sparked more respect than passion. Outside shot, for earnest Americana: “Places in the Heart.”

For best director, Milos Forman (“Amadeus”) enjoys a heavy edge over the potential sentimental favorite, David Lean (“Passage”). Del Genio favors Lean (6-5) over Forman and Roland Joffe from “The Killing Fields” (both 8-5). The two Americans--Robert Benton (“Places”) and Woody Allen (“Broadway Danny Rose”) are considered long shots.

Best actor edge among insiders goes to F. Murray Abraham’s tour-de-force neurotic (“Amadeus”) over Albert Finney’s tour-de-force drunk (“Under the Volcano”). Del Genio puts Abraham at 6-5 over Finney at 7-5. Long shots: Sam Waterston (“The Killing Fields”), Jeff Bridges (“Starman”), Tom Hulce (“Amadeus”).

Ever-popular Sally Field (“Places”) is considered a heavy favorite for best actress over Judy Davis (“Passage”). Del Genio rates it a toss-up with both at 6-5. The long shots: Vanessa Redgrave (“The Bostonians”) and the two other farm-film women, Sissy Spacek (“The River”) and Jessica Lange (“Country”).

Supporting actor and actress favorites are Haing S. Ngor (“The Killing Fields”) and Peggy Ashcroft (“Passage”).

HOT STUFF: John Hughes, Hollywood’s first auteur of teen films, is now the John Hughes Co.

Paramount Pictures has given the National Lampoon graduate a long-term deal to write, direct and produce for the studio under his own production unit. The agreement prematurely ends the prolific film maker’s multi-picture deal with Universal Pictures.

Hughes’ remarkably swift ascent from screenwriter (“National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Mr. Mom”) to writer-director (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and the upcoming “Weird Science”) to writer-director-producer comes at a time when the theatrical film market is tilting more and more toward teen audiences.

“The Breakfast Club” is regarded within the industry as a breakthrough film for its success with young moviegoers usually offered more frivolous fare.

The key figure in the Paramount deal was President Ned Tanen, who shepherded Hughes’ last three movies as an independent producer at Universal. After Tanen’s move to Paramount, relations deteriorated between Universal and Hughes, where his attitude toward authority figures has been likened to that of the teen characters in his movies.

“My allegiance was to Ned,” Hughes acknowledged in a phone interview. While Hughes expects to deal with “adult themes” in his Paramount films, he is “not interested in making movies for people who rent cassettes. Teen-agers are more accepting of new ideas and innovative approaches.”

The first Hughes Co. movie will be another teen comedy, “Pretty in Pink,” shooting this June. Hughes’ script will be directed by Howie Deutch and produced by Lauren Shuler, another young specialist in youth-oriented matter (her credits include “Mr. Mom,” the upcoming “Ladyhawke” and “St. Elmo’s Fire”). Walt Disney Pictures announced a three-year deal with Shuler on Thursday.

YANKED YANKS: Tokyo Film Festival officials have canceled a June 9 presentation of “Mishima,” the controversial film about author Yukio Mishima, amid reported threats of violence from right-wing opponents of the film. Angry that the festival has “bowed to pressure before anyone has even seen the film,” the film makers will circulate a letter of protest to prominent international directors, according to co-producer Tom Luddy. Francis Coppola and George Lucas are executive producers of the film, which will be distributed domestically next fall by Warner Bros.

Mishima, who committed ritual suicide in 1970 after seizing military headquarters in Toyko, is a hero among Japan’s right-wing nationalist faction. The filming of “Mishima” in Japan last summer drew fire after Mishima’s widow withdrew support because the movie dealt with her husband’s homosexuality and suicide.

The current controversy is a potential blight on the first-year festival, which has been planned on a scale rivaling the world’s most prestigious film gatherings. “If Tokyo wants the respect that the big festivals get, it has to play by the rules,” “Mishima” director Paul Schrader said. “And those rules are that you don’t yield to parochial pressures and pre-censor a film because it may be inconvenient to somebody in your extended family of friends.”

CORMAN NEWS: B-movie king Roger Corman has formed Concorde Pictures Corp., an innovative distribution “cooperative” that will release films made by Corman and other producers.

Concorde will offer cut-rate distribution costs to producers willing to pay a share of the company’s overhead, as well as print and advertising costs. While the first few Concorde pictures will be typical exploitation fare--”School Spirit,” “Wheels of Fire,” “Barbarian Queen”--Corman also plans to return to the foreign film market that he mined as founder of New World Pictures.

The Concorde announcement comes just days after Corman and New World announced an out-of-court settlement of their legal battle. The settlement announcement said that while Corman could distribute his own films, his rights to set up a distribution company competing with New World would remain “restricted.”

Corman said in a phone interview that such language was “ambiguous” and that Concorde was not a violation. He added that he allowed New World to phrase the announcement of the settlement because he had already “won most of the key points.”

New World co-owner Lawrence Kuppin declined to comment on Corman’s new company but asserted that Corman “had a chance to make changes in the release.”