GOOD CHEER WARMS STARS ON OSCAR NIGHT

The star called Prince wore a hood. He made such fast steps down the far-celebrity aisle at the Academy Awards arrivals ceremonies--the aisle reserved for the lesser lights--that few caught a glimpse of his face. Only his sequined garb of purple and a platoon of security gave him away.

The fans didn’t care. Such is Prince’s celebrity that he didn’t even have to look up, much less wave, to receive his reward of screeches.

On the other side of the personality scale was Diana Ross, one of the evening’s presenters, who more nearly represented the evening’s mood of glad-handing and good cheer. She stopped hither and yon, graciously accepting praise for her purple-and-black-sequined pants outfit--”It’s Galanos”--and introducing her longtime friend Patrice, a Frenchman, with whom she never stopped holding hands.

“This is America!” Ross exulted, like a veritable cheerleader. “America is about stars and music and motion pictures, and it’s all here.”

Altogether it was a rather tame pre-awards occasion Monday night outside the Music Center. About the only complaint came from presenter Michael Douglas. One of the last to arrive, he seemed a bit nervous about being late. “Have you seen these streets?” he said, referring to the traffic and the crunch of long-longer-longest limousines outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Silver appeared to be the dominant limo color this year.

Indeed, it was a rather conservatively dressed crowd, too, with what the designers are calling the new (or old) femininity in vogue. Lots of off-the-shoulder gowns in tulle and chiffon and velvet, altogether reminiscent of 1950s prom dresses. There were exceptions of course--singer-actress Apollonia’s being the most noticeable. With a feathered headdress and veil over her face, she took care to bare her belly, and dressed it with a black and pearl button.

This year there were no protests as to who was nominated or who was not, just a smattering of religious signs, including one in the upper right balcony of the grandstands that called for a return to the deity along with “back to blacklisting” and “no nudity, no cussing, no homos, no leftists . . . .” And no one paid attention.

No one rained on this parade.

About the only placard that drew notice was one declaring that “Salieri has the last laugh.” It was held up just as F. Murray Abraham, everyone’s best-bet for best actor as Salieri in “Amadeus,” was generously offering that he would “really” be “delighted” if he could share the award with Tom Hulce, his co-star who played the effervescent Mozart as a young man.

Seeing the sign, Abraham, 45, a relatively unknown actor until this role, pointed, nodded his head and burst out laughing.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” he said unabashedly, while his wife, Kate, stood off on the side. “It’s like a great big wonderful birthday party.

As for Hulce, who came down the red-carpeted aisle holding hands with Elizabeth Berridge, the actress who played his wife Constanza in “Amadeus,” he said he didn’t mind as long as he or Abraham won. “At the end of the film, he and I worked together, and I hope it happens tonight.”

As for himself, Hulce said, “I’m a little incoherent; of course I’m nervous.” So was “Amadeus” producer Saul Zaentz, jolly and white-bearded, who on the outside seemed as happy as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. “Inside, it’s a perpetual motion machine.”

With nearly everyone who dared predict predicting--correctly--”Amadeus,” Abraham and, for best actress, Sally Field for “Places in the Heart,” it was not a very suspenseful evening. Producer David Wolper, who would take home the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, said he thought “Amadeus” would come out on top because it was a “totally different movie.”

The “fans in the stands,” as Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd, host of these arrival ceremonies calls them, had a chance to vote, too. In a simple applause poll, they chose “Amadeus,” Abraham and Field. In the best-supporting categories, they voted for Noriyuki (Pat) Morita of “The Karate Kid” and Glenn Close of “The Natural,” while the experts had been choosing Peggy Ashcroft, at 77 the oldest nominee, in “A Passage to India,” and Dr. Haing S. Ngor for “The Killing Fields.” Five out of eight wasn’t bad for the grandstands.

Roland Joffe, the Englishman who made his directing debut and won his first Oscar nomination for “The Killing Fields,” the story of journalist Dith Pran’s survival among the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, was making no predictions. He simply said he was “thrilled by the extraordinary reception American audiences have given the movie” and said he himself was unaware of the issues involved until he read the script. “I am proud enough to be nominated.”

Sally Field, wearing a strapless, calf-length black chiffon gown, was making no predictions, either. Accompanied by her mother, her son and her husband, Alan Reisman, she indicated that she would be more excited to win an Oscar for “Places in the Heart” than she was when she won for “Norma Rae” in 1979--and she was. “Last time I was numb,” she said. Asked whether she could hold an acceptance speech to 45 seconds, as this year’s quartet of Oscar show producers demanded, she replied demurely: “Isn’t that a little premature?”

A few steps ahead of her into the Pavilion was competitor sunny-faced Sissy Spacek (“The River”), also up for her second Oscar. She turned the arrival ceremonies into a family affair. “I’m very excited; can’t you tell?” she began, when suddenly she saw a relative who was walking into the auditorium with Geraldine Page, a nominee as best supporting actress (“The Pope of Greenwich Village”).

“Geraldine’s my first cousin,” Spacek said. “My whole family’s here.”

Victor Banerjee of “A Passage to India,” appropriately garbed in black Nehru jacket and white silk scarf, tossed aside the matter of not being nominated himself. All he wanted, he said with determined optimism, was for the movie to win in its 11 nominated categories. The first celebrity arrival of the evening was Morita, nominee for best supporting actor in “The Karate Kid.” Morita said he was so excited that, “right now, on a scale of 10, I’m about a 17. Outside of that, I’m calm.”

Morita, who is about 5-feet-3, paused, then said on a softer note: “I’m probably taller than I ever felt in my life.”

John Malkovich, a supporting actor competitor as the blind boarder in “Places in the Heart,” who arrived soon thereafter, wore the same kind of dark glasses for the ceremonies that he wore in the movie. He told Archerd that his next project was “Death of a Salesman” for CBS-TV.

Jimmy Stewart, who at 76 would garner a special Oscar for his half-century or so of contributions to movies, drew as much fan attention as any of the current stars. He said he was “greatly honored” to be receiving the award--”and greatly honored that it is being presented by Cary Grant.” (Grant is 81.)

If there was a lot of exuberance in the crowd, it was more than matched by Debbie Reynolds. She came bearing on her arm a new husband. “This is my new husband, Richard Hamlin,” she told the crowd with a half giggle. “Say hello, Richard.”

Hamlin is a contractor in Roanoke, Va., and now Reynolds divides her time between here and there. “The air is so clean (there). . . .”

Dorothy Lamour came, too. When someone asked her, “Where’s your sarong?” she smiled and said, “I’m more comfortable in this.” “This” was a straight-lined gown of lilac chiffon.

Candice Bergen, accompanied by husband Louis Malle, wore slinky gold lame. “Is there going to be ‘Knock Wood II? No!” she replied, referring to a question about her autobiography.

Kathleen Turner, to considerable cheering, announced that a sequel to “Romancing the Stone” was on its way.

Gregory Peck, one of the producers of this year’s Oscar gala, said, as he has been emphasizing for the last few days, that he hoped the show would keep to its tightened timetable. “I’ll be happy when it’s over,” he said.