‘Round and ‘Round With Oscar : Nomination Deadline’s Today--Did Videos, Parties, Ads Help?

Academy Awards fever is gripping Hollywood.

The symptoms?

Movie cassettes in the mail, cocktail parties, the Golden Globe Awards winners, still more cassettes. And the usual talk about votes being “bought.”

This year, some of the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which numbers about 5,000, say they have received anywhere from 20 to 30 videocassettes of some of the biggest and not-so-big movies of 1992. One film executive said he had gone on a holiday for a few weeks and then came home to a tidal wave of videocassettes, including copies of “A Few Good Men,” “Unforgiven,” “Howards End,” as well as “Indochine” and “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.”

Each videocassette mailing to the full membership is said to cost film companies about $15,000 in postage alone. But if seeing a film at home can regenerate interest, it can be worth it, if it helps in the voting for the academy’s annual big prize, the Oscar. This year’s awards will be presented March 29. And winning an Oscar can mean millions of dollars more in potential box-office and videocassette sales.

Academy voters have also received such gifts as a “Beauty and the Beast” videotape from the Walt Disney Studios with a note thanking the voters for their support of that 1991 film and, naturally, reminding them that in 1992, Disney released another potential Oscar nominee, “Aladdin.” The studio did not want to send out “Aladdin,” given the fear of piracy and the enormous video sales potential.

From Warner Bros., academy voters received handsome hardcover photo books showing the making of Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X”--another potential contender.

Each weekday for the last several weeks, voters have been confronted with costly, full-color ads in the trade publications, Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety. “For your consideration,” they read, “ ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ for: best picture produced by John Hughes; best actor Macaulay Culkin, etc.”

But the trades haven’t been as swollen with ads this awards season--a sign, most observers believe, that some studios are trying to contain costs.

In some eyes, the awards season kicks off with the various film critics associations announcing their choices. Then comes the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s Golden Globe Awards, an occasion that often foreshadows the Oscars. It’s widely acknowledged that the timing of the Globe nominations, announced during the height of the busy Christmas-New Year’s moviegoing period, is a useful tool for drawing attention to a movie, even if the average moviegoer hasn’t a clue as to whose opinion the Golden Globes represent.

Then the Globe presentation ceremonies themselves are usually held just before the academy closes its nominations. (This year, the Globe ceremonies were held Jan. 23; today is the deadline for Oscar nominations.)

Distributor Universal Pictures wasted no time in advertising that its “Scent of a Woman” picked up Golden Globe awards for actor Al Pacino, screenwriter Bo Goldman and as best dramatic picture of 1992. But a source at Universal said there will be “no step-up” in the Oscar campaign. The studio has incorporated the Golden Globe wins into the overall marketing effort and has no plans to send out videocassettes of “Scent of Woman.”

Many academy voters attend some of the dozens of parties given on behalf of filmmakers and celebrities who just happen to be in Los Angeles these days to promote their films. Recently, Miramax Films and the International Creative Management agency co-hosted a reception for Neil Jordan, the British director of the much-talked about potential Oscar nominee “The Crying Game.” Some of ICM’s clients, including Julia Roberts, attended. Not surprisingly, the group included a number of academy voters.

Roddy McDowall hosted a reception for his friend, actress Joan Plowright, who was in Los Angeles to attend the Golden Globes, where she won two prizes. Plowright often is mentioned as an Oscar contender for supporting actress for her role in “Enchanted April.” And the consul-general of Turkey in Los Angeles hosted a reception for director Tunc Basaran and actor Rutkay Aziz, whose film “Piano Piano” is the Turkish entry in the academy’s foreign-language film competition.

However, a minor tempest recently arose over the propriety of members of the foreign-language film award committee attending a party given by the consul-general of Spain on behalf of that nation’s official entry in the academy’s best foreign language Oscar competition.

Foreign-language committee chair Fay Kanin sent letters to the committee’s 300 members cautioning that attending a party for a film in competition might make the academy “vulnerable to charges of having been ‘bought.’ ”

In an interview, Kanin said she had respect for the Spanish filmmakers and their intentions. But she issued the letter because, as far as she could remember, this was the first time such a large number of committee members had been invited to a social event while judging is in process.

The committee will narrow the field of foreign-language entries to five just prior to the announcement of the academy’s Oscar nominations Feb. 17. Only then is the full academy membership entitled to vote--provided they see all five films.

Kanin’s letter appeared to have some impact on Spain’s party. A spokesman for the Spanish film “The Fencing Master” said that about 50% of the foreign language committee members who had initially indicated they would attend heeded Kanin’s advice. On the other hand, some, who were angered by the letter, showed up at the Hollywood Hills home of actress Assumpta Serna, the star of the “The Fencing Master,” which was voted an audience favorite at the recent Palm Springs Film Festival.

Among those attending were director Paul Bartel, who took a sarcastic view of Kanin’s letter. “I’m always deeply offended when anyone suggests there is anything commercial about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”

Film producer Si Litvinoff called Kanin’s objections “absurd and trivial. . . . You can’t buy a vote with a party,” he said.

Norman Flicker, a committee member, who is a senior vice president for the Samuel Goldwyn Co., said Kanin’s views “deserve respect. And we hope she respects ours. . . . But most members have really been around a long time, and a little party like this won’t sway votes.”

Kanin, who served for four years as academy president, said the organization “is constantly being accused of getting free limousine service and going to cocktail parties and receiving gifts. All of which is untrue. But when we advise our members that we prefer they do not attend any events while judging, we also receive criticism.”

Any hint of impropriety is abhorrent to the academy, which is proud of its unblemished voting history. In its 65 years, there never has been a breach of its secret voting tallies, and the Oscar winners always remain a mystery until the envelopes are opened. The membership roster is, simply, unavailable.

Some academy members, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, put the issue of the Spanish consul-general party into context. “Parties like these are rather harmless in light of more questionable activities that go on,” one said. Several said they know of instances in which foreign language committee members also are paid by producers to promote their films. “They’re not hired to get stories in the trade papers, but rather to attend the screenings and chat up the films with the voting members,” said one.

Kanin said she views receiving videocassettes as an entirely different situation from attending parties. “They are an opportunity to see films that sometimes we just don’t have a chance to see,” she said.

The studios say it’s a way to remind the voters of a movie, but not replace the experience of seeing a movie in a theater. But the fact is, according to some studio sources, the number of academy members who attend the special theater screenings the studios conduct is declining.

“It’s more of a disservice to a movie if academy members don’t see a film at all,” said one studio marketing executive.

He said sending out cassettes can also have a lot to do with ensuring talent relationships. “By sending out every one of its films, including a long shot like ‘Candyman,’ TriStar Pictures was keeping everyone equal,” he said.

A TriStar spokeswoman confirmed that the studio’s eight 1992 releases were mailed to academy voters. “We treated all of our films equally,” she said.

“Sssh!” said the spouse of one academy member who was speaking to a reporter about videotapes. “Don’t make an issue about the videos being given to us. Who wouldn’t want to receive them?”

Times staff writer Elaine Dutka contributed to this report.