An Evening in London with Harold Pinter
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FROM THE PRESIDENT Academy of Mction Picture Arts and Scicnc:J5 Library. Bo"~rli' Hil!:;, Cs:if. Go to the Movies! DON'T WAIT FOR THE DVDs TO ARRIVE. Do what we were "The audience all meant to do - see movies in theaters where they deserve to be seen. Have the big screen experience as you consider your choices for the 79th and the theater Academy Awards. environment are Yes, the DVD offerings from the studios will come pouring in pretty soon, and we'll all be able to catch up on the films we' ve missed, but home definitely part of viewing - even on the flat-screen TV in the den - is just not the same as what movies are ... being in a movie theater with other filmgoers giving in to the power of the big screenibig sound experience. It doesn' t matter if it' s "six-track 70mm when the technical, stereo" or "digitally mastered" or "Sen surround" - it's AT THE MOVIES emotional and - and that makes a difference. Do you remember the days when you couldn't wait to get to a theater social elements all to see -let's say - "Star Wars" or "Driving Miss Daisy" or "Fiddler on the Roof' or "Apocalypse Now"? Part of the joy of it was just being there align, it is indeed knowing that the rest of the crowd was as excited as you were! The the stuff dreams audience and the theater environment are defmitely part of what movies are. Yes, there are times when cell phones ring and people talk and the are made of." air conditioning doesn't work well- but when the technical, emotional and social elements all align, it is indeed the stuff dreams are made of. As three-time Oscar winner Walter Murch says in the book Behind the Seen, "So you get this beam being projected on a screen, not in an air vacuum, but in the vacuum of darkness. And people are sitting there in the dark, which is kind of strange when you think about it: that 343 - or a thousand - or six people would choose to pay money to go spend two hours with strangers in the dark. But they do it, and they do it willingly. Then this flickering image and some fluttering speaker cones play their relatively modest energies. But the power that film has over the audience is not its physical strength, but its coherence and the fact that 25,000 years of human history is coiled there in the dark, ready and anxious to make a leap. It's a powerful combination when it works." An elegant way to remind you that this is the way we should be looking at movies, first and foremost. To that end, remember please that our Academy theater in Beverly Hills shows new films on a weekly basis and our screening facilities in New York, San Francisco and London have regular screenings as well. And they're free! So as they say, consult your monthly program guide and ... Go TO THE MOVlES! - SID GANIS ~~~. ' . ACADEMY REPORT ).. ..,4 , , ~ f : Published by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences .... 8949 Wilshire Boulevard. Beverly Hills. California 90211 ·1972 (310) 247·3000 www.oscars.org PRESIDENT . ...... .... ....... .. ... •.. ...•.. .. ....... .. Sid Ganis ON THE COVER: FIRST VICE PRESIDENT . ...... .... ...... • .. ......... ...... ... Robert Rehme The cutting-edge animation duo of twin brothers VICE PRES IDENT . ...... .............. .•. .. ... .......... Donald C. Rogers Stephen and Timothy Quay delivered their first U.S. VICE PRESIDENT ... • ..... .... .... .•• . ....•• •. .. ..••... Arthur Hamilton lecture as this quarter's TREASURER ..... ...• . .....• . ... •.......•........•........ Tom Hanks 10th Marc Davis Celebration of Animation. SECRETARy ..... ...... ..•...... ...•. .. ... .... ... Kathy Bates See story on page 4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ......... ....... ... ... .. .. .... .. .. ... Bruce Davis Photo Credit: From "St reet of Crocodiles" Photos: unless otherwise identified, by Image Group LA; Design: Lisa Carlsson. Carlsson & Company. Inc. ©1986 Zeitgeist Films Oscar,Oscars', Academy Awards: Academy Award . A.M.PAS. and Oscar Night are the trademarks. and the Oscar statuette is the registered design mark and copyrighted property. of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Z AC A DE M Y REP ORT ' V OL UM E 18 Tribute to a Legend LEGENDARY LEADING de Havilland was a remains a significant victory "I cannot help thinking of lady Olivia de Havilland trav pioneer in the struggle for for actors and fa vorably an April day in 1935 w hen I eled from her home in Paris to actors' rights. Under contract affected other studio contract sat dow n on a stage ramp - be honored by the Academy to Warner Bros., she rebelled employees of that era . aged 18 I was - with a hand with a career tribute in June at at the inferior quality of roles At the Academy tribute, some, magnetic 25-year-old the Samuel Go ld wyn Theater. being offered to her after de Havilland engaged in an Tasmanian, Errol Fl ynn . "Miss de Havilland has lived "Gone with the Wind" (made onstage conversation w ith "He asked me, 'What do in France for over five decades on loan-out to David O. program host Robert Osborne. you want out of life?' now," said Academy President Selznick), and she was placed Special guests included pro "And I said, 'Respect for Sid Ganis in his welcome. "So, on a six-month suspension. ducer Samuel Goldwyn Jr.; difficult work well done.' it's pretty safe to say that she is At the end of her seven-year David Ladd, her co-star in "Tonight you and the viewed as a national treas ure on co ntract, the studio attempted "The Proud Rebel "; and Roger Academy have made me feel two continents." to force her to stay on, claiming Mayer, who spoke about the that, perhaps, after all, I have Over her five-decade that her obligation extended to "de Havilland Decision." achieved that young dream ." career, de Havilland earned include the duration of the At the evening's conclusion, five Academy Award nomina suspension. She sued the de Havilland said, "When you The tribute was presented in associa tions and took home two st udio and won, and though find your 90th birthday tion with the Film Department of the Las Best Actress Oscars, for her she did not work in films approaching, you tend to look Angeles County Museum of Art Support for performances in "To Each during the intervening back to those early years and the program was provided by Air France and His Own" in 1946 and "The three years, the landmark the dreams and ambitions that the Las Angeles Fifm and Television Office of He iress" in 1949. "de Havilla nd Decision" you had then. the French Embassy ACA DE MY REPORT · SECO N D Q U AR TE R 2006 3 The Brothers Quay Animate Davis Lecture "WE FEEL A LITTLE BIT NAKED TONIGHT," The brothers subsequently got into anima the Brothers Quay sa id from the Samuel The sold-out tion when a friend suggested they try for a grant Go ldwyn Theater stage, where they were for an experimental film at the British Film presenting the 10th Marc Davis Celebration of evening at the Institute. They proposed a puppet film. Some Animation in April. It was the first speaking Samuel Goldwyn six months later, the friend called and said, "I 've engagement in the United States for the got you 9,000 pounds. Come back to make your animating duo. Theater included puppet film." "Normally in London if one of the colleges "We were so intimidated by working with the calls up and wants us to come in and lecture, the screening of puppet because all we had was one of those stupid we say 'never.'" Instead, the brothers invite the several of the ani little mannequins that you buy at an art shop. We students to the studio. "Everything's there, the decided that since we couldn't move the puppet (as camera, the lights, the puppets, the table where mated short films artfully as an experienced stop-motion animator), we animate everything. And so, we fee l a little from the Quay that we would make everything move around it and bit naked tonight." create a highly subjective universe around it." Identical twin brothers Stephen and Timothy brothers' universe. The sold-out evening at the Samuel Goldwyn Quay enjoy being confused one with the other Theater included the screening of several of the and actually prefer, Director of Educational animated short films from that universe, including Programs and Special Projects Randy Haberkamp said, "to be "Street of Crocodiles" (1986) and "The Comb" (1990). referred to simply as 'Quay.'" Born near Philadelphia, the Quays have remained in London The brothers trained as illustrators at the Philadelphia where, over the past two decades, they have produced numer Col lege of Art where, on their first day there, they recalled, "We ous animated and live action short films, television commercials saw an exhibition of Po lish posters which made a subliminal, but and music videos. In 1995 they released their first feature huge, impression on us." length film, "Institute Benjamenta." 4 ACADEMY REPORT ' VOLUME 18 Third Timers Another Charmer for "Great To Be Nominated" THE ACADEMY LAUNCHED THE THIRD PART OF ITS successful screening series "Great To Be Nominated" as the second quarter began, and it ran for 19 weeks. The series at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater showcased the Best Pictu re nominees - this time from 1958 to 1976 - that accumulated the most Academy Award nominations in a partic ular year, but did not ultimately win the Oscar for Best Picture. A different film screened each Monday evening, plus one Tuesday night to keep patrons on their toes.