A LET T E R FRO M THE PRESIDENT Dear Academy Member, I never cease to feel pride when I see yet another excellent program at the Academy, whether its focus is retrospective, or educational, or both. What a wonderful and fulfilling year of programs, be it a reunion of the cast of DAMN YAN KE ES, say, or a talk by Oscar-winning writer Robert Towne or an exhibition of animation art from the former Soviet Union. I'm also proud to be an Academy member every time I get a peek into the boxes and file drawers at our Center for Motion Picture Study, and I'm reminded of the millions of photographs, papers, films and other minutiae of movie history preserved there. By now we should all be aware that the Academy works continuously at saving and preserving the history of the art form, and at honoring and remembering that history with programs in our theaters and exhibitions in our galleries. Why do we do it? The answer is found in the people I see attending that Bob Towne lecture, or sitting in the Library doing research, or oohing at the stunning black-and-white George Hurrell photos on display in the Academy Gallery. Many of them are Academy members. Even more aren't. But whether it's a student researching biographical material for a term paper, or a young director of photography learning lessons of light from Hurrell's images, or a veteran member of our Directors Branch basking in the inspired lunacy of a Chuck Jones cartoon short, what they take away from these activities is precisely the point of all our preservation efforts. We preserve this history, this cultural heritage, and we make ourselves available to talk about it whenever possible, so that it will live on - not just in the boxes and file drawers - but in the hearts and minds of those who would carry it with them. That's the thread that runs through this year's Annual Report. The preservation of the past to nurture the present to create the future. That's an exciting ride, and a lot of you came along for it last year. Take a look at the fun we had, and if you didn't ride with us last year, join us this. You'll enjoy it, and I promise you'll learn something, too. Arthur Hiller President .~c"c€:m:,' cf !.7:':ion Pict:.!re t.it:> a~d S~!:nccs l::':rciy. C:v::~;y r·:i:r;;, Calif. Over the past decade, thousands of the production and biography clipping files containing rare, brittle and deteriorating material have been microfiched, and last year work began on filming the general subject clipping files, a herculean task that won't be completed before microfiche is obsolete and the whole process must start over with whatever is then state-of-the-art. The Academy Film Archive completed an active and ambitious year that, in addition to the Archive's primary areas of attention - the preservation and acquisition of Academy Award-winning and nominated films, and the preservation of all past Academy Awards Presentations - also saw the completion of a major preservation project (nine Satyajit Ray films), the staging of an international gathering of archivists, and the addition to the collection of hundreds of items pertaining to the careers of filmmakers such as John Frankenheimer, William Friedkin, Leon Shamroy, Pare Lorentz and John Whitney. For the first time in the Academy's history the Archive was able to retain copies of nominated films in all categories of the Academy Awards. So, along with FORREST GUMP, 55 other high-quality prints of features, shorts and documentaries Opposite: A November revealing a broad range of achievement in motion exhibition of Cecil B. DeMille pictures are now a permanent part of the memorabilia included this still from DeMille's 1923 version Academy's collection. of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Continuing its preservation of the Academy Awards shows, the Archive preserved the film elements for Above top: Another major collection was a gift from the the 21 st and 22nd presentations and created digital widow of composer Alex North, masters for the 21 st, 23rd and 24th shows from which includes North's bound kinescopes and for the 37th, 49th, 50th and 51 st conductor scores for over two shows from two-inch videotape. A digital master of dozen films, including DEATH OF A SALESMAN, plus scripts, corre­ the 67th ceremony was received from ABC. spondence, photographs and Everyone's heard of the nickelodeon, but few have recordings. North was nomi­ seen the kinetoscope reels which were such a nated for Oscars 15 times, and he was given an Academy sensation a hundred years ago. Through a Honorary Award in 1985 in collaboration with Ray Phillips, the Archive now has recognition of his creation of 45 rare kinetoscopes which were preserved this year. memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures. Over the course of the year, the Archive has Center: Celeste Holm was feted consolidated its film and video in a new insulated by the Academy at a December and air-conditioned storage facility in West Los Tribute in New York. Angeles. Academy collections which have been in BoHom: A costume sketch for storage for decades are now being examined Paramount's 1949 SAMSON AND and evaluated. DELILAH is part of the Gwen Wakeling Collection given to the Library by Hank Sterling. 3 p R E s E R v N G o u R p A s T (1) In April, the Academy Film Archive co-hosted with UCLA and AFI the 1995 International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Congress, coordinating the seminars on d igital film restoration and multimedia held at Sony Studios, and assisting with set-up and coordina­ tion of various FIAF events and semi­ nars. Part of the Congress was the Directors Tribute to Film Preservation in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Directors (from left in photo) Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas; as well as Peter Bogdanovich, Charles Burnett and Nora Ephron, participated in an eloquent and moving discussion of film preservation. (2) Margaret Herrick Library Director Linda Harris Mehr filled the Academy Little Theater In May with a talk on the early serial heroines - such as Kathlyn Williams In THE ADVENTURES OF KATHLYN - strong-minded, independent women who always prevailed over their adversaries. (3) Marine Major Harrold Weinberger, a combat cameraman from both world wars, joined Bob Hope, Gloria DeHaven, Edward Dmytryk and Robert Stack in reminiscing about Hollywood's role in World War II at the Los Angeles edition of "Films for the Fight" in May. Versions of "Films for the Fight" had previously been staged by the Academy in Deauville, France and New York City. (4) One of the 2,400 one-sheet posters in the Margaret Herrick Library's collection of more than 15,000 which have now been catalogued on a computer database. The project was developed to provide better information to staff and researchers about the holdings, while at the same time aiding conservation by decreasing the need to handle individual items. Each database entry will include color reference images plus additional information. 4 (5) The Gregory Peck Collection, one of the richest acquired by the Margaret Herrick Library this year, contains correspondence, scripts, production records and photographs like this one from OLD GRINGO. (6) The Academy Gallery on the fourth floor of the Wilshire Boulevard head­ quarters building was remodeled during the past year and opened in June with a photographic display of the glamour photography of famed studio portraitist George Hurrell. Taken from the Margaret Herrick Library's holdings, many of the "rediscovered" photos in the show had not been displayed or published in more than 50 years. (7) Clark Gable by George Hurrell. (8) Two-time Oscar-winning animator Frederic Back, shown viewing a display that was part of the exhibition of Soviet Animation Art in the Academy Grand Lobby, was joined by Co Hoedeman, Bill Kroyer, Bill LiHlejohn and Ishu Patel at a February Academy Tribute to Animation that saluted the 25th anniversary of the International Tournee of Animation. (9) Cel from Frederic Back's 1987 Oscar-winning animated short, THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES. (10) The Satyajit Ray Preservation Project, in collaboration with the Merchant Ivory and the David and Lucile Packard foundations, made 6 significant progress, with work completed on nine films. The newly­ restored print of PATHER PANCHALI was screened in April at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Among aHendees were Ismail Merchant and Academy Past President Robert Rehme (photo). Two projects to restore Best Picture winners OLIVER! (1968) and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) are in the early planning stages. 5 6 7 T H ANN U A L A CAD E M Y A WAR D 5 If the Academy's preservation work points toward the past and its educational efforts toward the future, then the Academy Awards represent the present, and the link between the past and future. History is created every Oscar Night. The winning of an Oscar adds an appellation to a filmmaker' s name - "Academy Awa rd­ winner. .. " - that endures well beyond the winner's lifetime and grants the immortality of listing and record-keeping in libraries, books, Internet Web sites and the Academy's own archives. The 67th Academy Awards Presentation contributed tidbits to the banquet of history: eTom Hanks became only the second male performer in history to win back-to-back Oscars in the Best Actor category. eThe fifth tie in Oscar history occurred when FRANZ KAFKA'S IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and TREVOR received the same number of votes for the Live Action Short Film Oscar, and both took home statuettes.