Unit 20 American Movies II 美国电影 2

Part 3 The Academy Awards 奥斯卡金像奖

    The Oscars! Every January, when the calendar has turned to a new year, the attention of the entertainment community and of film fans around the world turns to the upcoming Academy Awards. Oscar Fever hits, building to the crescendo of the annual presentation of golden statuettes, when hundreds of millions of cinema lovers glue themselves to their television sets to learn who will receive the highest honor in filmmaking.

    After three-quarters of a century of recognizing excellence in cinema achievement, the annual presentation of the Oscars has become the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' most famous activity.

    The Academy Awards Presentation is also the activity that enables the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to maintain its varied year-round calendar of programs and events and a wide-ranging educational and cultural agenda.

    When the first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, 1929, movies had just begun to talk.

    That first Awards ceremony took place during a banquet held in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The attendance was 250 and tickets cost $10.

    In 1966, the Oscars were first broadcast in color. From 1971 through 1975 the NBC-TV network carried the Awards. ABC has telecast the show since 1976 and is under contract through 2008.

    The first statuette ever presented went to Emil Jannings, who was named best actor for his roles in "The Last Command" and "The Way of All Flesh." That first year, 1929, 15 statuettes were awarded, all of them to men except for Janet Gaynor. In the second year, the number of awards was reduced to seven - two for acting and one each for Best Picture, Directing, Writing, Cinematography and Art Direction. Since then, the Awards Presentations have grown slowly, but steadily, not only in audience count, but in the fields of achievement covered.

    Today regular awards are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts of the year in up to 25 categories.

    All voting for Academy Awards is conducted by secret ballot and tabulated by the international auditing firm of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Secrecy is maintained by the auditors - the results of balloting are not revealed until the now-famous envelopes are opened on stage during the live television program. Because the Academy numbers among its members the ablest artists and craftsmen in the motion picture world, the Oscar represents the best achievements of the year in the opinion of those who themselves reside at the top of their craft.

    Up to five nominations are made in categories with balloting for these nominations restricted to members of the Academy branch concerned; film editors, for instance, nominate only for Achievement in Film Editing. All voting members may nominate for Best Picture. Awards also are given to the Best Foreign Language film of the Year, a category not represented by a branch. Nominations for awards in this categories are made by a large committee of members drawn from all branches. Final winners are determined by vote of all eligible members.

    In addition to the regular annual awards conferred by vote of the membership, the Board of Governors is empowered to vote Scientific and Technical Awards, Honorary Awards, Special Achievement Awards and other honors. Among these is the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, a bronze bust of the legendary producer, which is given to "a creative producer who has been responsible for a consistently high quality of motion picture production." It is considered the highest accolade a producer can receive. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." The Gordon E. Sawyer Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry."

    Now let's say something about the Oscar Statuette. It's been called "the Academy statuette," "the golden trophy" and "the statue of merit." The entertainment trade paper, Weekly Variety, even attempted to popularize "the iron man." Thankfully, the term never stuck. Born in 1928, the Academy Award of Merit — which we know as simply "the Oscar" — depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians.

    Weighing 8.5 pounds and standing 13.5 inches tall, the statuette was designed by MGM's chief art director Cedric Gibbons. Frederic Hope, Gibbons' assistant, created the original Belgian black marble base; artist George Stanley sculpted the design; and the California Bronze Foundry hand cast the first statuette in bronze plated with 24-karat gold.

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