94 year old Maureen O’Hara took time to fondly remember the Hollywood greats from her past like John Wayne and John Ford . Legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki said he was just happy to be in the same room as Maureen O’Hara. Masterful screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere gave a moving tribute to Hollywood’s “forgotten” writers. And Jean Hersholt 
Humanitarian Award winner Harry Belafonte galvanized the industry crowd by asking them to aim higher. Yes, it was quite a night for the four honorees of the Sixth Annual Governors Awards of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Quite a night. And the Academy got this awards season off to a roaring start with this blessedly non-televised celebration of the greats in this business
who may not have always been given their due. It has also become a night for major schmoozing and networking among Academy voters and the huge numbers of Oscar hopefuls who also crowd the room and make it clear campaign season is upon us – big time. But more on that later.
First the real reason we were all there is to honor the greats of the movie business with the first (long overdue) Oscars awarded this season. And they all knew going in they were winners. No envelopes for this ceremony. Before beginning the presentation Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs championed the quartet of honorees and also introduced a reel of Honorary Oscar winners of past , including those from the previous five Governors Awards that have been held since the idea was instituted in 2009 when the Academy decided to create a separate show completely devoted to them, allowing for up to four winners each year instead of just one that normally would have been picked when these special Oscars were handed out on the main Oscar broadcast. The reel proved to be somewhat bittersweet when you realize the numbers of these recent Governors Award winners who have passed away since receiving this honor: Lauren Bacall, Dick Smith, Gordon Willis, John Calley, Eli Wallach, Hal Needham. The reel proved that time is fleeting, but the accomplishments of these Hollywood immortals is not and should be recognized before it’s too late.
That’s what AMPAS did Saturday night with O’Hara, the fiery Irish redhead who stood her own ground in a man’s world 
working opposite John Wayne, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power and many others in a career that spanned seven decades. After a far too short look at her career – a career that incredibly never included a single Oscar nomination – she was introduced by Liam Neeson , and then Clint Eastwood who told of the awe he was in when he was a contract player at Universal. “She was the first movie star I ever met when I was doing (an uncredited role in) a film called Lady Godiva, she was the first real movie star,” he said. With the orchestra playing her on with “Danny Boy” for a prolonged and heartfelt standing ovation, she actually proceeded to sing a verse of the song before offering her thanks. “Happily I finally got an Oscar…I’m honored beyond words. Thank you with all my heart , ” she said before “closing” with an old Irish saying. But even though it appeared she was done, she wasn’t and said she still had at least ten more minutes t o go , but after some awkward moments was finally played off. At any rate at least the Academy finally got it right and O’Hara finally got her Oscar.
Disney and Pixar Animation cheif John Lasseter was next up introducing his hero , Miyazaki , who announced his retirement earlier this year after being the most prolific director in the history of feature animation with 11 films to his credit. He was brief and also charming in his acceptance and the reel showing off his work was indeed impressive. He won an Oscar a little over a decade ago but this was for a body of work. “I think I’ve been lucky to participate in the last time, the last era when we can make films with paper, pencils and film,” he said through an interpreter.
I was particularly taken with director Phil Kaufman who came out next to honor legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, a frequent collaborator with so many other famous 
directors including Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness Of Being) , and most notably Luis Bunuel. His amazing output of 139 films includes Belle De Jour, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie, The Tin Drum, and That Obscure Object Of Desire among many , many others. Kaufman told me afterwards there is so much to say about Carriere that he could have gone on for an hour. He had to cut his remarks down as it was . In an eloquent acceptance Carriere was especially warm to writers, often overlooked. “I am very happy about this (Oscar) because very often screenwriters are forgotten… but still they are filmmakers. That’s why I would like to share this priceless statue with all my colleagues: the ones I know, the ones I don’t know. From all over the world , to share with them. So we all thank you,” he said.
Finally though it was Belafonte who fired up the crowd with his potent speech that really spanned the history and pitfalls of being black in Hollywood. Chris Rock got in some laughs in this part of the show saying the Academy’s Cheryl Boone Isaacs was “a black president we still like” before getting a little serious in saluting Belafonte by saying “I am not here to honor you , I am here to thank you”. Susan Sarandon presented the award and noted he had won an Emmy, Grammy and Tony. With this Oscar Belafonte now joins the elite EGOT club with all four major show business awards. But it was what he had to say that really resonated and will stay in the memory , pointing out such film classics as 1915’s Birth Of A Nation , an acknowledged movie milestone that also incited racist murderous rampages by American citizens. And he mentioned seeing Tarzan, The Ape Man featuring a white man swinging from tree to tree but presenting devastating and lasting negative images of Africans. He also pointed out landmark movies from The Defiant Ones to 12 Years A Slave before bringing up another legend, and good friend
, Sidney Poitier to join him on stage. But most memorably he laid down the gauntlet for the industry. “I really wish I could be around the rest of the century to see what Hollywood does with the rest of this century…After all Paul Robeson said artists are the voice of civilization. Perhaps we as artists and missionaries, through heart and soul can influence citizens everywhere in the world to see a better side, and look beyond as a species,” he said to highly enthusiastic applause. Afterwards Academy actors branch Governor Annette Bening was just one of many still deeply moved by his remarks.
As for the other side of the Govenors Awards, it has undoubtedly become a must stop if you are on the Oscar campaign circuit. The cocktail hour is a schmoozefest second to none and everywhere you turn you are likely to bump into a major star or filmmaker talking up their contending movie. And then when the announcer says those three magic words, “dinner is served”, it seems as if no one was sitting down to eat, they were continuing the conversation table hopping like no other evening quite provides. Each studio and distributor buys one or two tables and fills them with their contenders. I sat this year with Focus Features (thanks for the invite , Focus) right between The Theory Of Everything stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, both great dinner companions who seemed genuinely moved by the presentations. Eddie was constantly being interrupted by well wishers from Laura Dern to Angie Dickinson who told me she thinks 
he is one of the greats (and she based that on My Week With Marilyn , not Theory which she has yet to see but said she intends to asap). Focus chief Peter Schlessel and Theory producer Lisa Bruce were among others at the table. At another Focus table was Travis Knight and the gang from their animated contender , The Boxtrolls.
Eastwood , sitting at the Warners table , told me he just put the finishing touches on his December release , American Sniper in the past two days , “and it’s ready to be seen now” he said. He also said the story about America’s greatest sniper Chris Kyle is a 
remarkable one. Mark Wahlberg, whose The Gambler has its World Premiere Monday at the same complex the Governors Awards are held came by and told me he just showed the film to James Caan who starred in the 1974 original. He said Caan had tears in his eyes watching it, quite a tribute. Kevin Costner, who just entered the race with his Black Or White is excited people are finally going to see it as it’s been a long road finding the right distributor , in this case Relativity which will open it for a week to qualify in early December. It contains one of Costner’s best performances, same goes for co-star Octavia Spencer who was also at the Govs Awards on a break from the Atlantia location of her series, Red Band Society. Costner , Spencer and their director Mike Binder actually had to leave early to get to the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre for a Q&A where their film was having its official Acad screening. Jack O’Connell, a possible Best Actor contender for Unbroken also snuck out and into the next door Chinese Theatre for a surprise Q&A visit for his other film , ’71 showing as part of AFI Fest.
The list of those in this room who are also on the “circuit” was even more staggering than usual . The Judge’s Robert Duvall told me
he had been to the Governors Awards once before when his Godfather and Apocalypse Now director Francis Coppola was given the Thalberg. His co-star Robert Downey Jr. also made the scene just days after welcoming a new baby girl. Hilary Swank, Tilda Swinton, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, Keira Knightley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jake Gyllenhaal, Oscar Isaac, Logan Lerman, Edward Norton, Bennett Miller, Christoph Waltz, Reese Witherspoon, Richard Linklater, Patricial Arquette, Marion Cottiard, Michelle Monaghan, Andy Serkis, Ava Duvernay, David Oyelowo, Edward Norton, Michael Keaton, Steve Carell , Ethan Hawke, Trent Reznor, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum, Chadwick Boseman , Timothy Spall are just some awards contenders who were there on this night that in just a short time has become an indispensible and unquestioned hightlight of the season. If the Oscars end it all on February 22nd, this weekend is where much of it really starts in earnest.
Pete Hammond
