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Saturday, March 22, 2003

By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

HOLLYWOOD -- No, the White House has not called and asked that the 75th Academy Awards be postponed.

"They have more important things to do than that," producer Gil Cates, consumed in a peripheral but real way with those same things, said yesterday. "We have to do this thing day by day and hour by hour. Right now, the show is absolutely going on and my bet is, frankly, it will go on Sunday as scheduled."

Best Actress nominee Nicole Kidman hasn't withdrawn to protest the war. But "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson, a New Zealander, has scrapped plans to attend -- he's worried about getting back for a film some 12,000 miles away -- and Will Smith has already said he won't be among the men in black tie at the Kodak Theatre, home to the 75th Academy Awards tomorrow.

"There have been more rumors flying around about the Academy Awards the last couple of days than, I think, have been flying around about what's happening in Iraq. Or maybe it just seems that way to me," Cates told a thicket of international reporters and photographers standing in the noonday sun on Hollywood Boulevard.

Trying to put some of those rumors to rest, he said: "One, the show is still going on Sunday night, and rehearsals are right on schedule. Two, the stars are not dropping out any more dramatically than in any other year."

Emphasizing the safety of the venue, visibly ringed with security and police, Cates said, "We're all bringing our kids to the awards show, so I think that should answer that question."

Just the day before, a black pick-up truck sped down the street with an American flag fluttering in the breeze and a hand-lettered sign plugging a "$30 military gas mask," quite the bargain if there's any truth in advertising.

Cates did acknowledge, however, that the writers' room has been a very busy place, in light of this week's event.

"We've been watching the news as closely as the rest of you," he said. "If ABC and the Academy make the call to postpone the show -- which I frankly don't think will happen -- we'll try to figure out what to do next."

Amid all the uncertainty, one thing is clear. If winners want to use their 45 seconds to make war-related statements, that's their right, Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said.

"As you saw the last two nights, the situation is so unpredictable and we want, like the president himself, to keep our options open and to be flexible. So I'm not going to speculate under what conditions we might or might not postpone," Pierson said.

Still everyone has an opinion about whether the Oscar ceremony should proceed.

Film guru Leonard Maltin, spotted near the Kodak Theatre, says, "I don't want to criticize the Academy. It's in a terribly tough position. I wouldn't want to be in their collective shoes," but if he were calling the shots, he would postpone the ceremony until mid-April. That might be better than a "half-hearted show" stripped of glitter and glamour, which are the watchwords for some viewers and participants.

But if things go on as scheduled, "Chicago" director Rob Marshall will have a coveted aisle seat, the better to leap or saunter to the stage. A photograph in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, showing a TV cameraman checking camera angles and seating positions, reveals that (barring changes), the very pregnant Catherine Zeta-Jones and husband Michael Douglas should be in the front row.

Behind them will be co-star John C. Reilly, then Marshall, with "Chicago" producer Martin Richards behind him. They're all represented by placards, propped up in their seats and stamped with their names, photos and nominations. In a picture inside the paper, Marshall and life partner and choreographer John DeLuca were shown going through the dance moves with Zeta-Jones for the "I Move On" number she and Queen Latifah will perform.

Preparations outside the Kodak Theatre also were proceeding as normal. A two-story-tall Oscar was carefully extracted from a truck and raised to a standing position, and smaller statues were being wheeled into the theater as tourist wags barked, "Oscar coming through" and then asked to pose next to the man in gold.

In mid-morning, employees of the Pasadena-based Charisma Designs were arranging yellow roses at the theater's grand entrance off Hollywood Boulevard. Those lush designs, 200 blooms each, were part of a planned 75,000 blooms that will include a variety of roses, Casablanca lilies, mountain lilies, carnations, stargazer lilies, alstromeria, cymbidium orchids, dendrobium orchids and other exotics.

Hidden from public view behind or beneath white tents, the flowers were an explosion of color and fragrance. Instant summer.

Two workmen on a highlift were carefully steaming and pressing the larger-than-life golden curtains gracefully draping the front right of the Kodak Theatre. Oscar is standing guard out front, with a silver 75 woven through his time-tested design.

But instead of being put down, squares of the fabled red carpet were being rolled up and carted off. The bleachers had already been dismantled although Pierson yesterday promised that this year's lucky lottery winners will be assured of spots next year. And everywhere, tourists aimed both sophisticated digital and throwaway portable cameras at the surreal scene that usually takes place during post-party cleanup.

In a town that traffics in magical illusion, it's a strange time indeed.