Evening star., 1945-04-08

If you like to fool around with
pencil and paper and copy OF the
Film Daily Year Book, you can whip
up a pretty nice set of statistics,
proving this and that about the
Academy Awards.
One of the first things that pops
up, after you get tired of trying to
remember whether to divide the big
number into the little number, or
vice versa, in order to find out per-
centages, is that it took Paramount
IT years to win the best picture
award after having split the honors
for the first Academy event.
Paramount won in 1923 for
Wings" and didn't have prayer
until Bing Crosby played priest in
Going My Way their current
blessing.
Figuring that the studios made
about 40 pictures year during the
lush period, you get a turnout Of
approximately $50 movies since 1928.
One independent producer, who
made only II pictures, or about one
fifth of l per cent of the total, won
u per cent of the prizes. That's
David o. Selznick with his Gone
With the Wind" and "Rebecca.
| On top of that, during the past
six years, four of his actresses won
the Oscar. They are Ingrid Berg
man, Jennifer Jones, Joan Fontaine
and Vivien Leigh. Meantime, Selz-
nick grabbed off the Irving Thalberg
award himself in 1899.
Metro Tops the List.
MGM tops the producers for num-
Der of best pictures with four. Uni
versal and RKO have won once
each, and the other majors have two
firsts. The fascinating Sam Gold
wyn, who makes good pictures, has
never managed to come in with a
winner. There are more than 100
independent producers in Hollywood
who have never placed or showed
and probably wont-unless outfits
like James Cagney's. Mary Pick
ford's or Sol Lesser's some day
make the grade.
OF the actresses who haYe won the
Oscar. only one. Marie Dressler, has
died, but five others are out of pic
lures: Janet Gaynor, Mary Pick
ford, Norma Shearer, Helen Hayes
and Luise Ralner.
! The actors seem more durable.
Only George Arliss. Emil Jannings.
Warner Baxter and Victor McLag
len are not in Hollywood pictures
now.
Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby,
this years winners. are already can
didates for next year. possibly in
the same picture, The Bells of ST,
Marys,' now in production. Miss
Bergman will also be seen in Spell
bound" and The Scarlet Lily big
Selznick productions which will de-
mand serious consideration.
Jennifer Jones, last years best
actress" winner. will be seen in Hal
B. Wallis Love Letters" Selznick's S
Duel in the Sun" and probably in
"Cluny Brown"
Dorthy Is Bidder.
Only actress on the Selznick
roster who has not won an Oscar
| (Shirley Temple received a special
Academy Award is Dorothy Nc
Guire. She has "A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn" and The Enchanted
Cottage Tor her 1945 entries.
Just how much is an Academy
Award worth to the winning actor
or actress, aside from the honor and
plaudits it brings to them? Esti-
mates vary on that score.
Some say an Oscar automatically
increases a players yearly revenue
by $4,000 to 100000. There have
been cases to prove this point, 9TH
ers to diSprove it.
For example. Joan Fontaine was
a low-priced leading lady until she
stepped to the rostrum of the Bilt.
more Bowl to accept the copperJ
statuette for her performance ir
suspicion Almost overnight her
value to producers catapulted. Selz.
nick now loans her out at figure
closely approaching 100000 per pic
ture.
On the other hand, there's the