Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1960-02-28
THE PASSING SHOW
Some Best Bets
Forthe Oscars

that has specialized in ir-
reverence! In the spirit Of
taking the professional
unions case to the people,
light heartedly naturally.
they could demolish the
other side.
On the other hand, oppor-
tunity is not lacking for the
studios to demolish Hope
and his joke-making en-
courage. A few hours before
the Awards show, let's say,
they agree to settle the vari-
GUS strikes. OF all ways Of
leaving Hope speechless. at
least prepared" speeches.,
the potential of this one is
highest.
incidentally, by settling
the strike between the writ
ing Of this column and its
publication, both sides could
leave this correspondent
looking like an idiot. too
Entirely apart from any
possible estrangement which
may prevail or even intensi-
fy before the April 4 Awards
show, this one will occupy a
lot of minds between now
and then.
1t will be the busiest, il
not the exclusive, concern Of
the Academy's membership,
but the entire country really
gets into the act before it
ends. Truly the film indus
try never attracts so much
concentrated attention as
during the period between
the nominations for awards
and the neatly dramatized
announcements of the WIN
nerS.
1t is fun to try to outguesS
the Academy's voters and it
would be heresy for any film
Columnist not to try to do
so in the first Sunday piece
after the nominations are in.
"Ben-Hur" Sure Bet
The problem of the coll
umnlst in this guessing game
is to make it just that. to
set aside his own convictions
which can be almost I'M
shakeable, in favor of the
Hollywood probabilities.
BY way Of illustration:
This correspondent chose
The Nuns Story" as 1885
best film. At the time Of
making that selection he had
not seen "Ben-Hur." has not
yet seen it indeed, but he
would bet that the latter will
be the Academy Award VIM
ner. This is because Ben
Hur." with II Oscar nominal
tons to its credit. is Holly
woods proudest accomplish
ment in years. a SIS million
film that is clearly on its
way to challenging Gone
With the Wind" as the all
time most popular movie.
Going on TO read the Acad-
emy's mind in other CLASH
tications, this corners idea
Of the best bet for the star
performance Oscar, male, is
Paul MUM for his role in
The Last Angry Man" Mr..
NUNS rivals are Charlton
Heston, "Ben-Hur": Laurence
Harvey, Room at the Top:
Jack Lennon, Some Like it
Hot, and James Stewart,
Anatomy of a Murder" OF
the five, the one to be senti-
mental about is Mr.. MUM.
Moreover, he represents a
choice for whom no defense
would be required. That was
a corking performance.
The competition among
the women stars should be
the hottest in years, with
any one of four Of the five
nominees a possible winner.
The fifth, Doris Day in
Pillow Talk" is not a seri-
Gus contender for the SIM
pie reason that hers is a
comedy performance against
four dramatic ones. The
most safely practicable win
ner would seem to be Audrey
Hepburn, for The Nuns
Story" with Elizabeth Taylor
for Suddenly Last Summer"
IN close contention. Either
seems a more likely choice
than Katharine Hepburn for
the mother role in Suddenly
Last Summer" or Simone
Signoret in Room at the
Top"
What About Marilyn?
Any of the latter four
could be a winner as could
have been this correspond
ent's choice as the best CO.
medicine of the year, Mari
Ign Monroe in Some Like
1t Hot" How come, Academy
voters, Marilyn was over
looked?
Among male actors In sup
porting roles. each of the
five nominations is a sturdy
one. They are Hugh Griffith,
"Ben-Hur"; Arthur O'Con-
nell, Anatomy of a Muir
der; George C. Scott,
Anatomy of a Murder" and
Ed Wynn, Diary OF Anne
Frank" Best bet: Mr.. Wynn.
Much trickier to forecast
is the winner for the best
supporting performance
among actresses. This COR
ner's timid choice is Her.
mlone Baddeley for Room
at the Top more dramatic
of1I lnce a@,-,1l