Oscar remembers legends
Oscar made his presence known at the 76th annual Academy Awardslast Sunday. Peter Jackson and company swept up a record 11 goldstatues, tying Return of the King for most Academy awardsincluding Best Picture with Titanic and Ben Hur.
Sofia Coppola, daughter to legendary filmmaker Francis FordCoppola, managed to nab an Oscar for her directorial debut Lostin Translation. (Did anyone else know that she was Sachéin Star Wars: The Phantom Menace?)
The newspapers and entertainment magazines are going to spendthe next few days on Oscar, especially detailing the attire of thewomen in attendance. I admit; I always look forward to RenéeZellweger’s classy yet simple formal apparel.
As much as I liked seeing The Return of the King takehome all 11 nominated awards, I watched the Oscars for the familiartribute to the industry professionals that passed away. 2003 willremain in my memory as the year when Hollywood lost some of itsbrightest stars, specifically Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn andGregory Peck.
British native Bob Hope died shortly after his 100th birthdaylast summer. I never really watched any of his movies or saw any ofhis comedy routines. In fact, Bob Hope never interested me until myfirst year at SMU when I started working in the theater department.That’s when I’d pass by the Bob Hope Theater every day,located in the heart of the Owen Arts Center.
This theater is dedicated to the man who saw two world wars andmet them with a witty comeback. He entertained our fighting men andwomen in Korea, Vietnam and both Gulf Wars. When our soldiers hadto leave home to fight abroad, Hope brought a little bit of home tothem.
I used to confuse Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn. But Isoon distinguished the sweet, elegant Audrey from the feisty,defiant Katherine. Julia Roberts, who introduced the tribute forKatherine Hepburn, said Barbara Walters once asked Hepburn if sheowned a skirt, since her signature style was to wear pants.”I own one,” Hepburn told Walters, “andI’ll wear it to your funeral.”
Hepburn redefined the role of women in motion pictures. She wasthe saucy defense lawyer opposite her prosecutor husband, played bySpencer Tracy, in the comedy Adam’s Rib. Sheconstantly lectured John Wayne in Rooster Cogburn about theill effects of drinking alcohol. She was the tom-boyish Jo March inGeorge Cukor’s 1933 Little Women. She was also thescheming Eleanor of Aquitaine to Peter O’Toole’s HenryII in The Lion in Winter.
Hepburn chose roles that reflected her strong and independentspirit. She managed to meld sass with class in her attitude andappearance both off and on screen. Her roles didn’tcompletely bash men, for she played many wives. But her work helpedshape the modern American woman as a force to reckon with in apredominantly patriarchal society.
Finally, the Academy paid tribute to Eldred Gregory Peck. He wasAhab in Moby Dick and he was General Douglas MacArthur inMacArthur. But the role that I know him for and that won himhis only Oscar in 1962 is Atticus Finch in To Kill AMockingbird.
The American Film Institute awarded Peck the coveted lifetimeachievement award in 1989. In 1999, Turner Classic Movies made thedocumentary feature A Conversation with Gregory Peck. In thedocumentary, Mary Badham, who played Scout in To Kill AMockingbird as a child, said that she and the fatherly Peckstayed in contact long after the film. To this day she still callshim Atticus.
Peck’s portrayal as Atticus Finch helped stir up notice ofracial injustices in the South, right at the height of the CivilRights movement. He continued to portray heroic figures in manyother films, including The Guns of Navarone.
Celebrities come and go in Hollywood. Many of them shinebrilliantly in the glamour and the spotlight. Sadly, some of thebrightest ones also fall and crash the hardest. But a select fewmanage to use their talent in such a way worthy of remembrance.
Rest in peace, Mr. Hope, Ms. Hepburn and Mr. Peck. May yourmemory echo through the ages.
Christine Dao is a columnist for The Daily Campus. She may bereached at [email protected].
