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Above left, Warren Beatty, 71, latest recipient of the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. Above right, Tom Hanks, youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. He earned it at age 46. |
Seeking young viewers,
the AFI ignores oldies
of TheColumnists.com
So here I was sitting
back and actually enjoying the American Film Institute’s
Lifetime Achievement Awards special, a tribute to Warren Beatty.
But when Beatty’s name first was announced as this year's
recipient, my initial reaction had been: “Really?”
Now look , Beatty qualifies in terms of age –he’s 71
after all. But I wondered about that “lifetime of achievement”
part. I thought his credentials might be a bit slim.
I became a believer by watching just about the best produced
of the AFI tributes. To begin with, Beatty seems to be friends
with most of the Hollywood elite. They turned out in force and
some parts of the two hours were delightful. Such as Faye Dunaway
reading in poetry her remembrances of making "Bonnie and
Clyde." Or Diane Keaton getting all weepy over that classic
train station love scene with Beatty in "Reds."
Maybe it's just because I’m getting older but it sure seems
to me more recent AFI tributes were geared to the younger set.
In order to pump those ratings up, the AFI anointed Tom Hanks
when he was a mere child of 46 and Steven Spielberg, a “kid”
in AFI terms at 49. Other recent winners who hopefully have years
of achievement ahead of them included Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.
Meanwhile back at the post, a long list of potential nominees
have been kept waiting.
Director Robert Altman waited so long he
died of heart troubles. The AFI has been noticeably stingy to
women candidates and Joan Crawford, Ingrid Bergman, Jane Wyman
and Loretta Young might have won had they hung around a bit longer.
But all the waiting in the world didn’t help director Elia
Kazan’s cause. The Hollywood leftie of the 1940s named names
in an effort to keep working during the dreaded blacklist. He
worked as much as he wanted to after that but Hollywood liberals
never quite forgave him. When he finally did receive an honorary
Oscar in 1999 a large number of people in the audience (led by
Nick Nolte) simply sat on their hands and refused to clap.
So, Kazan would never have gotten the AFI salute even if he had
lived a few more years. I put Charles Chaplin in that same category.
And on the right Charlton Heston must surely have wondered in
his last years why younger, less able candidates were being picked
. Was it his massive gun collection or friendship with Ronald
Reagan that did his candidacy in? We’ll never know.
Other potential nominees simply refused to show up for such awards.
In this category I place Marlon Brando, who might have asked
an activist to read a statement from him. Katharine Hepburn simply
said thanks when she won an award and asked them to send it by
courier. She won four Oscars, but never showed up in person to
accept one.
In 1979 Cary Grant told me he’d refused
“that (AFI) thing” because he hated being in the spotlight.
Other possible no shows would have been Paul Newman and Joanne
Woodward. Her refusal to fly is long standing.
So far the AFI has honored one producer. Surprise! It’s
George Lucas, who hadn’t directed in years. And one singer
got through to the finish line. It should have been Doris Day
but it was Barbra Streisand, who also acts, produces, directs
etc. And the AFI has completely ignored writers (Ernest Lehman
might have been a candidate).
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who died before the AFI ever got around to recognizing their Lifetime Achievement: Left, Joan Crawford; right, Ingrid Bergman. Between them they had four Academy Awards. |
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Comics are out, which is why Bob Hope never made it (although he had a Lincoln Center tribute arranged by Woody Allen). And it looks like the few Old Guard members still intact won’t ever be honored.
A decade or more ago AFI was ordered by CBS to spruce up ratings by honoring younger stars than the fogeys who had dominated the specials since John Ford was grumpily feted in 1973. So, the likes of a David Lean or Gregory Peck were supplanted by the likes of Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford. Alas, this ploy backfired, ratings plummeted and CBS bowed out. (The awards show went elsewhere on U.S. as well as Canadian TV).
Now let’s turn to the Lincoln Center tribute. It isn’t normally broadcast on TV, but seems more eclectic. Chaplin was the first to be feted and other AFI “losers” who received the Lincoln Center tribute include Bob Hope (’79), Claudette Colbert (’84), Audrey Hepburn (’91), Shirley MacLaine (’95), Mike Nichols (’91) and Jane Fonda ('01). In recent years the honorees have included Susan Sarandon (’04), Michael Caine (’04), and Diane Keaton (’07).
And let’s not forget the Kennedy Center Honors which have a spot reserved for cinema greats (shared with TV greats, which is odd). I was once chatting up Bonita Granville who was on the nominations committee and she said the idea was to balance male and female winners.
It was 1985 and she had just been over to Irene Dunne’s home to tell the elderly legend she was next on the list. But it was not to be. At 87, Dunne was so frail she managed to get to the White House to receive her medal from old pal Pres. Ronald Reagan. But her condition worsened and she was driven to the hospital rather than attend the formal affair, making her the only recipient to be absent from the TV ceremonies.
Since then the honorees have included Lucille
Ball (’86), Myrna Loy (’88), Katharine Hepburn (’90),
Ginger Rogers ('92), Sidney Poitier (’95), Charlton Heston
(’97), Shirley Temple Black (’98), Jason Robards (’99)
and Julie Andrews ('01) –all non-AFI winners.
Maybe the theory is if AFI ignores you there are other places
to be acknowledged and appreciated.
That doesn’t stop me from agitating about possible AFI contenders
for next year. Robert Redford would seem to head any future contender
list. But I’d like to start with a plea for Stanley Donen,
thought at 84 he’s probably considered too old. How about
a brother-sister twosome and celebrate Shirley MacLaine next,
that would place her right up with brother Warren Beatty. Or
maybe AFI should celebrate a Dame with Maggie Smith or Judi Dench
in the running?
Best of all I’d like to suggest the last surviving "Gone
With the Wind" star, Olivia de Havilland, 92. Maybe she’d
even talk younger sister Joan Fontaine into attending, if AFI
made them the first dual winners. Think of it–a 50-year
feud would end in a true celluloid celebration of sisterhood.
©2008 by Jim Bawden. This column first posted July 14, 2008.
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