Plans are afoot for legendary actress Olivia De Havilland, 97, to appear at a 75th anniversary screening of “Gone With the Wind” at next year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, I can report exclusively.
Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne says the festival has been after the two-time Best Actress Oscar winner to appear since it started in 2010. But she’s always insisted they show “GWTW,” the favorite among her films.
De Havilland received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the Civil War epic, and is the sole survivor among the principal cast.
The festival today announced that it would be showing “GWTW,” along with the 3-D version of another film celebrating its 75th anniversary, “The Wizard Of Oz” at its 2014 edition next April in Hollywood.
“We’ve been trying to work out something with her for years,” says Osborne, who has long been a friend of the actress. “She has an amazing memory, and she’s the last of those people who were really an integral part of the golden age of films.
“But time is of the essence. She’s 97, and she still maintains a busy schedule in Paris, where she’s lived since the 1950s. We’re hoping it will finally work out for next year, given the anniversary.”
In addition to serving as TCM’s primetime anchor and festival host, Osborne, 82, has just published a new updated edition of his official history of the Academy Awards, now titled, “85 Years of the Oscar” (Abbeville Press).
The academy’s former official red carpet greeter says the last five years have seen enormous changes in voting for the Oscars, including expanding the Best Picture nominees to as many as 10 for the first time since the mid-1940’s.
“They hoped that some of the more popular films would get in so more people would watch, but instead there were more nominations for independent films that never heard of,” he says. “I kind of preferred the five nominees, because if you made that list, it meant you were really good.”
Osborne eschews personal opinions in the book, which is sponsored by the academy, but isn’t shy about talking about recent winners.
He credits last year’s snub of Ben Affleck for a Best Director nomination for helping “push” a Best Picture win, but “I don’t think ‘Argo’ is anywhere near the quality of ‘Lincoln,’ which had everything that academy voters would normally prefer: prestige, elegance, seriousness. It reminded me of the year that ‘Shakespeare in Love’ won over ‘Saving Private Ryan.’
“The academy is opening up voting, getting younger people involved. I just hope [the new voters] take the responsibility of picking the best and not just the most popular films.”
Osborne says his schedule is so hectic that he’s “way behind” on seeing the latest Oscar contenders — but he has caught one of the Best Picture hopefuls, “Gravity.”
“I liked it; it was exciting, the special effects were incredible,” he says. “But I would have liked one or two less disasters; it got to be too much like an old time serial! And I have a little vertigo problem, so the 3-D made me a little nervous.”
Osborne, who travels to Atlanta several times a year to tape his TCM introductions, has lived for years in Manhattan. “I love theater, I love walking, I love that people read books,” he says. “In L.A., they carry gym bags.”
Last year, his apartment building on 57th Street was evacuated for several days when winds from Hurricane Sandy unleashed a construction crane that dangled ominously nearby.
“We had 10 minutes to get out,” Osborne recalls. “New York City can be a tough city to live in, but I think it’s worth it.”