The Moet the merrier

You never know who you’ll see up on stage at the Golden Globes. Angelina Jolie. Robert De Niro. Or maybe your dry cleaner.

Today, the Globes are second only in prestige to the Oscars, but when they began back in the 1940s, they had about as much cachet as a perfect-attendance ceremony at the local high school. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Globes, would let in pretty much anyone. And we mean anyone.

During one of those early ceremonies, one of the “journalists” who was a member of the HFPA was onstage handing out an award when some of the few stars in attendance thought they recognized him — from the local laundromat.

It turned out, the man worked at the cleaners, and the actors had seen him when they stopped in to have a gown or shirts cleaned.

“I think he’d done one [article] for some throwaway paper, and that was enough to make him a member,” says Maureen Dragone, a longtime HFPA scribe and author of “Who Makes the Golden Globes Go Around?” Dragone’s mother, a correspondent for London’s Evening News, helped found the HFPA in the early 1940s.

The organization originally consisted of fewer than 10 foreign correspondents from Germany, France, South America and elsewhere. They banded together to increase their clout at a time when overseas box-office receipts were pretty much an afterthought.

“Foreign journalists were treated like dirt, because [the studios] looked down on the foreign market,” Dragone says. “Everybody made fun of them, said they were nobodies.”

The group struggled for years to raise money. The members even helped fund the earliest Globes ceremonies themselves. The first, in 1944, was a closed-to-the-public affair held on the 20th Century Fox lot. (“The Song of Bernadette” won best picture.) The event would eventually move to LA’s Roosevelt and Ambassador hotels, and finally The Beverly Hilton, where it remains today. And the HFPA has no problem paying for it; a lucrative contract with NBC makes the organization rich.

The 1958 ceremony was the first to be broadcast, but only on a local LA station. It wasn’t until 1964 that the Globes hit the national airwaves, as part of NBC’s “The Andy Williams Show.” (Shirley MacLaine’s acceptance speech was rudely interrupted by a commercial.) Now it’s a highly rated annual spectacle; some 16.9 million tuned in last year.

From the beginning, much of the show’s appeal has stemmed from its loose, anything-goes vibe — a legacy of the early days when nobody in Hollywood took the Globes seriously. (The free Champagne that flows all day may also contribute.) Marilyn Monroe had already been drinking when she showed up to accept a 1962 award. She stumbled through an eight-word speech.

Flash forward four decades to 2006 when Isaac Mizrahi asked Eva Longoria how she trimmed her nether regions and fondled Scarlett Johansson and Teri Hatcher in the name of fashion.

Memorable moments include one in 1958, when Frank, Dean and the Rat Pack got bored and decided to rush the stage and take over the emceeing duties; one in 1998, when Ving Rhames handed over his winning trophy to Jack Lemmon, and Christine Lahti failed to appear when her name was called because she was in the bathroom; and one in 1999, when Angelina Jolie jumped into the Beverly Hilton pool, making good on a promise that she’d take a dip in her couture gown if she won for “Gia.”

Stars are also more laissez-faire in their Globes attire than at the Academy Awards. In 1990, Julia Roberts showed up in what looked like a suit and tie she borrowed from her dad’s closet. In 2003, an emaciated Lara Flynn Boyle donned a tutu, and in 2006, Drew Barrymore gave the world an eyeful when she wore a green Gucci gown — sans bra.

“What has occurred over the last decade, or perhaps even since the early ’90s,” says Robert Licuria, senior editor at awards tracking sites Gold Derby and AwardsHeaven.net, “is that the Globes have carried more weight and clout during the pre-

Oscar season.”

“It’s big business,” adds an HFPA member who spoke anonymously because he or she was not authorized by the secretive organization to speak on the record. “You see how quickly they put nominations on DVD covers and movie posters.”

What’s more, stars often have awards bonuses built into contracts. They can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for every nomination and double that for a win, says David Ginsburg, executive director of UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Law and Policy Program.

The Globes’ increased importance over the decades has also sparked a surge in attention for the HFPA’s small body of just 84 members.

“I think the studios must have photographs of us,” says the HFPA member. “I’m frequently greeted like a long-lost friend from people I’ve never laid eyes on.”

HFPA members also receive a rash of Christmas cards each season from A-list talent, including, this year, Mark Wahlberg and Melissa Leo. “Sometimes they send it to your name, and other times it’s addressed, ‘Dear HFPA member,’ which is very touching,” the source says.

Each December also brings a string of swanky studio-organized parties, during which HFPA members are invited to mingle with the talent — a practice forbidden by the Academy Awards.

“All the stars are there, and they won’t say directly, ‘Vote for my movie,’ but you know . . . ,” the source says. “You’re not there because they like you.”

The HFPA’s seemingly cozy relationship with the stars they cover has occasionally led to scandal. From 1968 to 1974, the Globes were booted off NBC after the Federal Communications Commission claimed the show “misled the public as to how the winners were determined.” The government report suggested winners were required to show up at the ceremony, otherwise, another name would be chosen. In 1999, Sharon Stone famously sent a $400 Coach wristwatch to every HFPA member on her way to securing a nomination for “The Muse.” (The watches were returned.)

This year, many pundits scratched their heads when two critically panned films, “The Tourist” and “Burlesque,” earned best picture nods, drawing audible laughter from the press in attendance at the announcement last month. Some suggested that Sony, the studio behind “Burlesque,” had bought the best picture nod by flying the entire HFPA to Las Vegas to see a Cher concert.

“To be honest, I was embarrassed by ‘Burlesque’ and ‘The Tourist.’ I didn’t vote for them. I thought they were atrocious,” says the anonymous HFPA member. “There is a small group of star f – – – ers, and maybe they organize their votes.”

“Who cares if the Globe voters respond well to gifts and lavish inducements?” says Licuria. “What a lot of people tend to forget is that the

HFPA and the Golden Globes serve their purpose beautifully. They throw a big party, get the A-list out on the red carpet. The studios get their product front and center, and smaller independent filmmakers are given the chance to gain exposure.”

And as long as at least one star has too much to drink and does something onstage he probably shouldn’t, most of us will go to bed happy.

reed.tucker@nypost.com