My love-hate ‘relationship’ with the Oscars

HOPE. Combined wit and Hollywood lore.

Tuning in to the Oscarcast on radio used to be an annual tradition among our gang, made up of Arthur and Joonee Gamboa, Lino Brocka and me.

We would listen to the Academy Awards aired via Clark Field’s radio station. The Gamboa family on Lantana st. had a transmitter that enabled us to listen to the Oscars live. Thereafter, we would rush to UP to announce the winners.

We would congregate in the Gamboa brothers’ room early in the morning of the Oscars: I would come from our home in Pasay City and Lino came from his quonset hut in Diliman.

It was in the same room where we used to listen to recorded versions of Shakespearean plays performed by the formidable likes of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Sybil Thorndike and Vivien Leigh.

The pomp and glamour of the Oscars excited us. At the time, the Oscars’ perennial host was Bob Hope, who combined wit and Hollywood lore. I remember thrilling to the nominees, like Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, and directors like Elia Kazan. We were also drawn to European actors like Maria Schell, Simone Signoret and Irene Papas.

But, it was also in that bedroom where I lost faith in the US entertainment industry’s taste: I couldn’t imagine how a multitalented star like Judy Gardland in “A Star is Born” could possibly lose to a dressed-down Grace Kelley in “Country Girl.”

We cheered when Sidney Poitier won the Best Actor trophy for “Lilies of the Field.” Before him, “only” a Best Supporting Actress trophy was handed to an African-American: Hattie McDaniel for “Gone With The Wind.”

Of course, as years passed, we learned more about the politics involved in choosing the Academy’s winners—which further dimmed our interest in it. I miss those days when I accepted everything about the Oscars. Those golden statuettes represented respect, with winners who fully deserved them!

Then, we lost confidence even in the hosts. Only “nice guy” Billy Crystal has approximated the love Hope earned throughout the many years he hosted the awards.