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'English Patient' Wins Big at Oscars

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Reuters

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Mar 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/25/97

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<A HREF='http://www.clari.net/'>ClariNet</A> <CLARI-ITEM TYPE>story</CLARI-ITEM> <CLARI-ITEM SLUGWORD>NEWS-OSCARS</CLARI-ITEM> from <CLARI-ITEM FROM>Reuters</CLARI-ITEM> 
<H1><CLARI-ITEM HEADLINE>'English Patient' Wins Big at Oscars</CLARI-ITEM></H1>
<CLARI-ITEM COPYRIGHT>Copyright 1997 by Reuters</CLARI-ITEM> / <CLARI-ITEM DATE>Tue, 25 Mar 1997 3:43:04 PST</CLARI-ITEM>
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<CLARI-ITEM STORY>
 LOS ANGELES (Reuter) - Triumphant independent filmmakers
partied until the early hours on Tuesday after dominating the
Academy Awards, while the major studios slunk home virtually
empty-handed.
 The independent film ``The English Patient'' took the lion's
share of the Oscars at Monday's awards ceremony, walking away
with nine Academy Awards including best picture and best
director.
 The place to be in the wee hours of Tuesday morning was the
plush Mondrian Hotel in Hollywood, practically taken over by the
Miramax studio in anticipation of a big night.
 Miramax produced ``The English Patient'' and also had Oscar
winners with ``Sling Blade'' in best adapted screenplay for
Billy Bob Thornton, who also was nominated for best actor, and
with ``Emma,'' which won for best original musical or comedy
score.
 The entire first floor of the newly renovated hotel was
given over to partying and on the 12th floor Hollywood royalty
cavorted in private suites.
 Even the fact that ``The English Patient,'' a romance set in
the Second World War, managed only one of the four acting
category awards -- a best supporting actress Oscar for
French-born Juliette Binoche -- did not stop the champagne from
flowing.
 With its nine Oscars, the film tied in third place on the
all-time Academy Award-winning list with ``Gigi'' and ``The Last
Emperor.'' ``Ben Hur'' is the Oscar champion, taking 11 in 1959.
``West Side Story'' took home 10 awards in 1961.
 In addition, it was a night of double honours for veteran
producer Saul Zaentz at the 69th annual awards celebration
presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at
the Shrine Auditorium.
 As well as winning best picture for ``The English Patient,''
the academy presented him with the coveted Irving G. Thalberg
award for his considerable body of work.
 In addition to Anthony Minghella's best director award for
the ``The English Patient,'' the film also garnered Oscars for
art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing,
original dramatic score and sound.
 Best actor went to Geoffrey Rush for his portrayal of
mentally troubled Australian pianist David Helfgott in
``Shine,'' produced by the independent Fine Line Features, while
Frances McDormand took best actress for her portrayal of a
pregnant police chief in the gritty crime drama ``Fargo,''
another independent production, by Gramercy films.
 The Miramax celebration was by no means the only party in
town. Vanity Fair held its annual Oscar bash at trendy Morton's
restaurant and Columbia-TriStar studios had a shindig at the
Eclipse to celebrate the Sony picture division's only major
Oscar, won by Cuba Gooding Jr. for best supporting actor for his
role as a struggling professional football player in ``Jerry
Maguire,'' a TriStar production.
 It was the only top Oscar won by a major studio.
 Elton John's annual party at the Maple Drive restaurant to
benefit his AIDS foundation turned into something more special
at midnight as revellers celebrated the British singer's 50th
birthday.
 Also doing the rounds was Madonna, who was not nominated for
her role in ``Evita'' as Eva Peron, the wife of Argentine
strongman Juan Peron, but saw her song, ``You Must Love Me,''
win the best song award for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
 Larry Flynt, the controversial publisher of ``Hustler''
magazine and the subject of the film, ``The People vs. Larry
Flynt,'' was partying with Woody Harrelson, who portrayed Flynt
in the movie and just missed out on the best actor award.
 Also on the party scene was boxing great Muhammad Ali, who
received a standing ovation during the ceremonies when he took
the stage with George Foreman, his opponent in a world
heavyweight title bout in Zaire featured in ``When We Were
Kings,'' which won for best documentary feature.
 Pianist Helfgott, who entertained the Oscar audience with
some of the music from ``Shine,'' was out partying with Rush.
</CLARI-ITEM STORY>
 
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