Hello From Hollywood!

WITH A WHOLE LOT of shock and awe, history was made at The Directors Guild of America Awards last week, adding another wrinkle in the award season. Kathryn Bigelow received the guild’s top trophy for helming the Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker.” This marks the first time a female director has received the honor in the 62 years of the awards. Bigelow is only the seventh female director to be nominated for the top DGA Award. Previously, Lina Wertmüller was nominated for 1976's "Seven Beauties," Randa Haines for 1986's "Children of a Lesser God," Barbra Streisand for 1991's "Prince of Tides," Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano," Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation" and Valerie Faris, who shared the nomination with Jonathan Dayton, for "Little Miss Sunshine.” At the star-studded gala in Los Angeles, Bigelow said, “It was the most incredible moment of my life.” Bigelow shares the award with her directing team, including two first assistant directors and her unit production manager. Among others, Bigelow bested her ex-husband, “Avatar’s” James Cameron, in the same category.

With her DGA win, Bigelow is now considered the frontrunner in the Oscar race as Best Director. Since 1948, the Oscar for Best Director has been awarded to the DGA recipient in all but six years. With a much anticipated nomination, she's on track to become the only the fourth female nominated in that category, after Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties,”1976), Jane Campion (“The Piano,” 1993) and Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation,” 2003).

The only possible bigger news at the kudos-fest was the attendance of “Brangelina,” squashing the out-of-control rumors that Brad Pitt and Angelina had split. But I digress.

Just down the street a week earlier, Shirley Jones joined cinema fans at a screening celebrating 50th anniversary of “Elmer Gantry,” a film for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1960. Looking radiant, Jones greeted fans and watched the almost threehour movie with her husband and friends. She later appeared on stage to discuss working with its other Oscar-winning star, Burt Lancaster, and the film’s leading lady, Jean Simmons, who had died a few days before.

Jones spoke about her first trip to New York. With beautifully trained voice but no big dreams about a show business career (she was studying to be a veterinarian), she was urged by a friend to go down to an open audition for “South Pacific” replacements. Captivating the show’s writing team of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jones quickly signed a contract with the them and went to star in two of their biggest Hollywood musicals. After “Oklahoma!” in 1955 and “Carousel” in 1956, Jones remembered her film career was on the verge of extinction. “Musicals were dying and so was my career.” She faced being typecast as a singer and not an actress. She gave Lancaster credit for “discovering” her as a dramatic actress after seeing her on TV in “Playhouse 90.” Lancaster, also a producer of “Elmer Gantry” insisted that director Richard Brooks cast Shirley instead of Brooks’ first choice, Piper Laurie. Once cast, Jones added that she and Brooks initially did not have a very warm relationship. After she filmed her first scene, the Brooks called her to offer his apologies and praise. They remained good friends until he died. She also stayed close with her co-stars, Lancaster and Simmons, who had been married to Brooks when they made “Gantry.” She later would star in TV as the mother of a family singing group on “The Partridge Family,” a role for which she is best remembered. She now tours the country doing sold-out concerts with her son, Patrick Cassidy, and occasionally performs on the same stage with TV’s other famous mom, “The Brach Bunch’s” Florence Henderson.