DGA Monthly

2 6 I D G A M O N T H L Y presiding. The SDG prize was a 4½-inch medallion (the quarterly awards were smaller) designed by Daves. Those awards, and an honorary plaque for "outstanding service" to past president Stevens, were handed out at a dinner attended by 350 people, though Litvak and Hawks couldn't come. Immediately after the dinner and award presentation, the Guild convened its annual business meeting, where Mankiewicz won another vote: He was elected vice president of the SDG, while Marshall won re-election as president. The award made the front page of Variety above the fold, but it wasn't big news everywhere: The New York Times gave it two paragraphs. Still, Mankiewicz told the United Press that the award meant more to him than an Oscar because "the movies are judged only for directing. It doesn't matter what studios or personalities are involved." (These lines were delivered, wrote the UP reporter, in a tone "more fluttery than the movie queens who cart home Oscars.") The second SDG Awards, held on May 28, 1950, moved to the Beverly Hills Hotel and enlisted comedian George Jessel to host. Actors Ruth Roman, Mel Ferrer, and Director/actor Ida Lupino were on hand to present the quarterly awards, while the final vote was handled differently: Members chose between the quarterly winners — Robert Rossen for All the King's Men, Mark Robson for Champion, Al Werker for Lost Boundaries, and Carol Reed for The Fallen Idol — with a floor vote that took place during the ceremony. Rossen won for a film that two months earlier had won the Academy Award for best picture — though the Los Angeles Times goofed in its coverage, saying that Rossen had won the best Director Oscar. (Mankiewicz won for A Letter to Three Wives.) Until then, SDG rules had stipulated that the final vote was made only by Directors, but in the aftermath of the second ceremony, a recommendation was made and unanimously passed that Assistant Directors be allowed to vote as well. Three months later, another change added award medallions Going ahead with its plan, the SDG gave its first quarterly a w a r d t o Z i n n e m a n n . A spokesperson told The New York Times that about 200 of the Guild's 287 members cast ballots. In November, the second award went to Hawks' Western Red River. "We are more than gratified with this selection," announced Marshall, "because it further proves that the Directors are voting for the best job of directing no matter what type of picture." One minor controversy surfaced when it was disclosed that Laurence Olivier's version of Hamlet was left off the ballot through an oversight on the part of its distributor, Universal International. But the trade papers paid scant attention to Hawks' award: In Variety, it was given two paragraphs at the bottom of page two, sandwiched between a Samuel French ad and a story about the Academy getting a 1911 camera for its archives. The snub became a major topic of conversation at the next board meeting, where Conlon pointed out that because the news was furnished to the local newspapers, which were out at 7:00 p.m. the night of the awards, the two main trade papers refused to feature it in their morning editions. The consensus of opinion on the board, though, was that "the quarterly directorial award was worthy of individual prominence in the local trade papers irrespective of other releases." The board also discussed issuing an edict prohibiting any Director from taking out an ad in the trades, a tactic that was said to have worked to resolve previous disputes with the papers. After Litvak won the third quarterly prize and Mankiewicz the fourth, ballots were sent to all SDG members in early May with the names of the four quarterly winners. Out of the Guild's then 380 members, only 119 voted; Mankiewicz won with 37 votes, to 34 for Zinnemann. Hawks and Litvak tied with 24. So Mankiewicz won the Guild's first annual award and 10 months later he would become the first in a long line of SDG (and later DGA) winners who would go on to win the Academy Award for best Director. The awards portion of the evening was broadcast on a local radio station, KLAC, with Marshall It isn't that we're dissatisfi ed with the Academy Awards. We just want awards of our own judged on technique only The Academy Awards involve personalities and publicity. — GEORGE MARSHALL. — continued on page 28. GOOD NEWS: A program for the growing event lists the four quarterly award winners for 1954 (Kazan won the annual award). CELEBRATING OUR HISTORY DGA History: First Awards — continued from page 24.

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