December 20, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Harvey Bolgla - (212) 388-1400 
                          hbolgla@dba-pr.com
          
          Sara Trujillo - (212) 388-1400
                          strujillo@dba-pr.com

          Dawn Newell   - (310) 247-3000
                          dnewell@oscars.org

-- With Special Host Marni Nixon, the Voice of Maria (Natalie Wood) in "West Side Story"
and Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) in "My Fair Lady" --

New York, New York, December 20, 2002 -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "Monday Nights with Oscar" film series will begin its 2003 screening schedule on Monday, January 13, with the 1958 Best Picture winner "Gigi," starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan, at the Ames Auditorium, 111 East 59th Street in Manhattan. "Gigi" made Academy Awards^® history when it became the first film to win nine Oscars^®, one for each category in which it was nominated.

Part of the Academy's celebration of its 75th anniversary, "Monday Nights with Oscar" is a series of Best Picture-winning films, each representing a 10-year section of Academy Awards history. Highlights from the Academy's fourth decade (1958-1967) will precede the screening of "Gigi." "Gigi" was the first of four musical films to win Best Picture honors in that 10-year period, followed by "West Side Story" (1961), "My Fair Lady" (1964) and "The Sound of Music" (1965).

Special host Marni Nixon will recall her experiences singing the roles of Maria for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Eliza Doolittle for Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady." Nixon also appeared in the role of Sister Sophia in "The Sound of Music" and had previously sung for Deborah Kerr in 1956's "The King and I" and 1957's "An Affair to Remember". The evening also will feature a screening of John Hubley's "Moonbird," the 1959 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short in which two young brothers hunt a magical bird. To cap off the pre-screening segment of the evening, guests will view the trailer for the next film in the series, the Best Picture-winning musical, "Oliver!" (1968). Participants also will receive a commemorative program, featuring background on the film and a four-color reproduction of the original movie poster for "Gigi."

Remaining films in the series include (in order of presentation):
Monday, Feb. 10: "Oliver!" (1968)
Monday, March 10: "The Deer Hunter" (1978)
Monday, April 14: "Rain Man" (1988)
Monday, April 28: "Shakespeare in Love" (1998)
Monday, June 2: "Wings" (1928).

Each evening's program begins at 7:30 p.m. sharp. (Doors open at 7:00 p.m.) Subscriptions to the film series are still available for $40 to the general public and $20 for students with a photocopy of official student ID. To download a subscription form, visit www.oscars.org or call 888-778-7575 for more information. Checks and money orders should be payable to the Academy Foundation. Forms should be mailed to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 118, 236 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10002-1401. All orders will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Individual tickets may also be purchased, subject to availability, at $7.00 for the general public and $5.00 for Academy members and students with valid I.D. To reserve an individual ticket, call the "Monday Nights With Oscar" hotline at 888-778-7575.