Cavalcade of the Academy Awards1940

[first lines]

Commentator - as Oscar statuette:
Hollywood, Mr. And Mrs. Audience. Hollywood - the magical Mecca, movieland, fountainhead of the celluloid fantasies whose shining shadows flicker around the full circumference of our troubled world. Hollywood - where science and sorcery combine to brew their magic broth of thrills and chills, of laughter and tears, for audiences like you totaling two hundred and fifty million people a week. For it is to you, Mr. And Mrs. Audience, that all Hollywood is dedicated. For you, little Tommy Ticketbuyer, do some seventy thousand Hollywood workers exert their labors, their brains, their witchcraft. But I wonder, little Mary Matinee, if you know who is the most sought-after in all the busy bedlam of Hollywood. Of course, highly advantageous to know is the cameraman, and equally besieged for favor is the director. Hungrily desired is any association with the glamorous star. Most respectfully regarded is the writer. But not even one of these is Hollywood's most coveted personality. There is another whose fame and importance transcend all else in Hollywood. Who? I - I am the most frantically sought person in Cinemaland. I - Oscar, the Academy Award. True, I'm only a metal statuette, intrinsically worth but a few dollars. But money cannot buy me. I must be earned - the reward for outstanding merit.