Sour Notes Over ‘Kansas City’s’ Oscar Bid

Absent among the flood of this season’s “for your consideration” ads in the Hollywood trade papers is Robert Altman’s “Kansas City.” But that, the director says, is not an accident.

Altman contends that Fine Line Features--which last summer released the multi-character, jazz-era tale--has made no effort to mount an awards campaign.

“We assumed they were going to,” said Altman, who spoke to The Times from the Georgia location of his next film, “The Gingerbread Man.” “But when we tried to contact them they wouldn’t take our calls.”

Mitch Goldman, president of marketing and distribution for Fine Line’s parent company, New Line Cinema, initially disputed Altman’s claims, then confirmed that the company had decided not to mount a “Kansas City” Oscar campaign, calling it a decision made within Fine Line.

A Fine Line source who declined to be identified said: “The movie lost money and there was a corporate decision not to spend any more on it.”

*

While the movie drew mixed reviews and flopped at the box office (taking in just $1.3 million on production costs of $20 million), awards-season special screenings and “for your consideration” ads are rarely based on critical or public acclaim. Lesser pictures have received campaigns, including Fine Line’s little-seen “Mother Night” and “The Grass Harp,” as well as New Line’s “In Love and War.”

All are longshots for Oscar nominations, as is “Kansas City.” But Altman’s film is believed to have some hope on the technical side (possibly cinematography and art direction) and, more significantly, for two of its supporting performers, Harry Belafonte and Miranda Richardson, whose efforts were received favorably by critics.

Mike Kaplan, a marketing consultant and longtime Altman associate, has helped the director bring these aspects of the film to the attention of academy voters, beginning with the mailing of videocassettes to film critics at the end of last year.

During his attempts to contact Fine Line executives, Altman was informed that the company would not spend any money on promoting the film--not even the cost of sending out videocassettes, Kaplan said. “Fortunately, New Line Home Video had some screeners and Bob wrote a personal note to the New York and L.A. critics and we sent out the cassettes ourselves,” he added.

Belafonte then won the best supporting actor prize from the New York Film Critics. The film’s jazz-era score was cited as the year’s best soundtrack from the Los Angeles film critics. And Richardson walked away with the Texas film critics’ award for best supporting actress.

While those awards are no guarantee of Oscar nominations (and in fact the score, being adapted, is not eligible), Altman considered them enough justification to promote the movie to academy members via screenings, cassette mailings and ads.

But Altman said Fine Line refused to budge and that he personally paid $18,000 for cassettes and special screenings of the film in Santa Monica. (Altman acknowledged that Fine Line did pay some mailing costs.)

*

Wouldn’t an Oscar nomination raise the film’s profile for its video release?

“There aren’t enough significant nominations to change the economic picture,” the Fine Line source said. That would also seem to apply to “Mother Night” or “The Grass Harp,” except for one key difference: Fine Line produced those films and only acquired “Kansas City,” leaving it as something of a stepchild.

Fine Line also broke another long-standing Hollywood tradition: making the filmmaker happy to maintain a relationship in the future. The company, after all, made a handsome profit on Altman’s 1992 “The Player,” and at least had a succes d’estime on his 1993 film “Short Cuts.”

But Altman is making “The Gingerbread Man” for PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, not Fine Line.

Altman said that while he understands the economics of the situation, it was the protocol that most distressed him: “I didn’t even get a courtesy call from [top New Line executives] Bob Shaye or Michael Lynne.” (The executives did not return a phone call seeking comment.)

Altman added: “It doesn’t look like I’ll do anything more with them.”