Pickford Oscars fate to be decided

7:35pm Thursday 4th December 2008

Jurors deciding the fate of Oscars awarded to silent film star Mary Pickford were treated during the trial's opening to a taste of Hollywood, complete with props, fancy visuals and a little intrigue.

Pickford was part of early Hollywood's royalty and a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presented her two Academy Awards over her lifetime.

Heirs of a woman married to Pickford's third husband, actor and band leader Buddy Rogers, hope to sell a statuette given to the actress for her performance in 1929's Coquette.

They claim their mother, Beverly Rogers, wanted the Oscar sold and the money donated to charity.

They also claim they are not bound to academy restrictions barring the sale of honorary Oscars awarded later to Pickford and Rogers.

But the academy has sued to stop any sale, claiming that Pickford agreed to rules allowing the organisation to purchase the award back for 10 dollars. They say they are trying to protect their most important symbol.

Just in case anyone needed a reminder what that is, academy lawyers had placed a pair of Oscar statuettes on a table, the little gold men directly facing the jury box.

To explain the case - and Pickford's importance to a jury comprising mostly people too young to remember her work - the opening statements featured a lengthy biography of the actress known as America's Sweetheart.

Before her marriage to Rogers, Pickford was the wife of Douglas Fairbanks, an influential actor, director and producer.

Academy attorney Chris Tayback likened the pair to a contemporary power couple. "They were comparable to Brad (Pitt) and Angelina (Jolie)," Mr Tayback said.