THE OUT-OF-TOWNER

Paul Newman, the seven-time nominee, will accept his Honorary Oscar award via remote from Chicago, where he’s finishing Martin Scorsese’s “The Color of Money.”

Why couldn’t he take the day off? Recall that two weeks ago, Jack Lemmon interrupted pre-Broadway rehearsals of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Days Journey Into Night” to honor Billy Wilder at the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award gala.

In movies past, Newman took time off from shooting to fly around the country doing his auto races.

But a spokeswoman for “Money” explained: “The producers would have liked to make it possible for Mr. Newman to attend the awards--but it is the end of the picture and he is in every scene. To do so would have added two days to the film’s schedule.”