FANS CONVERGE FOR WORSHIP RITES

When this morning rolls into view, and the decoration, the lights and the cameras have been packed away, the people who shared a day with Oscar on Monday might agree with one Enrique Fernandez.

After murmuring “Is not too bad” over his work, Fernandez looked up from polishing the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s east-side glass doors, squinted into the bright sunlight and grinned.

“But it is very nice outside, to (stand here and) keep trying, yes?” he asked of no one in particular.

Yes, indeed. Oscar had rarely gotten such a summery day to give his annual awards party, and at 9 a.m. Monday the temperature was already climbing through the 70s. The 400 or so stargazing loyal fans gathered on the risers--where the stars, the near-stars and their honored guests would decamp in several hours, for Oscar’s 59th annual giveaway--were breaking out the cold drinks and bathing suits.

“My gosh but it’s hot already,” said one middle-age fan, cooling herself with a “We want Paul (Newman) to win!” placard. (Newman’s publicist had announced Friday that the star would not be attending the ceremony.)

“Should have brought your bikini,” said her elderly colleague, grinning.

The strong sunshine and balmy breezes brought out the smiles in everyone laboring to get the awards show off on time, though. Bustling television cameramen had already tossed decorum to the winds and were testing lights, getting color balances and hooking up power lines in T-shirts.

“They should hold this out on the Santa Monica Pier on a day like this,” an ABC cameraman said. “Have everyone show up in formal black swimwear. . . . It’d be oh so Hollywood to boot.”

In back of the technicians, the faithful were positioning themselves on the temporary grandstands for either (a) the best view of the famous as they arrived, or (b) the best angle for the dozens of cameras ready to record the event for posterity. A detachment of activists for the homeless had camped out since Saturday (mostly in the Music Center tunnel) to make sure that their message--”Bring justice from the stars to the homeless”--would be picked up by the TV cameras.

“We’re doing all we can to prevent the American people from forgetting about us,” said one homeless person, who said to call him Jackie. “Maybe when America sees the stars in all their expensive clothes and limousines, and then the cameras follow them to where we’re sitting, they’ll think about it some.”

The other grandstanders had less overtly political reasons for camping out overnight.

“I just wanted to get as close to Paul Newman as these security guards will let me,” said Janie Albert, who’d come down from Modesto for the privilege. “He’s the most gorgeous man in the universe.”

There were large factions for each of the nominated actors and actresses, though Newman’s was the most vocal and outrageously dressed--or, rather, undressed. Three women held aloft a “Bill (actor William Hurt) is OUR MAN!” sign, while a spirited group of young married people sat behind a poster that read, “Oral Roberts for Best Actor, for his portrayal as a Man of God.”

“We think they should open up the Oscars a little bit,” said Joe McCormack, one of the ad-hoc Roberts Oscar Committee. “Although maybe, on reflection, he should be up for an Emmy, not an Oscar. Still--it’s the thought that counts.”

The “Platoonies” formed by far the largest special-interest group, however. Their battle-fatigued companies were everywhere in the stands Monday morning, and the individuals in those companies were sanguine about their favorite movie walking off with the best picture kudos.

“Those other pictures don’t have a chance,” said Francine Walters, wearing a military police helmet, a bogus .45-caliber automatic pistol, battle fatigues and Army-issue boots. “If the academy wants to honor a picture that really tries to deal with something America is still struggling with--and theyreally should, you know--then they don’t have any other choice.”

“Yeah, and besides that, it was a great movie!” one of Walter’s fellow pseudo-grunts shouted.

In the meantime, the gathered stargazers waited, played with Frisbees, drank and ate picnic-style, and polled each other on the probabilities of Monday’s winners.

“I think ‘Platoon’ has got it all wrapped up,” said Walt Cheng, down from San Francisco for the day. “Best actor? I don’t know, but I probably would say it will be Bob Hoskins (for ‘Mona Lisa’). Actress, Marlee Matlin (‘Children of a Lesser God’), no question.”

“We might see ‘A Room with a View’ sneak in there,” said Jane Oliver, seated across the center aisle from Cheng. “The other movies--’Platoon’ and ‘Children of a Lesser God,’ I mean--may have been over-hyped by now. In any case, I don’t think any one movie’s going to sweep it all, like ‘Out of Africa’ did last year.”

At least one fan was disgusted with the academy’s presentation of the Irving Thalberg Award to producer-director Steven Spielberg. Andy Carmine said the award, usually given to producers for a large body of work, was “just a way to make sure (Spielberg) keeps making those big-buck movies.

“It’s really a chicken thing for them to do, after the way they snubbed him last year (for ‘The Color Purple’). Besides, the movies he just produced haven’t done all that well, compared to the movies he’s directed.”

But such upset was quickly dissipated by the Olympian loveliness of the day. As beach balls bounced among the fans, the omnipresent security enforcers nudged each other and smiled.

“Tough gig, huh?” muttered one to another, undoing a button on his blue uniform.

“Seen tougher,” said his colleague.

Such pre-summer idylls were interrupted anytime a minor flurry of activity from the cameramen or photographers was detected, though. A friendly little poker game on the 14th row was abandoned instantly when a cluster of TV cameras closed in on some object at the front of the stands.

It turned out to be a group of “Platoonies”--all female and all in the process of shouting a hello to a TV station in Minneapolis. The poker players were faintly disappointed, except for the fellow who said he was holding a straight flush.

“ ‘Platoon’ isn’t gonna be the only big winner here today,” he said with a chuckle.