'Chariots of Fire' wins four Oscars Stars acclaimed: (left to right) (Colin Welland, David Puttnam, Hugh Hudson. Jane Fonda. her father Henrv Fonda and hiq wife 5Rhirlpp lrom Ivor Davis, Hollywood, March 30 what is absolutely a Cinderel- la picture and awarded it this ... and come to see it in droves ... It's absolutely extraordinary. " Mr Puttnam was one of a number of British Oscar winners. They included Vangelis for the score of Chariots of Fire, Kit West, one of the special effects artists on Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mr Welland, who wrote Chariots and Sir John Giel- guid. Nigel Noble, who won an Oscar for his documentary short Close Harmony is a Briton who lives ir; the United States. Warren Beatty, something of a maverick in Hollywood, graciously accepted his best director award for the film in which he starred as John Reed, the radical American journalist who organized the American Communist Labour Party and who wrote Ten Days that Shook the World, the story of the Russian Revolution. O London: The difficulties of financing the British Film Industry were highlighted today in a report from a special committee chaired by Sir Hai-old Wilson, the for- mer Prime M'inister (the Press Association reports). Committee members in- clude Mr David -Puttnarn, producer of Chariots of Fire. Cash fot- the f2.5 million film came from America and it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. O BBC Television has bought Chariots of Fire for a figure understood to be in excess of Elm (Kenneth Gosling writes). The film will become available for transmission early in 1984 - when the next Olympics are due. El Pretoria: - South Africa today lifted its ban in the book on which the film Reds is based, Ten Days that Shook the World It was a triumphant night for the British film industry here last night as the low budget drama Chariots of Fire claimed four Oscars, including the stunning surprise of the evening - the award for the best picture. The film was the first from Britain to win the highest award since the musical O!iver in 1968. It was, furthermore, an outstanding achievement since most of the 4,000 Academy members eli- gible to vote in the best picture category are Americans. The night was glorious, too, for the absent Henry Fonda, aged 76, and Katherine Hepburn, aged 72, who won the best acting honours for their roles in On Golden Pond a Lord Grade film partly sponsored in Britain. An- other absent star to win an Oscar was Sir John Gielgud. Chariots of Fire picked up four trophies including best film, best costume, best original score and best screenplay which went to actor-turned-writer Colin Welland. He jubilantly told the celebrity-studded audi ence and the millions watch- ing the show, which was televised iive around the world: "You may have started something... The British are coming." Mr Fonda captured his first acting Oscar (last year he was given an honorary Oscar for his contribution to movies) in a remarkable career that has spanned more than 50 years and 80 or more pictures for his role as the irrascible, retired college professor opposite Katharine Hepburn, who played his compassionate wife. It was miss Hepburn's fourth Oscar, making her the first actress in Oscar history to capture four trophies. Mr Fonda, who was recovering from illness at home about 20 miles from where the Oscars were , presented said after- wards:- "I wasn't surprised - everyone said-I would win". Miss Hepburn was in Washington, where she is playing in The West Side Waltz at the Kennedy Centre. Raiders of the Lost Ark which has taken in $200m (about ?105m) at the box office, collected four Oscars as well as Chariots, Reds, the picture produced, directed, written and featuring Warren Beatty won three oscars including best - -Oscar for Warren Beatty for directing. Besides the Fonda and Hep- burn wins On Golden Pond won a third trophy for screenplay from another medium. Sir Hohn Gielgud, who, was also absent, won best sup- porting actor Oscar for his role as the butler in the comedy film Arthur starring Dudley Moore, and Maureen Stapleton's portrayal of Emma Goldman in Reds brought her the best support- ing Oscar. When all was said and done it was the modestly budgeted Chariots of Fire that gave the evening its high drama and excitement. David Puttnam, the producer who picked up the best picture trophy, said the film had difficulty getting finance in England, where it was made. The film chronicles a highly Personal tale of young runners Harold Abra- hams and Eric Liddell played by Ben Cross and Ian Charleson, who are virtually unknown outside Britain -- who represented Britain in the 1924 Olympic Games. The film was considered very much a dark horse up against the $33m Reds, the lavish Raiders of the Lost Ark and the sentimental favourite On Golden Pond. There were gasps and then great applause when the picture won. An emotional Mr Puttnam said: "You are the most extraordinary peop- le on earth ... not just the Academy, but the whole of the country, to have taken The award winners Best picture: Chariots of Fire; Best actress: Katharine Hepburn, for On Golden Pond; Best actor: Henry Fonda, for On Golden Pond; Best director: Warren Beatty, for Reds; Best supporting actress: Maureen Stapleton, for Reds; Best supporting actor: Sir John Gielgud, for Arthur, Original screenplay: Colin Weliand, for Chariots of Fire; Adapted screenplay: Ernest Thompson, for On Golden Pond; Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro for Reds. Art direction: Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley and set directior,, Michael Ford, for Raiders of the Lost Ark; Visuat effects: Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson, Joe Johnson, for Raiders of the Lost Ark; Film editing: Michael Kahn, for Raiders of the Lost Ark; Original score: Vangelis Papathanassiou, for Chariots of Fire; OrIginal song: Arthur's theme song (The Best That You Can Do), by Burt Bacharach, Carole Baker Sayer, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen. Foreign lanquage film: Meohisio, from Hungary; Sound: Bill Varney, Steve Malsow, Gregg Landaker, Roy Charman, tor Raiders ot the l.os- Ark; Makeup: Rick Baker, tor An American Werewolf in London; Costume design: Miiena Canonero, tor Chariots of Fire; Jean Hersholt humanitarian award: Danny Kaye; Irving Thalberg award for industry achievemert: Albert Broccoli, pro- ducer of the James Bond series of films. "An artist of Impeccable grace and beauty" (honorary): Barbara Stanwyck; Documentary short: Close Harmony, by Nigel Noble; Documentary feature: Genocide, by A Schwartzman and Rabbi M Hier; Animated short film: Crac, a Canadian film by Frederic Back; Live action short film: Violet, by Paul Kemp and Shelley Levinson. - Reuter. 'Chariots of Fire' wins four Oscars