Debbie Does Hollywood

Dressed in a sequined tuxedo, Debbie Reynolds sang the opening number, ''Look How Far We've Come.'' Apparently, not very. Out came a horde of past Oscar winners -- Ernest Borgnine, Louise Fletcher, Burl Ives, Dorothy Malone, et al. -- without any introduction. (The TV audience just saw a rapid-fire succession of names on the screen.) The congregation all stood around as Bette Davis and Gregory Peck explained the voting procedures. And then the Oscar alums were gone, never to be seen or heard from again.

Hope Zings Eternal

After referring to the past winners as ''the road company of the Hollywood Wax Museum,'' the 74-year-old Hope launched into his monologue. Actually, it wasn't bad as far as those things go -- ''Liz Taylor's back on her farm in Virginia, still trying to milk a chicken'' -- but some of the laughter was clearly nervous: The first award of the evening was Best Supporting Actress.

Code Redgrave

Even before Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta opened the envelope, the winner was pretty obvious: Redgrave was competing with Quinn Cummings, Tuesday Weld, Melinda Dillon, and Leslie Browne. Wearing a simple black dress, Vanessa regally climbed up on stage and graciously thanked her Julia colleagues, costar Jane Fonda and director Fred Zinnemann. But just when it looked as though Koch might get off Palestinian-free... ''I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums....'' There were gasps and boos and a smattering of applause. Outside, protesters burned an effigy of the actress. Inside, many Academy members were seething.

M-I-C...K-E-Y

The mood of the proceedings was somewhat lifted by the appearance of C-3PO in a black bow tie, along with R2-D2 and Mark Hamill. They gave out two Special Achievement awards. Next came 15-year-old Jodie Foster, diminutive songwriter Paul Williams, and Mickey Mouse to hand out the Oscar for animated short film. As it happened, Mickey was also celebrating his 50th birthday, and after the orchestra played the theme from the Mickey Mouse Club, Williams told the rodent, ''Know what we're gonna get you for your birthday? Two more fingers.''

Golden Oldies

Amid the gaffes and political statements came one genuinely touching moment. After William Holden and Barbara Stanwyck walked on to present the award for sound, Holden departed from the script to thank Stanwyck for intervening on his behalf 39 years before when he was about to be fired from Golden Boy: ''Due to this lovely human being and her interest and understanding and her professional integrity and her encouragement and, above all, her generosity, I'm here tonight.'' Stanwyck could only say, ''Oh, Bill,'' as the two old friends embraced.

Grand Slam

When Jason Robards won Best Supporting Actor in absentia for his role as Dashiell Hammett in Julia, Hope cracked, ''I think he's playing bridge with Marlon Brando and George Scott.'' As it happened, Robards was appearing on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet, and he didn't appreciate the joke: ''I sent [a note] weeks ago, saying sorry I can't be there.... Bob Hope knew it.... Tasteless s -- -, anyway.'' Left unsaid were the facts that Robards had become the fourth actor to win consecutive Oscars (Luise Rainer, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Hepburn were the others) and that Julia achieved a rare double by sweeping both supporting categories.

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