BRINGING BACK THE SHINE Foreign press group strives to mend Golden Globes' tarnished image.

Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer

Like smog over Los Angeles or an Angelyne billboard over Sunset Boulevard, the specter of Pia Zadora looms darkly over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Fourteen years ago, the group gave one of its prestigious Golden Globes to the hammy actress of ''Butterfly'' and ''Lonely Lady'' notoriety, naming her ''most promising star.''

It was a shocking lapse in judgment and more. The vote came after several members of the association had been wined and dined with free ringside seats to Zadora's lounge act at her husband's Las Vegas hotel.

News of the freebie started a credibility slide of avalanche proportions. More than a decade later, Globe-bashing Tinseltown wags still point to Pia- gate as one reason the international press group gets less respect than even the much-maligned Grammy voters.

''The best-fed freeloaders in the entertainment industry'' is the way Jack Mathews, film critic for Newsday, has described the group.

They also have been described, in an oft-repeated jab attributed to an anonymous studio executive, as ''people who would cross the Alps for a hot dog.''

Yet, outside Hollywood, where the inner workings of the movie industry remain a mystery to most folks, the Golden Globes have a lot of clout. After all, the televised ceremony, wisely timed just three months before the Academy Awards, draws literally dozens of top stars. It's a cavalcade of cleavage.

And consider the intriguing track record of Globes voters. In the past 16 years, 12 movies voted Best Motion Picture by the association have gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. That has led to the Globes' reputation as an important bellwether for the Academy Awards.

So, in places like, say, Peoria, a Golden Globe may mean something, and if this brings patrons to the box office, even better.

''When a film receives that kind of accolade, it builds the word-of-mouth that travels around the world,'' said Duncan Clark, executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Columbia TriStar.

''The Golden Globes have become very prominent. It's no guarantee of profile, but it is significant.''

The foreign press itself has risen in prominence with the emergence of lucrative overseas markets for American films. And that makes connecting with international reporters ever more important, Clark said.

''The color of money always makes a difference,'' he said.

That's why studios work very hard to court Golden Globes voters with gifts (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prohibits studios from mailing such items during voting season), free food and chances to hobnob with the rich and famous.

The list of Golden Globes voters on the receiving end is surprisingly small.

Since 1943, they've been handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a small group - currently 85 - whose members cover the entertainment industry for publications in such far-flung locales as Eygpt and Brazil.

(To get a sense of just how small this group is, consider that there are 5,043 voting members in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.)

The ranks are kept deliberately low. The group only accepts five new members at most in a year. Last year, the group received 15 applications and accepted two. To qualify, a journalist must be accredited by the Motion Picture Association of America, which requires proof that the writer is published six times a year.

Some applicants who meet the requirements are rejected because they write for the same market as an existing member.

These 85 men and women see dozens and dozens of movies a year. They also attend dozens and dozens of ''junkets,'' promotional gigs sponsored by the studios at which journalists are given the opportunity to interview the stars and makers of movies.

Most large U.S. newspapers, including this one, pay for reporters' air fare and accommodations during junket weekends.

Some members of the HFPA also pay their own way. But many other HFPA journalists - like many American free-lancers - allow the studios to pick up the tabs. The cost of hotel accommodations alone - most junkets are held in the swankiest of digs - add up to hundreds of dollars.

This practice led to 1993's HFPA scandal, in which members voted ''Scent of a Woman'' best picture after being flown to New York to see the film and meet Al Pacino.

The association, it should be noted, also sponsors its own junkets with money made from the Golden Globes telecast licensing fee, paid by the network. At these events, stars often are asked to pose for pictures with the journalists. Most American reporters would rather run naked before the Pulitzer committee than ask an actor to pose with them.

The foreign press association also has, ahem, relaxed rules regarding promotional items, which this year range from alarm clocks featuring the ''Babe'' logo to conductor's wands inscribed with ''Mr. Holland's Opus.'' One HFPA journalist said she gives these trinkets out as Christmas presents.

This has led to a smudged reputation around town. One executive has said the Globes are ''the last high-profile award you can buy.''

Ouch.

HFPA president Aida Takla-O'Reilly sighed when confronted once again with questions about the group's voting practices and freebie policies. The big picture, she said, isn't whether members sometimes accept free trips and gifts from studios. They do.

What's important, she claimed, is that they don't let weekends in New York or books and baseball caps sway their opinions.

Phil Berk, a South African journalist and former HFPA president, said nothing he receives in the mail can change his opinion of a film.

''Everybody in every industry gets promotional items,'' added Takla- O'Reilly. ''That's marketing. But to think that we are going to change our vote for one candy bar undermines the intelligence of our people.

''Just because we have an accent on our tongue doesn't mean we have an accent in our brain.''

Indeed, all indicators point to the fact that the Globes are becoming an event to rival the Oscars. For starters, tonight's show will be broadcast on NBC, a step up from last year's host, cable network TBS. The last time the Globes were on NBC, Jimmy Carter was president.

Then there's the presenter's list, a star-studded roll call that includes Tom Hanks, Sharon Stone, Holly Hunter, Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Laurence Fishburne and Martin Landau.

''We've grown tremendously in stature and importance and recognition,'' said Takla-O'Reilly, who has been a member since 1956. She writes for a publication in her native Eygpt and one in France. She is also chairwoman of the Pan-African Studies department at California State University, Los Angeles, where she teaches classes about film and Third World images.

Takla-O'Reilly said she writes off critics of the Golden Globes as poor sports and xenophobes. She advises those still aghast at the Pia Zadora fiasco to lighten up.

As to the association's practice of seeking autographs from stars and asking them to pose in pictures, Takla-O'Reilly explained that members have no ethical problem with being fans and critics.

''It's to our credit that we are impassioned about what we're doing,'' she said, critizing those who pooh-pooh the movies and the movie stars.

Of course, not everyone appreciates the passion of foreign journalists, especially the policy of asking actors to pose with them in pictures.

When ''Scent of a Woman'' won the award for Best Motion Picture, ''A Few Good Men'' director Rob Reiner said he no longer would attend the Golden Globes and called HFPA-sponsored press conferences ''an elaborate scheme to have their picture taken with you.''

Takla-O'Reilly shrugs when asked about Reiner's comments.

''Was he criticizing us or demeaning the people we give awards to? Do you want to tell me Al Pacino did not give a good performance in 'Scent of a Woman'? It is a backhanded criticism of the artists receiving the awards.''

(Pacino did, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Actor that year; ''Scent of a Woman'' did not win for Best Picture).

Others not involved in making movies have been known to take shots at the HFPA, too.

''I guess there's this feeling that because they predict the Oscars that that somehow legitimizes them,'' National Society of Film Critics president Peter Rainer said. ''It doesn't.''

Whatever trashy talk surrounds the Golden Globes, the fact is that the show will be watched because there is a huge appetite for anything star- studded.

And that appetite is growing globally, which also raises the visibility of the HFPA.

''I think the studios realize there is a lot of money to be made out in the international market,'' Takla-O'Reilly said. ''So we become important because we write to the international market.''

Half of all box-office receipts come from foreign markets, and that figure will rise to 55 percent in the very near future, says media analyst Dave Davis.

Of course, Hollywood woos the domestic press, too. The difference is, film critics here don't hand out big-name awards that have a televised ceremony. Therefore, Hollywood woos the foreign press a bit more stridently.

For example, a foreign press screening of ''Father of the Bride Part II'' included a catered banquet, wine and a press conference with Steve Martin and Martin Short, who also introduced the film. Most American press screenings include the film and, sometimes, a bag of popcorn.

HFPA member Ana Maria Bahiana, Los Angeles editor of Screen International, has worked in Hollywood for 10 years. She thinks the ardent seduction of the foreign press has more to do with the growing international market than attempts to buy a Golden Globe.

She points to the fact that the Golden Globes were around when she first started, but, despite that, she had a hard time getting studios to grant her requests for interviews and information.

''But all that is changing as the studios acknowledge that they can make some serious money overseas,'' she said. ''I've seen a dramatic change from not getting any cooperation from the studios to total cooperation.''

As for the Golden Globes, Bahiana said she takes her job as a voter quite seriously. She also suggests that the group doesn't so much predict Oscars as flag Academy Award voters to good films and performances.

''We have been, in a way, doing their jobs.''

Of course, Academy Award voters don't quite agree. ''Absolutely not'' was the reaction of academy member Nancy Fish when asked if she pays attention to Golden Globe winners when casting votes.

''We don't need the Golden Globes to call something to our attention,'' said the actress, who has appeared in films such as ''The Mask.'' ''The pleasure of having a vote is that I can exercise my own opinion. It would be meaningless if I was simply adding my vote to a pile of public opinion.''

Oscar-flagger or not, Bahiana said she would rather be thought of as a journalist than simply a bestower of statuettes.

''It would be very bizarre if I was respected solely because of these awards. I try to be respected as a journalist.''

Globe can bring Oscar

Since 1980, the following Golden Globe winners for Best Motion Picture went on to win the Best Picture Academy Award:

1980 - ''Kramer vs. Kramer''

1981 - ''Ordinary People''

1984 - ''Terms of Endearment''

1985 - ''Amadeus''

1986 - ''Out of Africa''

1987 - ''Platoon''

1988 - ''The Last Emperor''

1989 - ''Rain Man''

1990 - ''Driving Miss Daisy''

1991 - ''Dances With Wolves''

1994 - ''Schindler's List''

1995 - ''Forrest Gump''

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO[ordinal indicator, masculine]CHART

Photo (1--Cover--Color) As the overseas film market becomes increasingly lucrative, Hollywood again takes a shine to the once- tarnished Golden Globe Awards David Sprague/Daily News (2) ''To think that we are going to change our vote for one candy bar undermines the intelligence of our people,'' says Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Aida Takla-O'Reilly. (3) HFPA credibility plummeted after the group named Pia Zadora ''most promising star'' in 1982. (4) Golden Globe winner Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 1976 Best Acting Debut for ''Stay Hungry.'' (5) Celebrants at the 1954 Golden Globe ceremony included Robert Taylor, left, named World Film Favorite; Eleanor Powell; Grace Kelly, for ''Mogambo''; and Spencer Tracy, for ''The Actress.' (6) Alfred Hitchcock presented the 1947 Best Actress Golden Globe to Rosalind Russell for her performance in ''Mourning Becomes Electra.'' (7) Natalie Wood, left, presented the Best Television Actress Globe to Mary Tyler Moore for ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' in 1971. Box Globe can bring Oscar (See text)