CROWE ANGRY OVER CUT SPEECH.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Actor Russell Crowe lost his temper with a television executive after his

acceptance speech at the British Academy Film Awards was edited out of a delayed transmission, officials said Tuesday.

Crowe, 37, won the best actor award for his role as a schizophrenic scientist in ``A Beautiful Mind,'' and during his speech read a poem called ``Sanctity,'' by the late Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh.

Crowe was unavailable for comment about reports of his outburst.

When television company Initial Productions edited out the poem for the British Broadcasting Corp.'s one-hour delayed telecast of the awards show, Crowe was abusive to the show's director, Malcolm Gerrie, the company said.

An Initial Productions spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said people were told three times that they must keep their speeches to a minimum because of time constraints. The spokesman said Crowe was not the only winner who was edited because his speech went long, and he noted that Crowe's speech is uncut in the international versions.

The decision to edit Crowe's speech was made in collaboration with the BBC, the spokesman said.

The Sun newspaper reported Tuesday that Crowe swore at Gerrie, 51, at the post-awards dinner and pushed him against a wall.

Asked about the reports, a London-based spokeswoman for DreamWorks, one of the studios behind ``A Beautiful Mind,'' had no comment.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is Britain's leading organization for film, television and interactive entertainment.

HOBBITS 101: High-school students can see the Oscar-nominated ``Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' free by bringing their student IDs to 10 a.m. showings of the film on Saturday at select theaters.

The classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien on which the film is based was recently named the ``Book of the Millennium'' in an Amazon.com readers poll and has since reappeared on a number of best-seller lists. The screenings will take place at the following theaters: Pacific Galleria Stadium 16, 15301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; GCC Avco Wilshire, 10840 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; AMC Santa Monica 7, 1310 Third St., Santa Monica.

Students must present a valid high-school identification card to be admitted free.

FARMER DAVE: Dave Matthews has completed a $5.3 million deal to buy 1,261 of the 7,379 acres that billionaire John W. Kluge donated to the University of Virginia Foundation.

The musician's manager, Coran Capshaw, said Monday in a news release from the university that Matthews plans to preserve agriculture and forest lands on the five farms he purchased, and to emphasize organic farming.

The lead singer of the Dave Matthews Band also has started the process of placing an open-space easement on the farms, Capshaw said. The easements preserve some degree of open space and limit a property's development rights.

The land consists of five adjoining farms just north of Scottsville in southern Albemarle County. Along with homes and cottages, the farms include cattle and storage barns, silos, equipment and grain sheds, and a feed complex.

Kluge gave his Albemarle County estate to the foundation in May on the condition that the university use the so-called ``core property'' of Morven Farm's 749 acres for academic purposes.

Albemarle County officials welcomed word of Matthews' purchase. ``It's just really one of the best possible outcomes for those pieces of property to have their rural uses preserved and easements placed on them,'' said county spokeswoman Lee Catlin.

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Photo:

Russell Crowe blew his top after learning part of his acceptance speech was cut.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press