32nd Academy Awards

The 32nd Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 4, 1960, at the RKO Pantages Theatre, to honor the films of 1959.

32nd Academy Awards
DateApril 4, 1960
SiteRKO Pantages Theatre, (Hollywood, California)
Hosted byBob Hope
Produced byArthur Freed
Directed byAlan Handley
Highlights
Best PictureBen-Hur
Most awardsBen-Hur (11)
Most nominationsBen-Hur (12)
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC

William Wyler's Bible epic Ben-Hur won 11 Oscars, breaking the record of nine set the previous year by Gigi. This total was later tied by Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Wyler became the third (and most recent) person to win more than two Best Director awards (following Frank Capra and John Ford), as well as the only person to date to direct three Best Picture winners (following Mrs. Miniver in 1942 and The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946).

Most of the stars were absent as a result of an incident involving Jerry Lewis' staging of the closing number at the previous year's Oscars[1] and of a four-week actors' strike.[1] The studios had their final pullout of support for the Academy during the year, in a sentiment echoed by Paramount Pictures, which remarked, "why should Paramount sponsor a show that sponsors only MGM's Ben-Hur?"[1]

A highlight of the ceremony came during the presentation of the award for Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: absent winner Stanley Shapiro (for Pillow Talk) had his co-winner, Maurice Richlin, ask presenter Tony Curtis to read his acceptance speech, which read, "I'm trapped downstairs in the gentleman's lounge. It seems I rented a faulty tuxedo. I'd like to thank you upstairs for this great honor." The audience roared in laughter.[2]

Awards

William Wyler, Best Director winner
Charlton Heston, Best Actor winner
Simone Signoret, Best Actress winner
Hugh Griffith, Best Supporting Actor winner
Shelley Winters, Best Supporting Actress winner
Stanley Shapiro, Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen co-winner
Maurice Richlin, Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen co-winner
Jacques Cousteau, Best Live Action Short Film winner
Miklós Rózsa, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture winner
André Previn, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture co-winner
Ken Darby, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture co-winner
Jimmy Van Heusen, Best Song co-winner
Sammy Cahn, Best Song co-winner
Edward Carfagno, Best Art Direction, Color co-winner
Ralph E. Winters, Best Film Editing co-winner

Nominations announced on February 22, 1960. Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface.[3]

Best Motion Picture Best Director
Best Actor Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Best Foreign Language Film Best Documentary Feature
  • Serengeti Shall Not Die
    • The Race for Space
Best Documentary Short Subject Best Live Action Short Subject
Best Short Subjects – Cartoons Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
  • Moonbird
    • Mexicali Shmoes
    • Noah's Ark
    • The Violinist
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Best Song
Best Sound Best Art Direction, Black-and-White
  • The Diary of Anne Frank – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss
    • Career – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Arthur Krams
    • The Last Angry Man – Art Direction: Carl Anderson; Set Decoration: William Kiernan
    • Some Like It Hot – Art Direction: Ted Haworth; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
    • Suddenly, Last Summer – Art Direction: Oliver Messel and William Kellner; Set Decoration: Scott Slimon
Best Art Direction, Color Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
  • Ben-Hur – Art Direction: William A. Horning (posthumous award) and Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Hugh Hunt
Best Cinematography, Color Best Costume Design, Black-and-White
Best Costume Design, Color Best Film Editing
Best Special Effects
  • Ben-Hur – Visual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie and Robert MacDonald; Audible Effects by Milo B. Lory

Academy Honorary Awards

  • Buster Keaton "for his unique talents which brought immortal comedies to the screen". (Statuette)
  • Lee De Forest "for his pioneering inventions which brought sound to the motion picture". (Statuette)

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Presenters and performers

Presenters

Performers

Multiple nominations and awards

See also

References

  1. Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 841. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
  2. "Room at the Top and Pillow Talk Win Writing Awards: 1960 Oscars". YouTube.
  3. "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
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