The 25th Academy Awards were held on March 19, 1953 at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the NBC International Theatre in New York City, to honor the films of 1952. It was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised,[1] the first ceremony to be held in Hollywood and New York simultaneously, and the only year in which the New York ceremonies were held in the NBC International Theatre on Columbus Circle, which was shortly thereafter demolished and replaced by the New York Coliseum.[2][3]
| 25th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | March 19, 1953 |
| Site | RKO Pantages Theatre Hollywood, California NBC International Theatre New York City, New York |
| Hosted by | Bob Hope (Hollywood) Conrad Nagel (emcee) Fredric March (New York City)[1] |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | The Greatest Show on Earth |
| Most awards | The Bad and the Beautiful (5) |
| Most nominations | High Noon, Moulin Rouge, and The Quiet Man (7) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | NBC |
This ceremony was the first to be broadcast on television; the Academy, long resistant of television, paid NBC $100,000 to televise the event.[4][5]
Winners and nominees
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Awards
Nominees were announced on February 9, 1953. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[6]
Academy Honorary Awards
- George Alfred Mitchell "for the design and development of the camera which bears his name and for his continued and dominant presence in the field of cinematography".
- Joseph M. Schenck "for long and distinguished service to the motion picture industry".
- Merian C. Cooper "for his many innovations and contributions to the art of motion pictures".
- Harold Lloyd "master comedian and good citizen".
- Bob Hope "for his contribution to the laughter of the world, his service to the motion picture industry, and his devotion to the American premise".
- Plymouth Adventure for Best Special Effects.
Best Foreign Language Film
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Multiple nominations and awards
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 5 | The Bad and the Beautiful |
| 4 | High Noon |
| 2 | The Greatest Show on Earth |
| Moulin Rouge | |
| The Quiet Man |
Presenters and performers
Presenters
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Ronald Reagan | Announcer for the 25th Academy Awards |
| Charles Brackett (AMPAS president) | Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Ginger Rogers | Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Jean Hersholt | Presenter of the Documentary Awards |
| Frank Capra | Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing |
| Joan Fontaine James Stewart | Presenters of the Art Direction Awards |
| Claire Trevor | Presenter of the award for Best Sound Recording |
| Ray Milland Jane Wyman | Presenters of the Short Subject Awards |
| Teresa Wright | Presenter of the awards for Best Cinematography |
| Walt Disney | Presenter of the Music Awards |
| Charles Brackett Olivia de Havilland | Presenters of the award for Best Director |
| Dore Schary | Presenter of the Writing Awards |
| Greer Garson | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Edmund Gwenn | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Janet Gaynor | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Fredric March | Presenter of the award for Best Actress |
| Mary Pickford | Presenter of the award for Best Motion Picture |
| Loretta Young | Presenter of the award for Best Special Effects |
| Luise Rainer | Presenter of the Honorary Foreign Language Film Award |
| Charles Brackett | Presenter of the Honorary Awards to Joseph M. Schenck and Harold Lloyd |
| Anne Baxter | Presenter of the Scientific & Technical Awards |
| Charles Brackett | Presenter of the Honorary Award to Bob Hope and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Cecil B. DeMille |
Performers
| Name | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Adolph Deutsch | Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral |
| Bob Hope Marilyn Maxwell | Performers | “Am I in Love?” from Son of Paleface |
| Billy Daniels | Performer | “Because You’re Mine” from Because You're Mine |
| Tex Ritter | Performer | “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” from High Noon |
| Celeste Holm | Performer | “Thumbelina” from Hans Christian Andersen |
| Peggy Lee Johnny Mercer | Performers | “Zing a Little Zong” from Just for You |
| Academy Awards Orchestra | Performers | "There's No Business Like Show Business" (orchestral) during the closing credits |
Ceremony information
Broadcast
The 25th Academy Awards ceremony was the first to be broadcast on television:[1]For the first time in history, a television audience estimated at 40,000,000 persons[7] will watch the movie industry's biggest show. It will mark the TV debut for scores of the biggest names in moviedom.
The telecast was prompted by the need to finance the bi-coastal ceremony. When three of the film studios refused to provide their customary financial support, the RCA Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America agreed to pay AMPAS $100,000 (one source reported $250,000[8]) as a sponsorship fee. NBC telecast the bicoastal ceremony over its 64-station television network and on its 174-station radio system.[5] The Armed Forces Radio Service recorded the proceedings for later broadcast.[5]
The show was broadcast from 10:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. EST (7:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. PST),[9][10][11] switching back and forth from host Bob Hope on the West Coast to Conrad Nagel on the East Coast. The late start was made to accommodate those nominees who were performing that night on the Broadway stage.[11]
The technology used for television at the time meant that Bob Hope had to wear a blue dress shirt with his formal dinner jacket;[12] the traditional white shirt would have been too bright.
Notable achievements
The year saw a major upset when the heavily favored High Noon lost Best Picture to Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, eventually considered among the worst films to have won the award.[13][14] Today, it ranks #94 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the 95 films to win Best Picture, ahead of only The Broadway Melody.[15]
Although it only received two nominations, Singin' in the Rain went on to be named as the greatest American musical film of all time and in the 2007 American Film Institute updated list as the fifth greatest American film of all time, while High Noon ranked twenty-seventh on the same list.
The Bad and the Beautiful won five Oscars, the most wins ever for a film not nominated for Best Picture. It was also the second—and, to date, last—Academy Awards in which a film not nominated for Best Picture received the most awards of the evening, excluding years where there were ties for the most wins.
Until Spotlight won only Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 88th Academy Awards, this was the last year in which the Best Picture winner won just two total Oscars. It was also the second of three years to date in which two films not nominated for Best Picture received more nominations than the winner (The Bad and the Beautiful and Hans Christian Andersen, both with six). This occurred again at the 79th Academy Awards.
Shirley Booth was the last person born in the 19th century to win an Oscar in a Leading Role, and the first woman in her 50s to win Best Actress, at the age of 54 (the second woman in her 50s to win, Julianne Moore, was also 54 when she won at the 87th Academy Awards).
John Ford's fourth win for Best Director set a record for the most wins in this category that remains unmatched to this day. For the first time since the introduction of Supporting Actor and Actress awards in 1936, Best Picture, Best Director, and all four acting Oscars were awarded to six different films. This has happened only three times since, at the 29th Academy Awards for 1956, the 78th for 2005, and the 85th for 2012.