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25th Academy Awards
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| number | 25 |
| award | Academy Awards |
| date | March 19, 1953 |
| site | RKO Pantages Theatre |
| Hollywood, California | |
| NBC International Theatre | |
| New York City, New York | |
| host | Bob Hope (Hollywood) |
| Conrad Nagel (emcee) | |
| Fredric March (New York City) | |
| best_picture | *The Greatest Show on Earth* |
| most_wins | *The Bad and the Beautiful* (5) |
| most_nominations | *High Noon*, *Moulin Rouge*, and *The Quiet Man* (7) |
| network | NBC |
| last | 24th |
| next | 26th |
Hollywood, California NBC International Theatre New York City, New York Conrad Nagel (emcee) Fredric March (New York City)
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, 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.
This ceremony was the first to be broadcast on television; the Academy, long resistant of television, paid NBC $100,000 to televise the event.
Winners and nominees
Awards
Nominees were announced on February 9, 1953. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Best Special Effects
- Plymouth Adventure – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Honorary Foreign Language Film Award
- To Forbidden Games (France) - Best Foreign Language Film first released in the United States during 1952.
Honorary Awards
- To 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.
- To Joseph M. Schenck for long and distinguished service to the motion picture industry.
- To Merian C. Cooper for his many innovations and contributions to the art of motion pictures.
- To Harold Lloyd, master comedian and good citizen.
- To 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.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
- Cecil B. DeMille
Multiple nominations and awards
| Nominations | Film |
|---|---|
| 7 | *High Noon* |
| *Moulin Rouge* | |
| *The Quiet Man* | |
| 6 | *The Bad and the Beautiful* |
| *Hans Christian Andersen* | |
| 5 | *The Greatest Show on Earth* |
| *Viva Zapata!* | |
| *With a Song in My Heart* | |
| 4 | *My Cousin Rachel* |
| *Sudden Fear* | |
| 3 | *Come Back, Little Sheba* |
| *Ivanhoe* | |
| 2 | *The Big Sky* |
| *Breaking the Sound Barrier* | |
| *Carrie* | |
| *Devil Take Us* | |
| *[Five Fingers](5-fingers)* | |
| *The Lavender Hill Mob* | |
| *The Merry Widow* | |
| *Navajo* | |
| *Neighbours* | |
| *Singin' in the Rain* | |
| *The Snows of Kilimanjaro* |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| Announcer for the 25th Academy Awards | |
| (AMPAS president) | Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design | |
| Presenter of the Documentary Awards | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing | |
| James Stewart | Presenters of the Art Direction Awards |
| Presenter of the award for Best Sound Recording | |
| Jane Wyman | Presenters of the Short Subject Awards |
| Presenter of the awards for Best Cinematography | |
| Presenter of the Music Awards | |
| Olivia de Havilland | Presenters of the award for Best Director |
| Presenter of the Writing Awards | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Actor | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Actress | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Motion Picture | |
| Presenter of the award for Best Special Effects | |
| Presenter of the Honorary Foreign Language Film Award | |
| Charles Brackett | Presenter of the Honorary Awards to Joseph M. Schenck and Harold Lloyd |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral | |
| Marilyn Maxwell | Performers | “Am I in Love?” from *Son of Paleface* |
| Performer | “Because You’re Mine” from *Because You're Mine* | |
| Performer | “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” from *High Noon* | |
| Performer | “Thumbelina” from *Hans Christian Andersen* | |
| 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: For the first time in history, a television audience estimated at 40,000,000 persons 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) as a sponsorship fee. NBC telecast the bicoastal ceremony over its 64-station television network and on its 174-station radio system. The Armed Forces Radio Service recorded the proceedings for later broadcast.
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), 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.
The technology used for television at the time meant that Bob Hope had to wear a blue dress shirt with his formal dinner jacket; 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. Today, it ranks #94 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the 95 films to win Best Picture, ahead of only The Broadway Melody.
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.
References and footnotes
References
- Bacon, James. (1953-03-19). "TV Will Carry Film Awards Show Tonight". [[The Fresno Bee]].
- [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2936/ International Theatre] {{webarchive. link. (2009-08-17 , from cinematreasures.org)
- The convention center was subsequently demolished when the [[Time Warner Center]] was built.
- "The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org ([[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]).
- (March 30, 1953). "The Oscars".
- (March 30, 1953). "The Oscars".
- Pryor. (March 20, 1953). "Movie 'Oscar' Won by 'Greatest Show'". [[The New York Times]].
- (1953-03-19). "Of Local Origin". [[The New York Times]].
- (1996). "Inside Oscar: the unofficial history of the Academy Awards". Ballantine Books.
- Doherty, Thomas. (2022-03-26). ""TV – That's Where Movies Go When They Die": Rewatching the First Televised Oscars".
- (March 30, 1953). "The Oscars".
- "'Chicago' and 'Oliver!' Among "Worst" Oscar Winners". Imdb.com.
- (2005-03-01). "The worst Oscar winners!". Rediff.com movies.
- "All 95 Best Picture Winners, Ranked by Tomatometer".
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