31st Academy Awards

The 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959, to honor the best films of 1958. The show's producer, Jerry Wald, started cutting numbers from the show to make sure it ran on time. He cut too much material and the ceremony ended 20 minutes early, leaving Jerry Lewis to attempt to fill in the time. Eventually, NBC cut to a re-run of a sports show.

31st Academy Awards
People lining the street under the marquee of the Pantages Theater at the 31st Academy Awards.
DateApril 6, 1959
SitePantages Theatre, Hollywood, California, USA
Hosted byJerry Lewis, Mort Sahl, Tony Randall, Bob Hope, David Niven, and Laurence Olivier
Produced byJerry Wald
Directed byAlan Handley
Highlights
Best PictureGigi
Most awardsGigi (9)
Most nominationsThe Defiant Ones and Gigi (9)
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC

The film Gigi won nine Oscars, breaking the previous record of eight (set by Gone with the Wind and tied by From Here to Eternity and On the Waterfront). It would be short-lived, however, as Ben-Hur broke the record with eleven Oscars the following year.

Gigi was the last film until The Last Emperor (1987) to win Best Picture without any acting nominations. It also had the biggest clean sweep at the time, winning all nine of its nominations, a record that would be tied by The Last Emperor. This record was broken in 2003 when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations.

The ceremony was hosted by an ensemble of actors: Jerry Lewis, Mort Sahl, Tony Randall, Bob Hope, David Niven, and Laurence Olivier. Niven won Best Actor that night, making him the only host in Oscar history to have won an award during the same ceremony.[1]

Awards

Vincente Minnelli; Best Director winner
David Niven; Best Actor winner
Susan Hayward; Best Actress winner
Burl Ives; Best Supporting Actor winner
Wendy Hiller; Best Supporting Actress winner
Walt Disney; Best Live Action Short Film winner
André Previn; Best Scoring of a Musical Picture winner
Cecil Beaton; Best Costume Design winner

Nominations announced on February 23, 1959. Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface.[2]

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
Best Documentary Short Subject Best Live Action Short Subject
Best Short Subject – Cartoons Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture Best Song
Best Sound Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Best Cinematography, Color Best Film Editing
Best Special Effects

Academy Honorary Award

  • Maurice Chevalier “for his contributions to the world of entertainment for more than half a century.”

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Presenters and performers

Presenters

Performers

Multiple nominations and awards

See also

References

  1. "James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host Oscars". The Daily Telegraph. November 29, 2010. Archived from the original on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  2. "The 31st Academy Awards (1959) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
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