The 25th Annual Academy Awards (1953) (TV)

Director:

Bill Bennington

Release Date:

19 March 1953 (USA)

Plot:

The first television broadcast of the annual motion picture awards ceremony. |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Awards Show | Number In Title

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Himself - Host & Performer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anne Baxter	...	Herself - Presenter: Scientific & Technical Awards
Edgar Bergen	...	Himself (as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy)
Shirley Booth	...	Herself - Best Actress Winner
Charles Brackett	...	Himself - Presenter: Honorary Awards & Irving G. Thalberg Award
Frank Capra	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Film Editing
Charles Coburn	...	Himself
Ronald Colman	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress
Broderick Crawford	...	Himself
Joan Crawford	...	Herself
Donald Crisp	...	Himself
Billy Daniels	...	Himself - Performer
Jane Darwell	...	Herself
Olivia de Havilland	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Director
Cecil B. DeMille	...	Himself - Best Picture Winner, as producer
Katherine DeMille	...	Herself - accepting Supporting Actor Award for husband Anthony Quinn
Walt Disney	...	Himself - Presenter: Music Awards
Bobby Driscoll	...	Himself
Joan Fontaine	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Art Direction-Set Decoration Awards
Greer Garson	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Supporting Actor
Janet Gaynor	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Actor
Gloria Grahame	...	Herself - Best Supporting Actress Winner
Edmund Gwenn	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Supporting Actress
Jean Hersholt	...	Himself - Presenter: Documentary Awards
Celeste Holm	...	Herself - Performer
Dean Jagger	...	Himself
Piper Laurie	...	Herself
Peggy Lee	...	Herself - Performer
Fredric March	...	Himself - Presenter (New York): Best Actress
Marilyn Maxwell	...	Herself - Performer
Victor McLaglen	...	Himself
Johnny Mercer	...	Himself - Performer
Ray Milland	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Short Subject Awards
Paul Muni	...	Himself
George Murphy	...	Himself
Conrad Nagel	...	Himself - Host (New York)
Mary Pickford	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Picture
Luise Rainer	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film
Tex Ritter	...	Himself - Performer
Ginger Rogers	...	Herself - Presenter: Costume Design Awards
Dore Schary	...	Himself - Presenter: Writing Awards
James Stewart	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Art Direction-Set Decoration Awards
Claire Trevor	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Sound
John Wayne	...	Himself - accepting Best Actor Award for Gary Cooper
Teresa Wright	...	Herself - Presenter: Cinematography Awards
Jane Wyman	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Short Subject Awards
Loretta Young	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Special Effects

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

International Theatre - 5 Columbus Circle, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

The top six awards of Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Director was set from 1937 onwards. The 1953 ceremony was the first occasion since then that all six awards went to six different movies. These were respectively The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), High Noon (1952), Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), Viva Zapata! (1952), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and The Quiet Man (1952).

Movie Connections:

Followed by The 28th Annual Academy Awards (1956) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Because You're Mine

Star-Powered Show Set Bar for Future Awards

Just got a DVD of this show. It is terrific! This was the first Oscar TV broadcast and it is easy to see the things they kept doing. Star pairings abound. Jimmy Stewart & Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland & Jane Wyman. Glamorous solo star turns like Ginger Rogers and Luise Rainer. All the nominated songs are performed (charming Celeste Holm steals the show with "Thumbelina").

The acceptances are minuscule if non-existent. Gloria Grahame slowly walks to the stage and whispers a barely audible "Thank you" before drifting off. Gary Cooper and Anthony Quinn were not present (coincidently, they were both filming the same movie in Mexico. A western called "Blowing Wind"!?!?!?!) Coop's was accepted by John Wayne while Quinn's was accepted by Mrs. Anthony Quinn (Katharine DeMille) whose father would be the night's biggest winner for THE GREATEST SHOW on EARTH. He received the Thalberg Award as well as Best Picture. The latter was given in the first (and one of a very few) TV appearance of Academy founder Mary Pickford. This paved the way for the award to be given out in the future by the biggest star in Hollywood (Steve McQueen, Eddie Murphy) or a film icon (Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson).

Best speech of the night goes to a heartfelt Shirley Booth in NY who almost falls flat on her face on the way to the stage!

But of all my favorite moments, none was better on this 25th anniversary than the film of former winners posing with their Oscars. This would not be repeated the same way until the 70th & 75th (and hopefully the 80th!!). Broderick Crawford, Paul Muni. Anne Baxter, Olivia DeHavilland, Edgar Bergen, Joan Crawford, Jane Darwell, Bobby Driscoll, Teresa Wright, the list goes on. It truly was a glorious evening and set the high standard that too few subsequent years have been able to match.