The 75th Annual Academy Awards (TV 2003)

Directors:

Louis J. Horvitz, Penelope Spheeris

Writers:

Hal Kanter, Rita Cash,

Stars:

Steve Martin, Ben Affleck, John Agar

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Steve Martin	...	Himself - Host
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Affleck	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Original Screenplay
John Agar	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Wayne Allwine	...	Mickey Mouse - co-presenter: Best Animated Short Film (voice)
Agustín Almodóvar	...	Himself - Audience Member
Pedro Almodóvar	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Screenplay / Nominee: Best Director
Mie Andreasen	...	Herself - Winner: Best Live Action Short Film
Julie Andrews	...	Herself - Presenter: Short Film / Past Oscar Night Music Highlights / Past Winner
Royce D. Applegate	...	Himself (Memorial Tribute) (archive footage)
Eric Armstrong	...	Himself - Winner: Best Animated Short
Colleen Atwood	...	Herself - Winner: Best Costume Design
Anne Bancroft	...	Annie Sullivan (archive footage)
Kathy Bates	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role / Presenter: Past Winner Recollections / Past Winner
Philippe Bergeron	...	French interpreter
Milton Berle	...	Himself - In Memorium Tribute (archive footage)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

tv special | academy awards ceremony | awards show | number in title

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Details

Official Sites:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Kodak Theatre - 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood & Highland Center, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Imaginary Forces

Technical Specs

Runtime:

210 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Oscar show to be aired in High Definition (HD 720p). Picture quality suffered from chroma delay problems, though, which sometimes gave distracting colored outlines.

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Quotes

Steve Martin: [to Mickey Rooney] Mickey, I'm sorry we couldn't get you a better seat, but Vin Diesel is here.

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Connections

Features Room at the Top (1959)

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Soundtracks

"The Hands That Built America"
Written and Performed by U2

User Reviews

Star-studded even elevated by presence of Olivia de Havilland...

Despite the muted tone of the 75th Academy Awards, there were some outstanding moments and here are a few of the observations I care to make on the whole affair:

1) Adding not a bit of class to the televised event was CAMERON DIAZ, busily chewing gum and staring vacantly at some of the old-time presenters, as though she either didn't recognize them or didn't appreciate that they were a part of film history;

2) ADRIEN BRODY giving a genuinely heart-felt acceptance speech, including the surprisingly passionate kiss for Halle Berry! Talk about taking advantage of a situation, but at least he was honest about it;

3) MICHAEL MOORE making a complete jackass of himself by taking the stage to receive an award (for a non-documentary, by the way), and then erupting into a tirade against President Bush and the war that was greeted at first with abashed silence and then a round of well-deserved boos from the overwhelmingly liberal Hollywood crowd;

4) OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND receiving a standing ovation and still radiating good health and classic loveliness even with silver-white hair as she presented 59 of the past winners. Among the missing: ELIZABETH TAYLOR, which was just as well considering her diamonds would have weighed her down, even if she was sitting in a wheelchair, and would have called for even more of a bodyguard atmosphere than usual;

5) Among those who didn't look so well (some even shockingly bad), were KARL MALDEN, JENNIFER JONES (who looked like a wax figure), TERESA WRIGHT, GEORGE CHAKIRIS (another wax figure), KIRK DOUGLAS, DUSTIN Hoffman, PATRICIA NEAL and CLIFF ROBERTSON.

Although it was good to see a stage full of former winners, one couldn't help noticing how few of them resembled their former selves on screen.

STEVE MARTIN did an okay job as presenter, easily rebuffing Michael Moore with a clever comeback line about the Mafia, but unfortunately veering into tasteless territory with his jokes about MICKEY ROONEY's age or the sexual ambiguities of stars like JACK NICHOLSON and others.

I was especially impresssed with one of de Havilland's comments after observing that much had changed since the earlier times. "What hasn't changed," she said, in her gentle tone, "is our love of the movies. They inspire us and help us through troubled times." She's done so many Oscar shows as presenter (not to mention winner) and is always a reminder of how classy Hollywood performers used to be.