25th Academy Awards Ceremony

(1953)

Drama / Family / News

March 19, 1953 at RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood and NBC International Theatre, New York City  

Hosted by Bob Hope in Hollywood and Fredric March in New York City

Conrad Nagel as Emcee

The first Academy Awards Ceremony to be televised.

BEST PICTURE
The Greatest Show on Earth
High Noon
Ivanhoe
Moulin Rouge
The Quiet Man  
 
BEST DIRECTOR
John Ford – The Quiet Man
Cecil B. DeMille – The Greatest Show on Earth
John Huston – Moulin Rouge
Joseph L. Mankiewicz – Five Fingers
Fred Zinnemann – High Noon  
 
BEST ACTOR
Gary Cooper – High Noon
Marlon Brando – Viva Zapata!
Kirk Douglas – The Bad and the Beautiful
Jose Ferrer – Moulin Rouge
Alec Guinness – The Lavender Hill Mob 
 
BEST ACTRESS
Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba
Joan Crawford – Sudden Fear
Bette Davis – The Star
Julie Harris – The Member of the Wedding
Susan Hayward – With a Song in My Heart 
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Anthony Quinn – Viva Zapata!
Richard Burton – My Cousin Rachel
Arthur Hunnicutt – The Big Sky
Victor McLaglen – The Quiet Man
Jack Palance – Sudden Fear 
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Gloria Grahame – The Bad and the Beautiful
Jean Hagen – Singin' in the Rain
Colette Marchand – Moulin Rouge
Terry Moore – Come Back, Little Sheba
Thelma Ritter – With a Song in My Heart 
 
BEST SCREENPLAY
The Bad and the Beautiful – Charles Schnee
High Noon – Carl Foreman
The Man in the White Suit – Roger MacDougall, John Dighton and Alexander Mackendrick
The Quiet Man – Frank S. Nugent
Five Fingers – Michael Wilson 
 
BEST STORY AND SCREENPLAY
The Lavender Hill Mob – T.E.B. Clarke
The Atomic City – Sydney Boehm
Pat and Mike – Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin
Breaking the Sound Barrier – Terence Rattigan
Viva Zapata! – John Steinbeck 
 
BEST STORY
The Greatest Show on Earth – Frederic M. Frank, Theodore St. John and Frank Cavett
The Sniper – Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt
The Narrow Margin – Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard
My Son John – Leo McCarey
The Pride of St. Louis – Guy Trosper 
 
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Johann Mouse
Little Johnny Jet
Madeline
Pink and Blue Blues
The Romance of Transportation in Canada 
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Sea Around Us
The Hoaxters
Navajo 
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Neighbours
Devil Take Us
The Garden Spider
Man Alive! 
 
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM ONE-REEL
Light in the Window
Athletes of the Saddle
Desert Killer
Neighbours
Royal Scotland 
 
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM TWO-REEL
Water Birds
Bridge of Time
Devil Take Us
Thar She Blows! 
 
BEST DRAMATIC OR COMEDY SCORE
High Noon – Dimitri Tiomkin
The Thief – Herschel Burke Gilbert
Viva Zapata! – Alex North
Ivanhoe – Miklos Rozsa
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima – Max Steiner 
 
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
With a Song in My Heart – Alfred Newman
Singin' in the Rain – Lennie Hayton
The Jazz Singer – Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner
The Medium – Gian-Carlo Menotti
Hans Christian Andersen – Walter Scharf 
 
BEST SONG
" High Noon " from High Noon – Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyric by Ned Washington
"Am I in Love" from Son of Paleface – Music and Lyric by Jack Brooks
"Because You're Mine" from Because You're Mine – Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyric by Sammy Cahn
"Thumbelina" from Hans Christian Andersen – Music and Lyric by Frank Loesser
"Zing a Little Zong" from Just for You – Music by Harry Warren; Lyric by Leo Robin 
 
BEST SOUND RECORDING
Breaking the Sound Barrier – London Films Sound Department
The Promoter – Pinewood Studios Sound Department
The Quiet Man – Republic Studio Sound Department; Daniel J. Bloomberg
Hans Christian Andersen – Gordon Sawyer, Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department
With a Song in My Heart – Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Department; Thomas T. Moulton 
 
BEST ART DIRECTION, BLACK AND WHITE
The Bad and the Beautiful – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Keogh Gleason
Rashomon – Art Direction: So Matsuyama; Set Decoration: H. Motsumoto
Carrie – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
My Cousin Rachel – Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler and John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott
Viva Zapata! – Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler and Leland Fuller; Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Claude Carpenter 
 
BEST ART DIRECTION, COLOR
Moulin Rouge – Art Direction: Paul Sheriff; Set Decoration: Marcel Vertes
Hans Christian Andersen – Art Direction: Richard Day and Clave; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol
The Merry Widow – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Arthur Krams
The Quiet Man – Art Direction: Frank Hotaling; Set Decoration: John McCarthy, Jr. and Charles Thompson
The Snows of Kilimanjaro – Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler and John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox 
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BLACK AND WHITE
The Bad and the Beautiful – Robert Surtees
The Big Sky – Russell Harlan
Sudden Fear – Charles Lang, Jr.
My Cousin Rachel – Joseph LaShelle
Navajo – Virgil Miller 
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, COLOR
The Quiet Man – Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout
Million Dollar Mermaid – George J. Folsey
The Snows of Kilimanjaro – Leon Shamroy
Hans Christian Andersen – Harry Stradling
Ivanhoe – F.A. Young 
 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN, BLACK AND WHITE
The Bad and the Beautiful – Helen Rose
Carrie – Edith Head
My Cousin Rachel – Charles LeMaire and Dorothy Jeakins
Affair in Trinidad – Jean Louis
Sudden Fear – Sheila O'Brien 
 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN, COLOR
Moulin Rouge – Marcel Vertes
Hans Christian Andersen – Clave, Mary Wills and Barbara Karinska
The Greatest Show on Earth – Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins and Miles White
With a Song in My Heart – Charles LeMaire
The Merry Widow – Helen Rose and Gile Steele 
 
BEST FILM EDITING
High Noon – Elmo Williams and Harry Gerstad
Flat Top – William Austin
The Greatest Show on Earth – Anne Bauchens
Moulin Rouge – Ralph Kemplen
Come Back, Little Sheba – Warren Low 
 
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Plymouth Adventure 
 
ACADEMY HONORARY AWARD
George Alfred Mitchell
Joseph M. Schenck
Merian C. Cooper
Harold Lloyd
Bob Hope 
 
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Forbidden Games (France) 
 
IRVING G. THALBERG MEMORIAL AWARD
Cecil B. DeMille 
 
PRESENTERS
Anne Baxter (Scientific & Technical Awards)
Charles Brackett (Honorary Awards & Irving G. Thalberg Award)
Frank Capra (Best Film Editing)
Ronald Colman (Best Actress)
Olivia de Havilland (Best Director)
Katherine DeMille (accepting Best Supporting Actor Award for husband Anthony Quinn)
Walt Disney (Music Awards)
Joan Fontaine (Art Direction-Set Decoration Awards)
Greer Garson (Best Supporting Actor)
Janet Gaynor (Best Actor)
Edmund Gwenn (Best Supporting Actress)
Jean Hersholt (Documentary Awards)
Fredric March (Best Actress)
Ray Milland (Short Subject Awards)
Mary Pickford (Best Picture)
Luise Rainer (Best Foreign Language Film)
Ginger Rogers (Best Costume Design)
Dore Schary (Writing Awards)
James Stewart (Art Direction-Set Direction Awards)
Claire Trevor (Best Sound)
John Wayne (accepting Best Actor Award for Gary Cooper)
Teresa Wright (Best Cinematography)
Jane Wyman (Short Subject Awards)
Loretta Young (Special Effects) 
 
PERFORMERS
Billy Daniels ("Because You're Mine" from Because You're Mine)
Celeste Holm ("Thumbelina" from Hans Christian Andersen)
Bob Hope ("Am I In Love" from Son of Paleface)
Peggy Lee and Johnny Mercer ("Zing a Little Zong" from Just for You)
Tex Ritter (" High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'") from High Noon )