25th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1953)
©A.M.P.A.S.®
The 25th Academy Awards were the first Oscars to be televised when they aired on March 19th, 1953. The ceremony was actually a bi-coastal affair with Bob Hope heading up the main ceremony at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, while Conrad Nagel hosted portions of the ceremony from the NBC International Theatre in New York.
The Bad and the Beautiful won five out of its six nominations. Shirley Booth won Best Actress for Come Back, Little Sheba while Gary Cooper took home his second Best Actor Oscar, this time for High Noon.
When the Best Picture was announced, many were surprised when it went to Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. Several film magazines, like Premiere and Empire, have named the film as one of the worst to have ever won a Best Picture prize.
Results
Best Motion Picture
- The Greatest Show on Earth
Cecil B. DeMille [Producer]
Best Directing
- The Quiet Man
John Ford
Best Actor
- High Noon
Gary Cooper
Best Actress
- Come Back, Little Sheba
Shirley Booth
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- Viva Zapata!
Anthony Quinn
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- The Bad and the Beautiful
Gloria Grahame
Honorary Foreign Language Film Award
- Forbidden Games
Note: Best Foreign Language Film first released in the United States during 1952.
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
Cedric Gibbons [Art Direction], Edward Carfagno [Art Direction], Edwin B. Willis [Set Decoration] and Keogh Gleason [Set Decoration]
Best Art Direction (Color)
- Moulin Rouge
Paul Sheriff [Art Direction] and Marcel Vertes [Set Decoration]
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
Robert Surtees
Best Cinematography (Color)
- The Quiet Man
Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout
Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
Helen Rose
Best Costume Design (Color)
- Moulin Rouge
Marcel Vertes
Best Documentary (Feature)
- The Sea around Us
Irwin Allen
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Neighbours
Norman McLaren
Best Film Editing
- High Noon
Elmo Williams and Harry Gerstad
Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
- High Noon
Dimitri Tiomkin
Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)
- With a Song in My Heart
Alfred Newman
Best Music (Song)
- High Noon "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')"
Dimitri Tiomkin [Music by] and Ned Washington [Lyrics by]
Best Short Subject (Cartoon)
- Johann Mouse
Fred Quimby
Best Short Subject (One-reel)
- Light in the Window: The Art of Vermeer
Boris Vermont
Best Short Subject (Two-reel)
- Water Birds
Walt Disney
Best Sound Recording
- Breaking the Sound Barrier
London Film Sound Department
Best Special Effects
- Plymouth Adventure
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Writing (Screenplay)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
Charles Schnee
Best Writing (Story and Screenplay)
- The Lavender Hill Mob
T.E.B. Clarke
Best Writing (Motion Picture Story)
- The Greatest Show on Earth
Frederic M. Frank, Theodore St. John and Frank Cavett
Honorary Award
- George Alfred Mitchell
Note: …for the design and development of the camera which bears his name and for his continued and dominant presence in the field of cinematography. - Joseph M. Schenck
Note: …for long and distinguished service to the motion picture industry. - Merian C. Cooper
Note: …for his many innovations and contributions to the art of motion pictures. - Harold Lloyd
Note: …master comedian and good citizen. - Bob Hope
Note: …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
Scientific or Technical Award (Class I)
- Eastman Kodak Company
Note: …for the introduction of Eastman color negative and Eastman color print film. - Ansco Film Division of General Aniline and Film Corporation
Note: …for the introduction of Ansco color negative and Ansco color print film.
Scientific or Technical Award (Class II)
- Technicolor Motion Picture Corp.
Note: …for an improved method of color motion picture photography under incandescent light.
Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)
- Projection, Still Photographic and Development Engineering Departments of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio
Note: …for an improved method of projecting photographic backgrounds. - John G. Frayne, R.R. Scoville and Westrex Corporation
Note: …for a method of measuring distortion in sound reproduction. - Photo Research Corporation
Note: …for creating the Spectra color temperature meter. - Gustav Jirouch
Note: …for the design of the Robot automatic film splicer. - Carlos Rivas [of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio]
Note: …for the development of a sound reproducer for magnetic film.