24th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1952)
©A.M.P.A.S.®
- Date of Ceremony: Thursday, March 20, 1952
- For films released in: 1951
- Host(s): Danny Kaye
Several things seemed certain on the night of Thursday, March 20, 1952. Danny Kaye would host, Marlon Brando would be named Best Actor, and either A Streetcar Named Desire or A Place in the Sun would be named Best Picture.
Well, Danny Kaye hosted, but that was the only sure thing in a night that proved Oscar® can have surprises up his sleeve — well, if he actually wore a jacket that is.
When the envelope for Best Actor was opened, Humphrey Bogart had won his only Academy Award. Accepting the award, he quipped, “It’s a long way from the heart of the Belgian Congo to the stage of the Pantages Theatre and I’m glad to say I’d rather be here.”
The other big surprise came when the Best Picture was announced. The Oscar went to An American in Paris, only the third musical to win the top prize.
As for trivia, the 24th ceremony was the last one not to be shown on those glowing boxes more and more people had in their living rooms. The TV era of the Oscars was about to begin.
Results
Best Motion Picture
- An American in Paris
Arthur Freed [Producer]
Best Directing
- A Place in the Sun
George Stevens
Best Actor
- The African Queen
Humphrey Bogart
Best Actress
- A Streetcar Named Desire
Vivien Leigh
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- A Streetcar Named Desire
Karl Malden
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- A Streetcar Named Desire
Kim Hunter
Honorary Foreign Language Film Award
- Rashomon
Note: …voted by the Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1951.
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- A Streetcar Named Desire
Richard Day [Art Direction] and George James Hopkins [Set Decoration]
Best Art Direction (Color)
- An American in Paris
Cedric Gibbons [Art Direction], Preston Ames [Art Direction], Edwin B. Willis [Set Decoration] and Keogh Gleason [Set Decoration]
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
- A Place in the Sun
William C. Mellor
Best Cinematography (Color)
- An American in Paris
Alfred Gilks and John Alton [Ballet Photography by]
Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)
- A Place in the Sun
Edith Head
Best Costume Design (Color)
- An American in Paris
Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff
Best Documentary (Feature)
- Kon-Tiki
Olle Nordemar
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Benjy
Fred Zinnemann
Best Film Editing
- A Place in the Sun
William Hornbeck
Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
- A Place in the Sun
Franz Waxman
Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)
- An American in Paris
Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin
Best Music (Song)
- Here Comes the Groom "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening"
Hoagy Carmichael [Music by] and Johnny Mercer [Lyrics by]
Best Short Subject (Cartoon)
- The Two Mouseketeers
Fred Quimby
Best Short Subject (One-reel)
- World of Kids
Robert Youngson
Best Short Subject (Two-reel)
- Nature's Half Acre
Walt Disney
Best Sound Recording
- The Great Caruso
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer London Studio Sound Department and Douglas Shearer [Sound Director]
Best Special Effects
- When Worlds Collide
Paramount
Best Writing (Screenplay)
- A Place in the Sun
Michael Wilson and Harry Brown
Best Writing (Story and Screenplay)
- An American in Paris
Alan Jay Lerner
Best Writing (Motion Picture Story)
- Seven Days to Noon
Paul Dehn and James Bernard
Honorary Award
- Gene Kelly
Note: …in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
- Arthur Freed
Scientific or Technical Award (Class II)
- Gordon Jennings, S.L. Stancliffe and Paramount Studio Special Photographic and Engineering Departments
Note: …for the design, construction and application of a servo-operated recording and repeating device. - Olin L. Dupy [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio]
Note: …for the design, construction and application of a motion picture reproducing system. - Radio Corporation of America, Victor Division
Note: …for pioneering direct positive recording with anticipatory noise reduction.
Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)
- Richard M. Haff, Frank P. Herrnfeld, Garland C. Misener and Ansco Film Division of General Aniline and Film Corporation
Note: …for the development of the Ansco color scene tester. - Fred Ponedel [of Warner Bros. Studio], Ralph Ayres [of Warner Bros. Studio] and George Brown [of Warner Bros. Studio]
Note: …for an air-driven water motor to provide flow, wake and white water for marine sequences in motion pictures. - Glen Robinson and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Construction Department
Note: …for the development of a new music wire and cable cutter. - Jack Gaylord and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Construction Department
Note: …for the development of balsa falling snow. - Carlos Rivas [of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio]
Note: …for the development of an automatic magnetic film splicer.