30th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1958)

©A.M.P.A.S.®

• Date of Ceremony: Wednesday, March 26, 1958
• For films released in: 1957
• Host(s): Bob Hope, Rosalind Russell, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon and Donald Duck

• Nominations List

Other years:

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The 30th Annual Academy Awards were presented on Wednesday, March 26, 1958. For the first time in their broadcast history, there was no cutaway to New York and the entire affair took place at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

The hosts for the evening were Bob Hope, Rosalind Russell, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon and, yes, Donald Duck, who hosted a seven minute history of the movies.

The Bridge on the River Kwai took home seven Oscars®, including Best Picture. Its win for Best Writing (Screenplay – based on material from another medium) generated one of the shortest acceptance speeches in history — “Merci” — from winner Pierre Boulle. Boulle, the French author of the book the movie was based on, did not speak English. Nor, it turns out, did he write the screenplay. It was actually written by blacklisted writers Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman, whose names could not appear on the credits. The Academy awarded posthumous Oscars to Wilson and Foreman in 1984 and updated their records to reflect their names.

Results

Best Motion Picture

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Sam Spiegel

Best Directing

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  David Lean

Best Actor

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Alec Guinness

Best Actress

• The Three Faces of Eve
  Joanne Woodward

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Sayonara
  Red Buttons

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Sayonara
  Miyoshi Umeki

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Nights of Cabiria

Best Art Direction

• Sayonara
  Ted Haworth [Art Direction] and Robert Priestley [Set Decoration]

Best Cinematography

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Jack Hildyard

Best Costume Design

• Les Girls
  Orry-Kelly

Best Documentary (Feature)

• Albert Schweitzer
  Jerome Hill

Best Film Editing

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Peter Taylor

Best Music (Scoring)

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Malcolm Arnold

Best Music (Song)

• The Joker Is Wild "All The Way"
  James Van Heusen [Music by] and Sammy Cahn [Lyrics by]

Best Short Subject (Cartoon)

• Birds Anonymous
  Edward Selzer

Best Short Subject (Live Action)

• The Wetback Hound
  Larry Lansburgh

Best Sound Recording

• Sayonara
  Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department and George Groves [Sound Director]

Best Special Effects

• The Enemy Below
  Walter Rossi [Audible Effects by]

Best Writing (Screenplay - based on material from another medium)

• The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Michael Wilson, Carl Foreman and Pierre Boulle

Best Writing (Story and Screenplay - written directly for the screen)

• Designing Woman
  George Wells

Honorary Award

• Charles Brackett
  Note: …for outstanding service to the Academy.
• B.B. Kahane
  Note: …for distinguished service to the motion picture industry.
• Gilbert M. (“Broncho Billy”) Anderson
  Note: …motion picture pioneer, for his contributions to the development of motion pictures as entertainment.
• The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
  Note: …for their contributions to the advancement of the motion picture industry.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

• Samuel Goldwyn

Scientific or Technical Award (Class I)

• Todd-AO Corp. and Westrex Corporation
  Note: …for developing a method of producing and exhibiting wide-film motion pictures known as the Todd-AO System.
• Motion Picture Research Council
  Note: …for the design and development of a high efficiency projection screen for drive-in theatres.

Scientific or Technical Award (Class II)

• Société d'Optique et de Mecanique de Haute Precision
  Note: …for the development of a high speed vari-focal photographic lens.
• Harlan L. Baumbach, Lorand Wargo, Howard M. Little and Unicorn Engineering Company
  Note: …for the development of an Automatic Printer Light Selector.

Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)

• Charles E. Sutter, William B. Smith, Paramount Pictures Corp. and General Cable Corp.
  Note: …for the engineering and application to studio use of aluminum lightweight electrical cable and connectors.