27th Academy Awards

27th Academy Awards
Date 30 March 1955
Site RKO Pantages Theatre
Hollywood, California
NBC Century Theatre
New York City, New York
Hosted by Bob Hope (Hollywood)
Thelma Ritter (New York City)
Highlights
Best Picture On the Waterfront
Most awards On the Waterfront (8)
Most nominations On the Waterfront (12)
TV in the United States
Network NBC

The 27th Academy Awards honored the best films produced in 1954. The Best Picture winner, On the Waterfront, was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by Elia Kazan. It had twelve nominations and eight wins, matching two other films, Gone with the Wind (1939) and From Here to Eternity (1953), even though those two each had thirteen nominations.

The low-budget, black and white On the Waterfront was filmed entirely on location in Hoboken and told the gritty story of New York dock workers, brutality, corruption, and embroilment with a gangster union boss. It provided an expose of union racketeering while showcasing the murder of an innocent longshoreman. Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg justified their own naming of names (blacklisting-testimony against alleged Communists) as friendly witnesses before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the early 1950s with the film's story of heroic longshoreman informant Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who stood alone and turned witness against the corrupt and intimidating union bosses and became a marked 'pigeon'.

A "rematch" occurred in the category of Best Actor, where Marlon Brando and Humphrey Bogart were competing again for the first time since Bogart beat him three years earlier. In a surprise win (Bing Crosby was the favored nominee), Brando received his first Oscar for his performance in On the Waterfront, which is now seen as one of the most justified upsets in Oscar history.[1]

Grace Kelly won Best Actress for The Country Girl in another upset. Judy Garland, who was heavily tipped to win Best Actress for the movie A Star Is Born could not attend the ceremony as she had only recently given birth to her third child. Cameras were set up in her room so she could express her thanks in the likely case of her winning. Groucho Marx later sent her a telegram expressing that her loss was "the biggest robbery since Brink's."[2]

Dorothy Dandridge became the first African American actress to receive a nomination for Best Actress.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[3]

Best Picture Best Director
Best Actor Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress
Best Story and Screenplay Best Screenplay
Best Story Best Animated Short Film
Best Documentary Feature Best Documentary Short
Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel Best Live Action Short Film, Two-Reel
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score Best Musical Score
Best Original Song Best Sound Recording
Best Art Direction, Black and White Best Art Direction, Color
Best Cinematography, Black and White Best Cinematography, Color
Best Costume Design, Black and White Best Costume Design, Color
Best Film Editing Best Special Effects

Academy Honorary Awards

Best Foreign Language Film

Presenters and performers

Presenters

Performers

Multiple nominations and awards

These films had multiple nominations:

  • 12 nominations: On the Waterfront
  • 7 nominations: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl
  • 6 nominations: The High and the Mighty, Sabrina, A Star is Born
  • 5 nominations: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  • 4 nominations: Executive Suite, Rear Window
  • 3 nominations: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Brigadoon, The Glenn Miller Story, There's No Business Like Show Business, Three Coins in the Fountain
  • 2 nominations: The Barefoot Contessa, Broken Lance, Carmen Jones, Desiree, Genevieve, Jet Carrier, The Silver Chalice, Susan Slept Here

The following films received multiple awards.

  • 8 wins: On the Waterfront
  • 2 wins: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Country Girl, Three Coins in the Fountain

See also

References

  1. Premiere. "100 Greatest Performances of All Time: 24-1". Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
  2. The Biographicon. "Judy Garland – Biography". Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  3. "The 27th Academy Awards (1955) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-20.

External links

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