Best Picture: From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity also won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra), Best Supporting Actress (Donna Reed), Black-and-White Cinematography (Burnett Guffey), Directing (Fred Zinnemann), Film Editing (William Lyon), Sound Recording (Columbia Studio Sound Department), and Writing – Screenplay (Daniel Taradash).
From Here to Eternity was the first film to tie the long-standing record of eight Academy Awards set by Gone with the Wind.
An estimated 43 million television viewers watched the awards show.
Donald O'Connor was the master of ceremonies in Hollywood.
Fredric March was the host of the companion show in New York at the NBC Center Theatre.
Walt Disney won awards for The Alaskan Eskimo (Documentary Short Subject), The Living Desert (Documentary Feature), Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Cartoon Short Subject), and Bear Country (Two-reel Short Subject). No individual had ever personally collected so many Oscars on one night.
On January 20, 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeded Harry Truman as President of the United States.
On January 22, 1953, Arthur Miller's play The Crucible opened on Broadway.
On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died.
In April 1953, Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published in the U.K.
On June 2, 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place at Westminster Abbey.
On June 19, 1953, American Communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage.
In December 1953, Hugh Hefner published the first issue of Playboy magazine, which featured Marilyn Monroe on the cover.
Honorary Award
To Pete Smith for his witty and pungent observations on the American scene in his series of Pete Smith Specialties.
Honorary Award
To Joseph I. Breen for his conscientious, open-minded and dignified management of the Motion Picture Production Code.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
To George Stevens