1953

The 25th Academy Awards | 1953
RKO Pantages Theatre
Thursday, March 19, 1953
Honoring movies released in 1952
Highlights
Memorable Moments
  • Harold Lloyd.
    Honorary Award recipient
  • Backstage at the Oscars
    Katherine DeMille Quinn (acceptor, Supporting Actor for Anthony Quinn), Cecil B. DeMille (winner, Best Picture, The Greatest Show on Earth and recipient, Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award), and Gloria Grahame (Supporting Actress winner, The Bad and the Beautiful)
  • Walt Disney and Music Winners
    Alfred Newman (winner for Scoring of a Musical Picture for With a Song in My Heart), Ned Washington (Original Song winner for High Noon), Walt Disney, and Dimitri Tiomkin (winner of Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Original Song for High Noon)

Winners & Nominees

Actor

Winner

Gary Cooper

High Noon

Nominees

Marlon Brando

Viva Zapata!

Kirk Douglas

The Bad and the Beautiful

José Ferrer

Moulin Rouge

Alec Guinness

The Lavender Hill Mob

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner

Anthony Quinn

Viva Zapata!

Nominees

Richard Burton

My Cousin Rachel

Arthur Hunnicutt

The Big Sky

Victor McLaglen

The Quiet Man

Jack Palance

Sudden Fear

Actress

Winner

Shirley Booth

Come Back, Little Sheba

Nominees

Joan Crawford

Sudden Fear

Bette Davis

The Star

Julie Harris

The Member of the Wedding

Susan Hayward

With a Song in My Heart

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner

Gloria Grahame

The Bad and the Beautiful

Nominees

Jean Hagen

Singin' in the Rain

Colette Marchand

Moulin Rouge

Terry Moore

Come Back, Little Sheba

Thelma Ritter

With a Song in My Heart

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Bad and the Beautiful

Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Keogh Gleason

Nominees

Carrie

Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri

My Cousin Rachel

Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott

Rashomon

Art Direction: Matsuyama; Set Decoration: H. Motsumoto

Viva Zapata!

Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Claude Carpenter

Art Direction (Color)

Winner

Moulin Rouge

Art Direction: Paul Sheriff; Set Decoration: Marcel Vertes

Nominees

Hans Christian Andersen

Art Direction: Richard Day, Clave; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol

The Merry Widow

Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Arthur Krams

The Quiet Man

Art Direction: Frank Hotaling; Set Decoration: John McCarthy, Jr., Charles Thompson

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Bad and the Beautiful

Robert Surtees

Nominees

The Big Sky

Russell Harlan

My Cousin Rachel

Joseph LaShelle

Navajo

Virgil E. Miller

Sudden Fear

Charles B. Lang, Jr.

Cinematography (Color)

Winner

The Quiet Man

Winton C. Hoch, Archie Stout

Nominees

Hans Christian Andersen

Harry Stradling

Ivanhoe

F. A. Young

Million Dollar Mermaid

George J. Folsey

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Leon Shamroy

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Bad and the Beautiful

Helen Rose

Nominees

Affair in Trinidad

Jean Louis

Carrie

Edith Head

My Cousin Rachel

Charles LeMaire, Dorothy Jeakins

Sudden Fear

Sheila O'Brien

Costume Design (Color)

Winner

Moulin Rouge

Marcel Vertes

Nominees

The Greatest Show on Earth

Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Miles White

Hans Christian Andersen

Clave, Mary Wills, Madame Karinska

The Merry Widow

Helen Rose, Gile Steele

With a Song in My Heart

Charles LeMaire

Directing

Winner

The Quiet Man

John Ford

Nominees

Five Fingers

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The Greatest Show on Earth

Cecil B. DeMille

High Noon

Fred Zinnemann

Moulin Rouge

John Huston

Documentary (Feature)

Winner

The Sea around Us

Irwin Allen, Producer

Nominees

The Hoaxters

Dore Schary, Producer

Navajo

Hall Bartlett, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Winner

Neighbours

Norman McLaren, Producer

Nominees

Devil Take Us

Herbert Morgan, Producer

The Garden Spider (Epeira Diadema)

Alberto Ancilotto, Producer

Man Alive!

Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer

Film Editing

Winner

High Noon

Elmo Williams, Harry Gerstad

Nominees

Come Back, Little Sheba

Warren Low

Flat Top

William Austin

The Greatest Show on Earth

Anne Bauchens

Moulin Rouge

Ralph Kemplen

Honorary Foreign Language Film Award

Winner

Forbidden Games

Special Award

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Winner

Cecil B. DeMille

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Winner

High Noon

Dimitri Tiomkin

Nominees

Ivanhoe

Miklos Rozsa

Miracle of Fatima

Max Steiner

The Thief

Herschel Burke Gilbert

Viva Zapata!

Alex North

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Winner

With a Song in My Heart

Alfred Newman

Nominees

Hans Christian Andersen

Walter Scharf

The Jazz Singer

Ray Heindorf, Max Steiner

The Medium

Gian-Carlo Menotti

Singin' in the Rain

Lennie Hayton

Music (Song)

Winner

High Noon

High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin') in "High Noon" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned Washington

Nominees

Son of Paleface

Am I In Love in "Son of Paleface" Music and Lyrics by Jack Brooks

Because You're Mine

Because You're Mine in "Because You're Mine" Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Hans Christian Andersen

Thumbelina in "Hans Christian Andersen" Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser

Just for You

Zing A Little Zong in "Just for You" Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Leo Robin

Best Motion Picture

Winner

The Greatest Show on Earth

Cecil B. DeMille, Producer

Nominees

High Noon

Stanley Kramer, Producer

Ivanhoe

Pandro S. Berman, Producer

Moulin Rouge

Romulus Films

The Quiet Man

John Ford and Merian C. Cooper, Producers

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Winner

Johann Mouse

Fred Quimby, Producer

Nominees

Little Johnny Jet

Fred Quimby, Producer

Madeline

Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer

Pink and Blue Blues

Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer

Romance of Transportation

Tom Daly, Producer

Short Subject (One-reel)

Winner

Light in the Window: The Art of Vermeer

Boris Vermont, Producer

Nominees

Athletes of the Saddle

Jack Eaton, Producer

Desert Killer

Gordon Hollingshead, Producer

Neighbours

Norman McLaren, Producer

Royal Scotland

Crown Film Unit

Short Subject (Two-reel)

Winner

Water Birds

Walt Disney, Producer

Nominees

Bridge of Time

London Film Production

Devil Take Us

Herbert Morgan, Producer

Thar She Blows!

Gordon Hollingshead, Producer

Sound Recording

Winner

Breaking the Sound Barrier

London Film Sound Department

Nominees

Hans Christian Andersen

Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director

The Promoter

Pinewood Studios Sound Department

The Quiet Man

Republic Studio Sound Department, Daniel J. Bloomberg, Sound Director

With a Song in My Heart

20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director

Special Effects

Winner

Plymouth Adventure

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Winner

The Greatest Show on Earth

Fredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank Cavett

Nominees

My Son John

Leo McCarey

The Narrow Margin

Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard

The Pride of St. Louis

Guy Trosper

The Sniper

Edna Anhalt, Edward Anhalt

Writing (Screenplay)

Winner

The Bad and the Beautiful

Charles Schnee

Nominees

Five Fingers

Michael Wilson

High Noon

Carl Foreman

The Man in the White Suit

Roger MacDougall, John Dighton, Alexander Mackendrick

The Quiet Man

Frank S. Nugent

Writing (Story and Screenplay)

Winner

The Lavender Hill Mob

T. E. B. Clarke

Nominees

The Atomic City

Sydney Boehm

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Terence Rattigan

Pat and Mike

Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin

Viva Zapata!

John Steinbeck
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A
Affair in Trinidad
1 Nomination
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Jean Louis
Athletes of the Saddle
1 Nomination
Short Subject (One-reel) - Jack Eaton, Producer
The Atomic City
1 Nomination
Writing (Story and Screenplay) - Sydney Boehm
B
The Bad and the Beautiful
6 Nominations, 5 Wins
* Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Keogh Gleason
* Writing (Screenplay) - Charles Schnee
* Actress in a Supporting Role - Gloria Grahame in "The Bad and the Beautiful"
* Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Helen Rose
* Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Robert Surtees
Actor - Kirk Douglas in "The Bad and the Beautiful"
Because You're Mine
1 Nomination
Music (Song) - Because You're Mine in "Because You're Mine" Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
The Big Sky
2 Nominations
Actor in a Supporting Role - Arthur Hunnicutt in "The Big Sky"
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Russell Harlan
Breaking the Sound Barrier
2 Nominations, 1 Win
* Sound Recording - London Film Sound Department
Writing (Story and Screenplay) - Terence Rattigan
Bridge of Time
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Two-reel) - London Film Production
C
Carrie
2 Nominations
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Edith Head
Come Back, Little Sheba
3 Nominations, 1 Win
* Actress - Shirley Booth in "Come Back, Little Sheba"
Actress in a Supporting Role - Terry Moore in "Come Back, Little Sheba"
Film Editing - Warren Low
D
Desert Killer
1 Nomination
Short Subject (One-reel) - Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Devil Take Us
2 Nominations
Short Subject (Two-reel) - Herbert Morgan, Producer
Documentary (Short Subject) - Herbert Morgan, Producer
F
Five Fingers
2 Nominations
Directing - Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writing (Screenplay) - Michael Wilson
Flat Top
1 Nomination
Film Editing - William Austin
Forbidden Games
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Honorary Foreign Language Film Award - Special Award
G
The Garden Spider (Epeira Diadema)
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - Alberto Ancilotto, Producer
The Greatest Show on Earth
5 Nominations, 2 Wins
Film Editing - Anne Bauchens
Directing - Cecil B. DeMille
Costume Design (Color) - Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Miles White
* Best Motion Picture - Cecil B. DeMille, Producer
* Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Fredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank Cavett
H
Hans Christian Andersen
6 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Richard Day, Clave; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol
Costume Design (Color) - Clave, Mary Wills, Madame Karinska
Cinematography (Color) - Harry Stradling
Sound Recording - Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director
Music (Song) - Thumbelina in "Hans Christian Andersen" Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Walter Scharf
High Noon
7 Nominations, 4 Wins
Writing (Screenplay) - Carl Foreman
Directing - Fred Zinnemann
Best Motion Picture - Stanley Kramer, Producer
* Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Dimitri Tiomkin
* Film Editing - Elmo Williams, Harry Gerstad
* Actor - Gary Cooper in "High Noon"
* Music (Song) - High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin') in "High Noon" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned Washington
The Hoaxters
1 Nomination
Documentary (Feature) - Dore Schary, Producer
I
Ivanhoe
3 Nominations
Cinematography (Color) - F. A. Young
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Miklos Rozsa
Best Motion Picture - Pandro S. Berman, Producer
J
The Jazz Singer
1 Nomination
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Ray Heindorf, Max Steiner
Johann Mouse
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Short Subject (Cartoon) - Fred Quimby, Producer
Just for You
1 Nomination
Music (Song) - Zing A Little Zong in "Just for You" Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Leo Robin
L
The Lavender Hill Mob
2 Nominations, 1 Win
Actor - Alec Guinness in "The Lavender Hill Mob"
* Writing (Story and Screenplay) - T. E. B. Clarke
Light in the Window: The Art of Vermeer
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Short Subject (One-reel) - Boris Vermont, Producer
Little Johnny Jet
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Fred Quimby, Producer
M
Madeline
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer
Man Alive!
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer
The Man in the White Suit
1 Nomination
Writing (Screenplay) - Roger MacDougall, John Dighton, Alexander Mackendrick
The Medium
1 Nomination
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Gian-Carlo Menotti
The Member of the Wedding
1 Nomination
Actress - Julie Harris in "The Member of the Wedding"
The Merry Widow
2 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Arthur Krams
Costume Design (Color) - Helen Rose, Gile Steele
Million Dollar Mermaid
1 Nomination
Cinematography (Color) - George J. Folsey
Miracle of Fatima
1 Nomination
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Max Steiner
Moulin Rouge
7 Nominations, 2 Wins
* Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Paul Sheriff; Set Decoration: Marcel Vertes
* Costume Design (Color) - Marcel Vertes
Actress in a Supporting Role - Colette Marchand in "Moulin Rouge"
Directing - John Huston
Actor - José Ferrer in "Moulin Rouge"
Film Editing - Ralph Kemplen
Best Motion Picture - Romulus Films
My Cousin Rachel
4 Nominations
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Charles LeMaire, Dorothy Jeakins
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Joseph LaShelle
Actor in a Supporting Role - Richard Burton in "My Cousin Rachel"
My Son John
1 Nomination
Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Leo McCarey
N
The Narrow Margin
1 Nomination
Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard
Navajo
2 Nominations
Documentary (Feature) - Hall Bartlett, Producer
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Virgil E. Miller
Neighbours
2 Nominations, 1 Win
Short Subject (One-reel) - Norman McLaren, Producer
* Documentary (Short Subject) - Norman McLaren, Producer
P
Pat and Mike
1 Nomination
Writing (Story and Screenplay) - Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin
Pink and Blue Blues
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Stephen Bosustow, Executive Producer
Plymouth Adventure
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Special Effects - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Pride of St. Louis
1 Nomination
Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Guy Trosper
The Promoter
1 Nomination
Sound Recording - Pinewood Studios Sound Department
Q
The Quiet Man
7 Nominations, 2 Wins
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Frank Hotaling; Set Decoration: John McCarthy, Jr., Charles Thompson
Writing (Screenplay) - Frank S. Nugent
Best Motion Picture - John Ford and Merian C. Cooper, Producers
Sound Recording - Republic Studio Sound Department, Daniel J. Bloomberg, Sound Director
Actor in a Supporting Role - Victor McLaglen in "The Quiet Man"
* Directing - John Ford
* Cinematography (Color) - Winton C. Hoch, Archie Stout
R
Rashomon
1 Nomination
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Matsuyama; Set Decoration: H. Motsumoto
Romance of Transportation
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Tom Daly, Producer
Royal Scotland
1 Nomination
Short Subject (One-reel) - Crown Film Unit
S
The Sea around Us
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Documentary (Feature) - Irwin Allen, Producer
Singin' in the Rain
2 Nominations
Actress in a Supporting Role - Jean Hagen in "Singin' in the Rain"
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Lennie Hayton
The Sniper
1 Nomination
Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Edna Anhalt, Edward Anhalt
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
2 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox
Cinematography (Color) - Leon Shamroy
Son of Paleface
1 Nomination
Music (Song) - Am I In Love in "Son of Paleface" Music and Lyrics by Jack Brooks
The Star
1 Nomination
Actress - Bette Davis in "The Star"
Sudden Fear
4 Nominations
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Charles B. Lang, Jr.
Actor in a Supporting Role - Jack Palance in "Sudden Fear"
Actress - Joan Crawford in "Sudden Fear"
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Sheila O'Brien
T
Thar She Blows!
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Two-reel) - Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
The Thief
1 Nomination
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Herschel Burke Gilbert
V
Viva Zapata!
5 Nominations, 1 Win
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Alex North
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Claude Carpenter
Writing (Story and Screenplay) - John Steinbeck
Actor - Marlon Brando in "Viva Zapata!"
* Actor in a Supporting Role - Anthony Quinn in "Viva Zapata!"
W
Water Birds
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Short Subject (Two-reel) - Walt Disney, Producer
With a Song in My Heart
5 Nominations, 1 Win
Sound Recording - 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
Costume Design (Color) - Charles LeMaire
Actress - Susan Hayward in "With a Song in My Heart"
Actress in a Supporting Role - Thelma Ritter in "With a Song in My Heart"
* Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Alfred Newman