1956

The 28th Academy Awards | 1956
RKO Pantages Theatre
Wednesday, March 21, 1956
Honoring movies released in 1955
Highlights
Memorable Moments
  • Jack Lemmon, Jo Van Fleet and Ernest Borgnine
    Supporting Actor winner for Mister Roberts, Supporting Actress winner for East of Eden, and Best Actor winner for Marty
  • Helen Keller in Her Story
    Helen Keller, posing with the Documentary Feature award
  • Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Claudette Colbert
    Oscar co-hosts in New York

Nominees

Actor

Winner

Ernest Borgnine

Marty

Nominees

James Cagney

Love Me or Leave Me

James Dean

East of Eden

Frank Sinatra

The Man with the Golden Arm

Spencer Tracy

Bad Day at Black Rock

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner

Jack Lemmon

Mister Roberts

Nominees

Arthur Kennedy

Trial

Joe Mantell

Marty

Sal Mineo

Rebel without a Cause

Arthur O'Connell

Picnic

Actress

Winner

Anna Magnani

The Rose Tattoo

Nominees

Susan Hayward

I'll Cry Tomorrow

Katharine Hepburn

Summertime

Jennifer Jones

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Eleanor Parker

Interrupted Melody

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner

Jo Van Fleet

East of Eden

Nominees

Betsy Blair

Marty

Peggy Lee

Pete Kelly's Blues

Marisa Pavan

The Rose Tattoo

Natalie Wood

Rebel without a Cause

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Rose Tattoo

Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams

Nominees

Blackboard Jungle

Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Henry Grace

I'll Cry Tomorrow

Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Hugh B. Hunt

The Man with the Golden Arm

Art Direction: Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera

Marty

Art Direction: Edward S. Haworth, Walter Simonds; Set Decoration: Robert Priestley

Art Direction (Color)

Winner

Picnic

Art Direction: William Flannery, Jo Mielziner; Set Decoration: Robert Priestley

Nominees

Daddy Long Legs

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

Guys and Dolls

Art Direction: Oliver Smith, Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Jack Stubbs

To Catch a Thief

Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Joseph McMillan Johnson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Rose Tattoo

James Wong Howe

Nominees

Blackboard Jungle

Russell Harlan

I'll Cry Tomorrow

Arthur E. Arling

Marty

Joseph LaShelle

Queen Bee

Charles Lang

Cinematography (Color)

Winner

To Catch a Thief

Robert Burks

Nominees

Guys and Dolls

Harry Stradling

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Leon Shamroy

A Man Called Peter

Harold Lipstein

Oklahoma!

Robert Surtees

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Winner

I'll Cry Tomorrow

Helen Rose

Nominees

The Pickwick Papers

Beatrice Dawson

Queen Bee

Jean Louis

The Rose Tattoo

Edith Head

Ugetsu

Tadaoto Kainoscho

Costume Design (Color)

Winner

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Charles LeMaire

Nominees

Guys and Dolls

Irene Sharaff

Interrupted Melody

Helen Rose

To Catch a Thief

Edith Head

The Virgin Queen

Charles LeMaire, Mary Wills

Directing

Winner

Marty

Delbert Mann

Nominees

Bad Day at Black Rock

John Sturges

East of Eden

Elia Kazan

Picnic

Joshua Logan

Summertime

David Lean

Documentary (Feature)

Winner

Helen Keller in Her Story

Nancy Hamilton, Producer

Nominees

Heartbreak Ridge

Rene Risacher, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Winner

Men against the Arctic

Walt Disney, Producer

Nominees

The Battle of Gettysburg

Dore Schary, Producer

The Face of Lincoln

Wilbur T. Blume, Producer

Film Editing

Winner

Picnic

Charles Nelson, William A. Lyon

Nominees

Blackboard Jungle

Ferris Webster

The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Alma Macrorie

Oklahoma!

Gene Ruggiero, George Boemler

The Rose Tattoo

Warren Low

Honorary Foreign Language Film Award

Winner

Samurai, The Legend of Musashi

Special Award

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Winner

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Alfred Newman

Nominees

Battle Cry

Max Steiner

The Man with the Golden Arm

Elmer Bernstein

Picnic

George Duning

The Rose Tattoo

Alex North

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Winner

Oklahoma!

Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton, Adolph Deutsch

Nominees

Daddy Long Legs

Alfred Newman

Guys and Dolls

Jay Blackton, Cyril J. Mockridge

It's Always Fair Weather

Andre Previn

Love Me or Leave Me

Percy Faith, George Stoll

Music (Song)

Winner

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

Nominees

Love Me or Leave Me

I'll Never Stop Loving You in "Love Me or Leave Me" Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Daddy Long Legs

Something's Gotta Give in "Daddy Long Legs" Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

The Tender Trap

(Love Is) The Tender Trap in "The Tender Trap" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Unchained

Unchained Melody in "Unchained" Music by Alex North; Lyrics by Hy Zaret

Best Motion Picture

Winner

Marty

Harold Hecht, Producer

Nominees

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Buddy Adler, Producer

Mister Roberts

Leland Hayward, Producer

Picnic

Fred Kohlmar, Producer

The Rose Tattoo

Hal B. Wallis, Producer

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Winner

Speedy Gonzales

Edward Selzer, Producer

Nominees

Good Will to Men

Fred Quimby, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Producers

The Legend of Rock-a-bye Point

Walter Lantz, Producer

No Hunting

Walt Disney, Producer

Short Subject (One-reel)

Winner

Survival City

Edmund Reek, Producer

Nominees

Gadgets Galore

Robert Youngson, Producer

3rd Ave. El

Carson Davidson, Producer

Three Kisses

Justin Herman, Producer

Short Subject (Two-reel)

Winner

The Face of Lincoln

Wilbur T. Blume, Producer

Nominees

The Battle of Gettysburg

Dore Schary, Producer

On the Twelfth Day...

George K. Arthur, Producer

Switzerland

Walt Disney, Producer

24-Hour Alert

Cedric Francis, Producer

Sound Recording

Winner

Oklahoma!

Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director

Nominees

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Carl W. Faulkner, Sound Director

Love Me or Leave Me

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Wesley C. Miller, Sound Director

Mister Roberts

Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, William A. Mueller, Sound Director

Not as a Stranger

Radio Corporation of America Sound Department, Watson Jones, Sound Director

Special Effects

Winner

The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Paramount Studio

Nominees

The Dam Busters

Associated British Picture Corporation, Ltd.

The Rains of Ranchipur

20th Century-Fox Studio

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Winner

Love Me or Leave Me

Daniel Fuchs

Nominees

The Private War of Major Benson

Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher

Rebel without a Cause

Nicholas Ray

The Sheep Has Five Legs

Jean Marsan, Henry Troyat, Jacques Perret, Henri Verneuil, Raoul Ploquin

Strategic Air Command

Beirne Lay, Jr.

Writing (Screenplay)

Winner

Marty

Paddy Chayefsky

Nominees

Bad Day at Black Rock

Millard Kaufman

Blackboard Jungle

Richard Brooks

East of Eden

Paul Osborn

Love Me or Leave Me

Daniel Fuchs, Isobel Lennart

Writing (Story and Screenplay)

Winner

Interrupted Melody

William Ludwig, Sonya Levien

Nominees

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

Milton Sperling, Emmet Lavery

It's Always Fair Weather

Betty Comden, Adolph Green

Mr. Hulot's Holiday

Jacques Tati, Henri Marquet

The Seven Little Foys

Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose
P
Pete Kelly's Blues
1 Nomination
Actress in a Supporting Role - Peggy Lee in "Pete Kelly's Blues"
The Pickwick Papers
1 Nomination
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Beatrice Dawson
Picnic
6 Nominations, 2 Wins
* Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: William Flannery, Jo Mielziner; Set Decoration: Robert Priestley
* Film Editing - Charles Nelson, William A. Lyon
Actor in a Supporting Role - Arthur O'Connell in "Picnic"
Best Motion Picture - Fred Kohlmar, Producer
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - George Duning
Directing - Joshua Logan
The Private War of Major Benson
1 Nomination
Writing (Motion Picture Story) - Joe Connelly, Bob Mosher