1961

The 33rd Academy Awards | 1961
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Monday, April 17, 1961
Honoring movies released in 1960
Highlights
Memorable Moments
  • Gene Warren and Tim Baar, The Time Machine
    Special Effects winner, with presenters Polly Bergen and Richard Widmark
  • Elizabeth Taylor, Best Actress winner for Butterfield 8
    Dinner at the Governors Ball with Eddie Fisher
  • Shirley Jones and Peter Ustinov
    Supporting Actress winner, Elmer Gantry / Supporting Actor winner, Spartacus

Winners & Nominees

Actor

Winner

Burt Lancaster

Elmer Gantry

Nominees

Trevor Howard

Sons and Lovers

Jack Lemmon

The Apartment

Laurence Olivier

The Entertainer

Spencer Tracy

Inherit the Wind

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner

Peter Ustinov

Spartacus

Nominees

Peter Falk

Murder, Inc.

Jack Kruschen

The Apartment

Sal Mineo

Exodus

Chill Wills

The Alamo

Actress

Winner

Elizabeth Taylor

Butterfield 8

Nominees

Greer Garson

Sunrise at Campobello

Deborah Kerr

The Sundowners

Shirley MacLaine

The Apartment

Melina Mercouri

Never on Sunday

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner

Shirley Jones

Elmer Gantry

Nominees

Glynis Johns

The Sundowners

Shirley Knight

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

Janet Leigh

Psycho

Mary Ure

Sons and Lovers

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Apartment

Art Direction: Alexander Trauner; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle

Nominees

The Facts of Life

Art Direction: Joseph McMillan Johnson, Kenneth A. Reid; Set Decoration: Ross Dowd

Psycho

Art Direction: Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: George Milo

Sons and Lovers

Art Direction: Tom Morahan; Set Decoration: Lionel Couch

Visit to a Small Planet

Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams

Art Direction (Color)

Winner

Spartacus

Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron

Nominees

Cimarron

Art Direction: George W. Davis, Addison Hehr; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt, Otto Siegel

It Started in Naples

Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arrigo Breschi

Pepe

Art Direction: Ted Haworth; Set Decoration: William Kiernan

Sunrise at Campobello

Art Direction: Edward Carrere; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Winner

Sons and Lovers

Freddie Francis

Nominees

The Apartment

Joseph LaShelle

The Facts of Life

Charles B. Lang, Jr.

Inherit the Wind

Ernest Laszlo

Psycho

John L. Russell

Cinematography (Color)

Winner

Spartacus

Russell Metty

Nominees

The Alamo

William H. Clothier

Butterfield 8

Joseph Ruttenberg, Charles Harten

Exodus

Sam Leavitt

Pepe

Joe MacDonald

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Winner

The Facts of Life

Edith Head, Edward Stevenson

Nominees

Never on Sunday

Deni Vachlioti

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

Howard Shoup

Seven Thieves

Bill Thomas

The Virgin Spring

Marik Vos

Costume Design (Color)

Winner

Spartacus

Valles, Bill Thomas

Nominees

Can-Can

Irene Sharaff

Midnight Lace

Irene

Pepe

Edith Head

Sunrise at Campobello

Marjorie Best

Directing

Winner

The Apartment

Billy Wilder

Nominees

Never on Sunday

Jules Dassin

Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock

Sons and Lovers

Jack Cardiff

The Sundowners

Fred Zinnemann

Documentary (Feature)

Winner

The Horse with the Flying Tail

Larry Lansburgh, Producer

Nominees

Rebel in Paradise

Robert D. Fraser, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Winner

Giuseppina

James Hill, Producer

Nominees

Beyond Silence

United States Information Agency

A City Called Copenhagen

Statens Filmcentral, The Danish Government Film Office

George Grosz' Interregnum

Charles Carey and Altina Carey, Producers

Universe

Colin Low, Producer

Film Editing

Winner

The Apartment

Daniel Mandell

Nominees

The Alamo

Stuart Gilmore

Inherit the Wind

Frederic Knudtson

Pepe

Viola Lawrence, Al Clark

Spartacus

Robert Lawrence

Foreign Language Film

Winner

The Virgin Spring

Sweden

Nominees

Kapo

Italy

La Vérité

France

Macario

Mexico

The Ninth Circle

Yugoslavia

Honorary Award

Winner

Pollyanna

Special Award

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Winner

Sol Lesser

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Winner

Exodus

Ernest Gold

Nominees

The Alamo

Dimitri Tiomkin

Elmer Gantry

Andre Previn

The Magnificent Seven

Elmer Bernstein

Spartacus

Alex North

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Winner

Song without End (The Story of Franz Liszt)

Morris Stoloff, Harry Sukman

Nominees

Bells Are Ringing

Andre Previn

Can-Can

Nelson Riddle

Let's Make Love

Lionel Newman, Earle H. Hagen

Pepe

Johnny Green

Music (Song)

Winner

Never on Sunday

Never On Sunday in "Never on Sunday" Music and Lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis

Nominees

The Facts of Life

The Facts Of Life in "The Facts of Life" Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Pepe

Faraway Part Of Town in "Pepe" Music by Andre Previn; Lyrics by Dory Langdon

The Alamo

The Green Leaves Of Summer in "The Alamo" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

High Time

The Second Time Around in "High Time" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Best Motion Picture

Winner

The Apartment

Billy Wilder, Producer

Nominees

The Alamo

John Wayne, Producer

Elmer Gantry

Bernard Smith, Producer

Sons and Lovers

Jerry Wald, Producer

The Sundowners

Fred Zinnemann, Producer

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Winner

Munro

William L. Snyder, Producer

Nominees

Goliath II

Walt Disney, Producer

High Note

Warner Bros.

Mouse and Garden

Warner Bros.

A Place in the Sun

Frantisek Vystrecil, Producer

Short Subject (Live Action)

Winner

Day of the Painter

Ezra R. Baker, Producer

Nominees

The Creation of Woman

Charles F. Schwep and Ismail Merchant, Producers

Islands of the Sea

Walt Disney, Producer

A Sport Is Born

Leslie Winik, Producer

Sound

Winner

The Alamo

Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director; and Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director

Nominees

The Apartment

Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director

Cimarron

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Franklin E. Milton, Sound Director

Pepe

Columbia Studio Sound Department, Charles Rice, Sound Director

Sunrise at Campobello

Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, George R. Groves, Sound Director

Special Effects

Winner

The Time Machine

Visual Effects by Gene Warren, Tim Baar

Nominees

The Last Voyage

Visual Effects by A.J. Lohman

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

Winner

Elmer Gantry

Richard Brooks

Nominees

Inherit the Wind

Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith

Sons and Lovers

Gavin Lambert, T. E. B. Clarke

The Sundowners

Isobel Lennart

Tunes of Glory

James Kennaway

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

Winner

The Apartment

Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond

Nominees

The Angry Silence

Story by Richard Gregson, Michael Craig; Screenplay by Bryan Forbes

The Facts of Life

Norman Panama, Melvin Frank

Hiroshima, Mon Amour

Marguerite Duras

Never on Sunday

Jules Dassin
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A
The Alamo
7 Nominations, 1 Win
Actor in a Supporting Role - Chill Wills in "The Alamo"
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Dimitri Tiomkin
Best Motion Picture - John Wayne, Producer
Film Editing - Stuart Gilmore
Music (Song) - The Green Leaves Of Summer in "The Alamo" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Cinematography (Color) - William H. Clothier
* Sound - Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director; and Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
The Angry Silence
1 Nomination
Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Story by Richard Gregson, Michael Craig; Screenplay by Bryan Forbes
The Apartment
10 Nominations, 5 Wins
* Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Alexander Trauner; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
* Directing - Billy Wilder
* Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
* Best Motion Picture - Billy Wilder, Producer
* Film Editing - Daniel Mandell
Actor in a Supporting Role - Jack Kruschen in "The Apartment"
Actor - Jack Lemmon in "The Apartment"
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Joseph LaShelle
Sound - Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
Actress - Shirley MacLaine in "The Apartment"
B
Bells Are Ringing
1 Nomination
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Andre Previn
Beyond Silence
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - United States Information Agency
Butterfield 8
2 Nominations, 1 Win
* Actress - Elizabeth Taylor in "Butterfield 8"
Cinematography (Color) - Joseph Ruttenberg, Charles Harten
C
Can-Can
2 Nominations
Costume Design (Color) - Irene Sharaff
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Nelson Riddle
Cimarron
2 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: George W. Davis, Addison Hehr; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt, Otto Siegel
Sound - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Franklin E. Milton, Sound Director
A City Called Copenhagen
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - Statens Filmcentral, The Danish Government Film Office
The Creation of Woman
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Live Action) - Charles F. Schwep and Ismail Merchant, Producers
D
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
1 Nomination
Actress in a Supporting Role - Shirley Knight in "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"
Day of the Painter
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Short Subject (Live Action) - Ezra R. Baker, Producer
E
Elmer Gantry
5 Nominations, 3 Wins
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Andre Previn
Best Motion Picture - Bernard Smith, Producer
* Actor - Burt Lancaster in "Elmer Gantry"
* Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Richard Brooks
* Actress in a Supporting Role - Shirley Jones in "Elmer Gantry"
The Entertainer
1 Nomination
Actor - Laurence Olivier in "The Entertainer"
Exodus
3 Nominations, 1 Win
* Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Ernest Gold
Actor in a Supporting Role - Sal Mineo in "Exodus"
Cinematography (Color) - Sam Leavitt
F
The Facts of Life
5 Nominations, 1 Win
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Joseph McMillan Johnson, Kenneth A. Reid; Set Decoration: Ross Dowd
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Charles B. Lang, Jr.
Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Norman Panama, Melvin Frank
Music (Song) - The Facts Of Life in "The Facts of Life" Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
* Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Edith Head, Edward Stevenson
G
George Grosz' Interregnum
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - Charles Carey and Altina Carey, Producers
Giuseppina
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Documentary (Short Subject) - James Hill, Producer
Goliath II
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Walt Disney, Producer
H
High Note
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Warner Bros.
High Time
1 Nomination
Music (Song) - The Second Time Around in "High Time" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
1 Nomination
Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Marguerite Duras
The Horse with the Flying Tail
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Documentary (Feature) - Larry Lansburgh, Producer
I
Inherit the Wind
4 Nominations
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Ernest Laszlo
Film Editing - Frederic Knudtson
Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
Actor - Spencer Tracy in "Inherit the Wind"
Islands of the Sea
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Live Action) - Walt Disney, Producer
It Started in Naples
1 Nomination
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arrigo Breschi
K
Kapo
1 Nomination
Foreign Language Film - Italy
L
La Vérité
1 Nomination
Foreign Language Film - France
The Last Voyage
1 Nomination
Special Effects - Visual Effects by A.J. Lohman
Let's Make Love
1 Nomination
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Lionel Newman, Earle H. Hagen
M
Macario
1 Nomination
Foreign Language Film - Mexico
The Magnificent Seven
1 Nomination
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Elmer Bernstein
Midnight Lace
1 Nomination
Costume Design (Color) - Irene
Mouse and Garden
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Warner Bros.
Munro
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Short Subject (Cartoon) - William L. Snyder, Producer
Murder, Inc.
1 Nomination
Actor in a Supporting Role - Peter Falk in "Murder, Inc."
N
Never on Sunday
5 Nominations, 1 Win
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Deni Vachlioti
Directing - Jules Dassin
Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Jules Dassin
Actress - Melina Mercouri in "Never on Sunday"
* Music (Song) - Never On Sunday in "Never on Sunday" Music and Lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis
The Ninth Circle
1 Nomination
Foreign Language Film - Yugoslavia
P
Pepe
7 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Ted Haworth; Set Decoration: William Kiernan
Sound - Columbia Studio Sound Department, Charles Rice, Sound Director
Costume Design (Color) - Edith Head
Music (Song) - Faraway Part Of Town in "Pepe" Music by Andre Previn; Lyrics by Dory Langdon
Cinematography (Color) - Joe MacDonald
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Johnny Green
Film Editing - Viola Lawrence, Al Clark
A Place in the Sun
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Cartoon) - Frantisek Vystrecil, Producer
Pollyanna
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Honorary Award - Special Award
Psycho
4 Nominations
Directing - Alfred Hitchcock
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: George Milo
Actress in a Supporting Role - Janet Leigh in "Psycho"
Cinematography (Black-and-White) - John L. Russell
R
Rebel in Paradise
1 Nomination
Documentary (Feature) - Robert D. Fraser, Producer
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
1 Nomination
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Howard Shoup
S
Seven Thieves
1 Nomination
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Bill Thomas
Song without End (The Story of Franz Liszt)
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Morris Stoloff, Harry Sukman
Sons and Lovers
7 Nominations, 1 Win
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Tom Morahan; Set Decoration: Lionel Couch
Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Gavin Lambert, T. E. B. Clarke
Directing - Jack Cardiff
Best Motion Picture - Jerry Wald, Producer
Actress in a Supporting Role - Mary Ure in "Sons and Lovers"
Actor - Trevor Howard in "Sons and Lovers"
* Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Freddie Francis
Spartacus
6 Nominations, 4 Wins
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Alex North
Film Editing - Robert Lawrence
* Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron
* Actor in a Supporting Role - Peter Ustinov in "Spartacus"
* Cinematography (Color) - Russell Metty
* Costume Design (Color) - Valles, Bill Thomas
A Sport Is Born
1 Nomination
Short Subject (Live Action) - Leslie Winik, Producer
The Sundowners
5 Nominations
Actress - Deborah Kerr in "The Sundowners"
Directing - Fred Zinnemann
Best Motion Picture - Fred Zinnemann, Producer
Actress in a Supporting Role - Glynis Johns in "The Sundowners"
Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Isobel Lennart
Sunrise at Campobello
4 Nominations
Art Direction (Color) - Art Direction: Edward Carrere; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
Actress - Greer Garson in "Sunrise at Campobello"
Costume Design (Color) - Marjorie Best
Sound - Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, George R. Groves, Sound Director
T
The Time Machine
1 Win, 1 Nomination
* Special Effects - Visual Effects by Gene Warren, Tim Baar
Tunes of Glory
1 Nomination
Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - James Kennaway
U
Universe
1 Nomination
Documentary (Short Subject) - Colin Low, Producer
V
The Virgin Spring
2 Nominations, 1 Win
Costume Design (Black-and-White) - Marik Vos
* Foreign Language Film - Sweden
Visit to a Small Planet
1 Nomination
Art Direction (Black-and-White) - Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams