The year 1953 surely left even the most devoted Oscar fans scratching their heads. One of the biggest upsets ever for Best Picture, some shocking snubs and all major awards going to different films led to some baffling anomalies at the 25th Academy Awards ceremony on March 19, 1953. This was also the year that the film industry finally capitulated to its rival source of entertainment, television, and for the first time broadcast the lavish ceremony live for viewers at home – so perhaps they wanted to dazzle and stun. Let’s flashback to the Oscars from 70 years ago.
With the cameras switching back and forth between Bob Hope hosting in Los Angeles and Conrad Nagel hosting in New York, the event attracted the largest single television audience to date in that medium’s young history. Five films were nominated for Best Picture, including the expected winner “High Noon,” plus “The Quiet Man,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Ivanhoe.” Now, 70 years later, it’s shocking to realize that “Singin’ in the Rain,” considered by many to be the greatest musical every made, was not only shut out in this category, but only received two nominations period. And the Oscar for Best Picture went to. . . “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
Now labelled by many to be among the WORST Best Picture winners ever, it’s generally assumed that the Academy members were honoring the legendary director/producer whose career went back so far that many of his films preceded the awards. Cecil B. DeMille, the great filmmaker of many a star-studded epic and one of the industry’s foremost pioneers, won his sole competitive Oscar for producing a star-studded circus epic; the next year he would spearhead one of his greatest films, the iconic “The Ten Commandments,” for which he would receive a Best Picture bid, but not one for Best Director. However, despite the now-dismissal for “Greatest Show,” I find it a fun film filled with some of the best stars of the day giving fine performances that required some of them to learn trapeze, as well as a spectacular train wreck sequence that Steven Spielberg cites as a major influence (watch it now in “The Fabelmans”). Was it the best picture of the year? No. But the ones that were didn’t need the award to seal their place in film history, whereas this fun romp into the drama behind the Big Top might have gotten lost to time otherwise.
This major upset was among several oddities throughout the ceremony. “Greatest Show” only had five nominations to begin with, and only won two (also claiming the now-obsolete Best Story). It would be another 63 years until the Best Picture champ would walk away with only two statues — “Spotlight” in 2016. “The Bad and the Beautiful” was NOT nominated for Best Picture, but claimed the most wins of the night with five, the most wins ever for a film not nominated in the top category; it was also the second and last time a film not nominated for Best Picture won the most awards of the evening (except for years in which there were ties). Director Vincente Minnelli didn’t even earn a bid, but his sleek melodrama about the film industry claimed Best Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design for a black and white film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
Although the western “High Noon” came into the night tied with the most nominations at seven (with “Moulin Rouge” and “The Quiet Man”) and was expected to take the top prize, it failed to win Picture or Director. Controversial at the time for its emphasis on moral and emotional themes as opposed to a strong hero fighting “the bad guys” in an action-packed shootout, “High Noon” became one of the most influential films of all time, making its losses in the top categories a bit cringe-worthy to modern audiences. Although Fred Zinnemann lost his bid for Best Director for this classic western, he’d go on to win the next year with “From Here to Eternity.” But this year the honor went to John Ford, who’d win his record-making fourth Best Director statue, for the romantic comedy/drama “The Quiet Man.” Ironically, the man known for making westerns beat out the director of a western with a movie that wasn’t a western. Ford’s record four wins in this category holds to this day — and, strangely, none of the wins were for a western. DeMille also earned a bid for “The Greatest Show on Earth” — his sole nomination in this category, despite a few of his productions having earned Best Picture nominations. Also recognized were Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“Five Fingers”) and John Huston (“Moulin Rouge”).
“High Noon” claimed its biggest win for Best Actor, with Gary Cooper earning his second career statue for his role as Will Kane, a retiring marshal on his wedding day facing a gunman out for revenge. It would seem he was the shoo-in for this category, but he was up against some of the greatest actors of the day: Marlon Brando (“Viva Zapata!”) with his second of four consecutive nominations (out of eight total), future winner Alec Guinness (“The Lavender Hill Mob”) with his first of four acting nominations and Kirk Douglas (“The Bad and the Beautiful,” that film’s sole loss) and previous winner Jose Ferrer (“Moulin Rouge”), both with their second of three nominations. John Wayne failed to receive a bid, despite “The Quiet Man” generally being recognized as one of his best performances.
The Best Actress category was also full of oft-nominated performers. Biopic queen Susan Hayward (“With a Song in My Heart”) earned her third of five nominations (she’d win on the last, in 1959). Notorious rivals and previous recipients Joan Crawford and Bette Davis competed, with Crawford (“Sudden Fear”) earning her third and last, and Davis (“The Star”) earning her 10th of 11 — a decade later, she would notoriously be nominated for “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” while Crawford would be shut out. Two actresses received their sole nominations, Julie Harris (“The Member of the Wedding”) and Shirley Booth (“Come Back, Little Sheba”). Booth claimed the victory, winning for the role for which she had won a Tony three years prior. The three-time Tony winner would only make a few more films; however she would gain TV fame and two Emmys for her role as “Hazel” a decade later.
Best Supporting Actress winner Gloria Grahame (“The Bad and The Beautiful”) was another record-setter, for the shortest performance (less than 10 minutes) to win an acting Oscar, which she’d hold until Beatrice Straight‘s win in 1977 for five minutes in “Network.” Grahame’s turn as the strong-willed Southern belle beat out Jean Hagen‘s iconic performance of the temperamental, squeaky-voiced movie diva soon displaced by “talkies” in “Singin’ in the Rain.” It is interesting to note that Grahame appeared in three movies that received multiple nominations; in addition to “Bad,” she also had strong supporting roles in “The Greatest Show on Earth” and “Sudden Fear” (four nominations). Also competing were Colette Marchand (“Moulin Rouge”), Terry Moore (“Come Back, Little Sheba”) and (sadly) one of Oscar’s biggest losers, Thelma Ritter (“With a Song in My Heart”), who was up for her third of six failed nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
A Best Supporting Actor contender would also unfortunately become an oft-nominated performer without a win, with Richard Burton (“My Cousin Rachel”) receiving his first nod; he would eventually receive six failed bids in the lead category. It was Anthony Quinn (“Viva Zapata!”) who’d claim his first of two victories in this category. Also nominated were Arthur Hunnicutt (“The Big Sky”), previous Best Actor winner Victor McLaglen (“The Quiet Man”) and Jack Palance (“Sudden Fear”), with his first of three career nominations in this category. He would go on to (memorably) win 39 years later, for “City Slickers.”
Besides the Best Supporting Actress bid, the only other nomination for “Singin’ in the Rain” was for Best Score (Musical), which it lost to “With a Song in My Heart,” with Oscar favorite Alfred Newman winning his sixth of nine Oscars out of 45 nominations. “High Noon” became the third film to capture both Best Score (Drama/Comedy) and Best Song (“The Ballad of High Noon”) — the songs from “Singin’ in the Rain” were previously recorded tunes, so they didn’t qualify.
In the end, the five Best Picture winners came into the night with a total of 24 nominations, and collectively won only 10: “High Noon” with four (out of seven), “Moulin Rouge” and “The Quiet Man” with two each (out of seven), “The Greatest Show on Earth” with two (out of five) and “Ivanhoe” with zero (out of three). Technically, the big winner would be “The Bad and the Beautiful,” claiming five of six.
Hope and Harold Lloyd were among those receiving Honorary Oscars; DeMille was also bestowed the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
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