Academy Awards

23rd Academy Awards

March 29, 1951RKO Pantages TheatreFilms from 195029 categories
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Best Picture Winner

All About Eve

All About Eve

Best Picture

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Studio: 20th Century Fox

An ambitious young actress manipulates her way into the life of an aging Broadway star.

From the Worthy Podcast

Age in Hollywood and Actresses having to change their identity. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/us/tv-movies-hollywood-women.html?referringSource=articleShare (great article, but they use Sunset Boulevard as the example of where we have come from)

Not that this is anything new, but aging women in Hollywood were and still are thrown aside on the trash heap once they pass a certain age, lets say 25. They are viewed as lesser than their worth because age does not equal beauty. That cut off between beauty and washed up starlet has only been pushed back and back and back over the years. Now we celebrate them and praise actresses when they are daring to show their age. It can be viewed as something fantastic and brave, human. It could also be the moments that woman have been waiting for. To prove that their beauty is lasting and that age is natural. In terms of Best Picture winners, we see a huge turn in the 1950 winner All About Eve….

“Back then, and until quite recently, anything past 40 was considered ancient in Hollywood years. “It’s always been this youth-obsessed industry,” said Yalda T. Uhls, founder and executive director of U.C.L.A.’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers.

Men could find roles whatever their age, but women might disappear from the screen during perimenopause, or emerge a few years later in supporting roles, usually as dowdy, eccentric or senile grandmothers, evil stepmothers or spinster aunts”. - NY Times article

“Great actresses are kind of enjoying being nonglamorous and not trying to look 20,” Dr. Douglas said. “They’re looking their age and they’re proud of that and they work with it.”

Inclusion of Marilyn Monroe in the film and how her career start was part of this film

All Categories (29)

Best Motion Picture

All about Eve— 20th Century-Fox
Winner
Born Yesterday— Columbia
Father of the Bride— Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
King Solomon's Mines— Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Sunset Blvd.— Paramount

Actor

José Ferrer— Cyrano de Bergerac {"Cyrano de Bergerac"}
Winner
James Stewart— Harvey {"Elwood P. Dowd"}
Louis Calhern— The Magnificent Yankee {"Oliver Wendell Holmes"}
Spencer Tracy— Father of the Bride {"Stanley T. Banks"}
William Holden— Sunset Blvd. {"Joe Gillis"}

Actor In A Supporting Role

George Sanders— All about Eve {"Addison De Witt"}
Winner
Edmund Gwenn— Mister 880 {"Skipper Miller"}
Erich von Stroheim— Sunset Blvd. {"Max Von Mayerling"}
Jeff Chandler— Broken Arrow {"Cochise"}
Sam Jaffe— The Asphalt Jungle {"Dr. Erwin Riedenschneider"}

Actress

Judy Holliday— Born Yesterday {"Billie Dawn"}
Winner
Anne Baxter— All about Eve {"Eve Harrington"}
Bette Davis— All about Eve {"Margo Channing"}
Eleanor Parker— Caged {"Marie Allen"}
Gloria Swanson— Sunset Blvd. {"Norma Desmond"}

Actress In A Supporting Role

Josephine Hull— Harvey {"Veta Louise Simmons"}
Winner
Celeste Holm— All about Eve {"Karen Richards"}
Hope Emerson— Caged {"Evelyn Harper"}
Nancy Olson— Sunset Blvd. {"Betty Schaefer"}
Thelma Ritter— All about Eve {"Birdie"}

Directing

All about Eve— Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
Born Yesterday— George Cukor
Sunset Blvd.— Billy Wilder
The Asphalt Jungle— John Huston
The Third Man— Carol Reed

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Panic in the Streets— Edna Anhalt, Edward Anhalt
Winner
Bitter Rice— Giuseppe De Santis, Carlo Lizzani
Mystery Street— Leonard Spigelgass
The Gunfighter— William Bowers, Andre de Toth
When Willie Comes Marching Home— Sy Gomberg

Writing (Screenplay)

All about Eve— Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
Born Yesterday— Albert Mannheimer
Broken Arrow— Albert Maltz
Based upon the research made by, and the board motion of, the Writers Guild of America West, the Academy, on July 3, 1991, decided to restore Albert Maltz to the screenplay credit on the 1950 film Broken Arrow. Michael Blankfort had fronted for him on the screenplay and consequently was named in the screenplay nomination. Mr. Blankfort's name was removed from the nomination.
Father of the Bride— Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
The Asphalt Jungle— Ben Maddow, John Huston

Cinematography (Black-And-White)

The Third Man— Robert Krasker
Winner
All about Eve— Milton Krasner
Sunset Blvd.— John F. Seitz
The Asphalt Jungle— Harold Rosson
The Furies— Victor Milner

Cinematography (Color)

King Solomon's Mines— Robert Surtees
Winner
Annie Get Your Gun— Charles Rosher
Broken Arrow— Ernest Palmer
Samson and Delilah— George Barnes
The Flame and the Arrow— Ernest Haller

Music (Music Score Of A Dramatic Or Comedy Picture)

Sunset Blvd.— Franz Waxman
Winner
All about Eve— Alfred Newman
No Sad Songs for Me— George Duning
Samson and Delilah— Victor Young
The Flame and the Arrow— Max Steiner

Music (Scoring Of A Musical Picture)

Annie Get Your Gun— Adolph Deutsch, Roger Edens
Winner
Cinderella— Oliver Wallace, Paul J. Smith
I'll Get By— Lionel Newman
The West Point Story— Ray Heindorf
Three Little Words— Andre Previn

Art Direction (Black-And-White)

Sunset Blvd.— Art Direction: Hans Dreier, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
Winner
All about Eve— Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Walter M. Scott
The Red Danube— Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt

Art Direction (Color)

Samson and Delilah— Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
Winner
Annie Get Your Gun— Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Richard A. Pefferle
Destination Moon— Art Direction: Ernst Fegte; Set Decoration: George Sawley

Special Effects

Destination Moon— George Pal Productions
Winner
Samson and Delilah— Cecil B. DeMille Productions

Film Editing

King Solomon's Mines— Ralph E. Winters, Conrad A. Nervig
Winner
All about Eve— Barbara McLean
Annie Get Your Gun— James E. Newcom
Sunset Blvd.— Arthur Schmidt, Doane Harrison
The Third Man— Oswald Hafenrichter

Sound Recording

All about Eve— 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
Winner
Cinderella— Walt Disney Studio Sound Department, C. O. Slyfield, Sound Director
Louisa— Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
Our Very Own— Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director
Trio— Pinewood Studio Sound Department, Cyril Crowhurst, Sound Director

Costume Design (Black-And-White)

All about Eve— Edith Head, Charles LeMaire
Winner
Born Yesterday— Jean Louis
The Magnificent Yankee— Walter Plunkett

Costume Design (Color)

Samson and Delilah— Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, Gwen Wakeling
Winner
That Forsyte Woman— Walter Plunkett, Valles
The Black Rose— Michael Whittaker

Documentary (Feature)

The Titan: Story of Michelangelo— Robert Snyder, Producer
Winner
With These Hands— Jack Arnold and Lee Goodman, Producers

Documentary (Short Subject)

Why Korea?— Edmund Reek, Producer
Winner
The Fight: Science against Cancer— Guy Glover, Producer
The Stairs— Film Documents, Inc.

Honorary Award

To George Murphy for his services in interpreting the film industry to the country at large.
Winner
Darryl F. Zanuck
IRVING G. THALBERG MEMORIAL AWARD
To Louis B. Mayer for distinguished service to the motion picture industry.

Scientific Or Technical Award (Class II)

To JAMES B. GORDON and the 20TH CENTURY-FOX STUDIO CAMERA DEPARTMENT for the design and development of a multiple image film viewer. [Laboratory]
Winner
To JOHN PAUL LIVADARY, FLOYD CAMPBELL, L. W. RUSSELL and the COLUMBIA STUDIO SOUND DEPARTMENT for the development of a multi-track magnetic re-recording system. [Sound]
To LOREN L. RYDER and the PARAMOUNT STUDIO SOUND DEPARTMENT for the first studio-wide application of magnetic sound recording to motion picture production. [Sound]

Honorary Foreign Language Film Award

To The Walls of Malapaga - voted by the Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States in 1950.
Winner

Music (Song)

"Mona Lisa" from Captain Carey, U.S.A.— Music and Lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston
Winner
"Be My Love" from The Toast of New Orleans— Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella— Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston
"Mule Train" from Singing Guns— Music and Lyrics by Fred Glickman, Hy Heath and Johnny Lange
"Wilhelmina" from Wabash Avenue— Music by Josef Myrow; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Gerald McBoing-Boing— Stephen Bosustow, Producer
Winner
Jerry's Cousin— Fred Quimby, Producer
Trouble Indemnity— Stephen Bosustow, Producer

Short Subject (One-Reel)

Grandad of Races— Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Winner
Blaze Busters— Robert Youngson, Producer
Wrong Way Butch— Pete Smith, Producer

Short Subject (Two-Reel)

In Beaver Valley— Walt Disney, Producer
Winner
Grandma Moses— Falcon Films, Inc.
My Country 'Tis of Thee— Gordon Hollingshead, Producer

Writing (Story And Screenplay)

Sunset Blvd.— Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr.
Winner
Adam's Rib— Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin
Caged— Virginia Kellogg, Bernard C. Schoenfeld
No Way Out— Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Lesser Samuels
The Men— Carl Foreman
WorthyWorthy

The breakdown of every Best Picture winner from past to present.

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