Academy Awards

31st Academy Awards

April 6, 1959RKO Pantages TheatreFilms from 195826 categories
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Best Picture Winner

Gigi

Gigi

Best Picture

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

A young Parisian girl is groomed as a courtesan but longs for true love rather than a life of luxury.

From the Worthy Podcast

Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita

David Cronenberg’s Crash

Ingmar Bergman’s Persona

vs

A Serbian Film

8mm

All Categories (26)

Best Motion Picture

GigiArthur Freed, Producer
Winner
Auntie MameWarner Bros.
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofLawrence Weingarten, Producer
Separate TablesHarold Hecht, Producer
The Defiant OnesStanley Kramer, Producer

Actor

David NivenSeparate Tables {"Major Pollock"}
Winner
Paul NewmanCat on a Hot Tin Roof {"Brick Pollitt"}
Sidney PoitierThe Defiant Ones {"Noah Cullen"}
Spencer TracyThe Old Man and the Sea {"The Old Man"}
Tony CurtisThe Defiant Ones {"John 'Joker' Jackson"}

Actor In A Supporting Role

Burl IvesThe Big Country {"Rufus Hannassey"}
Winner
Arthur KennedySome Came Running {"Frank Hirsh"}
Gig YoungTeacher's Pet {"Dr. Hugo Pine"}
Lee J. CobbThe Brothers Karamazov {"Fyodor Karamazov"}
Theodore BikelThe Defiant Ones {"Sheriff Max Muller"}

Actress

Susan HaywardI Want to Live! {"Barbara Graham"}
Winner
Deborah KerrSeparate Tables {"Sibyl Railton-Bell"}
Elizabeth TaylorCat on a Hot Tin Roof {"Maggie Pollitt"}
Rosalind RussellAuntie Mame {"Auntie Mame Dennis"}
Shirley MacLaineSome Came Running {"Ginny Moorhead"}

Actress In A Supporting Role

Wendy HillerSeparate Tables {"Pat Cooper"}
Winner
Cara WilliamsThe Defiant Ones {"The Woman"}
Martha HyerSome Came Running {"Gwen French"}
Maureen StapletonLonelyhearts {"Fay Doyle"}
Peggy CassAuntie Mame {"Agnes Gooch"}

Directing

GigiVincente Minnelli
Winner
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofRichard Brooks
I Want to Live!Robert Wise
The Defiant OnesStanley Kramer

Writing (Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium)

GigiAlan Jay Lerner
Winner
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofRichard Brooks, James Poe
I Want to Live!Nelson Gidding, Don Mankiewicz
Separate TablesTerence Rattigan, John Gay
The Horse's MouthAlec Guinness

Writing (Story And Screenplay--Written Directly For The Screen)

The Defiant OnesNedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
Winner
Upon request of his widow and upon recommendation of the Writers Branch Executive Committee, the Board of Governors voted on June 22, 1993, to restore the name of Nedrick Young to the nominations and award presented to Nathan E. Douglas (Mr. Young's pseudonym during the blacklisting period).
HouseboatMelville Shavelson, Jack Rose
Teacher's PetFay Kanin, Michael Kanin
The GoddessPaddy Chayefsky
The SheepmanStory by James Edward Grant; Screenplay by William Bowers, James Edward Grant

Cinematography (Black-And-White)

The Defiant OnesSam Leavitt
Winner
Desire under the ElmsDaniel L. Fapp
I Want to Live!Lionel Lindon
Separate TablesCharles Lang, Jr.
The Young LionsJoe MacDonald

Cinematography (Color)

GigiJoseph Ruttenberg
Winner
Auntie MameHarry Stradling, Sr.
Cat on a Hot Tin RoofWilliam Daniels
South PacificLeon Shamroy
The Old Man and the SeaJames Wong Howe

Music (Music Score Of A Dramatic Or Comedy Picture)

The Old Man and the SeaDimitri Tiomkin
Winner
Separate TablesDavid Raksin
The Big CountryJerome Moross
The Young LionsHugo Friedhofer
White WildernessOliver Wallace

Music (Scoring Of A Musical Picture)

GigiAndre Previn
Winner
Damn YankeesRay Heindorf
Mardi GrasLionel Newman
South PacificAlfred Newman, Ken Darby
The Bolshoi BalletYuri Faier, G. Rozhdestvensky

Art Direction

GigiArt Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason
Winner
A Certain SmileArt Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
Auntie MameArt Direction: Malcolm Bert; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
Bell, Book and CandleArt Direction: Cary Odell; Set Decoration: Louis Diage
VertigoArt Direction: Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Frank McKelvy

Special Effects

tom thumbVisual Effects by Tom Howard
Winner
Torpedo RunVisual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie; Audible Effects by Harold Humbrock

Film Editing

GigiAdrienne Fazan
Winner
Auntie MameWilliam Ziegler
CowboyWilliam A. Lyon, Al Clark
I Want to Live!William Hornbeck
The Defiant OnesFrederic Knudtson

Sound

South PacificTodd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
Winner
A Time to Love and a Time to DieUniversal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
I Want to Live!Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
The Young Lions20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Carl Faulkner, Sound Director
VertigoParamount Studio Sound Department, George Dutton, Sound Director

Costume Design

GigiCecil Beaton
Winner
A Certain SmileCharles LeMaire, Mary Wills
Bell, Book and CandleJean Louis
Some Came RunningWalter Plunkett
The BuccaneerRalph Jester, Edith Head, John Jensen

Documentary (Feature)

White WildernessBen Sharpsteen, Producer
Winner
Antarctic CrossingJames Carr, Producer
Psychiatric NursingNathan Zucker, Producer
The Hidden WorldRobert Snyder, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Ama GirlsBen Sharpsteen, Producer
Winner
Employees OnlyKenneth G. Brown, Producer
Journey into SpringIan Ferguson, Producer
OvertureThorold Dickinson, Producer
The Living StoneTom Daly, Producer

Foreign Language Film

My UncleFrance
Winner
Arms and the ManWest Germany
La VenganzaSpain
The Road a Year LongYugoslavia
The Usual Unidentified ThievesItaly

Honorary Award

To Maurice Chevalier for his contributions to the world of entertainment for more than half a century.
Winner
IRVING G. THALBERG MEMORIAL AWARD
Jack L. Warner

Scientific Or Technical Award (Class II)

To DON W. PRIDEAUX, LEROY G. LEIGHTON and the LAMP DIVISION OF GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. for the development and production of an improved 10 kilowatt lamp for motion picture set lighting. [Lighting]
Winner
To PANAVISION, INC., for the design and development of the Auto Panatar anamorphic photographic lens for 35mm CinemaScope photography. [Lenses and Filters]

Scientific Or Technical Award (Class III)

To WILLY BORBERG of the General Precision Laboratory, Inc., for the development of a high speed intermittent movement for 35mm motion picture theatre projection equipment. [Projection]
Winner
To FRED PONEDEL, GEORGE BROWN and CONRAD BOYE of the Warner Bros. Special Effects Department for the design and fabrication of a new rapid fire marble gun. [Stage Operations]

Music (Song)

"Gigi" from GigiMusic by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Winner
"A Certain Smile" from A Certain SmileMusic by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
"A Very Precious Love" from Marjorie MorningstarMusic by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
"Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From 'Houseboat')" from HouseboatMusic and Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
"To Love And Be Loved" from Some Came RunningMusic by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Short Subject (Cartoon)

Knighty Knight BugsJohn W. Burton, Producer
Winner
Paul BunyanWalt Disney, Producer
Sidney's Family TreeWilliam M. Weiss, Producer

Short Subject (Live Action)

Grand CanyonWalt Disney, Producer
Winner
Journey into SpringIan Ferguson, Producer
Snows of AorangiNew Zealand Screen Board
T Is for TumbleweedJames A. Lebenthal, Producer
The KissJohn Patrick Hayes, Producer
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