Best Picture Winner
The Apartment
Best Picture
Director: Billy Wilder
Studio: United Artists
A man tries to rise in his company by lending his apartment to executives for their extramarital affairs.
From the Worthy Podcast
Gender Roles and how this film throws out the standard romance for something more complicated and real? Authority and Consent before Gender Politics…
Closest Best Pictures to this: The Broadway Melody (1928/29), It Happened One Night (1934) Gone With The Wind (1939) Rebecca (1940) obviously The Lost Weekend (1945)
Critique on misogyny within the workplace. How male-dominated environments are breeding grounds for sexual activity. The women at the office are all rewarded for how much they put out. At almost every level of the company, a woman is in a sexual relationship with a higher-up. Now that doesn’t mean that autonomy is stripped away entirely, but clearly the executives and male dominance force these relationships out of power.
The twist that Wilder puts into the script and story is Baxter’s role. He is a victim of male dominance but the only way that they put pressure on him is by using his apartment. They will promote him but they do not think much of him as a person. Just as a way to achieve sex. So Baxter deals with his own form of male abuse
The “real” love part of this is understanding your partner
What is particularly good about Miss Kubelik is the way she doesn't make her a ditzy dame who falls for a smooth talker, but suggests a young woman who has been lied to before, who has a good heart but finite patience, who is prepared to make the necessary compromises to be the next Mrs. Sheldrake. The underlying seriousness of MacLaine's performance helps anchor the picture--it raises the stakes and steers it away from any tendency to become musical beds. - from Roger Ebert’s review
All Categories (29)
Best Motion Picture
The Apartment— Billy Wilder, Producer
Winner
Elmer Gantry— Bernard Smith, Producer
Sons and Lovers— Jerry Wald, Producer
The Alamo— John Wayne, Producer
The Sundowners— Fred Zinnemann, Producer
Actor
Jack Lemmon— The Apartment {"C.C. 'Bud' Baxter"}
Laurence Olivier— The Entertainer {"Archie Rice"}
Spencer Tracy— Inherit the Wind {"Henry Drummond"}
Trevor Howard— Sons and Lovers {"Morel"}
Actor In A Supporting Role
Chill Wills— The Alamo {"Beekeeper"}
Jack Kruschen— The Apartment {"Dr. Dreyfuss"}
Peter Falk— Murder, Inc. {"Abe Reles"}
Sal Mineo— Exodus {"Dov Landau"}
Actress
Deborah Kerr— The Sundowners {"Ida Carmody"}
Greer Garson— Sunrise at Campobello {"Eleanor Roosevelt"}
Melina Mercouri— Never on Sunday {"Ilya"}
Shirley MacLaine— The Apartment {"Fran Kubelik"}
Actress In A Supporting Role
Glynis Johns— The Sundowners {"Mrs. Firth"}
Janet Leigh— Psycho {"Marion Crane"}
Mary Ure— Sons and Lovers {"Clara Dawes"}
Shirley Knight— The Dark at the Top of the Stairs {"Reenie"}
Directing
Never on Sunday— Jules Dassin
Psycho— Alfred Hitchcock
Sons and Lovers— Jack Cardiff
The Sundowners— Fred Zinnemann
Writing (Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium)
Elmer Gantry— Richard Brooks
Winner
Inherit the Wind— Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
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).
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)
The Apartment— Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
Winner
Hiroshima, Mon Amour— Marguerite Duras
Never on Sunday— Jules Dassin
The Angry Silence— Story by Richard Gregson, Michael Craig; Screenplay by Bryan Forbes
The Facts of Life— Norman Panama, Melvin Frank
Cinematography (Black-And-White)
Sons and Lovers— Freddie Francis
Winner
Inherit the Wind— Ernest Laszlo
Psycho— John L. Russell
The Apartment— Joseph LaShelle
The Facts of Life— Charles B. Lang, Jr.
Cinematography (Color)
Spartacus— Russell Metty
Winner
Butterfield 8— Joseph Ruttenberg, Charles Harten
Exodus— Sam Leavitt
Pepe— Joe MacDonald
The Alamo— William H. Clothier
Music (Music Score Of A Dramatic Or Comedy Picture)
Exodus— Ernest Gold
Winner
Elmer Gantry— Andre Previn
Spartacus— Alex North
The Alamo— Dimitri Tiomkin
The Magnificent Seven— Elmer Bernstein
Music (Scoring Of A Musical Picture)
Song without End (The Story of Franz Liszt)— Morris Stoloff, Harry Sukman
Winner
Bells Are Ringing— Andre Previn
Can-Can— Nelson Riddle
Let's Make Love— Lionel Newman, Earle H. Hagen
Pepe— Johnny Green
Art Direction (Black-And-White)
The Apartment— Art Direction: Alexander Trauner; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
Winner
Psycho— Art Direction: Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: George Milo
Sons and Lovers— Art Direction: Tom Morahan; Set Decoration: Lionel Couch
The Facts of Life— Art Direction: Joseph McMillan Johnson, Kenneth A. Reid; Set Decoration: Ross Dowd
Visit to a Small Planet— Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams
Art Direction (Color)
Spartacus— Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron
Winner
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
Special Effects
The Time Machine— Visual Effects by Gene Warren, Tim Baar
Winner
The Last Voyage— Visual Effects by A.J. Lohman
Film Editing
The Apartment— Daniel Mandell
Winner
Inherit the Wind— Frederic Knudtson
Pepe— Viola Lawrence, Al Clark
Spartacus— Robert Lawrence
The Alamo— Stuart Gilmore
Sound
The Alamo— Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director; and Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
Winner
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
The Apartment— Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
Costume Design (Black-And-White)
The Facts of Life— Edith Head, Edward Stevenson
Winner
Never on Sunday— Deni Vachlioti
Seven Thieves— Bill Thomas
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond— Howard Shoup
The Virgin Spring— Marik Vos
Costume Design (Color)
Spartacus— Valles, Bill Thomas
Winner
Can-Can— Irene Sharaff
Midnight Lace— Irene
Pepe— Edith Head
Sunrise at Campobello— Marjorie Best
Documentary (Feature)
The Horse with the Flying Tail— Larry Lansburgh, Producer
Winner
Rebel in Paradise— Robert D. Fraser, Producer
Documentary (Short Subject)
Giuseppina— James Hill, Producer
Winner
A City Called Copenhagen— Statens Filmcentral, The Danish Government Film Office
Beyond Silence— United States Information Agency
George Grosz' Interregnum— Charles Carey and Altina Carey, Producers
Universe— Colin Low, Producer
Foreign Language Film
The Virgin Spring— Sweden
Winner
Kapo— Italy
La Vérité— France
Macario— Mexico
The Ninth Circle— Yugoslavia
Honorary Award
To Gary Cooper for his many memorable screen performances and the international recognition he, as an individual, has gained for the motion picture industry.
Winner
To Hayley Mills for Pollyanna, the most outstanding juvenile performance during 1960.
To Stan Laurel for his creative pioneering in the field of cinema comedy.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Sol Lesser
Winner
Scientific Or Technical Award (Class II)
To AMPEX PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS CO. for the production of a well-engineered multi-purpose sound system combining high standards of quality with convenience of control, dependable operation and simplified emergency provisions. [Sound]
Winner
Scientific Or Technical Award (Class III)
To ARTHUR HOLCOMB, PETRO VLAHOS and COLUMBIA STUDIO CAMERA DEPARTMENT for a camera flicker indicating device. [Photography]
Winner
To ANTHONY PAGLIA and the 20TH CENTURY-FOX STUDIO MECHANICAL EFFECTS DEPARTMENT for the design and construction of a miniature flak gun and ammunition. [Stage Operations]
To CARL HAUGE, ROBERT GRUBEL and EDWARD REICHARD of Consolidated Film Industries for the development of an automatic developer replenisher system. [Laboratory]
Music (Song)
"Never On Sunday" from Never on Sunday— Music and Lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis
Winner
"Faraway Part Of Town" from Pepe— Music by Andre Previn; Lyrics by Dory Langdon
"The Facts Of Life" from The Facts of Life— Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
"The Green Leaves Of Summer" from The Alamo— Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
"The Second Time Around" from High Time— Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Short Subject (Cartoon)
Munro— William L. Snyder, Producer
Winner
A Place in the Sun— Frantisek Vystrecil, Producer
Goliath II— Walt Disney, Producer
High Note— Warner Bros.
Mouse and Garden— Warner Bros.
Short Subject (Live Action)
Day of the Painter— Ezra R. Baker, Producer
Winner
A Sport Is Born— Leslie Winik, Producer
Islands of the Sea— Walt Disney, Producer
The Creation of Woman— Charles F. Schwep and Ismail Merchant, Producers