A romantic war film, a Shakespeare adaptation, a Biblical epic, a romantic comedy and a western battled it out for Best Picture at the 26th Academy Awards on March 25, 1954. A legendary actress won big for her first major role, a singer got a career boost, a beloved animator made Oscar history and a rather notorious figure from the Hollywood Golden Age received an honorary Oscar. In the end it was the romantic war film that came out on top … and set a standard for love scenes in the generations that have followed. Read on for Gold Derby’s Oscars flashback 70 years ago to 1954.
The star-studded WWII-era romantic drama “From Here to Eternity” became one of the most-nominated films of all time, coming into the ceremony with 13 bids, tying with “Gone with the Wind” (1940) and just one behind the record-setting 14 received by “All About Eve” in 1951. With eight wins, including Best Picture and Best Director for Fred Zinnemann, “From Here to Eternity” tied “Gone with the Wind” for most Oscars won by a single film up to that time. It was the seventh film to receive bids in all four acting categories, earning five total acting nominations, and was the second film, behind “A Streetcar Named Desire” two years prior, to claim both supporting acting prizes, one of which revived a popular singer’s career.
Crooner-turned-actor Frank Sinatra had had box office hits throughout the 1940s, but had suffered numerous career, personal and financial setbacks by the early 1950s. His role as Private Angelo Maggio in “From Here to Eternity” not only proved his acting chops equaled his singing talent, but also earned him the Best Supporting Actor statue and led to other acclaimed roles, as well as rejuvenating his music career. His co-nominees included Eddie Albert (“Roman Holiday”), Robert Strauss (“Stalag 17”) and Jack Palance (“Shane”), who would gone on to win in this category 38 years later with a most memorable acceptance speech. Palance’s “Shane” costar Brandon de Wilde set a record for youngest nominee in this category at age 11, which he held until 8-year-old Justin Henry (“Kramer vs. Kramer”) claimed the top spot 26 years later.
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Sinatra’s costar Donna Reed is best remembered for her role as Jimmy Stewart‘s wholesome wife in “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), but she earned her Best Supporting Actress Oscar playing against type as a prostitute who is involved in a doomed romance with Montgomery Clift in “From Here to Eternity.” She defeated Geraldine Page (“Hondo”), Marjorie Rambeau (“Torch Song”), Thelma Ritter (“Pickup on South Street”) and Grace Kelly (“Mogambo”), who famously would go on to win in lead the next year over Judy Garland.
Another actress was cast against type for her role in “From Here to Eternity.” Deborah Kerr was known for her portrayal of “proper” English ladies, with a cool and refined demeanor, but her sensual side came out in her role as Karen Holmes, the unhappily married American military wife who becomes in embroiled in an affair with one of her husband’s officers, played by Burt Lancaster. Their romantic romp on the beach, although tame by today’s standards, raised the bar for steamy love scenes, and it still considered one of the best. However, this was the second of six failed Best Actress bids for Kerr. Instead, an unknown actress skyrocketed to stardom with her Oscar-winning portrayal of a princess living it up in Rome incognito. Audrey Hepburn captured the prize for “Roman Holiday,” her first major film role … and the rest is history. Rounding out the ballot were actresses Leslie Caron (“Lili”), Ava Gardner (“Mogambo”) and Maggie McNamara (“The Moon Is Blue”).
Despite two nominees for lead actor, Lancaster and Clift, “From Here to Eternity” failed to capture the award. Instead, William Holden, also cast against type as a cynical American POW who might be in cahoots with the German guards, won for “Stalag 17.” He gave one of the shortest Oscar speech ever, with a simple “Thank you,” which was due to the network cutting speech time to accommodate advertisers. He later expressed his frustration that he couldn’t acknowledge anyone, especially his director Billy Wilder. Complaints regarding the practice of allowing advertisers to dominate the televised event eventually led to the current system, for better or worse, of leaving the broadcast open-ended and possibly running over, so that speeches won’t be cut off for commercial time. Also nominated in this category were Marlon Brando (“Julius Caesar”), who would win the next year, and Richard Burton (“The Robe”) who, like Kerr, would become one of the most-nominated performers without a win.
Walt Disney has received more honors from the academy than any other individual, with a record-setting total nominations of 59 and record-setting awards won at 22. In 1954, he set the record for most wins by an individual at a single ceremony with four, capturing Best Documentary (“The Living Desert”), Best Documentary Short (“The Alaskan Eskimo”), Best Live Action Short (“Bear Country”) and Best Cartoon Short (“Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom”). He had two additional nominations, one each in live action and cartoon, making him the individual with most nominations in a single ceremony at six. These records remain unmatched 70 years later.
Joseph Breen, a film censor notoriously known for his strict enforcement of the Hays Code, received an honorary Oscar “for his conscientious, open-minded and dignified management of the Motion Picture Production Code.” Ironically, Breen had recently retired, largely due to a series of films that had been released despite failing to receive his stamp of approval … and went on to find distributors and box office success regardless. One of the major instigators was Otto Preminger’s “The Moon Is Blue,” which had been deemed unacceptable due to racy dialogue and suggestive content; it received three nominations at this same ceremony.
Despite the massive haul earned by “From Here to Eternity,” none of the Best Picture nominees were completely shut out. Besides Hepburn’s win, “Roman Holiday” also prevailed in costume design, black-and-white, with Edith Head‘s win. It also won Best Story, for Dalton Trumbo. However, Trumbo was blacklisted, and Ian McLellan Hunter received the award; Trumbo was posthumously awarded in 1993. “Julius Caesar” won for its black-and-white art direction, while “The Robe” claimed art direction and costume design, color. The final nominee only claimed one out of its six bids, unsurprisingly for its cinematography, but “Shane” has gone on to become one of the most beloved westerns of all time despite its disappointing Oscar outcome.
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