Looking at Film from Every Angle

25th Academy Awards (1952): The Ceremony

Nominations Announcement

Nominations Announcement Date: Monday, February 9, 1953

Ceremony Details

Awards Ceremony Date/Time: Thursday, March 19, 1953, 7:30pm
Location: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood; NBC Century Theatre, New York
Televised On: NBC
Host: Bob Hope (in Hollywood), Conrad Nagel (in New York)
Length: 1 hours, 32 minutes
Viewers: 40 million

Presenters

President’s Welcoming Remarks: Charles Brackett
Costume Design: Ginger Rogers (NOTE: Both Black-and-White and Color awards presented together)
Documentary Short Subject: Jean Hersholt
Documentary Feature: Jean Hersholt
Film Editing: Frank Capra
Production Design: James Stewart, Joan Fontaine (NOTE: Both Black-and-White and Color awards presented together)
Sound Mixing: Claire Trevor
Animated Short Film: Jane Wyman, Ray Milland
Live Action Short Film (One-Reel): Jane Wyman, Ray Milland
Live Action Short Film (Two-Reel): Jane Wyman, Ray Milland
Cinematography: Teresa Wright (NOTE: Both Black-and-White and Color awards presented together)
Music: Drama or Comedy Score: Walt Disney
Music: Musical Score: Walt Disney
Original Song: Walt Disney
Directing: Olivia de Havilland, Charles Brackett
Writing: Motion Picture Story: Dore Schary
Writing: Screenplay: Dore Schary
Writing: Story and Screenplay: Dore Schary
Supporting Actor: Greer Garson
Supporting Actress: Edmund Gwenn
Actor: Janet Gaynor
Actress: Ronald Colman
Picture: Mary Pickford
Special Effects: Loretta Young
Special Award: George Alfred Mitchell: Charles Brackett
Foreign Language Film: Luise Rainer
Honorary Award: Joseph M. Schenck: Charles Brackett
Special Award: Merian C. Cooper: Charles Brackett
Honorary Award: Harold Lloyd: Charles Brackett
Scientific & Technical Awards: Anne Baxter
Honorary Award: Bob Hope: Charles Brackett
Irving G. Thalberg Award: Cecil B. DeMille: Charles Brackett

Previous Acting & Directing Winners

The tradition of prior acting winners returning the subsequent year to present the opposite-gender category is a long one. Each year, we look to see whether the prior winners returned. There was an intermittent tradition where the prior directing winner returned as well, but this was a rare occurrence.

Actor – Humphrey Bogart: No
Actress – Vivien Leigh: No
Supporting Actor – Karl Malden: No
Supporting Actress – Kim Hunter: No
Directing – George Stevens: No

Song Performances

Am I in Love?: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell
Because You’re Mine: Billy Daniels
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’): Tex Ritter
Thumbelina: Celeste Holm
Zing a Little Zong: Johnny Mercer, Peggy Lee

Original Song Film Performers

Was the song performed at the Oscars by the same individuals who performed it in the film?

Am I in Love?: Partial (Bob Hope only) (Performed in the Film by: Bob Hope, Jane Russell)
Because You’re Mine: No (Performed in the Film by: Mario Lanza)
High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’): Y (Performed in the Film by: Tex Ritter)
Thumbelina: No (Performed in the Film by: Danny Kaye)
Zing a Little Zong: No (Performed in the Film by: Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman)

Other Performances

There’s No Business Like Show Business: Academy Awards Orchestra

Ceremony Production Staff

Announcer: Ronald Reagan
Conductor / Musical Arranger: Adolph Deutsch
Director: William A. Bennington
Producer: Johnny Green, Robert L. Welch (NBC)