31st Academy Awards

The telecast of the 31st Academy Awards is among the most infamous. The show’s producer Jerry Wald started cutting numbers from the show to make sure it ran on time. Unfortunately, he cut too much material and the ceremony ended 20 minutes early, leaving Jerry Lewis to attempt to fill in the time. Eventually, NBC cut to a re-run of a sports show. The film Gigi won nine oscars, breaking Gone With the Wind's record of eight. It only lasted for one ... more

The telecast of the 31st Academy Awards is among the most infamous. The show’s producer Jerry Wald started cutting numbers from the show to make sure it ran on time. Unfortunately, he cut too much material and the ceremony ended 20 minutes early, leaving Jerry Lewis to attempt to fill in the time. Eventually, NBC cut to a re-run of a sports show. The film Gigi won nine oscars, breaking Gone With the Wind's record of eight. It only lasted for one year, however, as Ben-Hur broke the record with eleven Oscars the following year. Two notable omissions from the Best Picture nominees included Orson Welles' film noir Touch of Evil and Alfred Hitchcock's romantic mystery Vertigo. Gigi Gigi - Vincente Minnelli Separate Tables - David Niven I Want to Live! - Susan Hayward The Big Country - Burl Ives Separate Tables - Wendy Hiller The Defiant Ones - Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith Gigi - Alan Jay Lerner Gigi The Defiant Ones Gigi Gigi South Pacific Gigi tom thumb Gigi - Alan Jay Lerner and... less