31st Academy Awards

31st Academy Awards
People lining the street under the marquee of the Pantages Theater at the 31st Academy Awards.
Date	April 6, 1959
Site	Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California, USA
Host	Jerry Lewis, Mort Sahl, Tony Randall, Bob Hope, David Niven, Laurence Olivier
Producer	Jerry Wald
Director	Alan Handley
Highlights
Best Picture	Gigi
Most awards	Gigi (9)
Most nominations	The Defiant Ones and Gigi (9)
TV in the United States
Network	NBC
< 30th Academy Awards 32nd >

To honor 1958's best films, the 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959. 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.

Gigi was also the last film until The Last Emperor to win best picture without any acting nominations. It also had the biggest clean sweep that would be met by The Last Emperor, winning all 9 of its nominations. The record was broken in 2003 by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface

Best Motion Picture	Best Director
Gigi Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Auntie Mame Separate Tables The Defiant Ones	Vincente Minnelli – Gigi Richard Brooks – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Robert Wise – I Want to Live! Stanley Kramer – The Defiant Ones Mark Robson – The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Best Actor	Best Actress
David Niven – Separate Tables Tony Curtis – The Defiant Ones Paul Newman – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Sidney Poitier – The Defiant Ones Spencer Tracy – The Old Man and the Sea	Susan Hayward – I Want to Live! Deborah Kerr – Separate Tables Shirley MacLaine – Some Came Running Rosalind Russell – Auntie Mame Elizabeth Taylor – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Burl Ives – The Big Country Theodore Bikel – The Defiant Ones Lee J. Cobb – The Brothers Karamazov Arthur Kennedy – Some Came Running Gig Young – Teacher's Pet	Wendy Hiller – Separate Tables Peggy Cass – Auntie Mame Martha Hyer – Some Came Running Maureen Stapleton – Lonelyhearts Cara Williams – The Defiant Ones
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay
The Defiant Ones – Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith Houseboat – Melville Shavelson and Jack Rose Teacher's Pet – Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin The Goddess – Paddy Chayefsky The Sheepman – William Bowers and James Edward Grant	Gigi – Alan Jay Lerner Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – Richard Brooks and James Poe I Want to Live! – Don Mankiewicz and Nelson Gidding Separate Tables – John Gay and Terence Rattigan The Horse's Mouth – Alec Guinness
Best Foreign Language Film
My Uncle (France) Arms and the Man (Germany) Big Deal on Madonna Street (Italy) The Road a Year Long (Yugoslavia) La venganza (Spain)
Best Documentary Feature	Best Documentary Short
White Wilderness  – Ben Sharpsteen Antarctic Crossing The Hidden World Psychiatric Nursing	Ama Girls  – Ben Sharpsteen Employees Only Journey Into Spring The Living Stone Overture
Best Live Action Short	Best Animated Short
Grand Canyon  – Walt Disney Journey Into Spring The Kiss Snows of Aorangi T Is for Tumbleweed	Knighty Knight Bugs  – John W. Burton Paul Bunyan Sidney's Family Tree
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score	Best Musical Score
The Old Man and the Sea – Dimitri Tiomkin Separate Tables – David Raksin The Big Country – Jerome Moross The Young Lions – Hugo Friedhofer White Wilderness – Oliver Wallace	Gigi – André Previn Damn Yankees! – Ray Heindorf Mardi Gras – Lionel Newman South Pacific – Alfred Newman and Ken Darby The Bolshoi Ballet – Yuri Faier and G. Rozhdestvensky
Best Original Song	Best Sound Recording
"Gigi" from Gigi – Music by Alan Jay Lerner; Lyric by Frederick Loewe "A Certain Smile" from A Certain Smile – Music by Sammy Fain; Lyric by Paul Francis Webster "Almost In Your Arms (Love Song from Houseboat)" from Houseboat – Music and Lyric by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans "A Very Precious Love" from Marjorie Morningstar – Music by Sammy Fain; Lyric by Paul Francis Webster "To Love and Be Loved" from Some Came Running – Music by James Van Heusen; Lyric by Sammy Cahn	South Pacific – Fred Hynes, Todd-AO Sound Department A Time to Love and a Time to Die – Leslie I. Carey, Universal-International Studio Sound Department I Want to Live! – Gordon E. Sawyer, Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department The Young Lions – Carlton W. Faulkner, Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Department Vertigo – George Dutton, Paramount Studio Sound Department
Best Art Direction	Best Costume Design
Gigi – Art Direction: William A. Horning and Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace and Keogh Gleason A Certain Smile – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott and Paul S. Fox Auntie Mame – Art Direction: Malcolm Bert; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins Bell Book and Candle – Art Direction: Cary Odell; Set Decoration: Louis Diage Vertigo – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Frank McKelvy	Gigi – Cecil Beaton A Certain Smile – Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills Bell Book and Candle – Jean Louis Some Came Running – Walter Plunkett The Buccaneer – Ralph Jester, Edith Head and John Jensen
Best Cinematography, Black and White	Best Cinematography, Color
The Defiant Ones – Sam Leavitt Desire Under the Elms – Daniel L. Fapp I Want to Live! – Lionel Lindon Separate Tables – Charles Lang, Jr. The Young Lions – Joseph MacDonald	Gigi – Joseph Ruttenberg Auntie Mame – Harry Stradling, Sr. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – William Daniels South Pacific – Leon Shamroy The Old Man and the Sea – James Wong Howe
Best Film Editing	Best Visual Effects
Gigi – Adrienne Fazan Auntie Mame – William Ziegler Cowboy – William A. Lyon and Al Clark I Want to Live! – William Hornbeck The Defiant Ones – Frederick Knudtson	tom thumb – Tom Howard Torpedo Run – A. Arnold Gillespie and Harold Humbrock

Academy Honorary Award

• Maurice Chevalier

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

• Jack L. Warner

Presenters

• Buddy Adler (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award)
• Eddie Albert and Vincent Price (Presenters: Art Direction-Set Decoration Awards)
• June Allyson and Dick Powell (Presenters: Musical Scoring Awards)
• Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant (Presenters: Best Picture)
• Dirk Bogarde, Van Heflin, and Elizabeth Taylor (Presenters: Writing Awards)
• Red Buttons and Shelley Winters (Presenters: Best Supporting Actress)
• James Cagney and Kim Novak (Presenters: Best Actress)
• Cyd Charisse and Robert Stack (Presenters: Best Foreign Language Film)
• Gary Cooper and Millie Perkins (Presenters: Best Director)
• Wendell Corey and Ernie Kovacs (Presenters: Costume Design Awards)
• Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh (Presenters: Short Subjects Awards)
• Bette Davis and Anthony Quinn (Presenters: Best Supporting Actor)
• Doris Day and Rock Hudson (Presenters: Cinematography Awards)
• Irene Dunne and John Wayne (Presenters: Best Actor)
• Anthony Franciosa and Eva Marie Saint (Presenters: Music Awards)
• Charlton Heston and Jane Wyman (Presenters: Best Sound Recording)
• Louis Jourdan and Jean Simmons (Presenters: Best Film Editing)
• Sophia Loren and Dean Martin (Presenters: Best Original Song)
• Shirley MacLaine and Peter Ustinov (Presenters: Best Visual Effects)
• Rosalind Russell (Presenter: Honorary Award to Maurice Chevalier)
• Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood (Presenters: Documentary Awards)

Performers

• Nick Adams, Anna Maria Alberghetti, James Darren, Dean Jones, Connie Stevens, and Tuesday Weld ("Almost In Your Arms" from Houseboat)
• Joan Collins, Angela Lansbury, and Dana Wynter ("It's Great Not to Be Nominated")
• Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster ("It's Alright With Us")
• Eddie Fisher ("To Love and Be Loved" from Some Came Running)
• Rhonda Fleming and Howard Keel ("A Very Precious Love" from Marjorie Morningstar)
• Tony Martin ("Gigi" from Gigi)
• John Raitt ("A Certain Smile" from A Certain Smile)

Multiple nominations and awards

These films had multiple nominations:

• 9 nominations: The Defiant Ones, Gigi
• 7 nominations: Separate Tables
• 6 nominations: Auntie Mame, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I Want to Live!
• 5 nominations: Some Came Running
• 3 nominations: A Certain Smile, The Old Man and the Sea, South Pacific, The Young Lions
• 2 nominations: Bell, Book and Candle, The Big Country, Houseboat, Journey Into Spring, Teacher's Pet, Vertigo, White Wilderness

The following films received multiple awards.

• 9 wins: Gigi
• 2 wins: The Defiant Ones, Separate Tables

See also

• Academy Awards
• List of Academy Awards ceremonies
• Academy Honorary Award
• 31st Academy Awards nominees and winners
• 16th Golden Globe Awards
• 1958 in film
• 1st Grammy Awards
• 10th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 11th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 12th British Academy Film Awards
• 13th Tony Awards
• Governors Awards