70th Academy Awards

70th Academy Awards
Date	Monday, March 23, 1998
Site	Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, California
Host	Billy Crystal
Producer	Gil Cates
Director	Louis J. Horvitz
Highlights
Best Picture	Titanic
Most awards	Titanic (11)
Most nominations	Titanic (14)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Duration	3 hours, 47 minutes
Ratings	57.25 million 35.32 (Nielsen ratings)
< 69th Academy Awards 71st >

The 70th Academy Awards were noted for their high ratings and the 11 wins obtained by the Best Picture Titanic. Billy Crystal hosted the ceremony for the sixth time, and received an Emmy Award for his performance.

Titanic dominated the evening picking up 11 awards out of 14 nominations. The film tied with the most awards nominated with All About Eve and tied with the most awards won with Ben-Hur. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King would also match that record in 2004.

Due to the popularity of Titanic, which was the #1 movie at the box office at the time, the show earned its highest ratings ever in history based on audience size (57.25 million).

Other notable films were As Good as It Gets, which received seven nominations and two awards, including Best Actor and Best Actress and Good Will Hunting, which received nine nominations and also won two awards.

In addition, the ceremony was also the last time all four winning acting performances were not based on biographies and all four winning acting performers were American.

Awards

James Cameron, Best Director winner

Helen Hunt, Best Actress winner

Jack Nicholson, Best Actor winner

Kim Basinger, Best Supporting Actress winner

Robin Williams, Best Supporting Actor winner

Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface

Best Picture	Best Director
Titanic As Good as It Gets The Full Monty Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential	James Cameron – Titanic Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty Atom Egoyan – The Sweet Hereafter Curtis Hanson – L.A. Confidential Gus Van Sant – Good Will Hunting
Best Actor	Best Actress
Jack Nicholson – As Good as It Gets Matt Damon – Good Will Hunting Robert Duvall – The Apostle Peter Fonda – Ulee's Gold Dustin Hoffman – Wag the Dog	Helen Hunt – As Good as It Gets Helena Bonham Carter – The Wings of the Dove Julie Christie – Afterglow Judi Dench – Mrs. Brown Kate Winslet – Titanic
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Robin Williams – Good Will Hunting Robert Forster – Jackie Brown Anthony Hopkins – Amistad Greg Kinnear – As Good as It Gets Burt Reynolds – Boogie Nights	Kim Basinger – L.A. Confidential Joan Cusack – In & Out Minnie Driver – Good Will Hunting Julianne Moore – Boogie Nights Gloria Stuart – Titanic
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay
Good Will Hunting – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck As Good as It Gets – Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks Deconstructing Harry – Woody Allen The Full Monty – Simon Beaufoy Boogie Nights – Paul Thomas Anderson	L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson Donnie Brasco – Paul Attanasio The Sweet Hereafter – Atom Egoyan Wag the Dog – David Mamet and Hilary Henkin The Wings of the Dove – Hossein Amini
Best Foreign Language Film	Best Original Song
Karakter (Netherlands) Beyond SIlence (Germany) Four Days in September (Brazil) Secrets of the Heart (Spain) The Thief (Russia)	"My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic – Music by James Horner; Lyric by Will Jennings "Journey to the Past" from Anastasia – Music by Stephen Flaherty; Lyric by Lynn Ahrens "How Do I Live" from Con Air – Music and Lyric by Diane Warren "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting – Music and Lyric by Elliott Smith "Go the Distance" from Hercules – Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by David Zippel
Best Documentary Feature	Best Documentary Short
The Long Way Home – Rabbi Marvin Hier and Richard Trank 4 Little Girls – Spike Lee and Sam Pollard Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life – Michael Paxton Colors Straight Up – Michèle Ohayon and Julia Schachter Waco: The Rules of Engagement – Dan Gifford and William Gazecki	A Story of Healing – Donna Dewey and Carol Pasternak Alaska: Spirit of the Wild – George Casey and Paul Novros Amazon – Kieth Merrill and Jonathan Stern Family Video Diaries: Daughter of the Bride – Terri Randall Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies – Mel Damski and Andrea Blaugrund
Best Live Action Short	Best Animated Short
Visas and Virtue – Chris Tashima and Chris Donahue Dance Lexie Dance – Tim Loane It's Good to Talk – Roger Goldby and Barney Reisz Sweethearts? – Birger Larsen and Thomas Lydholm Wolfgang – Anders Thomas Jensen and Kim Magnusson	Geri's Game – Jan Pinkava Famous Fred – Joanna Quinn The Old Lady and the Pigeons – Sylvain Chomet Redux Riding Hood – Steve Moore and Dan O’Shannon Rusalka – Alexander Petrov
Best Original Dramatic Score	Best Original Musical or Comedy Score
Titanic – James Horner Good Will Hunting – Danny Elfman L.A. Confidential – Jerry Goldsmith Amistad – John Williams Kundun – Philip Glass	The Full Monty – Anne Dudley Men in Black – Danny Elfman As Good as It Gets – Hans Zimmer My Best Friend's Wedding – James Newton Howard Anastasia – Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and David Newman
Best Sound Editing	Best Sound Mixing
Titanic – Tom Bellfort and Christopher Boyes Face/Off – Mark Stoeckinger and Per Hallberg The Fifth Element – Mark Mangini	Titanic – Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers and Mark Ulano Contact – Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan Air Force One – Paul Massey, Rick Kline, Doug Hemphill and Keith A. Wester Con Air – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Art Rochester L.A. Confidential – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Kirk Francis
Best Art Direction	Best Cinematography
Titanic – Peter Lamont and Michael D. Ford Men in Black – Bo Welch; Cheryl Carasik Kundun – Dante Ferretti; Francesca Lo Schiavo Gattaca – Jan Roelfs; Nancy Nye L.A. Confidential – Jeannine Oppewall; Jay Hart	Titanic – Russell Carpenter L.A. Confidential – Dante Spinotti The Wings of the Dove – Eduardo Serra Amistad – Janusz Kamiński Kundun – Roger Deakins
Best Makeup	Best Costume Design
Men in Black – Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson Mrs. Brown – Lisa Westcott, Veronica Brebner and Beverley Binda Titanic – Tina Earnshaw, Greg Cannom and Simon Thompson	Titanic – Deborah Lynn Scott Kundun – Dante Ferretti Oscar and Lucinda – Janet Patterson Amistad – Ruth E. Carter The Wings of the Dove – Sandy Powell
Best Film Editing	Best Visual Effects
Titanic – Conrad Buff, James Cameron and Richard A. Harris L.A. Confidential – Peter Honess Good Will Hunting – Pietro Scalia Air Force One – Richard Francis-Bruce As Good as It Gets – Richard Marks	Titanic – Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher and Michael Kanfer The Lost World: Jurassic Park – Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal Dutra and Michael Lantieri Starship Troopers – Phil Tippett, Scott Anderson, Alec Gillis and John Richardson

Academy Honorary Award

• Stanley Donen

Gordon E. Sawyer Award

• Don Iwerks

Scientific and Technical Award

• Gunnar P. Michelson

Multiple nominations and awards

The following sixteen films received multiple nominations:

• Fourteen: Titanic
• Nine: Good Will Hunting and L.A. Confidential
• Seven: As Good as It Gets
• Four: Amistad, The Full Monty, Kundun, The Wings of the Dove
• Three: Boogie Nights and Men in Black
• Two: Air Force One, Anastasia, Con Air, Mrs. Brown, The Sweet Hereafter, and Wag the Dog

The following four films received multiple awards:

• Eleven: Titanic
• Two: As Good as It Gets, Good Will Hunting, and L.A. Confidential

In Memoriam

Presented by Whoopi Goldberg. The Academy takes a special moment to remember those involved with motion pictures that died in the previous year. Those that were featured: Lloyd Bridges, Richard Jaeckel, composer Saul Chaplin, cinematographer Stanley Cortez, William Hickey, screenwriter Paul Jarrico, screenwriter Dorothy Kingsley, hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff, editor William H. Reynolds, Billie Dove, oceanographic filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, Stubby Kaye, Red Skelton, producer Dawn Steel, Toshiro Mifune, Brian Keith, Chris Farley, executive Leo Jaffe, director Samuel Fuller, Burgess Meredith, J. T. Walsh, Robert Mitchum and James Stewart.

Special events

• Upon his winning of Best Actor, Jack Nicholson thanked to his longtime friend which also nominated. He said "...And i'm honored to be on any list with you, Bobby, Dusty, and you and your father, Mr. Damon, and my old bike pal, Fonda."

• As a celebration of 70 years of Oscar, the Academy showed clips of all the films that won Best Picture in the past 70 years. The Academy also invited 70 Oscar winning actors and the camera went face to face announcing the actor or actress and the film they won the Oscar for and the year as well.

• Mike Myers introduced a montage of film clips featuring animal actors. The final clip of the montage was a growling shot of Bart the Bear (a large kodiak bear) from the film The Edge. A curtain then rose to reveal Bart on stage, wearing a bow tie and holding a wooden "envelope", which Myers was to retrieve from the bear before presenting the next award. Returning to the microphone, Myers quipped "I just soiled myself."

• Fay Wray made a special guest appearance. Billy Crystal introduced a short clip of her work in King Kong and then moved off the stage. When the lights came back up, he was standing next to Wray in the audience and described her as "the beauty who charmed the beast" and the "legendary Fay Wray". A surprised Wray rose from her seat to instantaneous rapturous applause, which included reaction shots of Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Red Buttons and Martin Landau. Interestingly, she happened to be sitting immediately in front of James Cameron and he can be seen in most of the shots of her. It was her last ever appearance at the Academy Awards show.

• Aaliyah performed "Journey to the Past" from the motion picture Anastasia. At 19 years old, she became the youngest female recording artist to perform at the Oscars.

• Director James Cameron, after winning the Academy Award for Best Picture for Titanic, asked for a moment of silence from the audience to honor the 1,517 people who died in the sinking.

Presenters

• Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Presenters: Short Subjects Awards)
• Alec Baldwin (Presenter: L.A. Confidential Film Clip)
• Antonio Banderas (Presenter: Best Original Dramatic Score)
• Drew Barrymore (Presenter: Best Makeup)
• Warren Beatty (Presenter: Best Director)
• Neve Campbell (Presenter: Aaliyah and Michael Bolton Performances)
• Sean Connery (Presenter: Best Picture)
• Geena Davis (Presenter: The Full Monty Film Clip)
• Robert De Niro (Presenter: Best Documentary Feature)
• Cameron Diaz (Presenter: Best Sound)
• Matt Dillon (Presenter: Good Will Hunting Film Clip)
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
• Djimon Hounsou (Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject)
• Helen Hunt (Presenter: Best Visual Effects)
• Samuel L. Jackson (Presenter: Best Film Editing)
• Ashley Judd (Presenter: Scientific & Technical Awards)
• Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (Presenters: Writing Awards)
• Jennifer Lopez (Presenter: Best Original Musical or Comedy Score)
• Madonna (Presenter: Best Original Song; Trisha Yearwood, Eliott Smith and Celine Dion Performances)
• Frances McDormand (Presenter: Best Actor)
• Geoffrey Rush (Presenter: Best Actress)
• Meg Ryan (Presenter: Best Art Direction)
• Martin Scorsese (Presenter: Honorary Award to Stanley Donen)
• Elisabeth Shue (Presenter: Best Costume Design)
• Mike Myers (Presenter: Best Sound Effects Editing)
• Susan Sarandon (Presenter: "The Oscar Family Album")
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (Presenter: Titanic Film Clip)
• Mira Sorvino (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
• Sharon Stone (Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film)
• Denzel Washington (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
• Sigourney Weaver (Presenter: As Good as It Gets Film Clip)
• Robin Williams (Presenter: 70 Years of Oscar Montage)

Performer

• Aaliyah ("Journey to the Past" from Anastasia)
• Michael Bolton ("Go the Distance" from Hercules)
• Celine Dion ("My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic)
• Elliott Smith ("Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting)
• Trisha Yearwood ("How Do I Live" from Con Air)

See also

• Academy Award
• Academy Honorary Award
• 55th Golden Globe Awards
• 4th Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 18th Golden Raspberry Awards
• 1997 in film
• List of Academy Awards ceremonies
• Submissions for the 70th Academy Award for Best Foreign Film
• 40th Grammy Awards
• 49th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 50th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 51st British Academy Film Awards
• 52nd Tony Awards
• Governors Awards

External links

• http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/oscarlegacy/1990-1999/70nominees.html
• Oscars 1997: 'Titanic' Sinks the Competition Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 2011-1-21 Nominations article
• Oscar wrap-up Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 2011-1-21 Oscar night show recap
• The Big Night Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 2011-1-21 List of all winners and Special Mentions from ceremony