| 59th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Date | March 30, 1987 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Chevy Chase,Goldie Hawn andPaul Hogan |
| Produced by | Samuel Goldwyn Jr. |
| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | Platoon |
| Most awards | Platoon (4) |
| Most nominations | Platoon andA Room with a View (8) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 25 minutes[1] |
| Ratings | 37.19 million 27.5% (Nielsen ratings) |
The59th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 30, 1987, at theDorothy Chandler Pavilion inLos Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m.PST / 9:00 p.m.EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories honoringfilms released in 1986. The ceremony, televised in the United States byABC, was produced bySamuel Goldwyn Jr. and directed by Marty Pasetta.[2][3] ActorsChevy Chase,Paul Hogan, andGoldie Hawn co-hosted the show. Hawn hosted the gala for the second time, having previously been a co-host of the48th ceremony held in 1976. Meanwhile, this was Chase and Hogan's first Oscar-hosting stint.[4] Eight days earlier, in a ceremony held atThe Beverly Hilton inBeverly Hills, California, on March 22, theAcademy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hostCatherine Hicks.[5]
Platoon won four awards, includingBest Picture.[6][7] Other winners includedHannah and Her Sisters andA Room with a View with three awards,Aliens with two, andArtie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got,The Assault,Children of a Lesser God,The Color of Money,Down and Out in America,The Fly,A Greek Tragedy,The Mission,Precious Images,Round Midnight,Top Gun, andWomen – for America, for the World with one.
The nominees for the 59th Academy Awards were announced on February 11, 1987, at theSamuel Goldwyn Theater inBeverly Hills, California, byRobert Wise, president of the Academy, actorDon Ameche, and actressAnjelica Huston.[8]Platoon andA Room with a View led all nominees with eight each.[9]
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 30, 1987.Marlee Matlin was the first deaf performer to win an Oscar and the youngest winner in the Best Actress category.[10][11] Best Actor winnerPaul Newman was the fourth actor to have been nominated for portraying the same character in two different films, having previously earned a nomination for his role as "Fast Eddie" Felson in 1961'sThe Hustler.[12] By virtue of his victory in the Best Actor category, Newman and wifeJoanne Woodward, who won Best Actress for her performance in 1957'sThe Three Faces of Eve, became the second married couple to win acting Oscars.[11]Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got andDown and Out in America's joint win in the Best Documentary Feature category marked the fourth occurrence of a tie in Oscar history.[13]
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Winners are listed first, highlighted inboldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[14]
The following 15 films had multiple nominations: | The following four films received multiple awards.
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The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.[17][18]
| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Lionel Newman | Musical arranger and Conductor | Orchestral |
| Academy Awards chorus Dom DeLuise Pat Morita Telly Savalas | Performers | "Fugue for Tinhorns" fromGuys and Dolls |
| Bernadette Peters | Performer | Sang brief introductions to each nominee forBest Original Song |
| Natalie Cole James Ingram | Performers | "Somewhere Out There" fromAn American Tail |
| Peter Cetera | Performer | "Glory of Love" fromThe Karate Kid, Part II |
| Melba Moore Lou Rawls | Performers | "Take My Breath Away" fromTop Gun |
| Tony Bennett | Performer | "Life in a Looking Glass" fromThat's Life! |
| Levi Stubbs | Performer | "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" fromLittle Shop of Horrors |
| Academy Awards chorus | Performers | "Fugue for Tinhorns" during the closing credits |
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Determined to revive interest surrounding the awards and reverse declining ratings, the Academy hiredSamuel Goldwyn Jr. in November 1986 to produce the telecast for the first time.[19] The following March, Goldwyn announced that comedianChevy Chase, actress and Academy Award winnerGoldie Hawn, and actor and Best Original Screenplay nomineePaul Hogan would share co-hosting duties for the 1987 ceremony.[20] ActorRobin Williams was initially named a co-host, but he was forced to withdraw from emceeing duties due to his commitment toward his role in the upcoming filmGood Morning, Vietnam.[21]
One of the biggest priorities for Goldwyn was to shorten the length of the show to at least three hours or less. In view of his goal, he told reporters regarding the winners' acceptance speeches, "We are actually going to give them 45 seconds. The light (next to the camera) will start blinking at 45 seconds and go red at 55 seconds. After one minute, we will either cut to a commercial or go to something else. We've also asked multiple winners to flip a coin and pick a spokesman."[22] Furthermore, instead of each Best Original Song nominee being performed separately, all five songs were performed as part of a musical number featuring actressBernadette Peters singing brief introductions to each one.[23] Although Goldwyn attempted to move the Documentary and Short Film Categories to a separate ceremony from the broadcast, the AMPAS Board of Governors refused to do so.[24]
Several other people were involved with the production of the ceremony. Oscar-winning costume designerTheoni V. Aldredge was hired as a fashion consultant for the awards ceremony and supervised a "fashion show" segment showcasing the five nominees for Best Costume Design.[25][26]Lionel Newman served as musical director and conductor for the ceremony.[27] ActorsDom DeLuise,Pat Morita, andTelly Savalas performed the song "Fugue for Tinhorns" from the musicalGuys and Dolls at the start of the ceremony.[28]
At the time of the nominations announcement on February 11, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $119 million, with an average of $23.9 million.[29]Platoon was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees, with $39.3 million in domestic box office receipts. The film was followed byHannah and Her Sisters ($35.4 million),Children of a Lesser God ($22.1 million),A Room with a View ($11.5 million), andThe Mission ($11.1 million).[29]
Of the fifty top-grossing movies of the year, fifty-five nominations went to eighteen films on the list. OnlyCrocodile Dundee (2nd),Aliens (6th),The Color of Money (11th),Stand By Me (12th),Peggy Sue Got Married (18th),Platoon (23rd),Hannah and Her Sisters (29th),The Morning After (38th),The Color of Money (40th), andCrimes of the Heart (43rd) were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenplay.[30] The other top fifty box office hits that earned nominations wereTop Gun (1st),The Karate Kid Part II (3rd),Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (4th),An American Tail (5th),Heartbreak Ridge (17th),Poltergeist II: The Other Side (19th),The Fly (22nd), andLittle Shop of Horrors (30th).[30]
The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. Columnist Jerry Roberts of theDaily Breeze remarked, "The whole mess was like some kind of geek show from a carnival row that had incestuously multiplied itself into a gargantuan sequin-lined ego battle royal accompanied by a firestorm of ballyhooing." Despite Chase and Hawn's best efforts to liven up the broadcast, he commented, "The lumbering procedure completely defeated them."[31] Television criticTom Shales ofThe Washington Post wrote, "As usual, the Academy Awards show was marked by missed cues, noisy moving scenery, plunging necklines, inane scripted chatter and, as has often happened in recent years, few galvanizing or gratifying surprises." He also quipped that the segment showcasing the Best Costume Design nominees slowed down the ceremony's pace.[32]The Philadelphia Inquirer's film criticCarrie Rickey observed, "As pace goes, the Academy Awards show was like watching a race between slugs and snails." She later wrote, "Oscarsclerosis is the show's most critical condition, the result of a telecast larded, once again, with too many Vegas-style production numbers."[33]
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Film critic John Hartl ofThe Seattle Times noted that the ceremony "was well-paced and filled with comics and comic film clips." He also complimented producer Goldwyn for hiring comics, including host Chase, and presenters such asRodney Dangerfield for helping "to keep the show light and funny."[34]The New York Times columnistJanet Maslin wrote, "This was the trimmest, most varied and best-paced program in years." She also commented that without the witty banter of hosts Hogan and Chase, "The show would have seemed notably lacking in luster."[35] Television editor Michael Burkett of theOrange County Register commented, "Monday night's 59th installment was very nearly everything you could have wished it to be: quite entertaining, relatively fast-moving, unusually short on tastelessness and tackiness drenched in nostalgia, and featuring enough superbly chosen film clips for a monster round of VisualTrivial Pursuit.[36]
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 37.19 million people over its length, which was a 2% decrease from theprevious year's ceremony.[37] However, the show drew higherNielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 27.5% of households watching over a 43 share.[38] Many media outlets pointed out that the broadcast earned higher ratings compared to the final game of the1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament which was airing onCBS that same night.[39]
