| 64th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Date | March 30, 1992 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Billy Crystal[1] |
| Produced by | Gil Cates[2] |
| Directed by | Jeff Margolis[3] |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | The Silence of the Lambs |
| Most awards | The Silence of the Lambs (5) |
| Most nominations | Bugsy (10) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 33 minutes[4] |
| Ratings | 44.44 million 29.84% (Nielsen ratings)[5] |
The64th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the bestfilms of 1991 in the United States and took place on March 30, 1992, at theDorothy Chandler Pavilion inLos Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m.PST / 9:00 p.m.EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presentedAcademy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States byABC, was produced byGil Cates and directed byJeff Margolis. ActorBilly Crystal hosted the show for the third consecutive year.[6] Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at theCentury Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on March 7, theAcademy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hostTom Hanks.[7]
The Silence of the Lambs won five awards, includingBest Picture.[8][9] Other winners includedTerminator 2: Judgment Day with four awards,Beauty and the Beast,Bugsy, andJFK with two, andCity Slickers,Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment,The Fisher King,In the Shadow of the Stars,Manipulation,Mediterraneo,Session Man, andThelma & Louise with one. The telecast garnered more than 44 million viewers in the United States.
The nominees for the 64th Academy Awards were announced on February 19, 1992, at 5:38 a.m.PST (13:38UTC) at theSamuel Goldwyn Theater inBeverly Hills, California, byKarl Malden, president of the Academy, and actressKathleen Turner.[10]Bugsy led all nominees with ten nominations;JFK came in second with eight.[11]
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 30, 1992.The Silence of the Lambs became the first horror film to winBest Picture and the first film to be released on home video prior to winning that award.[12] Moreover, it was the third film to win the "Big Five" major categories for picture, directing, lead acting performances, and screenwriting. The other two films to achieve this feat were 1934'sIt Happened One Night and 1975'sOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[13][14]Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.Toy Story 3 andUp are the only two other animated films ever nominated for Best Picture.[15]Boyz n the Hood'sJohn Singleton became the first African-American to be nominated for Best Director and the youngest nominee in that category.[12] Nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively,Diane Ladd andLaura Dern became the first mother and daughter nominated in the same year.[12] As of the97th Academy Awards,Thelma & Louise is the last film to receive two nominations forBest Actress.
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
Winners are listed first, highlighted inboldface and indicated with double dagger (‡).[16]
The following 16 films had multiple nominations: | The following five films received multiple awards:
|
The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers:[19]
| Name(s) | Role |
|---|---|
| Les Marshak | Announcer for the 64th annual Academy Awards |
| Karl Malden (AMPAS President) | Giver of opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the award forBest Supporting Actor |
| Kathleen Turner | Presenter of the filmBugsy on the Best Picture segment |
| Rebecca De Mornay Christopher Lloyd | Presenters of the award forBest Makeup |
| Angela Lansbury | Introducer of the performances of the Best Original Song nominees "Belle" and "Be Our Guest" |
| Joe Pesci | Presenter of the award forBest Supporting Actress |
| Annette Bening | Presenter of the award forBest Art Direction |
| Steven Spielberg | Presenter of theIrving G. Thalberg Memorial Award toGeorge Lucas |
| Nicole Kidman | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" |
| Antonio Banderas Sharon Stone | Presenters of the award forBest Sound Effects Editing |
| Denzel Washington | Presenter of the filmJFK on the Best Picture segment |
| Geena Davis Susan Sarandon | Presenters of the award forBest Film Editing |
| Dana Carvey Mike Myers | Presenters of the award forBest Live Action Short Film |
| Belle (Paige O'Hara) Beast (Robby Benson) Chip (Bradley Pearce) | Presentations of the award forBest Animated Short Film |
| Demi Moore | Presenter of the award forBest Costume Design |
| Sylvester Stallone | Presenter of the award forBest Foreign Language Film |
| Daryl Hannah Edward James Olmos | Presenters of the award forBest Sound |
| John Candy | Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "When You're Alone" |
| Tom Hanks | Presenter of the segment of theAcademy Awards for Technical Achievement and theGordon E. Sawyer Award |
| Spike Lee John Singleton | Presenters of the awards forBest Documentary Short Subject andBest Documentary Feature |
| Sally Field | Presenter of the filmBeauty and the Beast on the Best Picture segment |
| Richard Gere | Presenter of the award forBest Cinematography |
| Laura Dern Diane Ladd | Presenters of the award forBest Visual Effects |
| Patrick Swayze | Introducer of the special dance number to the tune of theBest Original Score nominees and presenter of the award for Best Original Score |
| Jack Valenti | Introducer of presenter, Audrey Hepburn |
| Audrey Hepburn | Presenter of theHonorary Academy Award toSatyajit Ray |
| John Lithgow | Presenter of the filmThe Silence of the Lambs on the Best Picture segment |
| Robert Duvall Anjelica Huston | Presenters of the awards forBest Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen andBest Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published |
| Kathy Bates | Presenter of the award forBest Actor |
| Shirley MacLaine Liza Minnelli | Presenters of the award forBest Original Song |
| Michael Douglas | Presenter of the award forBest Actress |
| Jessica Tandy | Presenter of the filmThe Prince of Tides on the Best Picture segment |
| Kevin Costner | Presenter of the award forBest Director |
| Paul Newman Elizabeth Taylor | Presenters of the award forBest Picture |
| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Conti | Musical arranger | Orchestral |
| Billy Crystal | Performer | Opening number: Beauty and the Beast (to the tune of thetheme song fromThe Patty Duke Show), The Silence of the Lambs (to the tune of "The Shadow of Your Smile" fromThe Sandpiper), Bugsy (to the tune of "Toot Toot Tootsie Goo' Bye" fromThe Jazz Singer), JFK (to the tune of "Three Coins in the Fountain" fromThree Coins in the Fountain), and The Prince of Tides (to the tune of "Don't Rain on My Parade" fromFunny Girl)[20] |
| Paige O'Hara Richard White | Performers | "Belle" fromBeauty and the Beast |
| Jerry Orbach | Performer | "Be Our Guest" fromBeauty and the Beast |
| Bryan Adams | Performer | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" fromRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves |
| Amber Scott | Performer | "When You're Alone" fromHook |
| Peabo Bryson Celine Dion Angela Lansbury | Performers | "Beauty and the Beast" fromBeauty and the Beast |
Riding on the success of63rd Academy Awards which won several Emmys, AMPAS rehiredGil Cates for the third consecutive year.[21][22] He christened the 1992 ceremony with the theme "Pure Joy of the Movies," explaining that "Motion pictures provide us with laughter, romance, adventure and a deeper understanding of ourselves. With all the extraordinary events that are taking place today, it's wonderful that we can still get away to see a film."[23][24]
A month before the festivities, Cates recruited actor and comedianBilly Crystal to host the ceremony for the third straight year.[25] According toVariety columnistArmy Archerd, Crystal planned to perform a bungee jump stunt as part of his entrance at the beginning of the ceremony. However, the act was scrapped due to high insurance costs for the AMPAS and Crystal coming down with the flu.[26] Instead, Crystal, who was wearingHannibal Lecter's mask fromThe Silence of the Lambs, was hauled onto the stage by two men.[27]
Several other people were involved in the production of the ceremony. ChoreographerDebbie Allen supervised the Best Song nominee performances and the Best Original Score dance number.[28] Film composer and musicianBill Conti served as musical director of the ceremony.[29] In tandem with the theme of the ceremony, Chuck Workman produced a montage highlighting famous movie scenes from past and present.[20]
At the time of the nominations announcement on February 19, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $393 million with an average of $78.7 million per film.[30]The Silence of the Lambs was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees, with $130.7 million in domestic box office receipts.[30] The film was followed byBeauty and the Beast ($106.6 million),The Prince of Tides ($59.3 million),JFK ($58.1 million), and finallyBugsy ($38.9 million).[30]
Of the 50 top-grossing movies of the year, 72 nominations went to 15 of them. OnlySilence of the Lambs (3rd),Beauty and the Beast (6th),Cape Fear (10th),The Prince of Tides (18th),JFK (21st),Boyz n the Hood (22nd),Thelma and Louise (27th),The Fisher King (30th), andBugsy (32nd) were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenwriting. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations wereTerminator 2: Judgment Day (1st),Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (2nd),Hook (5th),The Addams Family (7th),Backdraft (12th), andStar Trek VI: the Undiscovery Country (13th).[31]
Several days before the ceremony,LGBT activist groups such asQueer Nation and Out in Film announced plans to stage a protest outside theDorothy Chandler Pavilion.[32] The organizations were voicing their complaints regarding derogatory and unflattering portrayals of homosexuals in film such asThe Silence of the Lambs,JFK, and the upcoming filmBasic Instinct.[33][34] Queer Nation spokesman Rick Wilson said that the demonstrators "would stop cars from getting to the Oscars. It'll be a stall-in". Wilson also announced plans to disrupt the proceedings inside the theater.[35] In response, producer Gil Cates stated, "Anyone can protest about anything they want outside the show." But he said that the standard, "generic response" to something happening during the ceremony on camera, "would be to cut to a commercial."[35] Moreover, Academy spokesman Bob Werden reiterated that while security plans would not be as stringent as the previous year, firemen and police officers would be on hand in case of fallout from the protests.[33]
On the day of the telecast, several protesters carried various signs that contained statements such as "Stop Hollywood's Homophobia" and "Hollywood Stop Censoring Our True Queer Lives."[36] One man who had purchased tickets to the ceremony yelled statistics regardingAIDS in protest asJohn Candy was introducing a Best Song performance.[37] Without making any arrests or having his comments heard during the broadcast, security immediately escorted the protester out.[36]
The show received a positive reception from most media publications.The New York Times film criticJanet Maslin raved that the telecast was "uncharacteristically lively". She also praised host Crystal, saying that his opening monologue "set the evening's clever and iconoclastic tone."[38] Columnist Scott Williams of theAssociated Press wrote that "Crystal was charming from the moment he was wheeled onstage and strolled into the audience wearing the face mask of the demonic Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter fromThe Silence of the Lambs, which was named best picture."[39] Ray Richmond from theOrange County Register commented that Crystal "is such a magnificent Oscar host that the job should be his as long as he wants it."[40]
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 44.44 million people over its length, which was a 5% increase from theprevious year's ceremony.[41] The show also drew higherNielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 29.84% of households watching over a 50.26 share.[42] In addition, it also drew a higher 18–49 demo rating with a 20.71 rating over a 39.51 share among viewers in that demographic.[42]
In July 1992, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the44th Primetime Emmys.[43] The following month, the ceremony won three of those nominations forOutstanding Writing for a Variety Program (Hal Kanter,Buz Kohan, Billy Crystal,Marc Shaiman,David Steinberg,Robert Wuhl,Bruce Vilanch),Outstanding Music Direction (Bill Conti,Jack Eskew,Julie Giroux, Ashley Irwin, andHummie Mann), andOutstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program (Raymond Aghayan).[44]
