| 40th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster with original date | |
| Date | April 10, 1968 |
| Site | Santa Monica Civic Auditorium,Santa Monica, California |
| Hosted by | Bob Hope |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Directed by | Richard Dunlap |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | In the Heat of the Night |
| Most awards | In the Heat of the Night (5) |
| Most nominations | Bonnie and Clyde andGuess Who's Coming to Dinner (10) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
The40th Academy Awards were held on April 10, 1968, to honorfilm achievements of 1967. Originally scheduled for April 8, the awards were postponed to two days later due to theassassination of civil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr.[1]Bob Hope was once again the host of the ceremony.
This year, due to the waning popularity of black-and-white films,Best Cinematography,Art Direction, andCostume Design, previously divided into separate awards for color andmonochrome films, were merged into single categories. This was the first Oscars since1948 to feature clips from the Best Picture nominees.
This year marked the first of two times that three different films were nominated for the"Big Five" Oscars (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay):Bonnie and Clyde,The Graduate andGuess Who's Coming to Dinner. While all three won major Oscars, Best Picture was awarded toNorman Jewison's thriller/mystery film,In the Heat of the Night. The same thing happened again at the ceremony for films from1981 where the Best Picture winner was not one of the three films with "Big Five" nominations.
The Graduate became the seventh film to winBest Director and nothing else, and the last until the94th Academy Awards. For the first time since the introduction of theAcademy Award for Best Costume Design in1948,Edith Head did not receive a nomination, after tallying 30 nominations and 7 wins over the previous 18 years.
Due to an all-out push by Academy PresidentGregory Peck, 18 of the 20 acting nominees were present at the ceremony.[1] OnlyKatharine Hepburn andSpencer Tracy, who died several months before the ceremony and was nominated posthumously, were missing.Edith Evans was the last performer born in the 1880s to receive an acting nomination (Best Actress, for her role inThe Whisperers).
.jpg)
.jpg)
Nominations were announced on February 19, 1968. Winners are listed first, highlighted inboldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[2]
 | This articlecontains alist of miscellaneous information. Please helpimprove it byrelocating relevant information into other sections or articles.(March 2025) |
These films had multiple nominations:
| The following films received multiple awards.
|
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Hank Simms | Announcer for the 40th Academy Awards |
| Gregory Peck (AMPAS President) | Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Bill Miller | Explained the eligibility and voting rules to the public |
| Carol Channing | Presenter of the award for Best Sound |
| Patty Duke | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Dustin Hoffman Katharine Ross | Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography |
| Macdonald Carey Diahann Carroll | Presenters of the Short Subjects Awards |
| Robert Morse Barbara Rush | Presenters of the Documentary Awards |
| Eva Marie Saint | Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Bob Hope (host) | Presenter of the Honorary Award to Arthur Freed |
| Natalie Wood | Presenter of the award for Best Special Visual Effects |
| Richard Crenna Elke Sommer | Presenters of the award for Best Sound Effects |
| Walter Matthau | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Edith Evans | Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing |
| Rosalind Russell | Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Gregory Peck |
| Danny Kaye | Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| Rock Hudson Shirley Jones | Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction |
| Bob Hope | Presenter of the Academy Awards' history montage |
| Angie Dickinson Gene Kelly | Presenters of the Music Awards |
| Barbra Streisand | Presenter of the award for Best Song |
| Sammy Davis Jr. | AcceptedLeslie Bricusse's award on his behalf |
| Robert Wise | Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award |
| Leslie Caron | Presenter of the award for Best Director |
| Claire Bloom Rod Steiger | Presenters of the Writing Awards |
| Audrey Hepburn | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Sidney Poitier | Presenter of the award for Best Actress |
| Julie Andrews | Presenter of the award for Best Picture |
| Name | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Elmer Bernstein | Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral |
| Louis Armstrong | Performer | "The Bare Necessities" fromThe Jungle Book |
| Lainie Kazan | Performer | "The Eyes of Love" fromBanning |
| Sérgio Mendes Brasil '66 | Performer | "The Look of Love" fromCasino Royale |
| Sammy Davis Jr. | Performer | "Talk to the Animals" fromDoctor Dolittle |
| Angela Lansbury | Performer | "Thoroughly Modern Millie" fromThoroughly Modern Millie[3] |
| Academy Awards Orchestra | Performers | "Hooray for Hollywood/There's No Business like Show Business" (orchestral) during the closing credits |
