| 53rd Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 Official poster with original date | |
| Date | March 31, 1981 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Johnny Carson |
| Produced by | Norman Jewison |
| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | Ordinary People |
| Most awards | Ordinary People (4) |
| Most nominations | The Elephant Man andRaging Bull (8) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 10 minutes[1] |
| Ratings | 39.9 million 31% (Nielsen ratings) |
The53rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honoredfilms released in 1980 and took place on March 31, 1981, at theDorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, beginning at 7:00 p.m.PST / 10:00 p.m.EST. The ceremony was scheduled to take place originally on the previous day but was postponed due to theattempted assassination ofRonald Reagan.[2] During the ceremony, AMPAS presentedAcademy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 20 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States byABC, was produced byNorman Jewison and directed byMarty Pasetta.[3] Comedian and talk show hostJohnny Carson hosted the show for the third consecutive time. Two weeks earlier, in a ceremony held atThe Beverly Hilton inBeverly Hills, California, on March 15, theAcademy Scientific and Technical Awards were presented by hostsEd Asner andFay Kanin.[4]
Ordinary People won four awards, includingBest Picture.[5] Other winners includedTess with three awards,The Empire Strikes Back,Fame,Melvin and Howard, andRaging Bull with two, andCoal Miner's Daughter,The Dollar Bottom,The Fly,From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China,Karl Hess: Toward Liberty, andMoscow Does Not Believe in Tears with one. The telecast garnered 39.9 million viewers in the United States.
The nominees for the 53rd Academy Awards were announced on February 17, 1981, by Academy presidentFay Kanin and actorWilliam Devane.[6]The Elephant Man andRaging Bull tied for the most nominations with eight each.[7] The winners were announced at the awards ceremony on March 31. Best Director winnerRobert Redford became the third individual to win this category for his directing debut and the first actor to achieve this feat.[8] At age 20, Best Supporting Actor winnerTimothy Hutton was the youngest male acting winner in Oscar history.[9]Fame became the first film to earn two nominations for Best Original Song.[10]
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Winners are listed first, highlighted inboldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[11]
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The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:[14]
| Name | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Mancini | Musical arranger Conductor | Orchestral |
| Lucie Arnaz | Performer | "Hooray for Hollywood" |
| Willie Nelson | Performer | "On the Road Again" fromHoneysuckle Rose |
| Irene Cara | Performer | "Fame" and "Out Here On My Own" fromFame |
| Dolly Parton | Performer | "9 to 5" fromNine to Five |
| Dionne Warwick | Performer | "People Alone" fromThe Competition |
| Academy Awards Orchestra | Performers | "Hooray for Hollywood(reprise)" (orchestral) during the closing credits |
In December 1980, the Academy hired film producerNorman Jewison to produce the telecast for the first time. "I am delighted that the Academy will have the benefit of Norman Jewison's insight and creativity," said AMPAS PresidentFay Kanin in a press release announcing the selection. "He has always been able to bring a fresh approach into his work."[16] That same month, it was announced that comedian andThe Tonight Show hostJohnny Carson would preside over emceeing duties for the 1981 ceremony. Jewison explained the decision to hire Carson, saying that the host was "an entertainment institution whose spontaneous wit and charm would add a great deal to the quality of the show."[17]
Originally, the gala was scheduled to take place on March 30. However, due to theattempted assassination on US presidentRonald Reagan which occurred earlier that day, Kanin, Jewison, and executives from broadcasterABC announced that the festivities would be postponed to the following day.[18] It marked the first time since the40th ceremony held in 1968 that the ceremony was postponed from its original date.[19] Furthermore, producers debated whether or not to televise a pre-recorded speech from Reagan, who was a former actor, saluting the nominees and the Academy. The segment, which was filmed nearly four weeks prior to the show, was eventually broadcast, with host Carson giving a preface explaining the decision to postpone the event.[20]
During the presentation of the award for Best Animated Short Film toThe Fly, presentersAlan Arkin andMargot Kidder announced that the film's director,Ferenc Rofusz was unable to attend the ceremony. Just as they announced the Academy would accept the award on his behalf, an unnamed man later identified as Hungarofilm general manager Istvan Dosai came up on stage and accepted the award in lieu of the absent filmmaker.[21] Marble Arch Films publicist Regina Gruss, who was in charge of hosting the Hungarian delegation at the Oscars, said that Rofusz contacted Dosai to accept the award on his behalf, but Academy officials asked him not to come up onstage unless his name was announced.[22] After speaking to reporters and posing for pictures backstage, he never returned to his seat and left the ceremony immediately.[21] According to Academy security chief Jerry Moon, AMPAS contacted theLAPD to issue a search warrant for Dosai for theft. However, Academy spokesperson Art Sarno denied that the organization had contacted the police and said that Dosai returned the statuette during a post-awards banquet.[23]
Some media outlets received the broadcast critically. Television columnistTom Shales ofThe Washington Post commented, "Everything seemed an anticlimax to the Reagan opening, and the tragic events in Washington a day earlier did put a shadow of gloom over an affair that had promised to be grim enough anyway – since all but one of the year's Best Picture nominees were somber, austere films, and nothing to shout about."[24]The Salt Lake Tribune television criticHarold Schindler wrote, "On the whole, the 53rd annual Academy Awards telecast Tuesday was overly long, expectedly dull and surprisingly lacking in those highlights which make Oscar night conversation."[25] Bill Mandel of theSan Francisco Examiner quipped, "After the real and completely unscripted emotional explosions of Monday, all the manipulated thrills of the movie industry seemed like the efforts of those bullfight clowns who distract the bull when the matador is injured."[26]
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively.Tampa Bay Times film critic Robert Alan Ross remarked, "The one-day delay turned out well. President Reagan's taped greeting – combined with emcee Johnny Carson's assurance that the First Couple were comfortably watching – instilled a happier mood than might otherwise have prevailed."[27] Jerry Buck of theAssociated Press quipped, "Producer Norman Jewison effectively chose to make the night a homage to motion pictures' past, making wide use of many cherished film clips that tugged at the heart and memory."[28]The Boston Globe columnist Bruce McCabe wrote, "Given the trauma of the past few days, the Academy Awards show conducted itself rather well. No one really disgraced himself. There were no political speeches."[29]
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 39.9 million people over the length of the entire ceremony, which was a 19% decrease from theprevious year's ceremony.[30] An estimated 75 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards.[31] Moreover, the show drew lowerNielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 31% of households watching over a 58% share.[32] Nevertheless, the ceremony presentation won an award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety Program (Roy Christopher) at the33rd Primetime Emmys in September 1981.[33]
