34th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1962)
©A.M.P.A.S.®
Bob Hope hosted the 34th Academy Awards when they took place on Monday, April 9th, 1962 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
West Side Story was the big winner, taking home 10 out of its eleven nominations.
Sophia Loren’s Best Actress win for La Ciociara became Oscar’s first subtitled winner. Though Maximilian Schell won as Best Actor for Judgment at Nuremberg, his category was also notable because George C. Scott had told the Academy he declined their nomination, though his name remained on the ballot.
The night had another unscripted surprise. A man named Stan Berman had snuck into the building. He climbed up on stage and announced “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m the world’s greatest gatecrasher and I just came here to present Bob Hope with his 1938 trophy.”
Hope later quipped, “Who needs Price Waterhouse? All we need is a doorman.”
Results
Best Motion Picture
- West Side Story
Robert Wise [Producer]
Best Directing
- West Side Story
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Best Actor
- Judgment at Nuremberg
Maximilian Schell
Best Actress
- Two Women
Sophia Loren
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
- West Side Story
George Chakiris
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- West Side Story
Rita Moreno
Best Foreign Language Film
- Through a Glass Darkly
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- The Hustler
Harry Horner [Art Direction] and Gene Callahan [Set Decoration]
Best Art Direction (Color)
- West Side Story
Boris Leven [Art Direction] and Victor A. Gangelin [Set Decoration]
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
- The Hustler
Eugen Shuftan
Best Cinematography (Color)
- West Side Story
Daniel L. Fapp
Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)
- La Dolce Vita
Piero Gherardi
Best Costume Design (Color)
- West Side Story
Irene Sharaff
Best Documentary (Feature)
- Le Ciel et la Boue (Sky Above and Mud Beneath)
Arthur Cohn and Rene Lafuite
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
- Project Hope
Frank P. Bibas
Best Film Editing
- West Side Story
Thomas Stanford
Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's
Henry Mancini
Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)
- West Side Story
Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sam Ramin and Irwin Kostal
Best Music (Song)
- Breakfast at Tiffany's "Moon River"
Henry Mancini [Music by] and Johnny Mercer [Lyrics by]
Best Short Subject (Cartoon)
- Ersatz (The Substitute)
Zagreb Film
Best Short Subject (Live Action)
- Seawards the Great Ships
Templar Film Studios
Best Sound
- West Side Story
Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes [Sound Director], Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department and Gordon E. Sawyer [Sound Director]
Best Special Effects
- The Guns of Navarone
Bill Warrington [Visual Effects by] and Vivian C. Greenham [Audible Effects by]
Best Writing (Screenplay - based on material from another medium)
- Judgment at Nuremberg
Abby Mann
Best Writing (Story and Screenplay - written directly for the screen)
- Splendor in the Grass
William Inge
Honorary Award
- William L. Hendricks
Note: …for his outstanding patriotic service in the conception, writing and production of the Marine Corps film, A Force in Readiness, which has brought honor to the Academy and the motion picture industry. - Fred L. Metzler
Note: …for his dedication and outstanding service to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. - Jerome Robbins
Note: …for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
- Stanley Kramer
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- George Seaton
Scientific or Technical Award (Class II)
- Sylvania Electric Products Inc.
Note: …for the development of a hand held high-power photographic lighting unit known as the Sun Gun Professional. - James Dale, S. Wilson, H.E. Rice, John Rude, Laurie Atkin, Wadsworth E. Pohl, H. Peasgood and Technicolor Corp.
Note: …for a process of automatic selective printing. - 20th Century-Fox Research Department, Earl Sponable [under the direction of], Herbert Bragg [under the direction of], Deluxe Laboratories Inc. [under the direction of], F.D. Leslie [with the assistance of], R.D. Whitmore [with the assistance of], A.A. Alden [with the assistance of], Endel Pool [with the assistance of] and James B. Gordon [with the assistance of]
Note: …for a system of decompressing and recomposing CinemaScope pictures for conventional aspect ratios.
Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)
- Hurletron Inc. Electric Eye Equipment Division
Note: …for an automatic light changing system for motion picture printers. - Wadsworth E. Pohl and Technicolor Corp.
Note: …for an integrated sound and picture transfer process.