62nd Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1990)

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  • Date of Ceremony: Monday, March 26, 1990
  • For films released in: 1989
  • Host(s): Billy Crystal (video)
Other years:

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The 62nd Annual Academy Awards were held on Monday, March 26th, 1990. Once again at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the ceremony was hosted for the first time by Billy Crystal.

The proceedings, though still lengthy, were kept moving at a good pace by the sharp-witted Crystal, who opened the show with a song incorporating shtick about each of the nominated films.

Nominated for nine awards, Driving Miss Daisy took home four, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Jessica Tandy. At 80, Tandy was the oldest performer to ever win a competitive Oscar.

I never expected in a million years that I would ever be in this position. It’s a miracle. And I thank my lucky stars and Richard and Lili Zanuck who had the faith to give me this wonderful chance.” – Jessica Tandy

Best Director went to Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July. Stone said “My deepest thanks for your acknowledgment that Vietnam is not over, although some people say it is. But that Vietnam is a state of mind that continues all over the world for as long as men in his quest for power interfere in the affairs of other men.”

The small British film, My Left Foot, won two Oscars. A Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis who said that “You’ve just provided me with the makings of one hell of a weekend in Dublin” and Best Supporting Actress for Brenda Fricker, who said she’d “like to thank every single member of the crew who worked on My Left Foot who created an atmosphere of fun and love and hard work.”

Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor for Glory. Washington said that, “My son said he was gonna make one of these out of clay for me, now I got the model for him.”

The Oscars also decided to take a trip around the world during the ceremony, with presenters appearing via satellite from London, Moscow, Buenos Aires and Sydney.

Results

Best Picture

  • Driving Miss Daisy
    Richard D. Zanuck [Producer] and Lili Fini Zanuck [Producer]

Best Directing

  • Born on the Fourth of July
    Oliver Stone

Best Actor in a Leading Role

  • My Left Foot
    Daniel Day Lewis

Best Actress in a Leading Role

  • Driving Miss Daisy
    Jessica Tandy

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

  • My Left Foot
    Brenda Fricker

Best Foreign Language Film

  • Cinema Paradiso

Best Art Direction

  • Batman
    Anton Furst [Art Direction] and Peter Young [Set Decoration]

Best Cinematography

  • Glory
    Freddie Francis

Best Costume Design

  • Henry V
    Phyllis Dalton

Best Documentary (Feature)

  • Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
    Robert Epstein [Producer] and Bill Couturié [Producer]

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

  • The Johnstown Flood
    Charles Guggenheim [Producer]

Best Film Editing

  • Born on the Fourth of July
    David Brenner and Joe Hutshing

Best Makeup

  • Driving Miss Daisy
    Manlio Rocchetti, Lynn Barber and Kevin Haney

Best Music (Original Score)

  • The Little Mermaid
    Alan Menken

Best Music (Original Song)

  • The Little Mermaid "Under the Sea"
    Alan Menken [Music by] and Howard Ashman [Lyric by]

Best Short Film (Animated)

  • Balance
    Christoph Lauenstein and Wolfgang Lauenstein

Best Short Film (Live Action)

  • Work Experience
    James Hendrie

Best Sound

  • Glory
    Donald O. Mitchell, Gregg C. Rudloff, Elliot Tyson and Russell Williams II

Best Sound Effects Editing

  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
    Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns

Best Visual Effects

  • The Abyss
    John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman and Dennis Skotak

Best Writing (Screenplay - based on material from another medium)

  • Driving Miss Daisy
    Alfred Uhry

Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

  • Dead Poets Society
    Tom Schulman

Award of Commendation

  • Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
    Note: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Board of Governors commends the contributions of the members of the engineering committees of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). By establishing industry standards, they have greatly contributed to making film a primary form of international communication.

Honorary Award

  • Akira Kurosawa
    Note: …for accomplishments that have inspired, delighted, enriched and entertained audiences and influenced filmmakers throughout the world.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

  • Howard W. Koch

Gordon E. Sawyer Award

  • Pierre Angenieux

Scientific or Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award)

  • James Ketcham [of JSK Engineering]
    Note: …for the excellence in engineering and the broad adaptability of the SDA521B Advance/Retard system for magnetic film sound dubbing.
  • J. Noxon Leavitt and Istec Incorporated
    Note: To J. Noxon Leavitt, for the invention of, and Istec Incorporated, for the continuing development of the Wescam Stabilized Camera System.
  • Geoffrey H. Williamson [of Wilcam Photo Research] and Robert D. Auguste [of Wilcam Photo Research]
    Note: To Geoffrey H. Williamson of Wilcam Photo Research, Incorporated, for the design and development, and to Robert D. Auguste for the electronic design and development of the Wilcam W-7 200 frames-per-second VistaVision Rotating Mirror Reflex Camera.
  • James L. Fisher [of J.L. Fisher Incorporated]
    Note: …for the design and manufacture of a small, mobile motion picture camera platform known as the Fisher Model Ten Dolly.
  • Klaus Resch, Erich Fitz and FGV Schmidle & Fitz
    Note: To Klaus Resch for the design, Erich Fitz and FGV Schmidle & Fitz for the development of the Super Panther MS-180 Camera Dolly.

Scientific or Technical Award (Technical Achievement Award)

  • Dr. Leo Catozzo
    Note: …for the design and development of the CIR-Catozzo Self-Perforating Adhesive Tape Film Splicer.
  • Magna-Tech Electronic Co. Inc.
    Note: …for the introduction of the first remotely controlled Advance/Retard function for magnetic film sound dubbing.
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