64th Academy Awards


The 64th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best films of 1991 in the United States and took place on March 30, 1992, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 23 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the third consecutive year. Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on March 7, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Tom Hanks.
The Silence of the Lambs won five awards including Best Picture. Other winners included ' with four awards, Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, and JFK with two, and City Slickers, ', The Fisher King, In the Shadow of the Stars, Manipulation, Mediterraneo, Session Man, and Thelma & Louise with one. The telecast garnered more than 44 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 64th Academy Awards were announced on February 19, 1992, at 5:38 a.m. PST at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Karl Malden, president of the Academy, and the actress Kathleen Turner. Bugsy led all nominees with ten nominations; JFK came in second with eight.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 30, 1992. The Silence of the Lambs became the first horror film to win Best Picture and the first film to be released on home video prior to winning that award. 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's It Happened One Night and 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Beauty and the Beast became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. Boyz n the Hood's John Singleton became the first African-American to be nominated for Best Director and the youngest nominee in that category. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively, Diane Ladd and Laura Dern became the first mother and daughter nominated in the same year.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with double dagger.

  • Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs
  • * John Singleton – Boyz n the Hood
  • * Barry Levinson – Bugsy
  • * Oliver Stone – JFK
  • * Ridley Scott – Thelma & Louise
  • Anthony Hopkins – The Silence of the Lambs as Dr. Hannibal Lecter
  • * Warren Beatty – Bugsy as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
  • * Robert De Niro – Cape Fear as Maximilian "Max" Cady
  • * Nick Nolte – The Prince of Tides as Tom Wingo
  • * Robin Williams – The Fisher King as Henry "Parry" Sagan
  • Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling
  • * Geena Davis – Thelma & Louise as Thelma Dickinson
  • * Laura Dern – Rambling Rose as Rose
  • * Bette Midler – For the Boys as Dixie Leonard
  • * Susan Sarandon – Thelma & Louise as Louise Sawyer
  • Jack Palance – City Slickers as Curly Washburn
  • * Tommy Lee Jones – JFK as Clay Shaw
  • * Harvey Keitel – Bugsy as Mickey Cohen
  • * Ben Kingsley – Bugsy as Meyer Lansky
  • * Michael Lerner – Barton Fink as Jack Lipnick
  • Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King as Anne Napolitano
  • * Diane Ladd – Rambling Rose as Mother
  • * Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear as Danielle Bowden
  • * Kate Nelligan – The Prince of Tides as Lila Wingo Newbury
  • * Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes as Virginia "Ninny" Threadgoode
  • Thelma & Louise – Callie Khouri
  • * Boyz n the Hood – John Singleton
  • * Bugsy – James Toback
  • * The Fisher King – Richard LaGravenese
  • * Grand Canyon – Lawrence Kasdan and Meg Kasdan
  • The Silence of the Lambs – Ted Tally based on the novel by Thomas Harris
  • * Europa Europa – Agnieszka Holland based on the memoirs of Solomon Perel
  • * Fried Green Tomatoes – Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
  • * JFK – Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar based on the books Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs and On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison
  • * The Prince of Tides – Pat Conroy and Becky Johnston based on the novel by Pat Conroy
  • Mediterraneo in Italian – Gabriele Salvatores
  • * Children of Nature in Icelandic – Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
  • * The Elementary School in Czech – Jan Svěrák
  • * The Ox in Swedish – Sven Nykvist
  • * Raise the Red Lantern in Mandarin – Zhang Yimou
  • In the Shadow of the Stars – Allie Light and Irving Saraf, producers
  • * Death on the Job – Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag, producers
  • * ' – Alan Raymond and Susan Raymond, producers
  • * ' – Hava Kohav Beller, producer
  • * Wild by Law – Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey, producers
  • – Debra Chasnoff, producer
  • * Birdnesters of Thailand – Éric Valli and Alain Majani d'Inguimbert, producers
  • * A Little Vicious – Immy Humes, producer
  • * The Mark of the Maker – David McGowan, producer
  • * ' – Bill Couturié and Bernard Edelman, producers
  • Session Man – Seth Winston and Rob Fried
  • * Birch Street Gym – Stephen Kessler and Thomas R. Conroy
  • * Last Breeze of Summer – David M. Massey
  • Manipulation – Daniel Greaves
  • * Blackfly – Christopher Hinton
  • * Strings – Wendy Tilby
  • Beauty and the Beast – Alan Menken
  • * Bugsy – Ennio Morricone
  • * The Fisher King – George Fenton
  • * JFK – John Williams
  • * The Prince of Tides – James Newton Howard
  • "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Howard Ashman
  • * "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Howard Ashman
  • * "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Howard Ashman
  • * " I Do It for You" from ' – Music by Michael Kamen; Lyrics by Bryan Adams and Robert John "Mutt" Lange
  • * "When You're Alone" from Hook – Music by John Williams; Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
  • – Tom Johnson, Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers and Lee Orloff
  • * Backdraft – Gary Summers, Randy Thom, Gary Rydstrom and Glenn Williams
  • * Beauty and the Beast – Terry Porter, Mel Metcalfe, David J. Hudson and Doc Kane
  • * JFK – Michael Minkler, Gregg Landaker and Tod A. Maitland
  • * The Silence of the Lambs – Tom Fleischman and Christopher Newman
  • – Gary Rydstrom and Gloria Borders
  • * Backdraft – Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns
  • * ' – George Watters II and F. Hudson Miller
  • Bugsy – Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  • * Barton Fink – Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  • * The Fisher King – Art Direction: Mel Bourne; Set Decoration: Cindy Carr
  • * Hook – Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Garrett Lewis
  • * The Prince of Tides – Art Direction: Paul Sylbert; Set Decoration: Caryl Heller
  • – Stan Winston and Jeff Dawn
  • * Hook – Christina Smith, Monty Westmore and Greg Cannom
  • * ' – Michael Mills, Edward French and Richard Snell
  • Bugsy – Albert Wolsky
  • * The Addams Family – Ruth Myers
  • * Barton Fink – Richard Hornung
  • * Hook – Anthony Powell
  • * Madame Bovary – Corinne Jorry
  • JFK – Robert Richardson
  • * Bugsy – Allen Daviau
  • * The Prince of Tides – Stephen Goldblatt
  • * ' – Adam Greenberg
  • * Thelma & Louise – Adrian Biddle
  • JFK – Pietro Scalia and Joe Hutshing
  • * The Commitments – Gerry Hambling
  • * The Silence of the Lambs – Craig McKay
  • * ' – Conrad Buff, Mark Goldblatt and Richard A. Harris
  • * Thelma & Louise – Thom Noble
  • – Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren, Jr. and Robert Skotak
  • * Backdraft – Mikael Salomon, Allen Hall, Clay Pinney and Scott Farrar
  • * Hook – Eric Brevig, Harley Jessup, Mark Sullivan and Michael Lantieri
    		• -

    Academy Honorary Award

  • Satyajit Ray

    Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

  • George Lucas

    Films with multiple nominations and awards

    • The following 16 films had multiple nominations:
    NominationsFilm
    10Bugsy
    8JFK
    7The Prince of Tides
    7The Silence of the Lambs
    6Beauty and the Beast
    6'
    6Thelma & Louise
    5The Fisher King
    5Hook
    3Backdraft
    3Barton Fink
    2Boyz n the Hood
    2Cape Fear
    2Fried Green Tomatoes
    2Rambling Rose
    2'

    The following five films received multiple awards:
    AwardsFilm
    5The Silence of the Lambs
    4
    2Beauty and the Beast
    2Bugsy
    2JFK

    Presenters and performers

    The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers:

    Presenters (in order of appearance)

    NameRole
    Announcer for the 64th annual Academy Awards
    Giver of opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony
    Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor
    Presenter of the film Bugsy on the Best Picture segment

    Christopher Lloyd    		Presenters of the award for Best Makeup
    Introducer of the performances of the Best Original Song nominees "Belle" and "Be Our Guest"
    Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress
    Presenter of the award for Best Art Direction
    Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to George Lucas
    Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Everything I Do "

    Sharon Stone    		Presenters of the award for Best Sound Effects Editing
    Presenter of the film JFK on the Best Picture segment

    Susan Sarandon    		Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing

    Mike Myers    		Presenters of the award for Best Live Action Short Film

    Beast
    Chip    		Presentations of the award for Best Animated Short Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design
    Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film

    Edward James Olmos    		Presenters of the award for Best Sound
    Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "When You're Alone"
    Presenter of the segment of the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award

    John Singleton    		Presenters of the awards for Best Documentary Short Subject and Best Documentary Feature
    Presenter of the film Beauty and the Beast on the Best Picture segment
    Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography

    Diane Ladd    		Presenters of the award for Best Visual Effects
    Introducer of the special dance number to the tune of the Best Original Score nominees and presenter of the award for Best Original Score
    Introducer of presenter of Audrey Hepburn
    Presenter of the Honorary Academy Award to Satyajit Ray
    Presenter of the film The Silence of the Lambs on the Best Picture segment

    Anjelica Huston    		Presenters of the awards for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
    Presenter of the award for Best Actor

    Liza Minnelli    		Presenters of the award for Best Original Song
    Presenter of the award for Best Actress
    Presenter of the film The Prince of Tides on the Best Picture segment
    Presenter of the award for Best Director

    Elizabeth Taylor    		Presenters of the award for Best Picture

    Performers (in order of appearance)

    Ceremony information

    Riding on the success of 63rd Academy Awards which won several Emmys, AMPAS rehired Gil Cates for the third consecutive year. 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."
    A month before the festivities, Cates recruited actor and comedian Billy Crystal to host the ceremony for the third straight year. According to Variety columnist Army 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 Academy and Crystal coming down with the flu. Instead, Crystal, who was wearing Hannibal Lecter's mask from The Silence of the Lambs, was hauled onto the stage by two men.
    Several other people were involved in the production of the ceremony. Choreographer Debbie Allen supervised the Best Song nominee performances and the Best Original Score dance number. Film composer and musician Bill Conti served as musical director of the ceremony. In tandem with the theme of the ceremony, Chuck Workman produced a montage highlighting famous movie scenes from past and present.

    Box office performance of nominees

    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. The Silence of the Lambs was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $130.7 million in domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by Beauty and the Beast, The Prince of Tides, JFK, and finally Bugsy.
    Of the 50 top-grossing movies of the year, 72 nominations went to 15 of them. Only Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Cape Fear, The Prince of Tides, JFK, Boyz n the Hood, Thelma and Louise, The Fisher King, and Bugsy were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenwriting. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Hook, The Addams Family, Backdraft, and Star Trek VI: the Undiscovery Country.

    LGBT in film protest

    Several days before the ceremony, LGBT activist groups such as Queer Nation and Out in Film announced plans to stage a protest outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The organizations were voicing their complaints regarding derogatory and unflattering portrayals of homosexuals in film such as The Silence of the Lambs, JFK, and the upcoming film Basic Instinct. 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. 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." 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.
    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." One man who had purchased tickets to the ceremony yelled statistics regarding AIDS in protest as John Candy was introducing a Best Song performance. The protester was immediately escorted out by security without any arrests, nor were his remarks heard during the broadcast.

    Critical reviews

    The show received a positive reception from most media publications. The New York Times film critic Janet 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." Columnist Scott Williams of the Associated 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 from The Silence of the Lambs, which was named best picture." Ray Richmond from the Orange County Register commented that Crystal "is such a magnificent Oscar host that the job should be his as long as he wants it."

    Ratings and reception

    The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 44.44 million people over its length, which was a 5% increase from the previous year's ceremony. The show also drew higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 29.84% of households watching over a 50.26 share. 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.
    In July 1992, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the 44th Primetime Emmys. The following month, the ceremony won three of those nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Program, Outstanding Music Direction, and Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program.