To honor 1958's best films, the 31st Academy Awards ceremony was held on April 6, 1959. The show's producer, Jerry Wald, started cutting numbers from the show to make sure it ran on time. Unfortunately, he cut too much material and the ceremony ended 20 minutes early, leaving Jerry Lewis to attempt to fill in the time. Eventually, NBC cut to a re-run of a sports show.
The film Gigi won nine Oscars, breaking Gone with the Wind's record of eight. It only lasted for one year, however, as Ben-Hur broke the record with eleven Oscars the following year.
Gigi was also the last film until The Last Emperor to win best picture without any acting nominations. It also had the biggest clean sweep that would be met by The Last Emperor, winning all 9 of its nominations. The record was broken in 2003 by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Read more about 31st Academy Awards: Awards
Famous quotes containing the word academy:
“When the State wishes to endow an academy or university, it grants it a tract of forest land: one saw represents an academy, a gang, a university.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)