27th Academy Awards


The 27th Academy Awards honored the best films released in 1954. The Best Picture winner, On the Waterfront, was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by Elia Kazan. It had twelve nominations and eight wins, matching two other films, Gone with the Wind and From Here to Eternity, though those each had thirteen nominations.
On the Waterfront was the third film to receive five acting nominations, and the first to receive three in the Best Supporting Actor category. A "rematch" occurred in the category of Best Actor between Marlon Brando and Humphrey Bogart following Bogart's upset victory three years earlier. In a surprise win, Brando received his first Oscar for his performance in On the Waterfront, which is now seen as one of the most justified upsets in Oscar history. The win was a culmination of four consecutive Best Actor nominations for Brando, a record that remains unmatched to this day.
Grace Kelly won Best Actress for The Country Girl in another upset. Judy Garland, who was heavily favored to win Best Actress for the movie A Star Is Born, could not attend the ceremony as she had only recently given birth to her third child. Cameras were set up in her room so she could express her thanks in the likely case of her winning. Groucho Marx later sent her a telegram expressing that her loss was "the biggest robbery since Brink's".
Another major upset was the title song from the 20th Century Fox film Three Coins in the Fountain winning the Best Song award over "The Man That Got Away" from A Star Is Born.
Dorothy Dandridge became the first African American actress to receive a nomination for Best Actress.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Best Motion PictureBest Director

  • Elia Kazan – On the Waterfront
  • *George Seaton – The Country Girl
  • *William A. Wellman – The High and the Mighty
  • *Alfred Hitchcock – Rear Window
  • *Billy Wilder – Sabrina
    • Best ActorBest Actress
  • Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront as Terry Malloy
  • *Humphrey Bogart – The Caine Mutiny as Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg
  • *Bing Crosby – The Country Girl as Frank Elgin
  • *James Mason – A Star Is Born as Norman Maine
  • *Dan O'Herlihy – Robinson Crusoe as Robinson Crusoe
  • Grace Kelly – The Country Girl as Georgie Elgin
  • *Dorothy Dandridge – Carmen Jones as Carmen Jones
  • *Judy Garland – A Star Is Born as Esther Blodgett
  • *Audrey Hepburn – Sabrina as Sabrina Fairchild
  • *Jane Wyman – Magnificent Obsession as Helen Phillips
    • Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actress
  • Edmond O'Brien – The Barefoot Contessa as Oscar Muldoon
  • *Lee J. Cobb – On the Waterfront as Michael J. Skelly aka "Johnny Friendly"
  • *Karl Malden – On the Waterfront as Father Barry
  • *Rod Steiger – On the Waterfront as Charley "the Gent" Malloy
  • *Tom Tully – The Caine Mutiny as Lieutenant Commander William H. De Vriess
  • Eva Marie Saint – On the Waterfront as Edie Doyle
  • *Nina Foch – Executive Suite as Erica Martin
  • *Katy Jurado – Broken Lance as Señora Devereaux
  • *Jan Sterling – The High and the Mighty as Sally McKee
  • *Claire Trevor – The High and the Mighty as May Holst
    • Best ScreenplayBest Story and Screenplay
  • The Country Girl – George Seaton based on the play by Clifford Odets
  • *The Caine Mutiny – Stanley Roberts based on the novel by Herman Wouk
  • *Rear Window – John Michael Hayes based on the story "It Had To Be Murder" by Cornell Woolrich
  • *Sabrina – Billy Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman based on the novel by Samuel Taylor
  • *Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley based on the story "The Sobbin' Women" by Stephen Vincent Benét
  • On the Waterfront – Budd Schulberg
  • *The Barefoot Contessa – Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  • *Genevieve – William Rose
  • *The Glenn Miller Story – Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney
  • *Knock on Wood – Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
    • Best StoryBest Short Subject - Cartoons
  • Broken Lance – Philip Yordan
  • *Bread, Love and Dreams – Ettore Maria Margadonna
  • *Forbidden Games – Francois Boyer
  • *Night People – Jed Harris and Tom Reed
  • *There's No Business Like Show Business – Lamar Trotti
  • When Magoo Flew
  • *Crazy Mixed Up Pup
  • *Pigs Is Pigs
  • *Sandy Claws
  • *Touché, Pussy Cat!
    • Best Documentary FeatureBest Documentary Short Subject
  • The Vanishing Prairie – Walt Disney
  • *The Stratford Adventure – Guy Glover
  • Thursday's Children
  • *Jet Carrier
  • *'
    • Best Live Action Short Subject, One-ReelBest Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel
  • This Mechanical Age – Robert Youngson
  • *The First Piano Quartette – Otto Lang
  • *The Strauss Fantasy – Johnny Green
  • A Time Out of War – Denis Sanders and Terry Sanders
  • *Beauty and the Bull – Cedric Francis
  • *Jet Carrier – Otto Lang
  • *Siam – Walt Disney Productions
    • Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy PictureBest Scoring of a Musical Picture
  • The High and the Mighty – Dimitri Tiomkin
  • *The Caine Mutiny – Max Steiner
  • *Genevieve – Larry Adler
  • *On the Waterfront – Leonard Bernstein
  • *The Silver Chalice – Franz Waxman
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin
  • *Carmen Jones – Herschel Burke Gilbert
  • *The Glenn Miller Story – Joseph Gershenson and Henry Mancini
  • *A Star Is Born – Ray Heindorf
  • *There's No Business Like Show Business – Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman
    • Best SongBest Sound Recording
  • "Three Coins in the Fountain" from Three Coins in the Fountain – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
  • *"Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" from White Christmas – Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
  • *"The High and the Mighty" from The High and the Mighty – Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned Washington
  • *"Hold My Hand" from Susan Slept Here – Music and Lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Richard Myers
  • *"The Man That Got Away" from A Star Is Born – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • The Glenn Miller Story – Leslie I. Carey
  • *Brigadoon – Wesley C. Miller
  • *The Caine Mutiny – John P. Livadary
  • *Rear Window – Loren L. Ryder
  • *Susan Slept Here – John O. Aalberg
    • Best Art Direction, Black-and-WhiteBest Art Direction, Color
  • On the Waterfront – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Richard Day
  • *The Country Girl – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Grace Gregory
  • *Executive Suite – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Emile Kuri
  • *Le Plaisir – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Max Ophüls
  • *Sabrina – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Art Direction: John Meehan; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
  • *Brigadoon – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and E. Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Keogh Gleason
  • *Désirée – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and Leland Fuller; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott and Paul S. Fox
  • *Red Garters – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer
  • *A Star Is Born – Art Direction: Malcolm Bert, Gene Allen and Irene Sharaff; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
    • Best Cinematography, Black-and-WhiteBest Cinematography, Color
  • On the Waterfront – Boris Kaufman
  • *The Country Girl – John F. Warren
  • *Executive Suite – George Folsey
  • *Rogue Cop – John Seitz
  • *Sabrina – Charles Lang
  • Three Coins in the Fountain – Milton Krasner
  • *The Egyptian – Leon Shamroy
  • *Rear Window – Robert Burks
  • *Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – George Folsey
  • *The Silver Chalice – William V. Skall
    • Best Costume Design, Black-and-WhiteBest Costume Design, Color
  • Sabrina – Edith Head
  • *The Earrings of Madame de… – Georges Annenkov and Rosine Delamare
  • *Executive Suite – Helen Rose
  • *Indiscretion of an American Wife – Christian Dior
  • *It Should Happen to You – Jean Louis
  • Gate of Hell – Sanzo Wada
  • *Brigadoon – Irene Sharaff
  • *Désirée – Charles LeMaire and René Hubert
  • *A Star Is Born – Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg and Irene Sharaff
  • *There's No Business Like Show Business – Charles LeMaire, Travilla and Miles White
    • Best Film EditingBest Special Effects
  • On the Waterfront – Gene Milford
  • *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Elmo Williams
  • *The Caine Mutiny – William A. Lyon and Henry Batista
  • *The High and the Mighty – Ralph Dawson
  • *Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Ralph E. Winters
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'
  • *Hell and High Water
  • *Them!''

    • Academy Honorary Awards

  • Bausch and Lomb Optical "for their contributions to the advancement of the motion picture industry".
  • Kemp R. Niver "for the development of the Renovare Process which has made possible the restoration of the Library of Congress Paper Film Collection".
  • Greta Garbo "for her unforgettable screen performances".
  • Danny Kaye "for his unique talents, his service to the Academy, the motion picture industry, and the American people".
  • Jon Whiteley "for his outstanding juvenile performance in The Little Kidnappers
  • Vincent Winter "for his outstanding juvenile performance in The Little Kidnappers

    Best Foreign Language Film

  • Jigokumon

    Presenters and performers

    • Presenters

    These films had multiple nominations:
    The following films received multiple awards.