23rd Academy Awards

23rd Academy Awards
23rd Academy Awards
Date	March 29, 1951
Site	RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California
Hosted by	Fred Astaire
Highlights
Best Picture	All About Eve
Most awards	All About Eve (6)
Most nominations	All About Eve (14)
	← 22nd ; Academy Awards ; 24th →;

Last updated May 31, 2025

The 23rd Academy Awards were held on March 29, 1951, honoring the films of 1950. All About Eve received a record 14 nominations, besting the previous record of 13 set by Gone with the Wind in 1939. It won six Oscars, including Best Picture, and earned writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz his second consecutive Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay awards, the only time such a feat has been accomplished.

All About Eve was the second film, after Mrs. Miniver (1942), to receive five acting nominations. It was the first to receive multiple nominations in two acting categories, and the (to date) only film to receive four female acting nominations—two each for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. None was successful, losing to Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday and Josephine Hull in Harvey , respectively.

Jose Ferrer, then under investigation from the House Un-American Activities Committee over suspected Communist ties, won the Best Actor award despite being given very little chances to win.^[1] Marlene Dietrich nearly stole the show by wearing an apparently-painted-on dress that displayed her legs and figure.^[1]

Sunset Boulevard was the fifth film with nominations in every acting category, and the second not to win any of them (after My Man Godfrey in 1936).

Winners and nominees

Darryl F. Zanuck; Best Picture winner

Joseph L. Mankiewicz; Best Director and Best Screenplay winner

José Ferrer; Best Actor winner

Judy Holliday; Best Actress winner

George Sanders; Best Supporting Actor winner

Josephine Hull; Best Supporting Actress winner

Charles Brackett; Best Story and Screenplay co-winner

Billy Wilder; Best Story and Screenplay co-winner

Edith Head; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White and Best Costume Design, Color co-winner

Charles LeMaire; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White co-winner

Dorothy Jeakins; Best Costume Design, Color co-winner

Ralph E. Winters (left); Best Film Editing co-winner

Conrad A. Nervig; Best Film Editing co-winner

Awards

Nominations announced on February 12, 1951. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.^[2]

Best Motion Picture	Best Directing
All About Eve – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox ‡ Born Yesterday – S. Sylvan Simon for Columbia Pictures Father of the Bride – Pandro S. Berman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer King Solomon's Mines – Sam Zimbalist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett for Paramount Pictures	Joseph L. Mankiewicz – All About Eve ‡ John Huston – The Asphalt Jungle George Cukor – Born Yesterday Billy Wilder – Sunset Boulevard Carol Reed – The Third Man
Best Actor	Best Actress
*José Ferrer – Cyrano de Bergerac* as Cyrano de Bergerac** ‡ Louis Calhern – The Magnificent Yankee as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. William Holden – Sunset Boulevard as Joe Gillis James Stewart – Harvey as Elwood P. Dowd Spencer Tracy – Father of the Bride as Stanley T. Banks	*Judy Holliday – Born Yesterday* as Emma "Billie" Dawn*‡ Anne Baxter – All About Eve* as Eve Harrington Bette Davis – All About Eve as Margo Channing Eleanor Parker – Caged as Marie Allen Gloria Swanson – Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond
Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
*George Sanders – All About Eve* as Addison DeWitt*‡ Jeff Chandler – Broken Arrow* as Cochise Edmund Gwenn – Mister 880 as "Skipper" Miller Sam Jaffe – The Asphalt Jungle as "Doc" Erwin Riedenschneider Erich von Stroheim – Sunset Boulevard as Max von Mayerling	*Josephine Hull – Harvey* as Veta Louise Simmons*‡ Hope Emerson – Caged* as Evelyn Harper Celeste Holm – All About Eve as Karen Richards Nancy Olson – Sunset Boulevard as Betty Schaefer Thelma Ritter – All About Eve as Birdie
Best Writing (Screenplay)	Best Writing (Story and Screenplay)
All About Eve – Joseph L. Mankiewicz from "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr ‡ The Asphalt Jungle – Ben Maddow and John Huston from The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett Born Yesterday – Albert Mannheimer from Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin Broken Arrow – Albert Maltz from Blood Brother by Elliott Arnold Father of the Bride – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from Father of the Bride by Edward Streeter	Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D. M. Marshman Jr. ‡ Adam's Rib – Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin Caged – Virginia Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld The Men – Carl Foreman No Way Out – Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels
Best Writing (Motion Picture Story)	Best Documentary (Feature)
Panic in the Streets – Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt ‡ Bitter Rice – Giuseppe De Santis and Carlo Lizzani The Gunfighter – William Bowers and André de Toth Mystery Street – Leonard Spigelgass When Willie Comes Marching Home – Sy Gomberg	The Titan: Story of Michelangelo – Robert Snyder ‡ With These Hands – Jack Arnold and Lee Goldman
Best Documentary (Short Subject)	Best Short Subject (One-Reel)
Why Korea? – Edmund Reek ‡ The Fight: Science Against Cancer – Guy Glover The Stairs – Film Documents, Inc.	Grandad of Races – Gordon Hollingshead ‡ Blaze Busters – Robert Youngson Wrong Way Butch – Pete Smith
Best Short Subject (Two-Reel)	Best Short Subject (Cartoon)
In Beaver Valley – Walt Disney ‡ Grandma Moses – Falcon Films, Inc. My Country 'Tis of Thee – Gordon Hollingshead	Gerald McBoing-Boing – Stephen Bosustow ‡ Jerry's Cousin – Fred Quimby Trouble Indemnity – Stephen Bosustow
Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)	Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)
Sunset Boulevard – Franz Waxman ‡ All About Eve – Alfred Newman The Flame and the Arrow – Max Steiner No Sad Songs for Me – George Duning Samson and Delilah – Victor Young	Annie Get Your Gun – Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens ‡ Cinderella – Oliver Wallace and Paul J. Smith I'll Get By – Lionel Newman Three Little Words – André Previn The West Point Story – Ray Heindorf
Best Music (Song)	Best Sound Recording
*"Mona Lisa" from Captain Carey, U.S.A.* – Music and Lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston** ‡ "Be My Love" from The Toast of New Orleans – Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella – Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston "Mule Train" from Singing Guns – Music and Lyrics by Fred Glickman, Hy Heath, and Johnny Lange "Wilhelmina" from Wabash Avenue – Music by Josef Myrow; Lyrics by Mack Gordon	All About Eve – Thomas T. Moulton ‡ Cinderella – C. O. Slyfield Louisa – Leslie I. Carey Our Very Own – Gordon E. Sawyer Trio – Cyril Crowhurst
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)	Best Art Direction (Color)
Sunset Boulevard – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and John Meehan; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer ‡ All About Eve – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and George Davis; Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott The Red Danube – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Hans Peters; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt	Samson and Delilah – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer ‡ Annie Get Your Gun – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Richard A. Pefferle Destination Moon – Art Direction: Ernst Fegté; Set Decoration: George Sawley
Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)	Best Cinematography (Color)
The Third Man – Robert Krasker ‡ All About Eve – Milton Krasner The Asphalt Jungle – Harold Rosson The Furies – Victor Milner Sunset Boulevard – John F. Seitz	King Solomon's Mines – Robert Surtees ‡ Annie Get Your Gun – Charles Rosher Broken Arrow – Ernest Palmer The Flame and the Arrow – Ernest Haller Samson and Delilah – George Barnes
Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)	Best Costume Design (Color)
All About Eve – Edith Head and Charles LeMaire ‡ Born Yesterday – Jean Louis The Magnificent Yankee – Walter Plunkett	Samson and Delilah – Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, and Gwen Wakeling ‡ The Black Rose – Michael Whittaker That Forsyte Woman – Walter Plunkett and Valles
Best Film Editing	Best Special Effects
King Solomon's Mines – Ralph E. Winters and Conrad A. Nervig ‡ All About Eve – Barbara McLean Annie Get Your Gun – James E. Newcom Sunset Boulevard – Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison The Third Man – Oswald Hafenrichter	Destination Moon – George Pal Productions and Eagle Lion Classics‡ Samson and Delilah – Cecil B. DeMille Productions and Paramount

Honorary Foreign Language Film Award

To The Walls of Malapaga (France/Italy) - voted by the Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States in 1950.

Honorary Awards

To George Murphy for his services in interpreting the film industry to the country at large.
To Louis B. Mayer for distinguished service to the motion picture industry.

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Darryl F. Zanuck

Presenters and performers

Presenters

Lex Barker and Arlene Dahl (Presenters: Best Art Direction)
Charles Brackett (Presenter: Honorary Awards)
Ralph Bunche (Presenter: Best Motion Picture)
Ruth Chatterton (Presenter: Writing Awards)
Broderick Crawford (Presenter: Best Actress)
Marlene Dietrich (Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film)
Coleen Gray (Presenter: Documentary Awards)
Jane Greer (Presenter: Best Special Effects)
Helen Hayes (Presenter: Best Actor)
Dean Jagger (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
Gene Kelly (Presenter: Music Awards)
Phyllis Kirk (Presenter: Short Subject Awards)
Mercedes McCambridge (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
Leo McCarey (Presenter: Best Director)
Marilyn Monroe (Presenter: Best Sound Recording)
Debra Paget (Presenter: Best Film Editing)
Debbie Reynolds (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
Jan Sterling (Presenter: Best Costume Design)
David Wayne (Presenter: Scientific & Technical Awards)

Performers

Gloria DeHaven and Alan Young
Frankie Laine ("Mule Train" from Singing Guns)
Martin and Lewis ("Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella )
Lucille Norman

Multiple nominations and awards

Films with multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
14	All About Eve
11	Sunset Boulevard
5	Born Yesterday
5	Samson and Delilah
4	Annie Get Your Gun
4	The Asphalt Jungle
3	Broken Arrow
	Caged
	Cinderella
	Father of the Bride
	King Solomon's Mines
	The Third Man
2	Destination Moon
	The Flame and the Arrow
	Harvey
	The Magnificent Yankee

Films with multiple awards
Awards	Film
6	All About Eve
3	Sunset Boulevard
2	King Solomon's Mines
Samson and Delilah

References

1 2 Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 838. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
↑ "The 23rd Academy Awards (1951) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

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[Oscars_'50_Notes-1] 1 2 Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 838. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.

[Oscars1951-2] "The 23rd Academy Awards (1951) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.

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