The 55th Annual Academy Awards (1983) (TV)

Director:

Marty Pasetta

Release Date:

11 April 1983 (USA)

Plot Keywords:

Awards Show | Live Performance | Oscar | TV Special | Award

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Walter Matthau	...	Co-Host
Liza Minnelli	...	Co-Host
Dudley Moore	...	Co-Host
Richard Pryor	...	Co-Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julie Andrews	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Richard Attenborough	...	Himself - Winner: Best Picture & Best Director
Patti Austin	...	Herself - Performer
Sandahl Bergman	...	Herself - Performer
Stephen Bishop	...	Himself - Performer
John Briley	...	Himself - Winner: Best Original Screenplay
Carol Burnett	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Picture
Cher	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Score, Original & Adapted
Glenn Close	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Joe Cocker	...	Himself - Performer
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound Effects Editing
Matt Dillon	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Short Film Awards
Plácido Domingo	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Score, Original & Adapted
Philip Dunne	...	Himself - Presenter: Writing Awards
Lisa Eilbacher	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound
José Luis Garci	...	Himself - Winner: Best Foreign Language Film
Teri Garr	...	Herself
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Steve Guttenberg	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Costume Design
Charlton Heston	...	Himself - Presenter: Hersholt Award
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bob Hope	...	Himself - Presenter: Honorary Award
James Ingram	...	Himself - Performer
Fay Kanin	...	Herself - Academy President
Michael Keaton	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Cinematography
David Keith	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound
Margot Kidder	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Ben Kingsley	...	Himself - Winner: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nastassja Kinski	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Cinematography
Jessica Lange	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Supporting Role & Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jack Lemmon	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Melissa Manchester	...	Herself - Performer
Henry Mancini	...	Himself - Best Song Score Winner
James Mason	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects
Kristy McNichol	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Short Film Awards
Walter Mirisch	...	Himself - Hersholt Award Recipient
Robert Mitchum	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
John Moschitta Jr.	...	Himself
Eddie Murphy	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects
Paul Newman	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Olivia Newton-John	...	Herself - Presenter: Best Original Song
Sydney Pollack	...	Himself - Nominee: Best Picture & Best Director
Luise Rainer	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film
Christopher Reeve	...	Himself - Co-presenter: Best Supporting Actor
Ann Reinking	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Costume Design
Mickey Rooney	...	Himself - Honorary Award Recipient
Jane Russell	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Makeup
Zbigniew Rybczynski	...	Himself - Best Animated Short Film Winner
Susan Sarandon	...	Herself - Co-presenter: Best Supporting Actor
Tom Selleck	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Film Editing
William Shatner	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Sissy Spacek	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sylvester Stallone	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actress in a Leading Role
Kim Stanley	...	Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Donald Stewart	...	Himself - Best Adapted Screenplay Winner
Meryl Streep	...	Herself - Winner: Best Actress in a Leading Role
John Travolta	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jack Valenti	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film
Jennifer Warnes	...	Herself - Performer
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Herself
Carl Weathers	...	Co-Presenter: Best Sound Effects Editing
Sigourney Weaver	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Raquel Welch	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Film Editing
Cornel Wilde	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Makeup
Billy Wilder	...	Himself - Presenter: Best Director
JoBeth Williams	...	Herself - Co-Presenter: Short Subjects & Features
John Williams	...	Himself - Best Original Score Winner
David L. Wolper	...	Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Documentary: Short Subjects & Features

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles County Music Center - 135 N. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Trivia:

The opening number with the four hosts was roundly panned by the critics. Buz Kohan, the song's lyricist, later said "I had written the opening number, called ''It All Comes Down to This.'' They were all scared stiff, but ordinarily if you're scared, then you put in the time and rehearse. They took the opposite approach. So Liza was forced to carry the number, Walter was singing in his own zone somewhere, Dudley was just trying to walk down these steps without falling, and Richard Pryor well, I think they told him the next day that he was there."

Quotes:

[Accepting the Best Actress award]
Meryl Streep: I have a lot of people to thank, and I'm going to be one of those people that tries to mention a lot of names, because I know just two seconds ago my mother and father went completely berserk, and, uh, I'd like to give some other mothers and fathers that opportunity.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Buffy Sainte-Marie: Up Where We Belong (1996) (TV)

Soundtrack:

How Do You Keep the Music Playing?

Everything that could go wrong did!

This was the year of the mishap at the Oscars. Sound cues were missed, and film clips that were to be shown could not be found. The audio of the live telecast was substandard and you could often hear the crew yelling at each other and haphazardly moving things abound behind the curtain over the poor presenters on stage, already stumbling through the moldy jokes given to them by the show's "writers". The Best Song nominees, with accompanying performances that have in the past been show highlights, provided no such relief this night as each nominated tune was mediocre at best, with the live performances only underscoring this as they ran the gamut from awful (Melissa Manchester and her latest clichéd piano schmaltz) to ghastly (Sandahl Bergman's interpretive dance to the sounds of "Eye of the Tiger" from Rocky III) Further, the pastels of 1980's fashion were in full bloom all over the garish garden of the evening's attire (much glitter, too!) as was the massive amounts of hair spray topping off the big hairdos, many soon to evolve into full-blown mullets. (Take that, intelligent design!). Finally, in a departure from then regular host Johnny Carson, the show tried a novel approach with four hosts who unfortunately, were slated to open the show with a spectacular musical number: Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor, and Walter Matthau. Always a trooper, Liza did her best, but Matthau clearly had not learned the song, and Pryor, well, there are several reasons why he may have mumbled through his portion, but none excuse his butchery. The look on Liza's face as she realizes the whole thing is an unmitigated disaster even as she nevertheless presses on is utterly priceless. Finally, co-host's Moore and Pryor clearly hated each other and their awkward banter with one another leads to ad-libs that quickly degenerate into each man boasting to the other about how much they are paid per film. Very tacky, but then, it set the stage for what must be among the most worst Award shows ever, and not limited to mere Oscar telecasts.