Ben-Hur and William Wyler Win Best Picture and Directing: 1960 Oscars

[@colliric]

11 Oscars.... Deserved every single one of them. A masterpiece. One of the greatest Religious films ever made.

[@claudiacotner1638]

One of the best films ever -period!

[@pedroivobatiston2408]

@@claudiacotner1638 Totally agree.

[@scottmiller6495]

And 1997 s Titanic received 11 awards as well and it's not nearly as good, no way !!!!!

[@MJ-po7je]

but so many animals are killed during filming, so this doesnt't deserve any award...

[@scottmiller6495]

@@MJ-po7je Never knew that Cecil B. De Mille allowed this, sad.

[@jeffersonborges9932]

WOW! I was watching the chariot race sequence with my father today! BEN-HUR is a spectacular movie, a beauty in all the cinematic aspects, is a gift to movie fans. I have no words to describe the musical score from Miklós Rózsa. Charlton Heston gave a magnificent performance. Is a masterpiece! This movie has a huge impact on me and is one of my all time favorite movies! So happy that BEN-HUR won Best Picture Oscar! haha Thank you William Wyler!

[@nursingjewel0517]

Amen

[@vanpelt2321]

Sam Zimbalist, one of the best of the post-Golden Years producers, literally gave his life for "Ben-Hur". He dropped dead of a massive coronary in Rome during the production, overwhelmed by the tremendous stress of the production. A class act, Mr. Zimbalist was also acknowledged by the thorny Gore Vidal as the nicest and most gentlemanly men in his otherwise notorious profession. Eternal memory to the great and historically overlooked prime mover of this eternal masterpiece.

[@tiffsaver]

+Joseph Malham Thank you for posting this, Joe. It needed to be included.

[@RIVAS1128]

The 2016 remake was a mockery of this great classic that won 11 Oscars (1st movie ever to accomplish that)

[@couch.patati-patata]

Gone with the Wind almost did. Gigi had nine. The next year Ben Hur got 11.

[@hunterolaughlin]

Sudeep Sarkar West Side Story almost tied with Ben Hur’s record but lost Best Adapted Screenplay to Judgment of Nuremberg.

[@alessandrodamiani1867]

@@hunterolaughlin both Ben-Hur and West Side Story won in each category they were nominated for except for adapted screenplay.

[@scottmiller6495]

@@couch.patati-patata Speaking of Gigi, what a ridiculous recognition, it was an ok film But The Big Country was so much better and deserved Best Picture of 1958, Hands down!!!!!

[@couch.patati-patata]

@@scottmiller6495 there was nepotism involved.

[@rkpoetry6627]

Ben-hur 1959 my number 1 favourite movie and one of the greatest achievement in movie making history.

[@scottmiller6495]

You're right, The 10 Commandments is right behind it, and Cecil B. Demille was robbed in 1956 !!!!!

[@scottmiller6495]

Agreed, The Best Best Picture ever deserving all 11 Academy Awards, Without a Question!!!!!

[@jazzdub4958]

Was since matched by The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

[@jiggs49us]

Ben-Hur is an Easter classic that has stood the test of time as one of the greatest motion pictures of all time. Acted, directed and produced by figures in the motion picture industry who represented a high level class, respect, and decency not seen by the industry today. My wife and I watch Ben-Hur often - especially at Easter time - and never tire of the drama and acting in this movie.

[@AuntieMamie]

And the producer and director were Jewish! That’s a tribute to the film.

[@tml184]

@@AuntieMamie It was mainly about a Jew remember.

[@dindohamac6640]

when i was a kid me and my mother/father was in the valcony of Queen Theatre, watching Ben Hur. Today i'm now a senior citizen and i kept the HD copy of Films Ben Hur, EL CID and Ten Commandments in my USB. A classic film collection.

[@34mmfilm]

Best movie ever for me! Nothing Compares.

[@70mmcinerama44]

Ben-Hur winner of 11 Academy Awards, yet strangely underrated motion picture today.

[@waykool698]

Ben-Hur, Gladiator, & Lord of the Rings are the most deserved best picture awards of all time.

[@jazzdub4958]

There's a few more than that really is you think about it.

[@goncalonunodurao7656]

Bob Hope a legend, John Wayne a legend and Ben- Hur A TIMELESS LEGEND ! ONE OF BEST EVER MOVIES

[@thamizhachi1296]

What a great movie to win best picture totally deserved it

[@DelightLovesMovies]

I love seeing all those old time actors and directors

[@darthstarkiller1912]

William Wyler's third Oscar win for directing. He also won for two other great best pictures, "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), and "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946). RIP William Wyler, a director as great as modern directors like Steven Spielberg.

[@johnnypastrana6727]

darthstarkiller1912 Spielberg relies on 'special effects'...Wyler, Stevens, Hitchcock, Huston and many others are far more talented than that guy...Jesus, most of his movies are so shallow...but just a sign of the times.

[@claudiacotner1638]

The speech at the end was done by big Paramount Executive Henry Wilcoxon who wrote it for the scene then went off to war the next day serving in the US Coast Gaurd. He was quite the man!

[@michaelskibitiansky8773]

@@johnnypastrana6727 moron

[@scottmiller6495]

Wyler was robbed in 1958 for The Big Country, so in 1959 he had to win this deserved award!

[@AuntieMamie]

Now that was a year of consummate talent. I adore everything that Mr Wyler ever did. Notice his humility.

[@TheTmny876able]

1959 Ben-hur, 1960 Spartacus, 1961 West side story 25 Oscars between them i think those 3 films made history without CGI as well. On blu ray they are even better.

[@gdgopaul]

Stephen Boyd deserved an Oscar also in my opinion . . .

[@kirsteni.russell5903]

I think he should have won the Best Supporting Actor award. His role wasn't nearly as big as Charlton Heston's, but I've seen Boyd in other pictures and it wasn't just the brown contact lenses that made him disappear into the role of Messala. He played Messala as a man obsessed--and, along with Heston, he also learned to drive a chariot. Oh, and his death scene is so visceral it never gets old.

[@danielhoover1080]

Agreed. Far better actor than Heston. As a child, I recall his death scene as the most magnificent and memorable piece of acting in the movie.

[@patrickburns1408]

I agree, Stephen Boyd was absolutely brilliant as Messala, yet wasn't even nominated. Most memorable death scene in film history, in my opinion.

[@claudiacotner1638]

He is missed so much!

[@lauramscott9252]

@@kirsteni.russell5903 Amen! Same here!

[@cherylbean521]

Record never broken, tied with Titanic years later.

[@balto76bourque51]

and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King tied with Titanic many years later

[@matiaspereira9382]

Fun fact: Ben-Hur was the last movie to win Best Picture and both male acting awards until just yesterday (and today in my time zone). Oppenheimer won Best Picture, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr yesterday (today for me)

[@ricardo53100]

Pure class and great clothes. I was only 7 when this show was broadcast.

[@ralphalden4277]

Terrific films that year. Room At The Top featured a brilliant performance by Lawrence Harvey. Some Like It Hot, another classic. But Ben-Hur deserved Best Picture. One of the greatest films ever made.

[@ronaldmcdonald2817]

Diego Pisfil That is not true at all not a lot of people know about Some like it Hot. So many people know about Ben Hur it’s considered one of the greatest films ever made.

[@ronaldmcdonald2817]

Diego Pisfil Did you really just use Watchmojo. You just lost all your credibility.

[@aliguvenc4769]

True decision, well deserved

[@leonardodp34]

John Wayne and Gary Cooper at the same Oscar event!! So great!!!

[@Story2ScreenMovieReviewPodcast]

Too bad they never made a movie together

[@catsarereallycool]

What a fantastic speech.

[@alvaropelayo8084]

John Wayne, Gary Cooper, if we add Clark Gable we would have had the three most interesting and rewarding actors ever to grace the screen

[@davidmathew8075]

My father taken me to watch this movie Ben hur at the age of mine 6 years old.. After some years later I could purchase a copy of this as CD..

[@VahanNisanian]

Gary Cooper's very last appearance on-screen on television.

[@goncalonunodurao7656]

Gary Cooper another legend !

[@jultolentino7515]

I did see ben hur when i was a kid, its majic when see this old stars of hollywood again in you tube.GOD BLESS YOU TUBE

[@alvaropelayo8084]

The Duke, the best of them all, God bless him!!

[@Nutemero]

Gracias Wyler, por tu cine.

[@lynnturman8157]

That guy does a pretty good John Wayne impression.

[@jwelch5742]

Ben-Hur has directing and producing.

[@jayzee3600]

Yes it does. As does every movie

[@robertszvetics210]

its a shame coop and duke never did a movie together

[@JohnProthero]

robert szvetics I don't think that ever would have happened. I just pulled this from the IMDB about "High Noon" - John Wayne strongly disliked this movie because he knew it was an allegory for blacklisting, which he and his friend Ward Bond had strongly and actively supported. Twenty years later he was still criticizing it in his controversial May 1971 interview with Playboy magazine. Inventing a scene that was never in the movie, he claimed Gary Cooper had thrown his marshal's badge to the ground and stepped on it. He also stated he would never regret having driven blacklisted screenwriter Carl Foreman out of Hollywood.

[@robertszvetics210]

yes i know thats why him and howard hawks did rio bravo as a answer to high noon and carl foreman was a commie and your right coop never stepped on his tin star

[@lynnturman8157]

John Prothero It's true that Wayne disliked High Noon. I'm not sure it was for political reasons, however. He and Howard Hawks didn't like it because they thought it wasn't realistic. In the real west, the lawman was hired precisely because the townspeople were too scared to fight the bad guys themselves. In the real west, the sheriff never would've gone around begging the townspeople for help fighting the bad guys. That's why they hired him. So HE would do the shooting & the getting shot at. Maybe politics had something to do with it but publicly Duke & Hawks didn't like it because it wasn't realistic.

[@robertszvetics210]

Lynn Turman also coop had no balls beggin for help grace kelly had more guts there answer to high noon was rio bravo one of the best westerns ever done

[@goncalonunodurao7656]

Best Western movie with Cooper, in my opinion, "High Noon" by another great director, Frank Zimmerman. William Wyler deserved to get both oscars in best movie and best director for sure !

[@MrImiller07]

First of all, what a collection of iconic and talented directors that year: Wyler, Zinnemann, Wilder, Stevens and Clayton. Collectively, they are responsible for many of the best films in Hollywood history-Jezebel, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Giant, Shane, From Here To Eternity, High Noon, Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, etc. With the passage of time, the appropriate choice now seems to be Some Like It Hot, however, Hollywood loves a religious spectacular, and Ben Hur was memorable.

[@laurajones1773]

I think with time, a tie with Some Like it Hot and North by Northwest stood out the most.

[@claudiacotner1638]

Sorry, The Diary of Ann Frank was a marvelous piece of work by the incomparable George GungaDin Stevens. But Films about Jews persecuted are never popular.

[@jazzdub4958]

For me the year of 1959 is one of the greatest ever years for American motion pictures. So many instant classics and masterpieces. Ben Hur deserved every one of it's honors that evening but in any other year, The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn would have cleaned house for such a superb film and performance. One notable omission and something that dogged his whole career for some unfathomable reason was the snub of Alfred Hitchcock and he's glorious thriller North By Northwest. Shocking exclusion by the Academy.

[@kirsteni.russell5903]

Today I'm just sanguine about whatever movie wins the Academy Award for Best Picture. I enjoyed BEN-HUR (1959) too. But my favorite movies haven't necessarily won any awards. I'm just glad to have them on DVD!

[@leonardodp34]

I was really waiting for a video about the Oscar for (at least for me) the best directing of all movie history.

[@ritacarvalho6159]

I love Ben-Hur❤❤❤!!!

[@Ukumari731]

The master!!!!!!!!!!

[@garyhunt8067]

Always either during the Easter holidays, the bank holidays and Christmas too.

[@alvaropelayo8084]

Duke-land means the best cinema, anything related to the best of them all: John Wayne, rip.

[@lmav3085]

amazing ! amazing ! ...si seulement je comprenais un mot de c'qu'ils disent 😣

[@tomfreese5190]

Disappointing that the clips of nominated best films were cut from this video.

[@yvesbrisabois5972]

Ben hur est un chef d'œuvre du cinéma porté par deux immenses acteurs : Charlton Heston et Stephen Boyd..

[@grantpolifka1521]

The audience were not good clappers back then

[@aztro4010]

Ben Hur Titanic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King The 3 champions of the Academy Awards

[@LindaMerchant-bq2hp]

John announcing best picture classic moments ben hur winner

[@danielmiradaaguirre9223]

gran video a i likeddd

[@slycinema4502]

"The pianist" winning best adapted screenplay for Ronald harwood, please

[@JoanSmith-t7k]

No, I don’t remember watching this. The earliest Oscar telecast I saw, that I barely remember was in 1961; at the end of it I said “ What’s “ The Apartment”? 😮

[@curtisstewart9426]

Funny, some of the Stars of John Wayne's Alamo, 1960, thought they would get Oscars. Only to cry in disappointment.

[@samuelbarber6177]

John Wayne just giving off “I really don’t wanna be here, but I’m being paid to do this” vibes

[@gulmerton2758]

Boy, did they have class back in the day…. Acceptance speeches were short and well said. No “I thank God and my family bla bla bla….” to bore the hell out of us.

[@thunderfish2]

After watching this all i can say is Oh Hollywood how far you have fallen.

[@sargondp69]

If you have the awards for all time films, Ben Hur still wins many of the awards it claimed in 1960. Wells likely wins director for Kane, but he would not have disputed Hur as best picture ever made. Best Scene (why not an award?), I think it wins this too for the Crucifixion, second is Hacksaw Ridge (you know the scene if you have seen it). (I wonder what Wallace would have thought to see this, the second Ben Hur film?). And look at all the class on stage here, back in my day before the magic trick. And now Hellwood hates Christ so they produce satanic shit.

[@vulturevic]

No comments about Trump?!?

[@jamesdelong5509]

Who cares? This is movie history right here

[@claudiacotner1638]

Great movies that year; great! But the announcements by Wayne and Cooper were so un dramatic and too fast. Wayne announced the picture before Wyjer’s name as winner of Best Director! Whose idea was that?

[@cristinayamamoto9404]

Amoooo

[@couch.patati-patata]

The movies were colour, the Oscars footage black and white.

[@w9gb]

Yes, the American Color television standard (NTSC) was not determined until this time. So, events in this time were captured via film or Kinescope (filming CRT image). Since the RCA/GE proposal with FM audio was adopted, NBC television stations first adopted in 1963. CBS stations (Columbia mechanical proposal, not adopted) followed in color by 1965. Live sporting events (baseball, football, basketball) helped with color adoption. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez (Desilu Studios) used 3-film cameras for their 1950s sitcom (why that 1950s sitcom looks good today, after digitalization). In 1960s, Desilu was an early adopter of color film for TV production of these shows: The Lucy Show, Mission Impossible, Star Trek, & Hogan’s Hereos (with Bing Crosby Productions)

[@atulrawat4559]

Anatomy of a murder isn't nominated...that's wrong...its the best and purest courtroom drama after 12 angry nen

[@joeenglert]

i think just the next year jimmy stewart accepted the award for the ailing cooper

[@stonesinmyblood27]

Bette Davis’ favorite director

[@Cunninghamily]

3:45

[@TheTerryE]

Mrs. Zimbalist's speech was incredibly moving but I found Bob Hope immediately after making a few lame jokes completely inappropriate.

[@alecfoster4413]

At the end of the day Bob Hope was all about...Bob Hope.

[@antho.cinema]

12 Oscars for this Film my god !

[@silviarothermel7754]

Por favor poner subtítulos en español!!!

[@aderlyvaldez675]

En semana santa es pecado no ver Ben Hur...😅

[@laurajones1773]

Billy Wilder should have won for Some Like it Hot and Alfred Hitchcock should have been nominated for North by Northwest.

[@ronaldmcdonald2817]

Diego Pisfil You actually use watch mojo as a reliable source. Your a comedy genius

[@hunterolaughlin]

I didn’t want to turn this into a lecture and I tried my best to avoid possibly getting into an argument with you, but your lack of reply to my original comment has left me no choice but to be straightforward with you. But no. Some Like It Hot, as much as I enjoy the film, shouldn’t win Best Picture against an epic like Ben-Hur. Like compare the two, Some Like It Hot is just a comedy film with tonal problems balancing its screwball comedy aesthetic with the more serious gangster subplot whereas Ben-Hur is such an grand film on a grand scale with its set pieces, especially the colosseum where the iconic chariot race takes place, actually built and filmed on location in Rome, the iconic chariot race sequence where they injured a lot of horses during the shoot, the battle scene between the ships of the Romans and the Macedonians which was accomplished with old-school special effects with over 40 miniature ships used and built by the same special effects genius who did the special effects in The Wizard of Oz, including the iconic tornado, A. Arnold Gillespie and its score by Miklos Rozsa that Some Like It Hot looks, well, SMALLER in comparison. And the latter being chosen as the #1 Funniest Movie by the AFI doesn’t give it justification to win the Best Picture Oscar.

[@almudenacarnero7934]

Oscar havia una vez una. Niña sus guegos con. Laboratorio. Con los de. Farma así. Atendía. Ya te. Diré ayer estaba. Diciendo algo. Así con una blibloteca. Que. Viajaba vuelvo saludos gracias. Un telescopio. Vuelvo. Me decian. De todo y mas. Vuelvo.

[@akash9818]

How was Some Like it Hot not even nominated. I'm sick of the Academy's obsession for epics.

[@darthstarkiller1912]

IMO the epic films of the 50s and 60s were a highlight in movie history. Movies that took us back in time to a world we'd never seen or experienced. With authentic large-scale sets, carefully and amazingly detailed costumes, and brilliant music and stories, they were able to bring the might and power of ancient Rome and other ancient stories to our imaginations, seeing how no different they were than us (minus the technology). Some examples of the epic films are: "Quo Vadis" (1951) best picture nominee "Julius Caesar" (1953) best picture nominee "The Robe" (1953) best picture nominee "The Ten Commandments" best picture nominee "Ben-Hur" (1959) best picture winner "Spartacus" (1960) "Cleopatra" (1963) best picture nominee It's even inspired modern films like "Gladiator" (2000) which was also a best picture winner. All in all, best picture also means best production, and the productions done for all these films were of a scale you'd rarely see in a movie nowadays (examples include "Titanic" and "Star Wars"). This coming from a 22-year-old guy who's going for a Film Studies minor in college.

[@drstrangelove6558]

Ikr

[@laurajones1773]

Same with North by Northwest.

[@laurajones1773]

Some Like it Hot is considered the Best Comedy of all time according to AFI.

[@williamsnyder5616]

It's pretty hard to knock the quality of "Ben-Hur." Yes, there was Maestro Rozsa's Roman marches and the cast of thousands, but it was also a very intimate film with Ben-Hur's love affair and his conversion to Christ.I thought Heston, Stephen Boyd and Hugh Griffith were superb.

[@catherinemalian9558]

Ildjeketeyrlonechrutleudhgdfiddlrvrgofrlrlfooiughoijfkftiujtfttijvftrdllidsdtiydrdgklmdtudslfmklijfkrlknslemed

[@amariousowens971]

🏄‍♀️

[@drstrangelove6558]

These must etheir be a mistake or a joke, can somebody tells me what it was?

[@scifinerd17]

dr strangelove It’s your opinion being wrong that’s what it is

[@alecfoster4413]

@@scifinerd17 What makes that troll particularly obnoxious is its appropriation of the title of one of my favorite films.

[@scifinerd17]

Alec Foster This troll always shits on every movie that wins and says “This movie should’ve won instead”

[@alecfoster4413]

@@scifinerd17 There is always one in every group. Both Kubrick and Peter Sellars would be disgusted.

[@johnedwards6318]

Best picture should of went to Somelike It Hot. #2 The 400 Blows (France), #3 Anatomy Of A Murder, #4 Floating Weeds (aka Drifting Weeds) (Japan), #5 Shadows, #6 The World Of Apu (India).

[@clarissenowrouzi5749]

john edwards , foreign films can't be nominated for best picture but it can be in best foreign film , i prefer The 400 blows father than black orpheus also from France (my country ) .

[@laurajones1773]

Don't forget North by Northwest.

[@mdlamerica2754]

When the Oscar’s weren’t a Woke Show in crybaby political drivel.

[@pmajudge]

PLEASE UP- DATE THIS VIDEO!!!ITS HORRENDOUSLY AWFUL!!THE SOUND ITS ANCIENT!!FROM(U.K.).