The Opening of the Academy Awards: 1959 Oscars

[@ToughXArmy69]

This was my first Academy Award Show. Our parents allowed us to stay up late: It remains my favorite with MOVIE STARS: Susan Hayward, Cary Grant, Doris Day, John Wayne, Roz Russell, Burt Lancaster, Shirley MacLaine, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, Irene Dunne, Kim Novak, Ingrid Bergman -on her return to America after her "scandal"-- , Kirk Douglas, David Niven, Charlton Heston, Jane Wyman, Maurice Chevalier, Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier At the finale, Jerry Lewis asked Presenters and Winners to come on stage and dance. Classy Show.

[@mickeyh1961]

What a great opening with two Giants of cinema, Burt and Kirk made such a fantastic duo and what shape they were in considering their ages.

[@44032]

Two of the best athletes of all the movies stars. Burt was a circus acrobat and Kirk a college wrestler.

[@hitomi1341]

thankyou !! Ì love Burt !! Burt is beautiful man !! Ì like the train !! ありがとう ジェフリーハンターさん。

[@robertsaks2670]

@@hitomi1341 b

[@1868foxpoint]

5:02 They weren’t that old! 😮

[@kathleenfarris8710]

They were only 41 and 43. What do you mean “considering their ages?”

[@jslasher1]

Super performances by these 2 great troupers. And they can both carry a tune.

[@ellierfromthebronx4531]

Douglas and Lancaster were great together! I went to see their movie, Tough Guys back when I was a young woman...I felt like I was part of their fandom in their heyday! Two master showmen!

[@OldBittyGrandma]

I’m sure you meant, “Lancaster and Douglas”. ;)

[@garrywood8836]

Incredible to think Douglas is still with us 60years on he'll be 102 in December!

[@Glinkaism1]

Kirk and Burt were fabulous!

[@MrImiller07]

Wayne and Holden were co-starring at the time of the 1959 Oscars in John Ford's "The Horse Solders". Holden had previously been nominated for his iconic role in Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" and he ultimately won best actor for "Stalag 17" in 1953. Wayne won his Oscar in 1970 for "True Grit".

[@kateym7836]

MrImiller07 thank you for sharing

[@benabidnedjmeddine9234]

it's verry awesome to see the couple fellows Douglas and Lancaster singin , but i should say : bravo guys

[@ange9663]

Gorgeous william holden fabulous actor, love him always ❤️❤️

[@hitomi1341]

THANK YOU SO MUCH　バートとカークのショーは楽しかった！ワンダフルワールドをありがとう。

[@menashadude]

Amazing!!!!! thank you for posting this........I wasn't even born and would never have had the opportunity otherwise. The opening number was outstanding. In 1989, as a soldier, I had the chance to meet Bob hope and shake his hand so seeing this is very cool to me.

[@gatewayski1]

Thank you for sharing this with the public at last. Very nostalgic. This was the year GIGI won Best Picture, Susan Hayward won for I WANT TO LIVE!, David Niven for SEPARATE TABLES. Please upload Burl Ives and Wendy Hiller's wins (even if Miss Hiller was not present to accept her Oscar).

[@MrMatthewScarborough]

This is just COOL!!!!

[@tznero3512]

so many golden age stars!

[@pjoe1950]

Burt and Kirk WOW. You don't see guys like this anymore.

[@Mia7189]

So cool watching this. I was born one month to the day of this broadcast.

[@russellgay5337]

This was back when the Academy Awards actually meant something and were actually an EVENT!

[@KarinaSanchez-uw9bv]

This page blog rocks. Greetings from Buenos Aires.

[@lisaurwick3866]

I love that it was only 2 hours long! And I feel even more a part of this event since I recently saw Wicked at that very same Pantages Theater!

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Burt had quite a voice

[@georgestrum3478]

I'm surprised how well Kirk and Burt could sing.

[@frannyzooey11]

Kirk Douglas did everything well.

[@tarnsand]

Jane Doe Kirk and Burt were very competitive with one another. They were not close friends off screen but worked well together and their movies made $$. Burt was previously a competitive swimmer and acrobat and of course Kirk with weight lifting and sports.

[@robertbowman984]

Kirk sang in "20,000 leagues under the sea"

[@OldBittyGrandma]

Tarn, Burt was actually afraid of the water and couldn’t swim until receiving swim training in preparation for “The Swimmer”. Also, Michael Douglas stated on a later Oscar presentation that he had known Burt his entire life, lending to the close friends that Burt and Kirk actually were.

[@orchardist6559]

The openings of the “Oscars” are always the best of the show.

[@mastermike890]

Bob Hope Rules!

[@paladinricthie5189]

I feel so sad that Bob Hope hasn't won an oscar.

[@taulantmurashi6356]

Better spectacle than nowdays

[@rossumrob13]

That's Entertainment!!

[@PatrolOfficer161]

Burt would win the very next year!

[@sunshinelollipopandrainbow5428]

Two years later

[@Vamosdeshopping]

I love to see John Wayne out of a caracter. He remembers me of my uncle Vincent. :)

[@canal-st7cy]

¡¡ Opa las Grandes Estrellas, del Cine Mundial!!! ¡¡ Como dije, desidieron desender a la Tierra, para estar con sus fans, Viva por Ellos, no nos abandonan, en esta enorme prueba terrible !!! Gracias Gracias Gracias, donde quiera Nuestro Padre Celestial, que descansen en paz, por su maravillosa aporte al Arte, inolvidablessss!!!

[@lowens7729]

I miss Bob Hope's jokes...they just came out in normal dialogue....miss him.

[@ionacheaters3121]

THE BEST PART OF THIS SHOW WAS WATCHING SUSAN HAYWARD PICK UP HER LONG OVERDUE OSCAR FOR "I WANT TO LIVE!"

[@sheiladavis6523]

Iona exatvly January 21,2020

[@fritzflute]

Wow, George Stevens!!!

[@danielstanwyck2812]

2 hours!!!! Can you imagine that?!! Speed forward Bob Hope - like his movies, but not his emceeing. Shirley MacLaine as a blonde and Lee J Cobb were all I spotted. Douglas, 98 now!!! and Lancaster were great - carrying him n his shoulders no less! Lancaster won next year.

[@clarissenowrouzi5749]

daniel stanwyck Lancaster won it in 1961

[@toniwilson1579]

This was the one that they didn't even make it to 2 hours long. Jerry Lewis jump up with the band, ab-lib some. One of his joke was they said Dean and me won't ever be on stage again. Dean was seen dancing with Sherily Jones he presented a award. All the winners and the presenter was on stage

[@maryrogers8088]

Uou

[@edoarda68]

Straordinari Kirk Douglas e Burt Lancaster; spiritosissimi! R

[@machngunjoe]

Lol wow Douglas and Lancaster singing

[@alvaropelayo8084]

Those were the years when we had John Wayne, Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Jeff Chandler, Alan Ladd, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Jean Simmons, Jane Powell, Ann Blyth, Maureen O'Hara, Laraine Day, Jane Russell... God bless them all

[@peterpeterson3266]

It's interesting to see how even then in 1959 they were beginning to turn the awards shows into variety acts. Sad.

[@GeorgeRellas]

NBC was already broadcasting in COLOR then, for a few hours a night, since 1954. The BRAND NEW NBC broadcasting facility in L.A. was inaugurated just one year before, in 1958 - & SPECIALIZED in COLOR VIDEOTAPE PRODUCTIONS! I am wondering if this broadcast was originally in COLOR & this is a poorer copy in B&W.. Does anybody know?

[@MissPerriwinkle]

burt was a super sweet man...

[@Nuunie17]

Came here after watch the 2021 Grammys with WAP...

[@DocLitmus]

if you change the title to "Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas circus acrobats (Oscar 1959)" the number of views would grow six zeroes.

[@michaelcordio7150]

Looks like we are ready...

[@zackieboy]

5:58 Wait, they had teleprompters in 1959?

[@doomrocket]

Was that William castle I saw in the crowd at the beginning?

[@liwanagbautista8780]

Wayne was at least 1 foot taller than Holden.

[@eisenjeisen6262]

very good entertainment

[@jimjam51075]

My suggestion to improve ratings is to start airing one of these each year instead of the new ones.

[@PatrolOfficer161]

OOPS! That would be in '61! (But I was close.)

[@richardkennedy8481]

They could do this next year with Chris Rock and Will Smith.

[@thehmspinaforeclub4960]

Douglas is donning the Spartacus hair cut.

[@adrianotero7963]

When Hollywood was Hollywood......today it is a rat ship for sea going minnows.....

[@robdykes3659]

Got that in one buddy

[@Cunninghamily]

11:51

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Holden didn’t shave? He had a ton of grease in his hair!

[@marcdelente2456]

John Wayne était malade et affaibli mais l homme était charismatique. Un grand homme . Quand au grand kirk Douglas et burt lancaster qui nous font du Dean Martin et jerry lewis moment sympathique. Sinon bob hope ne ma jamai fait rire.

[@robdykes3659]

How was john Wayne sick and weakened????

[@krishnagandham969]

The opening of 1959 oscars Uhh

[@drstrangelove6558]

LOL

[@juliet3827]

Have you seen the Pantages theater today? It's a ruin.

[@williamneugebauer5961]

Kirk Douglas...lives...101...wtf.

[@scottknode898]

He was 103 when he passed away on February 5th

[@machngunjoe]

John Wayne was drunk 😵

[@fenwaypark1725]

No offense to Bob Hope, he couldn’t chew gum without it being scipted. Johnny Carson hated Bob as a guest as they had to rehearse backstage.

[@atheistexchristian]

I like these retro Oscar telecasts, but why only show all the Bob Hope openings and omit the rest? Frankly Bob Hope is pretty boring and his jokes are dated and not at all funny. Except for reading his dialogue , I'm still wondering what his talent was and how the hell he got as far as he did. I don't think he would today , unless he joined the Kardashians

[@vinyltapelover]

The years and miles that he traveled, for the USO, to entertain the troops for decades, you could say he deployed as much as a Marine(please no disrespect, intended to all the other service members and their sacrifices)...as far as I'm concerned, Bob Hope gets a pass.

[@hey_joe7069]

You must be crazy. Bob blows anything in this generation away. You obviously didn't get the pop culture references he was making to the time he was speaking of. Bob was brilliant!

[@RPMac]

Racist John Wayne and actor William Holden....

[@robdykes3659]

John Wayne was never a racist,he married 3 black south American woman,all his children were half Latino,and his three daughters all married Latino men, doesn't sound like a man who was a racist,when he said that he believed in white supremacisty in the 1971 interview,he said UNTIL black were educated enough to take the responsibility on of being in office or in job,s,he never said "they can't be educated"or "we shouldn't educate black people" or" they can't be educated" ,he grew up in the dust bowl of America in 1915 to 1935 were black weren't educated,but THAT'S not john Wayne,s fault THAT,S the government,s fault,he just grew up in that era, and not one man , not a woman,not one black person ,has ever come forward and said my father or mother told me that when they worked with or knew john Wayne that he was racist, l have watched most of his movies and there are plenty of black people in them,he could never have made so many films with black people without be caught out being racist to them, your full of shit Keith, you're just listened to the media about the 1971 interview and taken it as true ,john Wayne wanted people to be educated so they could have a life,on the set of the searchers in 1955 he flew white,black children in his own plane back to Hollywood if they were sick or tired or missed their family members doesn't sound like a bigoted man to me, truth is your a arsehole

[@-elchoya9832]

the great WILLIAM HOLDEN,cant say anything good about the other guy.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Bob Hope was never that funny