The First Oscar Broadcast in Color: 1966 Oscars

Bob Hope's opening monologue at the first Academy Awards® televised in color, on April 18, 1966.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards-in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners¬-the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

[@ItzMeOB]

Bob Hope was one of the best Oscar hosts of all time. And I watch the Oscars of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, reminiscing the unforgettable days. Many icons have gone and are terribly missed. Also to mention are Jerry Lewis and Billy Crystal that made the Oscar night full of great entertainment and laughs.

[@anthonyangeli256]

Billy Crystal was a much better host than Bob Hope. I've heard in real life Hope was a rude arrogant SOB.

[@davidhull1481]

Au contraire. He was a smarmy git.

[@AventuraLuver]

Natalie Wood looks so amazing. She is timeless.

[@MoeGreensRightEye]

Doesn't she have a watch?

[@allenjones3130]

Rest in peace, Natalie.

[@anneroy4560]

one does not wear a watch with evening wear except for a pocket watch@@MoeGreensRightEye

[@rosalindamartinez9634]

NATALIE WOODS WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND SPLENDID FEMALE ACTOR ¡ READY TO CRY ON CUE. SHE WAS GREAT. ON THE I MOST LIKE! THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED. MAY SHE REST IN PEACE!😂😂😂😂😂😂 WELL, I LOVE ALL HER MOVIES SOME MORE THAN OTHERS SHE WAS A GREAT ACTRESS. AND FOREVER WILL BE!😢😢😢😢😢😢😢🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@JorgePupo]

Bob Hope's unique style holds to this day. And will forever! He's my favorite all time host!

[@johnnystaccata]

He had one problem though, he was not very funny.

[@Johnnycdrums]

He was a bad lecher, and had Barbara Payton as a kept woman on the side. On a Bobby Darin Timex Special, Bob Hope was lechering at Miss Joanie Sommers in my opinion.

[@MensAsses33]

I love this era, there still was class and decorum.

[@bachrocktheamericahatersan5799]

…and Bob Hope wasn’t a Democrat👊🏿🇺🇸

[@VicMartino]

Bob Hope was not only a great comedian but also a great humanitarian who gave much of his time for charity as well as entertaining our troops overseas. He left behind a great legacy. Where there was/is Hope there was/is Happiness. Thanks for the Memories dear Bob many thanks.

[@johnnystaccata]

Bob "for Texaco" Hope was not a very funny guy.

[@NetCerpher]

johnnystaccata Right ... that's why he hosted the AA for a record 19 times.

[@johnnystaccata]

The academy awards is known for a lot of mediocre comedy and Bob was one of the worst. Just watch one of his 1960s movies such as "The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell". When Bob Hope is on it is, "Oh its' Bob Hope, and that was the punch line. I should laugh I guess". The awards other hosts missed the mark including Ellen Degeneres, and Billy Chrystal.

[@VicMartino]

NetCerpher One of the best host ever. Some people only know his later day work when he was older and perhaps he did stay at the dance too long but his over all career was impressive to say the least. I recommend reading the new book out now by Richard Zoglin a biography of Bob Hope titled The Untold Story of Bob Hope the Most Important Entertainer of the Twentieth Century. The title says it all.

[@RetroRookie1990]

I want to see more vintage red carpet reels! I'm sry but the style of today's red carpet just can't compete with the elegance of that time!

[@MCO18]

Lee Marvin sneaking a cigarette on the red carpet, lol

[@lynnturman8157]

Nobody "snuck" a cigarette in those days. You could literally smoke anywhere.

[@orbyfan]

And he won that night for "Cat Ballou."

[@LAComedyAwards]

Hope was the greatest.

[@michellepost1016]

My parents had console tvs, but all were b/w,up until 1981, to be exact.So every year of the Academy Awards until then, we saw it in black and white.We never felt cheated, it was simply what we were familiar with.Some people used black and white tvs all during the 1980's.It's like watching TCM.

[@baycast]

Thank you for that clip. Its a great pity we could not see all of the show as its so nostalgic looking back to those wonderful times. The Oscars are always good but its so special when its a past era of real gems.

[@coolcom5]

Yes, yes, please. This archive is so compelling. A time when fame was earned thru talent.

[@jeffersonborges9932]

haha 0:05 I love this choir singing ''Academy Awaaaards'' in the beginning of the video :D And so beautiful the fountains on stage in 1:38 The First Televised Oscar ceremony in the brazilian TV was in the 70's in a channel called TV Tupi (this channel no longer exists) and continues until today being broadcast live.

[@albertpeterson5585]

...the choir was from the coda of the opening number: "Mr Oscar, The Academy Award", which I suspect was written by the Sherman Brothers from Disney.

[@doloreshuntoon7698]

God bless the 1966 Academy Awards Ceremonies!

[@paystarbuzzy]

Lyndon Johnsons daughter was there as George Hamilton's date. Hope made a dig at her daddy by saying he might be "the second Hamilton in the White House...IF...he swears allegiance to Texas."

[@celladora31]

Everybody is dressed so well. Love it.

[@ToughXArmy69]

Kim Novak- a real Movie Star- looking gorgeous with her then husband Richard Johnson.

[@Scandilady]

These are the stars, not the crapola Hollywood brings out today.

[@Lisa-di1wi]

That's true. They didn't wear anything on their lapels in support of liberal causes and organizations such as Planned Parenthood. They also didn't air their political and social grievances in their acceptance speeches as well. They kept their acceptance speeches short and to the point. Maybe that's why the Oscars today have such low ratings. This is an event to honor achievements in the film industry. It's not a platform to air their political and social grievances!

[@Lisa-di1wi]

They also didn't have a thousand microphones being shoved into their faces asking them which designer's clothes they were wearing either. Although there's nothing wrong with them doing a pre-show interview, they're going overboard with it today!

[@fromthesidelines]

It was on ABC, 'Victor' (at the time, they were colorcasting at least half of their prime-time schedule, and several of their daytime programs [but not many]). Hank Simms is the announcer...

[@criddic2]

How rare is it to see Shirley MacLaine arriving at the Oscars with her brother, Warren Beatty?

[@spicnspan3797]

they were getting it on

[@carolinekaplan542]

They went together to places over the years. Nice siblings.

[@rickram1961]

The Golden Era of the Oscars!

[@CaptainGrimsdale]

Nothing has changed in Hollywood except that the telecast is now in HD widescreen digital. The rest of the glamour, glitz and gluttony remains.

[@haggis655]

Anyone know if Hope's monologue for the 1961 Oscars is on youtube? That would include the films made in 1960, including PSYCHO, EXODUS, etc. I think he made some funny references to PSYCHO. According to one joke, as I read, he said something like, "Anthony Perkins must be disappointed he was not nominated for PSYCHO, but the Academy couldn't make up its mind whether to nominate him in the Best Actress or Best Actor category"!

[@joancarlestomas]

I miss the oberture played by the orchestra and the speech by the Academy president.

[@abaco9007]

0:51 Virna Lisi passing by... "The most beautiful actrees I have never worked with" (Jack Lemmon)

[@kevink973]

I remember when color TV looked like this; hard to describe, just different than now, like color movies from an earlier time.

[@NickDGass]

Would like to see more videos like this--footage is impossible to find elsewhere.

[@2frate]

It’s sad we can’t see all of the show. You used to be able to see just about all the Oscar’s from the 1950s to relatively recently on you tube. Now they’ve disappeared for some reason.

[@shkee23]

Upload the full awards broadcasts!!

[@TheDevilmayfart]

The audience seems so lively back then. Now a days, their up-tight and barely even give so much as a giggle.

[@selma1930]

Natalie Wood, as always a stunner!

[@Lisa-di1wi]

I also have to agree with the comment on who was wearing whom. They didn't ask this in old days. I mean, who really cares about which designer they were wearing!

[@Johncourt409]

I don’t care what anyone says about Bob Hope. He kept it clean and was still funny. There were a lot of classy celebrities back then and it showed. They are few and far between these days.

[@tarnsand]

Ah...the good ol'days when the stars didn't have 30 microphones/TV hosts waiting to ask them 'who are you wearing'? I just wish once they would get the reply 'who cares'. I agree with all comments that stated; Bob Hope the best host short eloquent acceptance speeches glamourous stars.

[@Lisa-di1wi]

That's true.

[@Lisa-di1wi]

It was also a time when the acceptance speeches were short and to the point. Nowadays, these celebrities air their political and social grievances into their acceptance speeches. They also didn't waste time by sending out for a pizza, like Ellen DeGeneres did last year, and selling Girl Scout cookies like Chris Rock did this year.

[@thespankmyfrank]

Yes, because it's not like they spoke for a long time back then.... from Wikipedia: "The longest Oscar speech was given by Greer Garson at the 15th Academy Awards after she was named Best Actress for 1942 for Mrs. Miniver. Her speech ran for nearly six minutes.[7] It was shortly after this incident that the Academy set forty-five seconds as the allotted time for an acceptance speech and began to cut the winners off after this time limit." And of course nobody did anything political... "In 1973, Marlon Brando famously refused an Oscar due to his support of Native Americans. A part of his speech was read on stage by Sacheen Littlefeather." These times weren't so different from our present, the actors of today are rather inspired by these people who were as scandalous and outspoken as any of them today. That doesn't make it less amazing of a time though.

[@Lisa-di1wi]

Oh I remember when Marlon Brando sent that Indian girl up there to refuse his award for the Best Actor because he didn't like the way that American Indians were being treated in the movies and on television. I wonder if what he did started all of these celebrities using the Academy Awards as a forum to air their political and social grievances. Although I completely forgot about it, I read that the Iranian guy who won for the Best Foreign Language Film refused to come to come to the United States because he didn't like Trump's immigration policies that banned Muslims from coming into the U.S. I just wish these celebrities would stop using these awards shows to air their political and social grievances into their acceptance speeches! These awards shows are to honor achievement in the entertainment industry; not to be used as a forum for their political and social grievances! They should be thanful that they're being honored for their achievements. But they still want to push their liberal and leftist agendas on the rest of America. It's no wonder why the ratings for these awards shows have gone down in recent years.

[@nyasiafagan1544]

Nan Fagan are we family

[@nyasiafagan1544]

Nan Fagan jkkkk

[@youbetcha6880]

It's actually amazing how many of these people are still alive considering how long ago this was.

[@Yudit346]

"Rex Harrison put on his robes and blessed the stage." 😆

[@SenorZorrozzz]

In 1965 NBC became your all color network. Other networks scrambled to air color programs. But most viewers had black and white tvs. It wasn't until the early 70s that the color TV prices came down in price. We got a Sylvania in 1965. It was the lowest costing 17" and was $500! It's color was sort of like pastels. The image wasn't sharp. It didn't get the channels in anywhere near as good as the RCA black and white it replaced.

[@DA90027]

+Don Diego Vega My grandmother had a color Zenith in 1965 and the color was great.

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Zenith were GREAT!

[@minndgw]

My first tv was a Zenith and was great.

[@MrCristoforoantonio]

That was so interesting to see. I had never seen that. I would love to see EVERY opening of EVERY Oscar year. I have never been a fan of Bob Hope, but I have to admit, he did do a good job as Oscar host.

[@FilmDisney]

50 years ago today!

[@Erin.56]

I''m turning 50 this year!

[@ddicin7759]

What caught my eye wasn't the stars but those gorgeous cars, especially the one at 1:30

[@handsomemcschmandsome1663]

37th annual academy awards late color for 1965 38th annual academy awards color for 1966

[@Tristinfate]

With all the fur coats in L.A. I wonder what the temperature was, 85?

[@decnau]

Amazing ! A great register !

[@chrisdennehy9425]

Anybody know the tune that was playing as various actors and actresses made their way up the red carpet?

[@RonaldAtkinson9]

Another Openin' Another Show. From the musical Kiss Me, Kate.

[@speedracer1945]

Tv shows began filming in color in 66'also .

[@goyadressunofficial]

+Dan Reese TV shows were filming in color as early as the 1950s, but the push to become all-color didn't start until 1966 or so, goaded by NBC (which owned RCA, the leading manufacturer of color TV sets.) Even then, a number of TV ads continued to be filmed in black-and-white for a couple of years.

[@speedracer1945]

cat handler You know Cat , I didn't know a lot of shows were in color because in my household , we didn't get a color TV till 1969 and even then as fuzzy as TV was back then you were lucky if it came in without any " ghosts " .

[@norelcopc2431]

There is a great 1958 Fred Astaire color special posted on KZbin. It is one of the first color programs recorded on video tape. Check it out!

[@speedracer1945]

norelco pc A few TV shows were broadcasted in color like Laramie in 1963.

[@norelcopc2431]

+Dan Reese Laramie was an NBC show. NBC started broadcasting in color in the 1950s. The network was broadcasting variety shows in color as early as 1954. CBS did limited color broadcasting in the mid 1950s.... like the Red Skekton Show. CBS stopped broadcasting in color around 1960. They didn't want to buy color equipment from rival RCA (which owned NBC). CBS and ABC both got into color in 1965 and went full color in 1966 (at least as far as the prime time schedule was concerned). Both networks invested heavily in Norelco color cameras.

[@emmabach4510]

Even the host before were classic ,better & funnier! Lol

[@Lisa-di1wi]

The guy that Julie Christie was with was her boyfriend at the time, art teacher Don Bessant.

[@GoGreen1977]

Yeah, liberals who supported civil rights, voting rights, women's rights, laws to protect workers, consumers, and the environment and natural resources. Horrible things! Shall I go on?

[@bandicoot5412]

63 he looks like 53, back then, plus, who can spin a clean yet suggestive rap like Hope.

[@StevenTorrey]

When he said Governor Brown (1959-1967); his son, Jerry Brown Governor from 1975 to 1983 and 2011-2018. I believe Jerry Brown holds the record for being the youngest Governor and the oldest Governor.

[@roedalacket]

Oh how I wish you would show the whole telecast..

[@SuperWatson63]

OOOOhh Natalie. So beautiful. My heart skips a beat whenever i see her. Russian women are beautiful.

[@lynnturman8157]

I remember watching this live on my 70th birthday. Seems like yesterday.

[@tdoggo7614]

Lynn Turman - wouldn't that make you 120 years old?

[@samlexco]

What an asshole

[@jondunmore4268]

2:08 -- Look at that horrible WWII blockade they call a podium! Did no one do a camera check - like, check what it looks like through this camera here? Looks like they'll never get Bob alive! He's going down with the troops! Call HQ! Tell 'em we went down fightin' boys!

[@ShrOniCek]

Since none of this prizes lost it value MELT IT Into top of piramid as price for scenario - Reality is illusion. Good immersion ( :

[@petergivenbless900]

The 3 panning shots of stars arriving @0:20 have a 3-D effect; it could be the pulfrich effect?

[@softyme63]

Nowadays, everyone is so self-centered and concerned with their images more than anything.

[@nuhashahmed7692]

Bob Hope looked a little bit like Marlon Brando

[@samlexco]

Get some glasses you blind moron

[@DA90027]

Natalie Wood always seemed so down to earth and non pretentious Kim Novak and some of those other's walked in looking constipated fluffing their hair looking stuck up but Natalie was real and just being herself smiling and waving at people

[@mhss0001]

bob hope!! the best! loved the reagan joke!

[@legend9948]

he was talking about George Murphy....Reagan was never a senator, Governor and Pres.

[@jmatt4life]

These were the days of celebrity class and elegance not the trash we see today!!!

[@davidhull1481]

Some of these people are even still alive!

[@ToughXArmy69]

Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Greg Peck, Julie Andrews, Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood, STARS!

[@Solitude47152]

All phonies

[@eddysecco8415]

Bob Hope sent some subtle barbs at the liberals in his introduction. And I could see the contempt on his face when he made those remarks. Good job Bob!

[@garycarpenter2980]

This is one year older than me and I wasn't even born yet

[@thunder1697]

First color broadcast 1966

[@denny906]

What year did the Academy Awards begin taking place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles?

[@MCO18]

1969

[@Vanhalen1]

Back when stars were heros. People we all looked up to

[@librarybob1958]

And, of course, Bob conveniently forgot that Alexander Hamilton never was President. Actually, in marrying Chuck Robb less than a year later, LindaBird may have actually traded up. Back then, the Oscars had glamour and class, of the sort we'll never see again. Bob Hope, we miss you.

[@laverite9456]

He never implied Hamilton was president, merely that he had been in the White House.

[@pamelahermano9298]

When the Oscars was still classy.

[@wiedep]

Polite applause to LB Johnson, it would be a standing-0 for a Kennedy.

[@XRaysProductionsHD]

Awesome vid!

[@altfactor]

Only a minute and a half for the "Red Carpet"! This year (2015), there was something like three-and-a-half hours of "red carpet" programming on ABC-TV prior to the start of the ceremony. I'm also surprised the Oscars weren't colorcast until 1966. I had always assumed that the Oscars had been broadcast in color as far back as the early 1960's.

[@johnnystaccata]

Many people did not have color televisions in 1966, and as a result many programs were in black and white. The color TV programming and ownership exploded a couple years later.

[@catholicpriest1]

NBC began broadcasting in color in the late 1950s but ABC didn't go full color until 1966.

[@lynnturman8157]

altfactor most shows on tv didn't convert from b&w to color until the mid-60s...

[@musicaltheatergeek79]

+altfactor this was only the red carpet recap. The red carpet did not air live like on, say, E! There were only 3 major network channels then (ABC, CBS, NBC), so the red carpet was relegated to newsreels and radio. These days, we have a gazillion channels, with several of them airing the red carpet live. Still, right before the show starts, we get a 2-minute montage of the red carpet, like on here.

[@altfactor]

A friend of mine who once lived on the West Coast seems to recall that as early as the mid 1960's, there was a local half-hour red carpet show seen on the ABC station in Los Angeles prior to the ABC network's Oscarcast, but wasn't shown nationally.

[@Harringtonml54]

@RetroRookie1990: the women are wearing furs and coats because it was, at the time, the coldest night in Oscar history.

[@RetroRookie1990]

I just realized they're in Santa Monica but why are they wearing such thick coat like it's winter?

[@senorkaboom]

The following program is brought to you in Living Color on NBC.

[@pjriverdale8461]

An early ABC color broadcast......

[@handsomemcschmandsome1663]

34th annual academy awards (1962) 35th annual academy academy (1963) 36th annual academy awards (1964) 37th annual academy awards (1965) late color 38th annual academy awards (1966) color

[@ddkoda]

Quite achievement for the age. I thought the first color telecast of the Oscars might have been somewhat earlier especially since NBC began telecasting in color around 1956 but I guess 1966 sounds about right. Part of the reason for the delay in expanded color telecasting may have been the reluctance of CBS and ABC to purchase a licensing agreement with RCA for the FCC approved color broadcast system then in nationwide use. 1965 or 1966 was the year that CBS signed on to the system. I'm not sure about ABC but perhaps one of those latecomers to color broadcasting actually covered the event explaining this historic first.

[@wmbrown6]

ABC broadcast this awards show, so it figures it'd be the first in color. ABC was by far, at the time, the poorest of the three networks (not to mention last in the ratings to the point where the joke was its initials stood for "Almost Broadcasting Company"). Unlike CBS which refused until 1965 to fully commit to color for competitive reasons (its hatred of RCA; the color commitment came about due to Philips-Norelco coming out with their PC-60 color camera), ABC's color conversion came at a great cost and the network was in the hole financially well into the early 1970's, with a few of its most profitable TV and radio stations across the country holding it up. ABC continued to run some first-run shows in B&W up to early 1968, and repeated even originally-aired-in-color episodes of "Bewitched" in the daytime in monochrome as late as 1969.

[@allenjones3130]

RCA was NBC's parent company for many years.

[@ElisabetOP]

Do you happen to have the whole 1966 show? Because I am looking for the part where Liza Minnelli sings "What's new, Pussycat?"

[@TheBlazefire33]

Who else thought this would be the very first oscars converted in color?

[@nowdid]

Women were so beautiful back then what the heck happened

[@incrediblesnn]

Nothing?

[@markdalton2972]

I used. To think he was hysterical

[@user-kg2fz4xo2x]

Nothing but class.😊😊😊

[@Dennisanyone-]

Post lee marvins victory from this telecast! Pretty please!

[@louistenore2185]

were the oscas always televised on abc ?

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

Yup, this and WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS kept ABC from going bankrupt! Funny enough, 1966 also saw the premiere of another savior to the Alphabet Network.... DARK SHADOWS! 🇵🇷🇺🇸🗽🦂😎

[@bradley583]

"The 38th Academy AWWWAAAARDDDSSSS (incredibly high pitch)" lol

[@richwood1522]

There was a certain regalness back then, NOT TODAY, thanx to THE HOLLYWOOD LEFT.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

Finally get to start seeing the color of their clothing and they're all wearing fucking black. Dammit.

[@cjwoderstruck425]

wow, history...history build our present :)

[@joemiller947]

4:31 Mentioned Ronald Reagan as an actor

[@nickcons376]

reagan was first an actor

[@joemiller947]

@@nickcons376 Yes, I know

[@pheezus]

Julie Andrews, wow

[@reving19]

I'm with some others on here...please upload entire Academy Awards broadcasts. These tidbits are tantalizing...

[@alberteinsteinthejew]

The First Oscars in Color. The First Oscars in HD. The First Oscars in 3D. The First Oscars in Hologram.

[@ahyan6681]

damn Julie Andrews was so famous then (Still is but that was her peak)

[@allenjones3130]

Yes indeed. Although she "lost out" to Ms. Christie, J.A.'s portrayal of Maria in "The Sound Of Music" helped that film win the Best Picture Oscar that year.

[@TheRealLaughingGravy]

1:37 - Is that guy wearing a German army helmet? Or is it Rick Moranis auditioning for _Space Balls?_

[@larrycohen50]

Can someone identify for me the theme song (opening piece) of this one? The name of the piece, and the composer? Thank you. Larry

[@larrycohen50]

+Larry Cohen For anyone else interested, it's Another Opinion, another Show, from Kiss Me Kate, Cole Porter

[@fuglymut1]

Don’t know what it is but whatever it is Natalie Wood has it

[@gabrielueta6908]

These images taken from video tapes, should be posted here on KZbin in the mode of 60 fps, as television images are fluid, whose interpolated scan results in a video of 60 frames per second.

[@quizmaster85]

Gabriel Ueta Based on the NTSC format, not the PAL format though.

[@gabrielueta6908]

Brendan Richards You really did not understand what I said, and his answer has nothing to do with it. I was referring to the frame rate per second. If you convert these videos to the use of KZbin (recent) 60 fps, the images would be more realistic, as if we were actually watching television.

[@quizmaster85]

+Gabriel Ueta Australia is not compatible with 60 frames per second, hence my comment.

[@gabrielueta6908]

+Brendan Richards Yikes! In Australia is the television like a movie?

[@mrzulcan4290]

+Gabriel Ueta In Australia we used the analogue Pal system. I assume they converted it in DVB by now.

[@leonraymond6284]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but wasn't the 1952 Oscars in Color as well?

[@stevieg7672]

They didn’t even air the Oscars on television that year. They wouldn’t start until 1953. Also, the first color broadcasts ever didn’t even start until November of 1953 and were rarely implemented until the mid 1960s, when this event occurred. The color footage you might’ve seen must’ve come from a newsreel, film, or home movie.

[@ronflatter1235]

I think the podium needs to be bigger.