The Opening of the Academy Awards: 1960 Oscars

Host Bob Hope opens the 32nd Academy Awards in 1960, featuring an introduction by Academy President B.B. Kahane. Mitzi Gaynor presents the Oscar® for Documentary Feature to Bernhard Grzimek for "Serengeti Shall Not Die," and the Oscar® for Documentary Short Subject to Bert Haanstra for "Glass" (accepted by Ann Blyth).

[@gregrar995]

the intro music!!! some seriously accomplished muso's getting right into the heart of classic along with a veeerrry nice jazz number played on the piano by previn. wow! the sheer luxury of all those heavyweight celebs amusing themselves or seeking out their seating while being accompanied by such breathtakingly beautiful background music! -heaven sent.

[@globalman]

Nice memories. When there were still real stars and legends. People well mannered, well spoken and who dressed with taste with style and a certain amount of class. Those days are long gone.

[@salvation4all313]

They were well mannered for the camera. In private they where just as screwed up as people have been for thousands of years.

[@marilynking4003]

@@salvation4all313 Well, gee - they had respect for the people watching, I guess. Now wasn't that nice?

[@MultiHLH]

@@salvation4all313 So what? Who cares what goes on in people's private lives---oh, wait---I forgot about all the trashy reality shows and f*ing social media!

[@salvation4all313]

@MultiHLH I was making a point that every single human being on this planet that has ever lived is rotten to their core because of sin! The great news is that almost 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was hammered to a cross, died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead to pay the penalty for all our sins. Those who repent and put their faith in Him receive eternal life. Those who reject Him will spend an eternity in hell paying for all their sins. Make the right choice while you still have breath and a heartbeat! Jesus Christ said, *"I am telling you the truth, whoever believes in me has eternal life."* (John 6:47)

[@MultiHLH]

@@salvation4all313 And my point is everyone should mind their own business. "Judge not lest ye be judged". One's relationship with God and Christ should be a private matter and no one else's business. This psychotic interest in everyone else is just ridiculous.

[@aubreyhawk9862]

wow this is amazing thanks for uploading this! they did things so fast back then..

[@epiphanyc.]

Back when Hollywood had class

[@jayizzett]

Still decieving the masses tho.. so many lies of history and reality from Hollywood

[@sarelawil6852]

Glamour, yes. Class is a different question.

[@RabbitsMedia]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qae6iYmiiaqri9U

[@alexandraasbury9974]

They certainly had more dignity than many of them do today.These days, they don't seem to have a clue about real life, outside the bubble of Hollywood. They can't seem to help telling the rest of us how to vote. I live in the real world. And I don't seek their opinion on anything. I appreciate those who do not proffer their unsolicited advice.

[@philipanderson4673]

@@alexandraasbury9974 You must be a trump turd....

[@jimkey920]

Loved seeing Mitzi Gaynor as a 20 Year old. Love her!

[@alexandraasbury9974]

She's wonderful and, Thank God, still alive!! Yet she was actually 30, I believe. Her and my husband's grandma are the same age.

[@gatewayski1]

Andre Previn is simply great!

[@SRSM198]

I`ll second that !!

[@philipanderson4673]

@@SRSM198 I'll third...

[@jostockton3291]

4:15 Looks like Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh are having fun...

[@RingoandCarlin]

I wished Donald in Mathmagic Land would have won the best documentary short. It's my number one favorite animated short, and was a big part of my childhood and Donald has always been one of my childhood heroes and favorite Disney character. I use to watch it many times. This year would be its 60th anniversary.

[@IlluminatiLand]

As much as I like "Donald in Mathmagic Land" it's not really a documentary, but the winner is,, "Glass" an amazing film

[@RingoandCarlin]

@@IlluminatiLand yeah I thought it was strange that they put it in that category instead of in the best animated short category

[@rr7firefly]

It's great seeing Andre Previn conducting and playing jazz piano. This was no doubt his musical arrangement. Later in life he famously turned his back on Hollywood due to the overwhelming ignorance of studio execs who had inordinate creative control over him and other brilliant musicians, writers and actors.

[@PeterMcDonald-sl9rt]

We were very lucky to have Maestro Previn briefly conduct our Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He wasn't understood or appreciated THERE either!

[@rr7firefly]

@@PeterMcDonald-sl9rt I don't know too much about the LA Philharmonic but, based on my observations with the administrative boards of other symphony orchestras, there is an overabundance of treating musicians as hired help.

[@PeterMcDonald-sl9rt]

I was amazed at Andre Previn and the ENTIRE orchestra slowly rising out of the floor. This huge elevator dated back to Vaudeville days. People can visit the beautifully restored Pantages Theatre today, as a legitimate, Broadway-type venue.

[@ianedwards4400]

I loved the 60's, so the memories provided in this upload of the 1960 Oscars presentation at the Pantages Theater, with the inimitable Bob Hope, serving as Master of Ceremonies, is greatly appreciated. The camera gave us quick but brief glances of Charleston Heston, James Stewart [twice], gorgeous Angie Dickinson, Lawrence Harvey, Simone Signoret, that cute loving couple Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh [in happier times] and those thieves who robbed Debbie Reynolds of all her happiness: Liz Taylor and Eddie Fisher, pretending that nothing happened. The one presenter seen in this video, was the very gorgeous Mitzi Gaynor [one of the best dancers 20th Century Fox ever had], handing over an Oscar to Ann Blyth. I wasn't aware that Ms. Blyth earned any Oscars in the 60's. I am aware that she won on Oscar for best supporting actress for the 40's film "Mildred Pierce" starring Joan Crawford.

[@youminholastransit3218]

Mitzi and Ann blyth are still alive and in their 90s

[@AsYourCruiseDirector]

I adore Ann Blyth. I have an autographed photo she sent me years ago that I treasure. Those ladies were truly class acts.

[@joshposh7239]

Ann Blyth.... what a Woman!!

[@AsYourCruiseDirector]

A class act, beautiful and talented lady! ⭐️

[@corvus1374]

Andre Previn, age 31. He hadn't yet married Mia Farrow, who was then 14. Ronald Reagan was the president of the Screen Actors Guild union at the time. I guess there was a strike going on, so that's what Bob's jokes are about.

[@shimmeringfairydust3275]

Wow!

[@SRSM198]

The brilliant Andre Previne

[@jazzdub4958]

Love Old Hollywood and it's legendary stars. The stories of many of these stars has also passed into legend. Take the wholesome Bob Hope, only a couple of years before these Academy Awards in 1960 he was involved in a torrid affair with the gorgeous blonde beauty Marilyn Maxwell for most of the 1950s while he was married and in his circles it was looked upon as an open secret amongst his showbiz friends while wife Dolores was unaware during this time. Everyone was at it back then, that's what made Hollywood shine and be unattainable to everyday folk. Something that today's garbage Hollywood has become boring and insipid. No characters anyone.

[@jsrlasher4711]

Unusual to see Andre conducting without a baton.

[@mosessolomon3850]

Thk god no cell phones in their hands,

[@AsYourCruiseDirector]

Ann Blyth is a beautiful, talented lady. She is best known for her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Joan Crawford’s narcissistic daughter in 1945’s “Mildred Pierce.” I am honored to have a personalized autographed photo she sent me many years ago. I treasure it. She is the epitome of the kind of class Hollywood stars used to be known for. ⭐️

[@geekay1349]

When America still had Hope

[@salvation4all313]

Wrong. There was huge threat of nuclear annihilation back then along with being involved in Vietnam war.

[@lynnturman8157]

Why didn't they just call it the Andre Previn show?

[@tarnsand]

Bob Hope always seemed so relaxed and yet confident that he would get big laughs with his deadpan expression and self deprecating banter. He was the voice of the Oscars. This was literally the beginning of the escalation in salaries after this actors strike. And we know how it has become beyond ridiculous for actors to receive multiple millions of dollars for a movie that often simply goes straight to DVD and HBO.Notice how close together the seating is? Now the first few rows of seating at the AA's look as wide as a recliner chair in your living room. A lot of people still coming in the theatre and visiting like they aren't on live TV. No doubt due to the strike, Love it!! The opening music is brilliant. All from movies that year. Notice Angie Dickinson around 3:39. An excited pretty Janet Leigh chatting with husband Tony Curtis. Elizabeth Taylor not looking too thrilled sitting beside then husband Eddie Fisher.

[@TokyoStreetReport]

Yes, Leigh and Curtis seem to be having a great time. Taylor, not so much. One difference is how few shots of the audience there are. These days, they have to cut to the celebrities every other second.

[@globalman]

+Kevin Mcgue It was bad direction and not enough cameras. A pity as then there were far more interesting people to see as opposed to now when they are mostly nobodies who come and go. Taylor next to Eddie Fisher. The whole Cleopatra scandal, Debbie and Eddie scandal and she had nearly died having needed a tracheotomy. The scar is seen when she receives her Oscar.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Bob Hope almost lost it in one of his jokes. He was almost eligible for a gig on SNL.

[@allenjones3130]

So it was NBC that aired the 1960 Oscars.

[@artfuldodger1286]

Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, and pretty much everyone else seemed oddly uninterested in the music of Harold Arlen.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

The overture seemed so appropriate for the movies. Those actors in the audience all looked, understandably, tense.

[@JerseySurvivor]

Still waiting for Martha Raye's Hersholt and William Wyler's Thalberg.....

[@akrenwinkle]

Elizabeth Taylor yawning, with Eddie Fisher at 2:01.

[@sean1672able111]

The Traditional Academy Awards, and so many famous personalities. It was big, because in July, of 1960, it was the Democratic National Convention, in LA. JFK was campaigning, during the time of the Oscars, and he won the Democratic Nomination, in July of 1960. Things were full of happiness and hope, now it's different.

[@colleenwelch2330]

things are just unbelievable now!

[@sean1672able111]

@@colleenwelch2330, that is true. Hard to believe it has been 60 years.

[@shirleyrombough8173]

Now it's different all right. No happiness and no hope. Unless we can excise the cancer in the White House now. It is heart breaking to see how far we have fallen: from John Kennedy with his natural grace, intelligence and patriotism to that unspeakable creep in the White House now.

[@sean1672able111]

@@shirleyrombough8173 I agree

[@shimmeringfairydust3275]

Trump rules now

[@kirsteni.russell5903]

My sister and I listened to this ceremony on the radio (we didn't have a TV set then). This is the ceremony that kept announcing BEN-HUR the winner of one Oscar after another--eleven total! We hadn't seen that movie yet, but we'd seen THE NUN'S STORY and NORTH BY NORTHWEST--neither movie won a single Oscar! We were very disappointed with the Academy!

[@globalman]

There is much inner politics at work in the entire procedure.

[@shimmeringfairydust3275]

I bet that was fun, regardless

[@msw8839]

Back in the day, the acceptance speeches were brief and dignified. What a great show it was! Now, they cry and gush (and that is just for the award for best sound for an animated short!) . The major winners are much worse and it comes off so insincere. Not all, but many. Oh., and best lighting on a live action documentary? 5 people will accept with 5 acceptance speeches thanking the film distributor first (that is key now a days) and their family and each other. The poor orchestra has to start playing in order to get people off the stage. What a circus!

[@alexandraasbury9974]

lmao But, yes, you're right!

[@bunny9272]

61 years ago many people pass away……

[@edgargavidia7492]

My respect for his career /The Opening of the Academy Awards: 1960 Oscars/#Oscars

[@jaym137]

Watching this because I'm reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I want an accurate picture of the Oscars back then... ❤

[@bleebloe2726]

1:28 now that is an interesting composition

[@kristinpeturson-laprise5373]

I love how Bob Hope makes fun of the actors' strike happening at that time... "I saw an actor with a sign that said 'Mickey Mouse is a fink' !"

[@bbbrown3408]

mitzi wow

[@PeterMcDonald-sl9rt]

How strange sitting here in August of 2023 hearing about that other big strike of 1960. Another crippling actor's strike. Then Screen Actor's Guild president Ronald Reagan, pretty much sold-out old time actors who were asking for residual payment for televised vintage movies, the same type of fight we're seeing over current streaming platform payments. Hollywood has always had an almost religious belief in remakes, I guess that includes strikes, and unfair, unfeeling management bean counters? Bob Hope joked about the agents, once barred from studio lots, now OWNING them! What goes around, comes around AND around!

[@MySpace662]

Looks like the sound studios of Hollywood, threw in a wrench on the night of the Oscars.

[@manutaylor3738]

ok where is evelyn hugo

[@mentallyunstablemf11]

LMFAO I AM WATCHING THIS JUST BC I JUST FINISHED THAT BOOK-

[@quizmaster85]

11 years later, Andrew Preview would be told that Eric Morecambe was "playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order".

[@ramongonzalez2112]

“What a country. Where else can a man refuse to get out of their swimming pool, unless they improve working conditions!”😂-Bob Hope

[@davidhull1481]

I’ve always wondered, what the heck is a Pantage?

[@paul8926]

It was refreshing to watch the Oscars minus politics

[@scottsteel4230]

Nowadays, it would be refreshing to be able to watch ANYTHING without politics.

[@RollinRocker]

Hey you, YES YOU. Could you wipe that smudge off the middle of your computer screen at 15:55?

[@michaelcordio7150]

I have, many, themes.. i could give ideas out... Can we do..???

[@drstrangelove6558]

1:53 thats Mr. Zinnemann! ;D

[@TheTmny876able]

there was a film called Ben hur in 1959 did fairly well lol.

[@hijodelaisla275]

1960 was so 50s.

[@viantzpradz4771]

Its early 1960s, so 1950s style still affect at that time...!

[@davidhull1481]

Hope puts on a lizard look after the punchline.

[@martymartin6191]

People had respect for themselves!!!! it wasn.t all upstaging the other guy

[@2dasimmons]

Wow, they should have had OSCAR PETERSON play piano for this!

[@shahrulamar5358]

The year John F Kennedy and Richard M Nixon competed in Presidential Election. 🇺🇸

[@MultiJeangenie]

Andrew Preview. lol.

[@shahrulamar5358]

Mr Trump was already 14 years old in 1960.

[@drstrangelove6558]

1:24 Mr. Stewart

[@perpieta]

Yep! And is that Heston at 1:18

[@clarissenowrouzi5749]

Yes it is

[@Cunninghamily]

4:05

[@حسنعبدالله-و2ض]

alexas Morgan

[@MoeGreensRightEye]

The 30 second Academy Awards? It seemed longer than that

[@jayizzett]

MoeGreensLeftEye yes it did

[@jeremystennett5942]

Mickey Mouse voice of Jeremy Stennett I’m disney character

[@quizmaster85]

What did you mean by that? 😐

[@amariousowens971]

🏄‍♀️

[@Ricky0101]

If I were Ann Blythe I'd have just said a taxi driver stole the Oscar. Then AMPAS would have given the producer another one and she could have kept it.

[@mariamar8531]

Many years before "And the Oscar goes to... Meryl!!!"...... Minha singela homenagem a "Um milkshake chamado Wanda". Que, por sinal, não teve esse nome inspirado no clássico "Um peixe chamado Wanda".... Shame on you, seus wândalos, shame on you!

[@permijitdunkley1697]

........

[@permijitdunkley1697]

Edit

[@cdream5414]

Bob Hope never made me laugh. Not even once.

[@berrydivo3702]

And you survived all these years without doing the world a favor by not killing yourself? Oh horrors!

[@FeistyGirl007]

And, it was an open secret in Hollywood, that Bob Hope CONSTANTLY CHEATED on his poor wife, their entire marriage, with tons of floozies... She knew it, didnt like it, but, told him to never bring it home... He agreed. And, loved his wife. She liked the status of raising their children and being " Mrs. Bob Hope, even MORE... Smh... They never divorced.

[@globalman]

He was his greatest fan :-)

[@globalman]

+FeistyGirl007 Yes it's true. I encountered late one evening on Robertson Blvd at West Hollywood with his mistress. She had an apartment he paid for at a new Hollywood blvd. high rise where a friend of mine lived. Dolores liked being Mrs. Bob Hope and they lived on a glorious home on a huge property with his own 9 hole golf course at Toluca Lake in the San Fernando valley. She had servants and a charmed life.

[@roxannesantoro7503]

@@FeistyGirl007 Marilyn Maxwell was privately called Mrs. Bob Hope....

[@pareesa7043]

sure it's all white people who were probably racist, sexist, homophobes... but there's a certain sense of idealism present here. it was the beginning of new Hollywood. everyone wanted to be a star in the late sixties and early seventies. it was the beginning of a new era. present in this room you can see people who have a lot of respect for the academy and this award, thus giving it some meaning and value. you can see that in their clothes and the way they present themselves and speak. it's a high-class event, and this may be the only way the public can have a glimpse of this much-talked-about night. there's a sense of mystery and allure present. it's not for the public's entertainment. it's a classy event the public has the privilege of viewing. the mindset has changed so much now. the Oscars are more like a circus show. performers trying desperately to keep our attention. they are like actual clowns, it's hard to take them seriously. they've made fools of themselves and disrespected the very idea of the Oscars. every other influencer gets an invite, and everyone has a phone and social media. so the fans know the inner details of the whole night, they see the costuming and get to hear every celebrity's exact thoughts. it's as if the curtain of oz has been lifted. the public is present alongside the puppetmaster's strings, watching him perform the show. there's no more mystery and it's honestly a joke. everyone is too obsessed with making a statement of some sort, that the Oscars is a platform for other ideas to be presented, and not to commend the Oscars itself. it is merely a stage for each celebrity to feel like the main character, and get more recognition and more money. it's no longer the goal most people used to strive for in this business. it's just another tool in the industry.

[@Order-in-Chaos]

I wonder what would've happened if Bob Hope had started by yelling "GOOD EVENING MUTHAFUCKAS" since it would perfectly pass nowadays.

[@globalman]

He wouldn't have because most everyone in that industry as well as large sections of the USA still knew the correct and proper usage of American English. They had manners and knew appropriate behaviour and had respect for each other and the audience publicly. This no longer exists.

[@thunderousapplause]

wearing the furs as all the women do would def NOT pass today. Times change.

[@rasalghul9331]

Back when Hollywood and glamour actually went hand in hand and before Hollywood became a cabal of skanky woke.