The 27th Annual Academy Awards

Available on DVD, this was a treat to see an entire Oscar ceremony for the old days. The only thing missing was the commercials, which was Oldsmobile. Even the five nominated songs are intact and the best one was Dean Martin who sang "Three Coins In The Fountain". Just for that alone was worth the price of the DVD. He is/was a very good singer!! The only strange part of the ceremony was the part where the presenter (whoever the star may be) appeared on stage and announced the words...."and the winner is (fill in blank)" and then announced the winner without ever mentioning all of the nominees!! So strange, as we have, in all these years, always heard the five nominees in whatever category. All of the winners were present, either in New York or Hollywood. The hosts were Bob Hope in Hollywood and Thelma Ritter in New York.

Rated one notch under the 1952 awards, this is a great show. Whereas 1952 used former Oscar Winners, 1954 used current nominees as presenters. Among the memorable moments: a very pregnant winner Eva Marie Saint "I may have the baby right here.", Dean Martin crooning "Three Coins in the Fountain", a very happy Edmund O' Brien, a nervous and proud Dorothy Dandridge- the first female African-American to present an Oscar, Grace Kelly, Marlon Brando and Bob Hope banter, Dimitri Tiomkin thanking the classical masters, etc. There is so much in this show. Bette Davis appears in skull-cap to give Brando the Award and Rosemary Clooney gives "The Man That Got Away" a turn you'll never forget.

A previous post mentions the fact that the presenters only announced the winners' names. A check of history reveals that sponsors were beginning to be concerned with the length of the show (it ran appox. 90 mins. that year!!!!!) so they ran a superimposed list of the nominees during the opening of the show. This led them to omit the nominees later and get right to the envelope.

All the winners were present except for the winner of the Honorary Award, who at 49 was the youngest ever to receive that Award. It was accepted by the great stage actress Nancy Kelly who said, "In a year where there can be more than one Kelly, there can only be one Garbo" Enough said!

I was watching the 27th Annual Academy Awards Last Week and it was a hoot!

Bob Hope was the Master of Ceremonies and he had "jokes" for life. Watching the Old Classic Hollywood Stars was grand!

There speeches were short and sweet and when the Sponsors were telling them to make it quick in between awards, they were even sweeter...

Can you imagine... Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Walt Disney, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Bing Crosby, Jayne Wyman, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, oh darn I can't think of the others right now...Last but not least...drum roll please...Dorothy Dandridge all in one place at one time! It was awesome!

Oh and Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne were in the audience too! They didn't present/win an award like the others but Bob Hope has the "hots" for Marilyn and he was making fun of John Wayne too.

Bob Hope had some of the best jokes and he was always nice to the ladies. Some of the people who won the Oscar wouldn't even say a Speech! They just accepted their award and walked off! After they would walk off; Bob would say; "Oh he/she said "thank you" (LOL) It was fun, fun, fun!

I believe this was the first televised as well!

Best, Miss. T