The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1989 and took place on March 26, 1990, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in

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beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

(commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the first time. Three weeks earlier in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

on March 3, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hosts Richard Dysart and Diane Ladd. ''

Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his r ...

'' won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included '' Glory'' with three awards, '' Born on the Fourth of July'', '' The Little Mermaid'', and '' My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown'' with two, and '' The Abyss'', '' Balance'', ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

'', ''

Cinema Paradiso ''Cinema Paradiso'' ( it, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, , literally "New Paradise Cinema") is a 1988 coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centers on the friendship between a young ...

'', '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt'', '' Dead Poets Society'', ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'', '' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', '' The Johnstown Flood'', and ''

Work Experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal ...

'' with one. The telecast garnered more than 40 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 62nd Academy Awards were announced on February 14, 1990, at the

Samuel Goldwyn Theater The Samuel Goldwyn Theatre is a screening-only movie theater named after filmmaker Samuel Goldwyn. It is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California, at headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). ...

, by Karl Malden, president of the academy, and the actress Geena Davis. ''

'' received the most nominations with nine total; '' Born on the Fourth of July'' came in second with eight. Winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 26, 1990. ''Driving Miss Daisy'' became the third film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination. At age 80, Jessica Tandy became the oldest winner of competitive acting Oscar at the time. Kenneth Branagh was the fifth person nominated for Best Lead Actor and Best Director for the same film.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double-dagger ().

Academy Honorary Award

* Akira Kurosawa

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Howard W. Koch Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television. Life and career Koch was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice (Winchel) and William Jacob Koch. His family was Jewish. ...

Films with multiple nominations and multiple awards

The following 19 films received multiple nominations: The following five films received multiple awards:

Presenters and performers

The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Presenters (in order of appearance)

Performers (in order of appearance)

Ceremony information

After the negative reception received from the preceding year's ceremony, AMPAS created an Awards Presentation Review Committee to evaluate and determine why the telecast earned such a negative reaction from the media and the entertainment industry. The committee later determined that Carr's biggest mistake was allowing the questionable opening number to run for 12 minutes. Producer and former

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film director, film and television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dire ...

president Gilbert Cates, who headed the committee, said that Carr would have not received such harsh criticism if the number had been much shorter. Newly elected AMPAS president Karl Malden also commented on the last year's telecast, "Some of the people in the Academy felt the show got a little out of control." In September 1989, Cates was chosen as producer of the 1990 telecast. Malden explained the decision to hire him saying, "Cates, a veteran film and TV director known for his tasteful work in both media will attempt to rectify the damage the last Oscar show did to the Academy's reputation." The following January, actor and comedian Billy Crystal was chosen as host of the ceremony. "We are extremely pleased to have Billy host the show," Cates said in a press release justifying his choice. "His unique talents and his ability to handle the unexpected will be important assets this year." Cates christened the show with the theme "Around the World in 3 1/2 Hours" commenting that it would "a party thrown around the world". He also explained, "The world is changing, and hopefully the awards show is changing, matching the changes in the world." In tandem with the program's theme, several presenters announced the winners from various international locales such as Buenos Aires, London, Moscow, and Sydney, Australia. Several other people participated in the production of the ceremony. Documentary filmmaker

Chuck Workman Chuck Workman is a documentary filmmaker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. His 1986 film ''Precious Images'' won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film; his work has also been nominated for Emmy Awards, Sundance Film Festival awards, ...

assembled a montage saluting "100 Years at the Movies" that was shown at the beginning of the telecast. Film composer and musician Bill Conti served as musical director for the ceremony. Dancer and singer

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...

supervised the Best Song nominee performances and a dance number featuring the Best Costume Design nominees. Singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

performed the Oscar-winning song " Over the Rainbow" in a tribute to the 50th anniversary of '' The Wizard of Oz''.

Box office performance of nominees

At the time of the nominations announcement on February 14, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $244 million with an average of $48.9 million. ''Dead Poets Society'' was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $95.8 million in the domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by ''Field of Dreams'' ($64.4 million), ''Born on the Fourth of July'' ($48.6 million), ''Driving Miss Daisy'' ($35.6 million) and ''My Left Foot'' ($2.1 million). Of the 50 grossing movies of the year, 43 nominations went to 14 films on the list. Only ''Parenthood'' (8th), ''Dead Poets Society'' (9th), ''When Harry Met Sally...'' (10th), ''Field of Dreams'' (17th), ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (25th), ''Driving Miss Daisy'' (36th) and ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (45th) were nominated for Best Picture, acting, directing, or screenwriting. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nomination were ''Batman'' (1st), ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' (2nd), ''Lethal Weapon 2'' (3rd), ''Back to the Future II'' (6th), ''The Little Mermaid'' (12th), ''The Abyss'' (22nd), and ''Black Rain'' (27th).

Critical reviews

The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. Film critic

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

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'' gave an average review of Crystal but lamented, "The effort to make this year's Academy Awards show an international media miracle led to nothing but headaches." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' television critic Tom Shales bemoaned, "while Crystal's opening monologue seemed to hit the right notes, he hit fewer and fewer as the evening wore on; his interjected quips between awards were mostly uninspired." He also criticized the dance numbers and numerous "Around the World" cutaways calling it pointless.

Howard Rosenberg Howard Anthony Rosenberg (born June 10, 1942) is an American television critic. He worked at ''The Louisville Times'' from 1968 through 1978 and then worked at the ''Los Angeles Times'' for 25 years where he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

of the ''

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'' quipped that the broadcast was "a conventional telecast that was arguably an extension of an industry calcified by convention." He gave positive remarks toward Crystal but felt that "The Oscarcast was an old kid on the block." Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. ''

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'' television critic Matt Roush lauded "To the glib and savvy Billy Crystal, who kept things as lively and funny as he could all night long. What a chore, too." He concluded that, "Hollywood no doubt went to bed happy (maybe early), because for a change Oscar didn't embarrass himself." Mike Drew of the ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' remarked, "While too "inside" and not as funny as Hollywood thinks he is, Crystal was an efficient host." Film critic Carrie Rickey of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'' wrote, "It was encouraging that director Gilbert Cates took the opportunity to emphasize films instead of chorus girls." She also extolled Crystal's performance acknowledging that his "nimble opening number set a Johnny Carson comic tone."

Ratings and reception

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 40.24 million people over its length, which was a 5% decrease from the previous year's ceremony. An estimated 69.31 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also drew lower

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

compared to the previous ceremony with 27.82% of households watching over a 49.42 share. In July 1990, the ceremony presentation received five nominations at the 42nd Primetime Emmys. Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music or Programming (Roy Christopher and Greg Richman).

References

Bibliography

External links

;Official websites
Academy Awards Official website

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Official website

Oscar's Channel
at

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(run by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

) ;Analysis
1989 Academy Awards Winners and History
Filmsite
Academy Awards, USA: 1990

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;Other resources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Awards, 62nd 1989 film awards 1990 in American cinema 1990 in Los Angeles Academy Awards ceremonies March 1990 events in the United States Academy Television shows directed by Jeff Margolis