Academy Awards for 1980

By Patrick Mondout

The 53^rd Annual Academy Awards were hosted by Johnny Carson on March 31, 1981 (moved back a day due to Reagan assasination attempt) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (Los Angeles) and broadcast live on ABC. Ordinary People was the big winner garnering four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Redford), and Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton).

The show began with a videotaped message President Reagan. It had been recorded a week earlier in the Oval Office to celebrate his ascension from actor to the presidency (if that can still be considered an ascension). While hosting the ceremonies for a second straight year, host Carson wished Reagan a speedy recovery, but got everyone in good spirits by calling the recent demand for cuts in aid to the arts "Reagan's strongest attack on the arts since he signed with Warner Brothers."

BEST PICTURE
	Coal Miner's Daughter, Bernard Schwartz, producer
	Elephant Man, Jonathan Sanger, producer
	Ordinary People, Ronald L. Schwary, producer
	Raging Bull, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, producers
	Tess, Claude Berri, producer; Timothy Burrill, co-producer

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
	Sissy Spacek, Coal Miner's Daughter
	Gena Rowlands, Gloria
	Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People
	Goldie Hawn, Private Benjamin
	Ellen Burstyn, Resurrection

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
	John Hurt, Elephant Man
	Robert Duvall, The Great Santini
	Robert De Niro, Raging Bull
	Peter O'Toole, The Stunt Man
	Jack Lemmon, Tribute

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Diana Scarwid, Inside Moves
	Mary Steenburgen, Melvin and Howard
	Eileen Brennan, Private Benjamin
	Cathy Moriarty, Raging Bull
	Eva Le Gallienne, Resurrection

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
	Michael O'Keefe, The Great Santini
	Jason Robards, Melvin and Howard
	Judd Hirsch, Ordinary People
	Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People
	Joe Pesci, Raging Bull

BEST DIRECTOR
	David Lynch, Elephant Man
	Robert Redford, Ordinary People
	Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull
	Richard Rush, The Stunt Man
	Roman Polanski, Tess

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN)
	W. D. Richter, screenplay; W. D. Richter and Arthur Ross, story, Brubaker
	Christopher Gore, Fame
	Bo Goldman, Melvin and Howard
	Jean Gruault, Mon Oncle D'Amerique
	Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller, Private Benjamin

BEST WRITING (SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL FROM ANOTHER MEDIUM)
	Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens and Bruce Beresford, Breaker Morant
	Tom Rickman, Coal Miner's Daughter
	Christopher DeVore, Eric Bergren and David Lynch, Elephant Man
	Alvin Sargent, Ordinary People
	Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush, The Stunt Man

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
	Nestor Almendros, The Blue Lagoon
	Ralf D. Bode, Coal Miner's Daughter
	James Crabe, The Formula
	Michael Chapman, Raging Bull
	Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet, Tess

BEST FILM EDITING
	Arthur Schmidt, Coal Miner's Daughter
	David Blewitt, The Competition
	Anne V. Coates, Elephant Man
	Gerry Hambling, Fame
	Thelma Schoonmaker, Raging Bull

BEST ART DIRECTION/SET DIRECTION
	John W. Corso, art direction; John M. Dwyer, set decoration, Coal Miner's Daughter
	Stuart Craig and Bob Cartwright, art direction; Hugh Scaife, set decoration, Elephant Man
	Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Harry Lange and Alan Tomkins, art direction; Michael Ford, setdecoration, The Empire Strikes Back
	Pierre Guffroy and Jack Stephens, art direction, Tess
	Yoshiro Muraki, art direction, Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
	Patricia Norris, Elephant Man
	Anna Senior, My Brilliant Career
	Jean-Pierre Dorleac, Somewhere in Time
	Anthony Powell, Tess
	Paul Zastupnevich, When Time Ran Out

BEST SOUND
	Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler and Willie D. Burton, Altered States
	Richard Portman, Roger Heman and Jim Alexander, Coal Miner's Daughter
	Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Peter Sutton, The Empire Strikes Back
	Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding and Chris Newman, Fame
	Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball and Les Lazarowitz, Raging Bull

BEST SOUND (ORIGINAL SONG)
	“People Alone,” The Competition, Lalo Schifrin, music; Wilbur Jennings, lyrics
	“Fame,” Fame, Michael Gore, music; Dean Pitchford, lyrics
	“Out Here on My Own,” Fame, Michael Gore, music; Lesley Gore, lyrics
	“On the Road Again,” Honeysuckle Rose, Willie Nelson, music and lyrics
	“Nine to Five,” Nine to Five, Dolly Parton, music and lyrics

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
	John Corigliano, Altered States
	John Morris, Elephant Man
	John Williams, The Empire Strikes Back
	Michael Gore, Fame
	Philippe Sarde, Tess

BEST SHORT FILMS (ANIMATED)
	All Nothing (Frédéric Back, producer; Société Radio Canada)
	The Fly (Ferenc Rofusz, producer; Pannonia Film)
	History of the World in Three Minutes Flat (Michael Mills, producer; Michael Mills Productions Ltd.)

BEST SHORT FILMS (LIVE ACTION)
	A Jury of Her Peers (Sally Heckel, producer; Sally Heckel Productions)
	The Dollar Bottom (Rocking Horse Films, Ltd.; Paramount)
	Fall Line (Bob Carmichael and Greg Lowe, producers; Sports Imagery, Inc.)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECTS)
	Don't Mess With Bill (John Watson and Pen Densham, producers; John Watson and Pen Densham's Insight Productions Inc.)
	The Eruption of Mount St. Helens (George Casey, producer; Graphic Films Corporation)
	It's the Same World (Dick Young, producer; Dick Young Productions, Ltd.)
	Karl Hess: Toward Liberty (Roland Hallé and Peter W. Ladue, producers; Hallé/Ladue, Inc.)
	Luther Metke at 94, U.C.L.A. (Richard Hawkins and Jorge Preloran, producers; U.C.L.A. Ethnographic Film Program)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURES)
	Agee (Ross Spears, producer; James Agee Film Project)
	The Day After Trinity (Jon Else, producer; Jon Else Productions)
	From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (Murray Lerner, producer; The Hopewell Foundation)
	Front Line (David Bradbury, producer; David Bradbury Productions)
	The Yellow Star—The Persecution of the Jews in Europe, 1933—45 (Bengt von zur Muehlen and Arthur Cohn, producers; Chronos Film GmbH)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
	Confidence, Hungary
	Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior), Japan
	The Last Metro, France
	Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, U.S.S.R.
	The Nest, Spain

Other Awards

A Special Achievement Award went to the visual effects crew (Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson) of The Empire Strikes Back. (A Visual Effects award was added for 1981.) An honorary award was given to Henry Fonda "the consummate actor, in recognition of his brilliant accomplishments and enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures." Fred Hynes also received one "in appreciation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."

Scientific and Technical Awards

Academy Award of Merit
Acme Tool and Manufacturing Company (Laboratory)
Linwood G. Dunn (Laboratory)
Cecil D. Love (Laboratory)

Scientific and Engineering Award
Dr. Werner Block (Lighting)
Filmline Corporation (Laboratory)
David A. Grafton (Lenses and Filters)
Edward B. Krause (Laboratory)
Dr. Bernhard Kuhl (Lighting)
Jean-Marie Lavalou (Camera Cranes)
Alain Masseron (Camera Cranes)
OSRAM GmbH (Lighting)
David Samuelson (Camera Cranes)
Samuelson Alga Cinema S.A. (Camera Cranes)
Samuelson Film Service, Limited (Camera Cranes)
Ross Taylor (Stage Operations)

Technical Achievement Award
Worth Baird (Projection)
Bell and Howell Company (Laboratory)
Carter Equipment Company, Inc. (Laboratory)
Cinetron Computer Systems, Incorporated (Systems)
Andre DeBrie S.A. (Laboratory)
Elicon (Photography)
Hollywood Film Company (Laboratory)
Walter Hrastnik (Laboratory)
John W. Lang (Laboratory)
LaVezzi Machine Works, Incorporated (Projection)
Eugene Nottingham (Systems)
Peter A. Regla (Photography)
Dan Slater (Photography)
Charles Vaughn (Systems)
Charles J. Watson (Laboratory)