Today in 1960 the Oscars honoring 1959 films were presented at the RKO Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Bob Hope was the host and it was carried nationwide on NBC television.
This night would be the night that Ben-Hur would set the record for most wins by a single movie with 11 Oscars.
(Stick with this one, the sounds drops in and out)
Today in 1998 the 70th annual Academy Awards were handed out at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The host for the record setting night was Billy Crystal. These awards hold the record for Oscar telecast ratings of 57.25 million viewers and a large reason for this was that the #1 movie in the US at the time, Titanic, was also nominated 14 times including Best Picture. This tied All About Eve for the most nominations and before the evening was over Titanic had won 11 awards and tied Ben- Hur for the most Oscar wins. This record would be tied again in 2004 by The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King. A list of the awards and the winners for Titanic: Best Picture; Best Director (James Cameron); Best Cinematography (Russell Carpenter); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Peter Lamont [art director] Michael Ford [set decorator]); Best Costume Design (Deborah Lynn Scott); Best Sound (Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers, Mark Ulano); Best Film Editing (Conrad Buff IV, James Cameron, Richard A. Harris); Best Effects/Sound Effects Editing (Tom Bellfort, Christopher Boyes); Best Effects/Visual Effects (Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, Michael Kanfer); Best Music/Original Dramatic Score (James Horner); Best Music/Song (James Horner (music) and Will Jennings (lyrics) for My Heart Will Go On, performed by Céline Dion).
Also winning that night were Jack Nicholson (Best Actor) and Helen Hunt (Best Actress) for As Good as it Gets.
Here is complete rundown of the major winners from the 70th Oscar Awards:
