Summary

A two-hour Academy Awards presentation, broadcast live from Hollywood. Performing and presenting awards are the following celebrities: Jimmy Stewart, Tony Martin, Betty Grable, Harry James, Jimmie Rodgers, Rhonda Fleming, Bob Hope, Shirley Jones, Van Johnson, Shirley MacLaine, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mae West, Rock Hudson, Janet Leigh, Don Murray, Lana Turner, Ronald Reagan, Hope Lange, Cyd Charisse, Ernest Borgnine, Kim Novak, Dean Martin, Jack Lemmon, Anthony Quinn, Jennifer Jones, Dorothy Malone, David Niven, Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, June Allyson, Eva Marie Saint, Gregory Peck, Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Vic Damone, and others. Award winners include Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki for "Sayonara," and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" for Best Film Editing. In the second hour, performers and award presenters include Rosalind Russell, Anita Ekberg, Vincent Price, Joan Collins, Dana Wynter, Fred Astaire, Johnny Mathis, Bob Hope, Doris Day, Clark Gable, Wendell Corey, Robert Ryan, Sophia Loren, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Debbie Reynolds, Maurice Chevalier, John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Reagan. Award winners include Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria" and Joanne Woodward for "The Three Faces of Eve." "The Bridge on the River Kwai" wins in the following categories: Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay (shared with "Designing Woman"), Best Director (David Lean), Best Actor (Alec Guinness) (not present), and Best Picture.