71st Academy Awards

Infobox Academy Awards | name = 71st


caption =
date = Sunday, March 21, 1999
site = Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Los Angeles, California
preshow = Geena Davis
host = Whoopi Goldberg
producer = Gil Cates
director =
duration = 4 hours, 2 minutes
network = ABC
ratings = 45.63 million
28.51 (Nielsen rating)
last = 70th
next = 72ndThe 71st Academy Awards ceremony was the last to take place at Los Angeles County Music Center, and was Whoopi Goldberg's third time hosting the Awards. It was the first time the ceremony took place on a Sunday.

The Academy Award ceremony ran extremely long, due largely to extended acceptance speeches. Notable films included "Shakespeare in Love", which received 13 nominations and won 7 awards, "Saving Private Ryan", which received 11 nominations and won 5 awards, and "Life Is Beautiful", which received 7 nominations and won 3 (including Best Actor and Best Foreign Language Film).

News and recap

The 71st Academy Awards saw the show's first "official" pre-show, as the Academy attempted to compete with the likes of E!'s Joan Rivers and other red carpet denizens.

The show attracted 45.63m viewers, a 18% decline to the previous years 57.25 million, yet a high rating compared to most other ceremonies.

This was the first time that two people have been nominated for Academy Awards for playing the same person in different films - Queen Elizabeth I - played by Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth" and Judi Dench in "Shakespeare in Love".

This would mark the final time the show would originate from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, a venue the Academy Awards called home for nearly thirty-years.

Notable Quotes

*"Good evening loyal subjects, I am the African Queen. Some of you may know me as the Virgin Queen, but I can't imagine who." - host Whoopi Goldberg, dressed as Queen Elizabeth I
*"This must be a terrible mistake! I used up all my English!" - Roberto Benigni upon going up to collect the Academy Award for Best Actor, his second Academy Award of the evening.

The Awards

"This is a breakdown of only major winners. For a complete list of nominees and winners, see: 71st Academy Awards nominees and winners."

Feature Films

Honorary Oscars

Elia Kazan was awarded an Honorary Oscar for his work as a prolific director in the motion picture industry. His honor became controversial because during the 1940s, Kazan let out the names of others involved in motion pictures during the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. When Kazan was awarded the Honorary Oscar from actor Robert De Niro, many in the audience refused to clap and also sparked protests outside the auditorium.

Special Events

A special tribute was given to Oscar winner and legendary singer Frank Sinatra, who died in the previous year.

Also another special tribute, presented by Steven Spielberg, was made to Stanley Kubrick, whohad died only two weeks prior to the ceremony.

A special tribute was given to the western genre, in also to pay tribute to singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, who both died in the previous year.

In Memoriam

Presented by Annette Bening. The Academy takes a moment to remember those motion picture icons that left us in the previous year: Dane Clark, special effects artist Linwood G. Dunn, art director George Davis, Dick O'Neill, cinematographer Charles Lang, Norman Fell, cinematographer Freddie Young, executive John P. Veitch, E.G. Marshall, Jeanette Nolan, director Alan J. Pakula, choreographer Jerome Robbins, composer John Addison, Susan Strasberg, Vincent Winter, screenwriter James Goldman, John Derek, Richard Kiley, Maureen O'Sullivan, Phil Hartman, Esther Rolle, Jean Marais, Binnie Barnes, Valerie Hobson, Gene Raymond, Huntz Hall, director Akira Kurosawa, Alice Faye, Robert Young and Roddy McDowall.