Eva Marie Saint presenting Peter Ustinov with the Oscar® for Supporting Actor for his performance in "Spartacus" at the 33rd Academy Awards® in 1961. Hosted by Bob Hope.
He was absolutely hilarious in the film. The way he kept referring to the Tribune (Sir Laurence Olivier) as "your enormity" and "your magnitude" among other things was just too funny.
Ustinov may be the only winning actor I've ever heard acknowledge the work of the editor whose contribution is absolutely essential in shaping a screen performance.
I watched it last night. Ustinov steals every scene, even when he's opposite Olivier, Laughton and Douglas. He's the most fully realized character in the movie.
Peter Ustinov, in a word, was brilliant. More than being simply the "comic relief" of this film, he brought a degree of truthfulness and pathos to a role that might never quite be realized by a lesser actor. There was none like Ustinov, and never will be. R.I.P.
@@Rogue849 Glad you got to see one of the last true movie epics. The other was "Ben Hur." Like the old saying goes, "They don't make 'em like this anymore."
Undoubtedly one of the greats of out lifetime! Not just an accomplished actor, but director, playwright, author, raconteur and stasteman: an accomplished gentleman - something that only a rare few ever achieve in life. Thank you for your entertainment and tireless work in making this world a better place. RIP, Sir Peter. 👍
Ironic as Ustinov rather took Anthony Mann side when asked about Mann's firing (after only a week of shooting) over the years and Kubrick famously distanced himself from his involvement with the film.
Lol! Bob Hope. "Everyone is held down by their psychiatrists and their cousins". Howl! A direct dig at Chill Wills's shamless camapaign that year for The Alamo. He placed an ad "To All My Cousins". To which Groucho Marx replied "we may be cousins BUT I'm voting for Sal Mineo anyway..."
It's too bad he couldn't have shared this with the magnificent Charles Laughton. His scenes with him in Spartacus were by far the highlight of the movie.
According to a decidedly underwhelmed (slightly miffed?) Spartacus producer and star Kirk Douglas (as mentioned in his autobiography) Ustinov and Laughton all but were "directing their scenes" themselves. And a fabulous job they did, no matter what Douglas or Kubrick thought.
I read that Peter Falk started to rise when he heard "Peter....." then, of course, had to sit back down when "Ustinov" was said. He's my favorite actor, but Ustinov deserved it!
That might be reminiscent of the 1933 Oscars when Frank Capra thought he had won for his comedy, "Lady For a Day" because all presenter Will Rogers said was "Come and get it, Frank." He was halfway to the podium when he finally realized Rogers meant Frank Lloyd for "Cavalcade." Hollywood made up to Capra three times in the 1930s with Oscars for Best Direction for "It Happened One Night" (1934), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936) and "You Can't Take It With You" (1938).
Peter Ustinov related in an interview why he did not act too surprised. He had had numerous lucky encounters with the number six in his life - that very day he realized it was the 33rd oscars, he was assigned to seat #24, row F; afterwards, he was scheduled for tables 6 and 42 at the afterparties, and it was his limo driver's 33rd birthday. With that kind of evidence he did not feel surprised at all.
And the limo driver, whose 33rd birthday it was, was originally scheduled to drive Sal Mineo who was the favorite. When he heard that Ustinov knew he had it.
Chill wills thought he had the oscar in the bag with all the campaigning he did to win. Sal mineo looked as if his life depended on winning. What i love about the old oscar clips are the honest emotions on the nominees faces. Well deserved win from peter ustinov.
@@jonisafreak3 as far as the cultural impact of Rebel you’re right. Sal won the golden globe for supporting actor for Exodus so he had a reason to feel a bit optimistic. He was good in it, but the film is a bit of a slog to sit through. Ustinov had an advantage with his scene stealing role and was already respected in the industry, given that he won again four years later.
That's what earned a mention of "cousins" in Bob Hope's preamble: It referenced one of Chill Wills' Oscar campaign ads, i.e., “Win, lose, or draw. You’re still my cousins and I love you all.” There was also Bob Hope's quip about he not knowing about any Oscar campaign until he saw his maid wearing a "Chill Wills" button.
There are few talents greater than Ustinov, but I never really understood this award or the ovation. He was impeccable in that decadent role, but Peter Falk, in his movie debut, gave the best performance of his career as the malignant Abe Reles in Murder Inc. So did George Peppard, shut out for his role as Mitchum's illegitimate son in Home from the Hill and likewise, Roger Livesey who was heartbreaking as Olivier's irrelevant father in The Entertainer. I would have written his name in, rules be damned. As for Chill Wills? Come on.
No matter how brilliant Peter Ustinov was in Spartacus it doesn’t come close to what Sal Mineo did in Exodus. When Sal has to relive the brutality and inhumanity he endured in the death camp at Auschwitz’s in front of the leader of the Irgun played by David Opatoshu. That harrowing gut wrenching scene has stayed imprinted in my head for fifty years. I was born three years after Exodus was released and first saw it on NBCaround 1973. Also the scene where Sal discovers Jill Haworths body completely and totally devastating!!! Whatever a person thinks of the political message of Exodus you can’t deny the power of and depth of Sal Mineos performance. Also Jill Haworth Paul Newman Eva Marie Saint and Peter Lawford playing an obnoxious arrogant racist British Army officer to perfection.
this is truly one of the best performances i've seen in film he really takes the show away from all the other brilliant actors in that film and you can never take your eyes off him
Peter ustinov tremendo actor y tremenda pelicula pero una injusticia que kirk douglas no ganara el oscar al mejor actor y peter me gusto mas como neron en quo vadis de 1951 dos grandes peliculas
Peter Ustinov, es uno de los mejores actores de todos los tiempos . Ha hecho el mejor Nerón de la , historia del cine, y otros como en Adónde vas ? , otro en Josué en Egipcio, inolvidables . Muy merecido su galardón .
"Spartacus" producer and star Kirk Douglas seemed not so happy about Ustinov. In his autobiography Douglas said something like "Ustinov and Charles Laughton were directing their own scenes" - hmmm, actually, I quite like those scenes, sorry Kirk!
I have a question. Ustinov won a second Oscar in 1965 for best supporting actor for Topkapi. According to IMDB , Ustiinov was not at the cremony the year he won that award. So Oscars , if this is true , who accepted the award for him that year and could you please upload that win?
Well, Kubrick directed the majority if Spartacus. He received director's credit. But Anthony Mann was originally hired to direct and did the gladiator school scenes. He and Kirk Douglas weren't on the same page so Kubrick replaced him.
How right you are !! And sadly Kubrick was later replaced as the director of the Western "One Eyed Jacks" by the film's star & producer, Marlon Brando...who ended up directing it himself ! Brando did an OK job but I would love to have seen how it would have turned out with Kubrick in the director's chair....Stanley never have the chance again to do a Western.
Kubrick was not fond of "Spartacus." He always liked "smaller" films, but I think he was wrong about "Spartacus." It was one of the few "epic" films with literacy.
You please do some research. Anthony Man WAS the original director of "Spartacus," but was fired by the star and executive producer, Kirk Douglas. The majority of the film was directed by Kubrick and he is credited as the director. This happened a lot in Hollywood. George Cukor started as the director of "Gone With the Wind," but was replaced by Victor Fleming and (for a few scenes) Sam Wood. Cukor also directed a few of the scenes of "The Wizard of Oz" before handing over the reins to Fleming and, finally, Mervyn LeRoy.
The funniest thing is that Eva Marie Saint looks better today than in 1961 :-) Peter Ustinov was a great actor, and a great character off-screen as well.
Now why did it take so long for this to get here? I'm guessing his win for Topkapi is right around the corner, but i'm not gonna hold my breath for it.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u3nrheg0In0.html From 2:17 onwards (runs 3 mins) Peter tells a fascinating story of the day he received this award and how he knew he'd probably won before it was announced.
