The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 1997. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the sixth time. He had first hosted the 62nd ceremony held in 1990, and most recently the previous year's awards. Nearly a month earlier in an event held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on February 28, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Ashley Judd.
Titanic won 11 awards, including Best Picture, a number that is tied with Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Other winners included As Good as It Gets, Good Will Hunting, and L.A. Confidential with two awards, and Character, The Full Monty, Geri's Game, The Long Way Home, Men in Black, A Story of Healing, and Visas and Virtue with one. The telecast garnered more than 57 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-watched Oscars broadcast in history.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 70th Academy Awards were announced on February 10, 1998, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Robert Rehme, president of the academy, and actress Geena Davis. Titanic led all nominees with fourteen nominations, tying with All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations in history. Good Will Hunting and L.A. Confidential came in second with nine apiece.Multiple sources:
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 23, 1998. With eleven awards, Titanic tied with Ben-Hur (1959) for the most Academy Awards in Oscar history. It also became the first film to win Best Picture without a screenwriting nomination since The Sound of Music (1965). Due to Titanic, James Cameron became the first person to win as a producer, director and editor in one night. Jack Nicholson received his eleventh acting nomination, becoming the most nominated man in acting categories. He also became the fourth performer to win at least three acting Oscars. Both Nicholson and Helen Hunt won for their roles in As Good as It Gets, making it the seventh film to win both lead acting awards. Nominated for their performances as Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet and Best Supporting Actress nominee Gloria Stuart became the first pair of performers nominated for portraying the same character in the same film. At the age of 87, Stuart became the oldest acting nominee in Oscars history.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
{| class=wikitable | valign="top" width="50%" |
Titanic – James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers As Good as It Gets – James L. Brooks, Bridget Johnson and Kristi Zea, producers The Full Monty – Uberto Pasolini, producer Good Will Hunting – Lawrence Bender, producer L.A. Confidential – Arnon Milchan, Curtis Hanson and Michael Nathanson, producers | valign="top" width="50%" |
James Cameron – Titanic Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty Gus Van Sant – Good Will Hunting Curtis Hanson – L.A. Confidential Atom Egoyan – The Sweet Hereafter |- | valign="top" |
Jack Nicholson – As Good as It Gets as Melvin Udall Matt Damon – Good Will Hunting as Will Hunting Robert Duvall – The Apostle as Euliss "Sonny" Dewey, a.k.a. "The Apostle E.F." Peter Fonda – Ulee's Gold as Ulysses "Ulee" Jackson Dustin Hoffman – Wag the Dog as Stanley Motss | valign="top" |
Helen Hunt – As Good as It Gets as Carol Connelly Helena Bonham Carter – The Wings of the Dove as Kate Croy Julie Christie – Afterglow as Phyllis Mann Judi Dench – Mrs Brown as Queen Victoria Kate Winslet – Titanic as Rose DeWitt Bukater |- | valign="top" |
Robin Williams – Good Will Hunting as Dr. Sean Maguire Robert Forster – Jackie Brown as Max Cherry Anthony Hopkins – Amistad as John Quincy Adams Greg Kinnear – As Good as It Gets as Simon Bishop Burt Reynolds – Boogie Nights as Jack Horner | valign="top" |
Kim Basinger – L.A. Confidential as Lynn Bracken Joan Cusack – In & Out as Emily Montgomery Minnie Driver – Good Will Hunting as Skylar Julianne Moore – Boogie Nights as Amber Waves/Maggie Gloria Stuart – Titanic as Rose Dawson Calvert |- | valign="top" |
Good Will Hunting – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck As Good as It Gets – Screenplay by Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks; Story by Mark Andrus Boogie Nights – Paul Thomas Anderson Deconstructing Harry – Woody Allen The Full Monty – Simon Beaufoy | valign="top" |
L.A. Confidential – Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson; from the novel by James Ellroy Donnie Brasco – Paul Attanasio; based on the book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone with Richard Woodley The Sweet Hereafter – Atom Egoyan; adapted from the novel by Russell Banks Wag the Dog – David Mamet and Hilary Henkin; from the novel American Hero by Larry Beinhart The Wings of the Dove – Hossein Amini; adapted from the novel by Henry James |- | valign="top" |
Character (Netherlands) in Dutch – Mike van Diem Beyond Silence (Germany) in German – Caroline Link Four Days in September (Brazil) in Portuguese – Bruno Barreto Secrets of the Heart (Spain) in Spanish – Montxo Armendáriz The Thief (Russia) in Russian – Pavel Chukhray | valign="top" |
The Long Way Home – Rabbi Marvin Hier and Richard Trank 4 Little Girls – Spike Lee and Sam Pollard Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life – Michael Paxton Colors Straight Up – Michèle Ohayon and Julia Schachter Waco: The Rules of Engagement – Dan Gifford and William Gazecki |- | valign="top" |
A Story of Healing – Donna Dewey and Carol Pasternak Alaska: Spirit of the Wild – George Casey and Paul Novros Amazon – Kieth Merrill and Jonathan Stern Family Video Diaries: Daughter of the Bride – Terri Randall Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies – Mel Damski and Andrea Blaugrund Nevins | valign="top" |
Visas and Virtue – Chris Tashima and Chris Donahue Dance Lexie Dance – Pearse Moore and Tim Loane It's Good to Talk – Roger Goldby and Barney Reisz Sweethearts? – Birger Larsen and Thomas Lydholm Wolfgang – Anders Thomas Jensen and Kim Magnusson |- | valign="top" |
Geri's Game – Jan Pinkava Famous Fred – Joanna Quinn The Old Lady and the Pigeons – Sylvain Chomet Redux Riding Hood – Steve Moore and Dan O'Shannon Rusalka – Alexander Petrov | valign="top" |
Titanic – James Horner Amistad – John Williams Good Will Hunting – Danny Elfman Kundun – Philip Glass L.A. Confidential – Jerry Goldsmith |- | valign="top" |
The Full Monty – Anne Dudley Anastasia – Music by Stephen Flaherty; lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; orchestral score by David Newman As Good as It Gets – Hans Zimmer Men in Black – Danny Elfman My Best Friend's Wedding – James Newton Howard | valign="top" |
"My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic – Music by James Horner; lyrics by Will Jennings "Go the Distance" from Hercules – Music by Alan Menken; lyrics by David Zippel "How Do I Live" from Con Air – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren "Journey to the Past" from Anastasia – Music by Stephen Flaherty; lyrics by Lynn Ahrens "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting – Music and lyrics by Elliott Smith |- | valign="top" |
Titanic – Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers and Mark Ulano Air Force One – Paul Massey, Rick Kline, Doug Hemphill and Keith A. Wester Con Air – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Art Rochester Contact – Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan L.A. Confidential – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Kirk Francis | valign="top" |
Titanic – Christopher Boyes and Tom Bellfort Face/Off – Mark P. Stoeckinger and Per Hallberg The Fifth Element – Mark Mangini |- | valign="top" |
Titanic – Art Direction: Peter Lamont; Set Decoration: Michael D. Ford Gattaca – Art Direction: Jan Roelfs; Set Decoration: Nancy Nye Kundun – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo L.A. Confidential – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Jay Hart Men in Black – Art Direction: Bo Welch; Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik | valign="top" |
Titanic – Russell Carpenter Amistad – Janusz Kamiński Kundun – Roger Deakins L.A. Confidential – Dante Spinotti The Wings of the Dove – Eduardo Serra |- | valign="top" |
Men in Black – Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson Mrs Brown – Lisa Westcott, Veronica Brebner and Beverley Binda Titanic – Tina Earnshaw, Greg Cannom and Simon Thompson | valign="top" |
Titanic – Deborah Lynn Scott Amistad – Ruth E. Carter Kundun – Dante Ferretti Oscar and Lucinda – Janet Patterson The Wings of the Dove – Sandy Powell |- | valign="top" |
Titanic – Conrad Buff, James Cameron and Richard A. Harris Air Force One – Richard Francis-Bruce As Good as It Gets – Richard Marks Good Will Hunting – Pietro Scalia L.A. Confidential – Peter Honess | valign="top" |
Titanic'' – Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher and Michael Kanfer The Lost World: Jurassic Park – Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal M. Dutra and Michael Lantieri Starship Troopers – Phil Tippett, Scott E. Anderson, Alec Gillis and John Richardson
Honorary Award To Stanley Donen in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit and visual innovation.
Films with multiple nominations and awards
The following 16 films received multiple nominations: Nominations Film 14 Titanic 9 Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential 7 As Good as It Gets 4 Amistad The Full Monty Kundun The Wings of the Dove 3 Boogie Nights Men in Black 2 Air Force One Anastasia Con Air Mrs Brown The Sweet Hereafter Wag the Dog
The following four films received multiple awards: Awards Film 11 Titanic 2 As Good as It Gets Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential
Presenters and performers The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters