32nd Academy Awards 32nd Academy Awards The 32nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, was held on April 4, 1960 and took place at the RKO Pantages Theatre to honor the best films of 1959. The epic drama "Ben-Hur" won 11 Oscars, breaking the record of nine set the year before by "Gigi". "Ben-Hur" remained the most honored motion picture in Academy Award history until "Titanic" equaled the feat in 1997, followed by "" in 2003. "Ben-Hur" was the third film to win both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, a feat not repeated until "Mystic River"
Ben-Hur (play) Wallace's novel. The character of Ben-Hur was initially cast with Walker Whiteside, but he was replaced by Edward J. Morgan at the last minute. William Farnum replaced Morgan after the show's first season. William S. Hart played Messala. Hart would go on to leading roles in silent films such as "The Aryan" (1916), and became a silent screen cowboy hero. Farnum also appeared in several films, including "The Spoilers" (1914). The character of Christ was "represented as a 25,000-candlepower beam of light" and not portrayed by an actor. The resulting production of "Ben-Hur" opened at the Broadway Theater in New