64th Academy Awards

Jonathan Demme, Best Director winner

Anthony Hopkins, Best Actor winner

Jodie Foster, Best Actress winner

Jack Palance, Best Supporting Actor winner

Mercedes Ruehl, Best Supporting Actress winner

Callie Khouri, Best Original Screenplay winner

Gabriele Salvatores, Best Foreign Language Film winner

Debra Chasnoff, Best Documentary Short Subject winner

Alan Menken, Best Original Score winner and Best Original Song co-winner

Robert Richardson, Best Cinematography winner

Albert Wolsky, Best Costume Design winner

Dennis Muren, Best Visual Effects co-winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with double dagger (‡).[16]

• Satyajit Ray[17]

• George Lucas[18]

At the time of the nominations announcement on February 19, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $393 million with an average of $78.7 million per film.[30] The Silence of the Lambs was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $130.7 million in domestic box office receipts.[30] The film was followed by Beauty and the Beast ($106.6 million), The Prince of Tides ($59.3 million), JFK ($58.1 million), and finally Bugsy ($38.9 million).[30]

Of the 50 top-grossing movies of the year, 72 nominations went to 15 of them. Only Silence of the Lambs (3rd), Beauty and the Beast (6th), Cape Fear (10th), The Prince of Tides (18th), JFK (21st), Boyz n the Hood (22nd), Thelma and Louise (27th), The Fisher King (30th), and Bugsy (32nd) were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenwriting. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1st), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (2nd), Hook (5th), The Addams Family (7th), Backdraft (12th), and Star Trek VI: the Undiscovery Country (13th).[31]

Several days before the ceremony, LGBT activist groups such as Queer Nation and Out in Film announced plans to stage a protest outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.[32] The organizations were voicing their complaints regarding derogatory and unflattering portrayals of homosexuals in film such as The Silence of the Lambs, JFK, and the upcoming film Basic Instinct.[33][34] Queer Nation spokesman Rick Wilson said that the demonstrators "would stop cars from getting to the Oscars. It'll be a stall-in". Wilson also announced plans to disrupt the proceedings inside the theater.[35] In response, producer Gil Cates stated, "Anyone can protest about anything they want outside the show." But he said that the standard, "generic response" to something happening during the ceremony on camera, "would be to cut to a commercial."[35] Moreover, Academy spokesman Bob Werden reiterated that while security plans would not be as stringent as the previous year, firemen and police officers would be on hand in case of fallout from the protests.[33]

On the day of the telecast, several protesters carried various signs that contained statements such as "Stop Hollywood's Homophobia" and "Hollywood Stop Censoring Our True Queer Lives."[36] One man who had purchased tickets to the ceremony yelled statistics regarding AIDS in protest as John Candy was introducing a Best Song performance.[37] The protester was immediately escorted out by security without any arrests, nor were his remarks heard during the broadcast.[36]

The show received a positive reception from most media publications. The New York Times film critic Janet Maslin raved that the telecast was "uncharacteristically lively". She also praised host Crystal saying that his opening monologue "set the evening's clever and iconoclastic tone."[38] Columnist Scott Williams of the Associated Press wrote that "Crystal was charming from the moment he was wheeled onstage and strolled into the audience wearing the face mask of the demonic Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, which was named best picture."[39] Ray Richmond from the Orange County Register commented that Crystal "is such a magnificent Oscar host that the job should be his as long as he wants it."[40]

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 44.44 million people over its length, which was a 5% increase from the previous year's ceremony.[41] The show also drew higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 29.84% of households watching over a 50.26 share.[42] In addition, it also drew a higher 18–49 demo rating with a 20.71 rating over a 39.51 share among viewers in that demographic.[42]

In July 1992, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the 44th Primetime Emmys.[43] The following month, the ceremony won three of those nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Program (Hal Kanter, Buz Kohan, Billy Crystal, Marc Shaiman, David Steinberg, Robert Wuhl, Bruce Vilanch), Outstanding Music Direction (Bill Conti, Jack Eskew, Julie Giroux, Ashley Irwin, Hummie Mann), and Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program (Raymond Aghayan).[44]