53rd Academy Awards

Robert Redford, Best Director winner

Robert De Niro, Best Actor winner

Sissy Spacek, Best Actress winner

Timothy Hutton, Best Supporting Actor winner

Mary Steenburgen, Best Supporting Actress winner

Bo Goldman, Best Original Screenplay winner

Thelma Schoonmaker, Best Film Editing winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().[11]

• Henry Fonda – "In recognition of his brilliant accomplishments and enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures."[12]

• Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson for the visual effects of The Empire Strikes Back[13]

During the presentation of the award for Best Animated Short Film to The Fly, presenters Alan Arkin and Margot Kidder announced that the film's director Ferenc Rofusz was unable to attend the ceremony. Just as they announced the Academy would accept the award on his behalf, an unnamed man later identified as Hungarofilm general manager Istvan Dosai came up on stage and accepted the award in lieu of the absent filmmaker.[21] Marble Arch Films publicist Regina Gruss, who was in charge of hosting the Hungarian delegation at the Oscars, said that Rofusz contacted Dosai to accept the award on his behalf, but Academy officials asked him not to come up onstage unless his name was announced.[22] After speaking to reporters and posing for pictures backstage, he never returned to his seat and left the ceremony immediately.[21] According to Academy security chief Jerry Moon, AMPAS contacted the LAPD to issue a search warrant for Dosai for theft. However, Academy spokesperson Art Sarno denied the organization had contacted the police and said that Dosai returned the statuette during a post-awards banquet.[23]

Some media outlets received the broadcast critically. Television columnist Tom Shales of The Washington Post commented, "Everything seemed an anticlimax to the Reagan opening, and the tragic events in Washington a day earlier did put a shadow of gloom over an affair that had promised to be grim enough anyway – since all but one of the year's Best Picture nominees were somber, austere films, and nothing to shout about."[24] The Salt Lake Tribune television critic Harold Schindler wrote, "On the whole, the 53rd annual Academy Awards telecast Tuesday was overly long, expectedly dull and surprisingly lacking in those highlights which make Oscar night conversation."[25] Bill Mandel of the San Francisco Examiner quipped, "After the real and completely unscripted emotional explosions of Monday, all the manipulated thrills of the movie industry seemed like the efforts of those bullfight clowns who distract the bull when the matador is injured."[26]

Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Tampa Bay Times film critic Robert Alan Ross remarked, "The one-day delay turned out well. President Reagan's taped greeting – combined with emcee Johnny Carson's assurance that the First Couple were comfortably watching – instilled a happier mood than might otherwise have prevailed."[27] Jerry Buck of the Associated Press quipped, "Producer Norman Jewison effectively chose to make the night a homage to motion pictures' past, making wide use of many cherished film clips that tugged at the heart and memory."[28] The Boston Globe columnist Bruce McCabe wrote, "Given the trauma of the past few days, the Academy Awards show conducted itself rather well. No one really disgraced himself. There were no political speeches."[29]

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 39.9 million people over the length of the entire ceremony, which was a 19% decrease from the previous year's ceremony.[30] An estimated 75 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards.[31] Moreover, the show drew lower Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 31% of households watching over a 58% share.[32] Nevertheless, the ceremony presentation won an award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety Program (Roy Christopher) at the 33rd Primetime Emmys in September 1981.[33]