Allied Artists
Oscar Nominations: 6
Picture, produced by William Wyler
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay (Adapted): Michael Wilson (nomination was later withdrawn, see below).
Supporting Actor: Anthony Perkins
Sound Recording: Gordon R. Glennan and Gordon Sawyer, sound directors
Song: “Friendly Persuasion,” music by Dimitri Tiomkin, lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.
Oscar Awards: None
Oscar Context
In 1956, “Friendly Persuasion” competed for the Best Picture Oscar with two bloated epic-adventures, “Around the World in 80 Days,” which won, and Cecil B. DeMille's biblical saga, “The Ten Commandments.” The other two nominees were George Stevens' modern Western “Giant,” and the musical “The King and I.”
Tiomkin and Webster's song became a big hit, when Pat Boone, then at the height of his popularity, recorded it.
The winner of the Supporting Actor Oscar was Anthony Quinn for Minnelli's biopic of Van Gogh, “Lust for Life.” The Sound award went to the musical, “The King and I,” and the Song Oscar to Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for “Que Sera, Sera” (Whatever Will Be, Will Be”), from Hitchcock's “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
