The 21st Academy Awards features numerous firsts. It was the first time a non-Hollywood production won Best Picture, Hamlet. It was the first time an individual (Laurence Olivier) directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance. Director John Huston directs two Oscar-winning performances in the same year for two different films: his father Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Claire Trevor for Key Largo. The Huston family won three Oscars that evening. The ceremony was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to the Academy's own theater primarily because the major Hollywood studios had withdrawn their financial support in order to address rumors that they had been trying to influence voters.
Jane Wyman became the first actor since the silent era to win an Oscar for a performance with no lines.
Humphrey Bogart failed to receive a nomination for Best Actor in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which is now considered one of the Academy’s greatest slights.
This year introduced the award for Best Costumes presented by Elizabeth Taylor.
Joan of Arc became the first film to get 7 nominations without being nominated for best picture.
Read more about 21st Academy Awards: Awards, Presenters, Performers
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“The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)