21st Academy Awards

The 21st Academy Awards features numerous firsts. It was the first time a non-Hollywood production won Best Picture, Hamlet and the first time an individual (Laurence Olivier) directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance.

21st Academy Awards
Date	March 24, 1949
Site	The Academy Theater, Hollywood, California, USA
Hosted by	Robert Montgomery[1]
Highlights
Best Picture	Hamlet
Most awards	Hamlet (4)
Most nominations	Johnny Belinda (12)

It was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be giving awards for Best Costume Design.

John Huston directed two films in this awards year for which his actors won Oscars: 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was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to the Academy's own theater, primarily because the major Hollywood studios had withdrawn their financial support in order to address rumors that they had been trying to influence voters.[2]

Humphrey Bogart failed to receive a nomination for Best Actor in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, eventually considered one of the Academy’s greatest slights.[3][4]

Joan of Arc set a record by receiving seven nominations without being nominated for Best Picture; this stood until They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) received nine nominations at the 42nd Academy Awards without Best Picture.

Hamlet became the fifth film to win Best Picture without a screenwriting nomination; the next to do so would be The Sound of Music at the 38th Academy Awards. Jane Wyman became the first performer since the silent era to win an Oscar for a performance with no lines;[4] Johnny Belinda became the fourth film to receive nominations in all four acting categories.

I Remember Mama received four acting nominations but not one for Best Picture, tying the record set by My Man Godfrey in 1936. Two more films would also tie this record: Othello (1965) and Doubt (2008).

Awards

Laurence Olivier; Best Picture and Best Actor winner

John Huston; Best Director and Best Screenplay winner

Jane Wyman; Best Actress winner

Walter Huston; Best Supporting Actor winner

Claire Trevor; Best Supporting Actress winner

Walt Disney; Best Live Action Short Subject, Two Reel winner

Barbara Karinska; Best Costume Design, Color co-winner

Paul Eagler; Best Special Effects co-winner

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[5]

Best Picture	Best Director
Hamlet – Laurence Olivier for Universal Studios and General Film Distributors, Ltd. Johnny Belinda – Jerry Wald for Warner Bros. The Red Shoes – Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger for Eagle-Lion Films and General Film Distributors, Ltd. The Snake Pit – Anatole Litvak and Robert Bassler for 20th Century Fox The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – Henry Blanke for Warner Bros.	John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Laurence Olivier – Hamlet Jean Negulesco – Johnny Belinda Fred Zinnemann – The Search Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit
Best Actor	Best Actress
Laurence Olivier – Hamlet as Hamlet Lew Ayres – Johnny Belinda as Dr. Robert Richardson Montgomery Clift – The Search as Ralph "Steve" Stevenson Dan Dailey – When My Baby Smiles at Me as "Skid" Johnson Clifton Webb – Sitting Pretty as Lynn Belvedere	Jane Wyman – Johnny Belinda as Belinda MacDonald Ingrid Bergman – Joan of Arc as Jeanne d'Arc Olivia de Havilland – The Snake Pit as Virginia Stuart Cunningham Irene Dunne – I Remember Mama as Marta "Mama" Hanson Barbara Stanwyck – Sorry, Wrong Number as Leona Stevenson
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Walter Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre as Howard Charles Bickford – Johnny Belinda as Black MacDonald José Ferrer – Joan of Arc as The Dauphin, later Charles VII of France Oscar Homolka – I Remember Mama as Uncle Chris Halvorsen Cecil Kellaway – The Luck of the Irish as Horace	Claire Trevor – Key Largo as Gaye Dawn Barbara Bel Geddes – I Remember Mama as Katrin Hanson Ellen Corby – I Remember Mama as Aunt Trina Agnes Moorehead – Johnny Belinda as Aggie MacDonald Jean Simmons – Hamlet as Ophelia
Best Motion Picture Story	Best Screenplay
The Search – Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler Louisiana Story – Robert Flaherty and Frances Flaherty The Naked City – Malvin Wald Red River – Borden Chase The Red Shoes – Emeric Pressburger	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – John Huston from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven A Foreign Affair – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and Richard L. Breen from a story by David Shaw Johnny Belinda – Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent from Johnny Belinda by Elmer Blaney Harris The Search – Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand from The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward
Best Documentary Feature	Best Documentary Short Subject
The Secret Land – Orville O. Dull The Quiet One – Janice Loeb	Toward Independence Heart to Heart Operation Vittles
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel	Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel
Symphony of a City – Edmund H. Reek Annie Was a Wonder – Herbert Moulton Cinderella Horse – Gordon Hollingshead So You Want to Be on the Radio – Gordon Hollingshead You Can't Win – Pete Smith	Seal Island – Walt Disney Calgary Stampede – Gordon Hollingshead Going to Blazes – Herbert Morgan Samba-Mania – Harry Grey Snow Capers – Thomas Head
Best Short Subject – Cartoons	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Little Orphan – Fred Quimby Mickey and the Seal – Walt Disney Mouse Wreckers – Edward Selzer Robin Hoodlum – United Productions of America Tea for Two Hundred – Walt Disney	The Red Shoes – Brian Easdale Hamlet – William Walton Joan of Arc – Hugo Friedhofer Johnny Belinda – Max Steiner The Snake Pit – Alfred Newman
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture	Best Original Song
Easter Parade – Johnny Green and Roger Edens The Emperor Waltz – Victor Young The Pirate – Lennie Hayton Romance on the High Seas – Ray Heindorf When My Baby Smiles at Me – Alfred Newman	"Buttons and Bows" from The Paleface – Music and Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans "For Every Man There is a Woman" from Casbah – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Leo Robin "It's Magic" from Romance on the High Seas – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn "This is the Moment" from That Lady in Ermine – Music by Frederick Hollander; Lyrics by Leo Robin "The Woody Woodpecker Song" from Wet Blanket Policy – Music and Lyrics by Ramey Idriss and George Tibbles
Best Sound Recording	Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Black-and-White
The Snake Pit – Thomas T. Moulton Johnny Belinda – Nathan Levinson Moonrise – Daniel J. Bloomberg	Hamlet – Art Direction: Roger K. Furse; Set Decoration: Carmen Dillon Johnny Belinda – Art Direction: Robert M. Haas; Set Decoration: William O. Wallace
Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Color	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
The Red Shoes – Art Direction: Hein Heckroth; Set Decoration: Arthur Lawson Joan of Arc – Art Direction: Richard Day; Set Decoration: Casey Roberts and Joseph Kish	The Naked City – William Daniels A Foreign Affair – Charles Lang I Remember Mama – Nicholas Musuraca Johnny Belinda – Ted D. McCord Portrait of Jennie – Joseph August
Best Cinematography, Color	Best Costume Design, Black-and-White
Joan of Arc – Joseph Valentine, William V. Skall, and Winton C. Hoch Green Grass of Wyoming – Charles G. Clarke The Loves of Carmen – William Snyder The Three Musketeers – Robert Planck	Hamlet – Roger K. Furse B.F.'s Daughter – Irene Lentz
Best Costume Design, Color	Best Film Editing
Joan of Arc – Dorothy Jeakins and Barbara Karinska The Emperor Waltz – Edith Head and Gile Steele	The Naked City – Paul Weatherwax Joan of Arc – Frank Sullivan Johnny Belinda – David Weisbart Red River – Christian Nyby The Red Shoes – Reginald Mills
Best Special Effects
Portrait of Jennie – Paul Eagler, Joseph McMillan Johnson, Russell Shearman and Clarence Slifer; Special Audible Effects: Charles L. Freeman and James G. Stewart Deep Waters – Ralph Hammeras, Fred Sersen and Edward Snyder; Special Audible Effects: Roger Heman Sr.

Academy Honorary Awards

• Sid Grauman "master showman, who raised the standard of exhibition of motion pictures".
• Adolph Zukor "a man who has been called the father of the feature film in America, for his services to the industry over a period of forty years".
• Walter Wanger "for distinguished service to the industry in adding to its moral stature in the world community by his production of the picture Joan of Arc".

Best Foreign Language Film

• Monsieur Vincent (France)

Academy Juvenile Award

• Ivan Jandl

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

• Jerry Wald

Scientific or Technical

Class II

• Victor Caccialanza, Maurice Ayers and the Paramount Studio Set Construction Department for the development and the application of "Paralite", a new lightweight plaster process for set construction
• Nick Kalten, Louis J. Witt and the Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Mechanical Effects Department for a process of preserving and flame-proofing foliage

Class III

• Marty Martin, Jack Lannon, Russell Shearman and the RKO Radio Studio Special Effects Department; A.J. Moran and the Warner Bros. Studio Electrical Department

Presenters

• Ethel Barrymore (Presenter: Best Motion Picture)
• Ann Blyth (Presenter: Best Sound Recording)
• Frank Borzage (Presenter: Best Director)
• Ronald Colman (Presenter: Best Actress)
• Wendell Corey (Presenter: Best Film Editing)
• Jeanne Crain (Presenter: Short Subject Awards)
• Arlene Dahl (Presenter: Best Art Direction)
• Glenn Ford (Presenter: Best Special Effects)
• Ava Gardner (Presenter: Documentary Awards)
• Kathryn Grayson (Presenter: Music Awards)
• Edmund Gwenn (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
• Jean Hersholt (Presenter: Honorary Awards)
• Celeste Holm (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
• Louis Jourdan (Presenter: Best Foreign Film)
• Deborah Kerr (Presenter: Writing Awards)
• George Murphy (Presenter: Scientific & Technical Awards)
• Robert Ryan (Presenter: Best Cinematography)
• Elizabeth Taylor (Presenter: Best Costume Design)
• Loretta Young (Presenter: Best Actor)

Performers

• Harry Babbitt and Gloria Wood ("The Woody Woodpecker Song")
• Doris Day ("It's Magic" from Romance on the High Seas)
• Gordon MacRae ("For Every Man There's a Woman" from Casbah)
• Jane Russell ("Buttons and Bows" from The Paleface)
• Jo Stafford ("This Is the Moment" from That Lady in Ermine)

Multiple nominations and awards

The following fifteen films received multiple nominations: 12 nominations: Johnny Belinda 7 nominations: Hamlet and Joan of Arc 6 nominations: The Snake Pit 5 nominations: I Remember Mama and The Red Shoes 4 nominations: The Search and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 3 nominations: The Naked City 2 nominations: The Emperor Waltz, A Foreign Affair, Portrait of Jennie, Red River, Romance on the High Seas, and When My Baby Smiles at Me

The following five films received multiple awards: 4 wins: Hamlet 3 wins: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 2 wins: Joan of Arc, The Naked City, and The Red Shoes

See also

• 6th Golden Globe Awards
• 1948 in film
• 1st Primetime Emmy Awards
• 2nd British Academy Film Awards
• 3rd Tony Awards

References

1. "The 21st Academy Awards Memorable Moments". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
2. Freeman, B. (1999, Mar 21). "OSCARS '99; unforgettable in every way; A winner's wife recalls the excitement of the awards in 1949, despite that year's humble venue." Los Angeles Times
3. Entertainment Weekly. "100 Worst Oscar Snubs Ever: Humphrey Bogart, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
4. Dirks, Tim. "1948 Academy Awards Winners and History". FilmSite.org (American Movie Classics). Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
5. "The 21st Academy Awards (1949) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-18.