| 1st Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | Thursday, May 16, 1929 |
| Site | Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, California |
| Host | Douglas Fairbanks William C. DeMille |
The 1st Academy Awards were presented on May 16, 1929 at a private dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Tickets cost $5 and fewer than 250 people attended. The whole ceremony lasted only 15 minutes. Unlike later events, the winners had been announced months prior to the ceremony. This was also the only Academy Award ceremony not to be broadcast in some way. Unlike later ceremonies, awards could be granted to an actor or director for multiple works within a year. Emil Jannings, for example, was given the Best Actor award for his work in both The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command.
Awards
For a complete list of nominees and winners, see: 1st Academy Awards nominees and winners
Best Production/Picture
Winner: Wings Nominations: The Racket, Seventh Heaven, The Way of All Flesh, The Last Command.
Artistic Quality of Production
Winner: Sunrise Nominations: Chang, The Crowd
Best Actor
Winner: Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh and The Last Command Nominations: Richard Barthelmess in The Noose and The Patent Leather Kid
Best Actress
Winner: Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise Nominations: Louise Dresser in A Ship Comes In and Gloria Swanson in Sadie Thompson
Best Director of a Drama
Winner: Frank Borzage for Seventh Heaven Nominations: Herbert Brenon for Sorrell and Son, King Vidor for The Crowd
Best Director of a Comedy
Winner: Lewis Milestone for Two Arabian Knights Nominations: Ted Wilde for Speedy
Best Writing (original)
Winner: Ben Hecht for Underworld Nominations: Lajos Biro for The Last Command
Best Writing (adaptation)
Winner: Benjamin Glazer for Seventh Heaven Nominations: Alfred Cohn for The Jazz Singer, Anthony Coldeway for Glorious Betsy
Best Cinematography
Winner: Charles Rosher and Karl Struss for Sunrise Nominations: George Barnes for The Devil Dancer, The Magic Flame, and Sadie Thompson
Best Engineering Effects
Winner: Roy Pomeroy for Wings Nominations: Ralph Hammeras for (various) and Nugent Slaughter for (various)
Art Direction
Winner: William Cameron Menzies for The Dove and Tempest Nominations: Rochus Gliese for Sunrise, Harry Oliver for Seventh Heaven
Special Awards
Charles Chaplin won an honorary award for The Circus. Warner Brothers won an honorary award for The Jazz Singer.
References
- Academy Awards® Winners (1927/8 - 1939). The Greatest Films. Retrieved on 30 April, 2005.
- The Story of the First Academy Awards. The MediaDrome. Retrieved on 1 May, 2005.
- 1927/28 (1st). The Academy Awards Database. Retrieved on 1 May, 2005.
- OSCAR.com - 79th Annual Academy Awards - History. OSCAR.com. Retrieved on 09 October, 2007.
