21st Academy Awards

21st Academy Awards
21st Academy Awards
Date	March 24, 1949
Site	The Academy Theater, Hollywood, California, USA
Hosted by	Robert Montgomery
Highlights
Best Picture	Hamlet
Most awards	Hamlet (4)
Most nominations	Johnny Belinda (12)
	← 20th ; Academy Awards ; 22nd →;

Last updated February 28, 2024

The 21st Academy Awards were held on March 24, 1949, honoring the films of 1948. 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was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to the Academy's own theater, primarily because the major Hollywood studios had withdrawn their financial support in order to address rumors that they had been trying to influence voters.^[2] This year marked the first time a non-Hollywood production (Laurence Olivier's Hamlet ) won Best Picture, and the first time an individual (Olivier) directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance.

John Huston directed his father, Walter Huston, to the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Howard in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , a unique accomplishment. The Huston family won three Oscars that evening (John won for Best Director and Best Screenplay, both for the same film). Humphrey Bogart's lack of a nomination for Best Actor has been since 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 one for Best Picture. Walter Wagner, producer of the film, was not pleased to see the film avoid a Best Picture nomination, and turned down a special Oscar designed to make up for this slight.^[5]

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 was 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 to date have tied this record: Othello (1965) and Doubt (2008).

Winners and nominees

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

Awards

Nominees were announced on February 10, 1949. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.^[6]

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 [ de ]‡ 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 [ de ] 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 ".

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 and performers

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

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

Films with multiple awards
Awards	Film
4	Hamlet
3	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
2	Joan of Arc
The Naked City
The Red Shoes

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2 "The 21st Academy Awards Memorable Moments". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
↑ 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
↑ Entertainment Weekly. "100 Worst Oscar Snubs Ever: Humphrey Bogart, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
1 2 Dirks, Tim. "1948 Academy Awards Winners and History". FilmSite.org (American Movie Classics). Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
↑ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 838. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
↑ "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 August 18, 2011.

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[oscars.org-1] 1 2 "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 February 27, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009.

[dirks-4] 1 2 Dirks, Tim. "1948 Academy Awards Winners and History". FilmSite.org (American Movie Classics). Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2009.

[Oscars_'48_Notes-5] Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 838. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.

[Oscars1949-6] "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 August 18, 2011.

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21st Academy Awards

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