21st Academy Awards

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

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.

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was moved from the Shrine Auditorium to the Academy's own theater, primarily because the major Hollywood studios had withdrawn their financial support in order to address rumors that they had been trying to influence voters.

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.

Joan of Arc became the first film to receive as many as seven nominations without being nominated for 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.

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Picture	Best Director
Laurence Olivier for Universal Studios and General Film Distributors, Ltd. – Hamlet Jerry Wald for Warner Bros. – Johnny Belinda Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger for Eagle-Lion Films and General Film Distributors, Ltd. – The Red Shoes Anatole Litvak and Robert Bassler for 20th Century Fox – The Snake Pit Henry Blanke for Warner Bros. – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre	John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit Jean Negulesco – Johnny Belinda Laurence Olivier – Hamlet Fred Zinnemann – The Search
Best Actor	Best Actress
Laurence Olivier – Hamlet Lew Ayres – Johnny Belinda Montgomery Clift – The Search Dan Dailey – When My Baby Smiles at Me Clifton Webb – Sitting Pretty	Jane Wyman – Johnny Belinda Ingrid Bergman – Joan of Arc Olivia de Havilland – The Snake Pit Irene Dunne – I Remember Mama Barbara Stanwyck – Sorry, Wrong Number
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Walter Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Charles Bickford – Johnny Belinda José Ferrer – Joan of Arc Oskar Homolka – I Remember Mama Cecil Kellaway – The Luck of the Irish	Claire Trevor – Key Largo Barbara Bel Geddes – I Remember Mama Ellen Corby – I Remember Mama Agnes Moorehead – Johnny Belinda Jean Simmons – Hamlet
Best Story	Best Screenplay
The Search – Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler The 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 A Foreign Affair – Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Richard L. Breen Johnny Belinda – Irma von Cube and Allen Vincent The Search – Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler The Snake Pit – Frank Partos and Millen Brand
Best Documentary Feature	Best Documentary Short
The Secret Land – Orville O. Dull The Quiet One – Janice Loeb	Toward Independence Heart to Heart Operation Vittles
Best Live Action Short Film, One-Reel	Best Live Action Short Film, 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 Animated Short Film
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
Best Dramatic or Comedy Score	Best Musical Score
The Red Shoes – Brian Easdale Hamlet – William Walton Joan of Arc – Hugo Friedhofer Johnny Belinda – Max Steiner The Snake Pit – Alfred Newman	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
Best Original Song	Best Sound Recording
"Buttons and Bows" from The Paleface – Music and Lyric by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans "For Every Man There is a Woman" from Casbah – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyric by Leo Robin "It's Magic" from Romance on the High Seas – Music by Jule Styne; Lyric by Sammy Cahn "This is the Moment" from That Lady in Ermine – Music by Frederick Hollander; Lyric by Leo Robin "The Woody Woodpecker Song" from Wet Blanket Policy – Music and Lyric by Ramey Idriss and George Tibbles	The Snake Pit – Thomas T. Moulton, 20th Century Fox Studio Sound Department Johnny Belinda – Nathan O. Levinson, Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department Moonrise – Daniel J. Bloomberg, Republic Studio Sound Department
Best Art Direction, Black and White	Best Art Direction, Color
Hamlet – Art Direction: Roger K. Furse; Set Decoration: Carmen Dillon Johnny Belinda – Art Direction: Robert M. Haas; Set Decoration: William O. Wallace	The Red Shoes – Art Direction: Hein Heckroth; Set Decoration: Arthur Lawson Joan of Arc – Art Direction: Richard Day; Set Decoration: Edwin Casey Roberts and Joseph Kish
Best Cinematography, Black and White	Best Cinematography, Color
The Naked City – William H. Daniels A Foreign Affair – Charles B. Lang Jr. I Remember Mama – Nicholas Musuraca Johnny Belinda – Ted D. McCord Portrait of Jennie – Joseph H. August	Joan of Arc – Joseph Valentine, William V. Skall and Winton Hoch Green Grass of Wyoming – Charles G. Clarke The Loves of Carmen – William Snyder The Three Musketeers – Robert Planck
Best Costume Design, Black and White	Best Costume Design, Color
Hamlet – Roger K. Furse B.F.'s Daughter – Irene	Joan of Arc – Dorothy Jeakins and Karinska The Emperor Waltz – Edith Head and Gile Steele
Best Film Editing	Best Special Effects
The Naked City – Paul Weatherwax Joan of Arc – Frank Sullivan Johnny Belinda – David Weisbart Red River – Christian Nyby The Red Shoes – Reginald Mills	Portrait of Jennie – Paul Eagler, J. McMillan Johnson, Russell Shearman, Clarence Slifer, Charles L. Freeman and James G. Stewart Deep Waters – Ralph Hammeras, Fred Sersen, Edward Snyder and Roger Heman Sr

Academy Honorary Awards

• Sid Grauman
• Adolph Zukor
• Walter Wanger

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 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

These films had multiple nominations:

• 12 nominations: Johnny Belinda
• 7 nominations: Hamlet, Joan of Arc
• 6 nominations: The Snake Pit
• 5 nominations: I Remember Mama, The Red Shoes
• 4 nominations: The Search, 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, When My Baby Smiles at Me

The following films received multiple awards.

• 4 wins: Hamlet
• 3 wins: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• 2 wins: Joan of Arc, The Naked City, The Red Shoes

See also

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