What Movie Won Best Picture in 2013 Academy Awards
Copyright Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
On February 26, over 3,000 movie stars, producers, directors, cinematographers, make-up artists, musicians—and anyone else who's touched one of this year's Oscar-nominated films—will fill the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California for the 89th Academy Awards.
Outside, thousands of reporters will flock to gather soundbites and wardrobe details from the famous faces before the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted affair, which will air nationwide on ABC. Fans will have their own area, where hundreds will wait hopefully for a selfie with their favorite star.
What a difference 88 years makes.
Things were a bit more subdued back in 1929, the year the first Academy Award ceremony was held. A mere 270 guests were seated at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for the event, which was billed as a fundraiser for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a "non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of the film industry."
Unlike today, the winners that year were announced three months in advance, which gave fans enough advance notice that they could plan to gather around Hollywood Boulevard to get a glimpse of the stars as they arrived in tony cars.
Tickets to the private dinner cost $5. On the menu? The hotel served "Hors D'Oeuvres Varie, Celery, Olives, Nuts, Rolls, Consomme Celestine, Filet of Sole Saute Au Beurre, Half Broiled Chicken on Toast, New String Beans, Long Branch Potatoes, Lettuce and Tomatoes with French Dressing, Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream, Cakes, and Demi Tasse," says Juan Pineda, the Hollywood Roosevelt's director of entertainment sales and "resident historian."
Courtesy of the Hollywood Roosevelt
Academy President and actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. hosted the ceremony, and only 15 "Oscars" were awarded. "The 12-inch trophies were made of 24-carat gold-plated britannium, which was eventually abandoned in favor of Britannia metal to give the statuettes a smoother finish," Pineda says.
And unlike the months of coverage the award show gets these days, the first ceremony was quite private. "The inaugural awards were the only time in Academy history that the ceremony wasn't broadcast in some way," adds Pineda. "Even one year later the show was covered live on radio."
The first actor to win an Academy award was Emil Jannings for The Way of all Flesh. Janet Gaynor (wearing an off-the-rack dress) was awarded the Best Actress Oscar for Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Meanwhile, Charlie Chaplin, who was originally nominated in three categories (Best Actor, Best Writer and Best Comedy Director for The Circus) "was removed from all these categories so he could receive the special 'Honorary Award,'" says Pineda.
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"The big subject of the night was 'talking pictures' because this was the first ceremony to include silent films exclusively," he says. "The Academy decided it was unfair to let movies with sound compete with silent films." Even without the competition of talkies, many felt Buster Keaton's now classic silent film The General had been snubbed.
Following the ceremony, guests stayed for a party in the Blossom Ballroom. But what was perhaps the juiciest bit of gossip happened after.
"Clark Gable and Carole Lombard carried on their infamous affair in the penthouse," says Pineda. "It cost $5 a night."
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What Movie Won Best Picture in 2013 Academy Awards
Source: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/the-scene/a9635/oscars-first-academy-awards/