
	Oscar
	...Best Picture
	...Actor in a Leading...
	...Actress in a Leading...
	...Actor in a Supporting...
	...Actress in a...
	...Best Director
	...Writing, Original...
	...Writing, Screenplay
	...Best Cinematography
	...Best Art Direction
	...Best Sound, Recording
	...Best Film Editing
	...Music, Original Song
	...Music, Original Score
	...Best Music, Scoring
	...Short Subject,...
	...Short Subject,...
	...Short Subject,...
	Juvenile Award
	Honorary Award
	Irving G. Thalberg...
	Academy Award of Merit
	Scientific and...
	Technical Achievement...



	event overview
	prev ceremony: 1938
	next ceremony: 1940



	in this year: 1939
	all events
	awards browser

Academy Awards, USA: 1939

Oscar

Date:	23 February (banquet)
Host:	Frank Capra
Location:	Biltmore Bowl, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA

Best Picture


Winner:
	You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Columbia
Other Nominees:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - 20th Century Fox Boys Town (1938) - M-G-M Four Daughters (1938) - Warner Bros.; First National Jezebel (1938) - Warner Bros. La grande illusion (1937) - Realization d'Art Cinematographique Pygmalion (1938) - M-G-M Test Pilot (1938) - M-G-M The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Warner Bros.; First National The Citadel (1938) - M-G-M

Best Actor in a Leading Role


Winner:
	Boys Town (1938) - Spencer Tracy - Spencer Tracy was not present at the awards ceremony. His wife Louise Treadwell accepted the award on his behalf.
Other Nominees:
	Algiers (1938) - Charles Boyer (I) Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) - James Cagney Pygmalion (1938) - Leslie Howard (I) The Citadel (1938) - Robert Donat

Best Actress in a Leading Role


Winner:
	Jezebel (1938) - Bette Davis - On 19 July 2001 Steven Spielberg purchased Davis' Oscar statuette at a Christie's auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This was the second time in five years Spielberg did so to protect an Oscar from further commercial exploitation.
Other Nominees:
	Marie Antoinette (1938) - Norma Shearer Pygmalion (1938) - Wendy Hiller Three Comrades (1938) - Margaret Sullavan White Banners (1938) - Fay Bainter

Best Actor in a Supporting Role


Winner:
	Kentucky (1938) - Walter Brennan
Other Nominees:
	Algiers (1938) - Gene Lockhart Four Daughters (1938) - John Garfield (I) If I Were King (1938) - Basil Rathbone Marie Antoinette (1938) - Robert Morley (I)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role


Winner:
	Jezebel (1938) - Fay Bainter
Other Nominees:
	Merrily We Live (1938) - Billie Burke Of Human Hearts (1938) - Beulah Bondi The Great Waltz (1938) - Miliza Korjus You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Spring Byington

Best Director


Winner:
	You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Frank Capra
Other Nominees:
	Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) - Michael Curtiz Boys Town (1938) - Norman Taurog Four Daughters (1938) - Michael Curtiz The Citadel (1938) - King Vidor

Best Writing, Original Story


Winner:
	Boys Town (1938) - Eleanore Griffin; Dore Schary
Other Nominees:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - Irving Berlin (I) Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) - Rowland Brown Blockade (1938) - John Howard Lawson Mad About Music (1938) - Marcella Burke; Frederick Kohner Test Pilot (1938) - Frank Wead

Best Writing, Screenplay


Winner:
	Pygmalion (1938) - George Bernard Shaw; Ian Dalrymple; Cecil Lewis; W.P. Lipscomb - George Bernard Shaw was not present at the ceremony. When presenter Lloyd C. Douglas announced that Pygmalion has won the Oscar he joked "Mr. Shaw's story now is as original as it was three thousand years ago". Shaw's reaction to the award was not enthusiastic as he is quoted as saying "It's an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before - and it's very likely they never have. They might as well send some honour to George for being King of England". Although popular legend says Shaw never received the Oscar, when Mary Pickford visited him she reported that he was on his mantle. When Shaw died in 1950 his home at Ayot St Lawrence became a museum. By this time his Oscar statuette was so tarnished, the curator believed it had no value and used it as a door stop. It has since been repaired and is now on displayed at the museum.
Other Nominees:
	Boys Town (1938) - John Meehan (I); Dore Schary Four Daughters (1938) - Lenore J. Coffee; Julius J. Epstein The Citadel (1938) - Ian Dalrymple; Elizabeth Hill (I); Frank Wead You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Robert Riskin

Best Cinematography


Winner:
	The Great Waltz (1938) - Joseph Ruttenberg
Other Nominees:
	Algiers (1938) - James Wong Howe (I) Army Girl (1938) - Ernest Miller (I); Harry J. Wild Jezebel (1938) - Ernest Haller Mad About Music (1938) - Joseph A. Valentine Merrily We Live (1938) - Norbert Brodine Suez (1938) - J. Peverell Marley The Buccaneer (1938) - Victor Milner The Young in Heart (1938) - Leon Shamroy Vivacious Lady (1938) - Robert De Grasse You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Joseph Walker (I)

Best Art Direction


Winner:
	The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Carl Jules Weyl
Other Nominees:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - Bernard Herzbrun; Boris Leven Algiers (1938) - Alexander Toluboff Carefree (1938) - Van Nest Polglase Holiday (1938) - Stephen Goosson; Lionel Banks If I Were King (1938) - Hans Dreier; John B. Goodman (I) Mad About Music (1938) - Jack Otterson Marie Antoinette (1938) - Cedric Gibbons Merrily We Live (1938) - Charles D. Hall The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) - Lyle R. Wheeler The Goldwyn Follies (1938) - Richard Day (I)

Best Sound, Recording


Winner:
	The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) - Thomas T. Moulton (United Artists SSD)
Other Nominees:
	Army Girl (1938) - Charles L. Lootens (Republic SSD) Four Daughters (1938) - Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD) If I Were King (1938) - Loren L. Ryder (Paramount SSD) Merrily We Live (1938) - Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD) Suez (1938) - Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD) Sweethearts (1938) - Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD) That Certain Age (1938) - Bernard B. Brown (Universal SSD) Vivacious Lady (1938) - James Wilkinson (I) (RKO Radio SSD) You Can't Take It with You (1938) - John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD)

Best Film Editing


Winner:
	The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Ralph Dawson
Other Nominees:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - Barbara McLean (I) Test Pilot (1938) - Tom Held The Great Waltz (1938) - Tom Held You Can't Take It with You (1938) - Gene Havlick

Best Music, Original Song


Winner:
	The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) - Ralph Rainger (music); Leo Robin (I) (lyrics) - For the song "Thanks for the Memory".
Other Nominees:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - Irving Berlin (I) - For the song "Now It Can Be Told". Carefree (1938) - Irving Berlin (I) - For the song "Change Partners and Dance with Me". Going Places (1938) - Harry Warren (I) (music); Johnny Mercer (lyrics) - For the song "Jeepers Creepers". Mannequin (1937) - Edward Ward (I) (music); Chet Forrest (lyrics); Bob Wright (I) (lyrics) - For the song "Always and Always". Merrily We Live (1938) - Phil Charig (music); Arthur Quenzer (lyrics) - For the song "Merrily We Live". That Certain Age (1938) - Jimmy McHugh (music); Harold Adamson (lyrics) - For the song "My Own". The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) - Lionel Newman (music); Arthur Quenzer (lyrics) - For the song "The Cowboy and the Lady". The Lady Objects (1938) - Ben Oakland (I) (music); Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) - For the song "A Mist Over the Moon". Under Western Stars (1938) - Johnny Marvin - For the song "Dust".

Best Music, Original Score


Winner:
	The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Other Nominees:
	Army Girl (1938) - Victor Young (I) Block-Heads (1938) - Marvin Hatley Blockade (1938) - Werner Janssen Breaking the Ice (1938) - Victor Young (I) If I Were King (1938) - Richard Hageman Marie Antoinette (1938) - Herbert Stothart Pacific Liner (1939) - Robert Russell Bennett Suez (1938) - Louis Silvers (I) The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) - Alfred Newman The Young in Heart (1938) - Franz Waxman

Best Music, Scoring


Winner:
	Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) - Alfred Newman
Other Nominees:
	Carefree (1938) - Victor Baravalle Girls' School (1938) - Morris Stoloff; Gregory Stone (I) Jezebel (1938) - Max Steiner (I) Mad About Music (1938) - Charles Previn; Frank Skinner (I) Storm Over Bengal (1938) - Cy Feuer Sweethearts (1938) - Herbert Stothart The Goldwyn Follies (1938) - Alfred Newman The Young in Heart (1938) - Franz Waxman There Goes My Heart (1938) - Marvin Hatley Tropic Holiday (1938) - Boris Morros

Best Short Subject, Two-reel


Winner:
	The Declaration of Independence (1938) - Warner Bros.
Other Nominees:
	Swingtime in the Movies (1938) - Warner Bros. They're Always Caught (1938) - M-G-M

Best Short Subject, One-reel


Winner:
	That Mothers Might Live (1938) - M-G-M
Other Nominees:
	The Great Heart (1938) - M-G-M Timber Toppers (1938) - 20th Century-Fox

Best Short Subject, Cartoons


Winner:
	Ferdinand the Bull (1938) - Walt Disney
Other Nominees:
	Brave Little Tailor (1938) - Walt Disney Good Scouts (1938) - Walt Disney Hunky and Spunky (1938) - Paramount Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938) - Walt Disney

Juvenile Award


Awarded to:
	Deanna Durbin; Mickey Rooney (I) - For their (Durbin/Rooney) significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players setting a high standard of ability and achievement.

Honorary Award


Awarded to:
	Arthur Ball (I) - For his outstanding contributions to the advancement of color in motion picture photography (certificate). Harry M. Warner - In recognition of patriotic service in the production of historical short subjects presenting significant episodes in the early struggle of the American people for liberty (certificate). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) - Walt Disney - For Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field (one statuette - seven miniature statuettes). Spawn of the North (1938) - Gordon Jennings (I) (special effects); Jan Domela (assistant special effects); Devereaux Jennings (assistant special effects); Irmin Roberts (assistant special effects); Art Smith (III) (assistant special effects); Farciot Edouart (transparencies); Loyal Griggs (assistant transparencies); Loren L. Ryder (sound effects); Harry D. Mills (assistant sound effects); Louis Mesenkop (assistant sound effects); Walter Oberst (assistant sound effects) - For outstanding achievements in creating special photographic and sound effects in the Paramount production Spawn of the North (plaque). Sweethearts (1938) - Oliver T. Marsh; Allen M. Davey (I) - For the color cinematography of the M-G-M production Sweethearts.

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Notes:

For the 11th Academy Awards, names the of nominees for the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award were announced for the first and only time.


Awarded to:
	Hal B. Wallis
Nominees:
	Samuel Goldwyn Joe Pasternak David O. Selznick Hunt Stromberg Walter Wanger Darryl F. Zanuck

Academy Award of Merit


Winner:
	- Not awarded.

Scientific and Engineering Award


Winner:
	- Not awarded.

Technical Achievement Award


Winners:
	John Aalberg; RKO Radio SSD - For the application of compression to variable area recording in motion picture production. Byron Haskin; Special Effects Dept. of Warner Bros. Studio - For pioneering the development and for the first practical application to motion picture production of the triple head background projector.