This Day in History - 16 May 2013

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: MAY 16, 1929

   The Academy Awards are arguably the most hyped annual event in the world. But it wasn't always thus. The first Academy Awards ceremony was a small, private affair that wasn't even broadcast on radio — and didn't rate a men­tion in The Vancouver Sun.

   About 270 people attended the ceremony in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929. Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got in free, but their guests had to pay $5 for a ticket. The event was hosted by the pres­ident of the Academy, the dashing Douglas Fairbanks.

   Fairbanks handed out 12 statues, as opposed to today's 24. One big difference is that nominees could be nominated for multiple movies — Best Actor Emil Jennings won for his work in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh, and Best Actress Janet Gaynor won for 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise. There were also separate awards handed out for best direction in drama and comedy, the only time comedy has been singled out.

   The Outstanding Picture award went to Wings. Set during the First World War, the movie fea­tured some thrilling aerial stunts, which earned it a second Oscar for Engineering Effects. Wings remains the only silent movie to win Best/Outstanding Picture.(Obviously the writer used old information as The Artist won best picture in 2012)

   The Oscar statuette was designed by MGM's art director, Cedric Gibbons, and executed by sculp­tor George Stanley.

   Bette Davis claimed she named the statue "Oscar" after her then-husband, but an alternate theory is that Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky called it "Oscar" after hearing a secretary at the Academy say the statue looked like her uncle Oscar.

   Two Special Awards were handed out, one to Warner Brothers for its breakthrough talking picture The Jazz Singer, and one to Charlie Chaplin for his film Circus.

   Chaplin wouldn't receive another Oscar until 1971, when he was honoured for his lifetime achievements.

   The biggest difference between the first Academy Awards and today's version, is the lack of suspense.

   In 1929, the winners were announced three months before the ceremony.

John Mackie, Vancouver Sun

Douglas Fairbanks, shown as a pirate with an unidentified damsel, was the first host of the Academy Awards.