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Welcome to theOscarSite's yearly Oscars® pages

This page covers the Awards for 1928-29. If you wish, read my disclaimer.

Use this link for information on the Awards Ceremony for this year's nominees.

 Use this link to go to my listing of every film and every person ever nominated for an Award! 

 Use this link to see every film considered for an Award this year and how it ranks in nominations and Awards! 

"I want to wear smart clothes." -- Mary Pickford

NOTE: THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL NOMINATIONS. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners () were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.

Outstanding Picture Prior to the Awards for 1951, no producer(s) named with nominations
 ALIBI - Feature Productions, UA. [Produced by Roland West]
 THE BROADWAY MELODY - MGM. [Produced by Harry Rapf]
 THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 - MGM. [Produced by Harry Rapf]
 IN OLD ARIZONA - Fox. [Winfield Sheehan, Studio Head]
 THE PATRIOT - Paramount. [Produced by Ernst Lubitsch]

Actor
 George Bancroft in THUNDERBOLT
 Warner Baxter in IN OLD ARIZONA
 Chester Morris in ALIBI
 Paul Muni in THE VALIANT
 Lewis Stone in THE PATRIOT

Actress
 Ruth Chatterton in MADAME X
 Betty Compson in THE BARKER
 Jeanne Eagels in THE LETTER
 Corinne Griffith in THE DIVINE LADY
 Bessie Love in THE BROADWAY MELODY
 Mary Pickford in COQUETTE

Directing
 Lionel Barrymore - MADAME X
 Harry Beaumont - THE BROADWAY MELODY
 Irving Cummings - IN OLD ARIZONA
 Frank Lloyd - THE DIVINE LADY
 Frank Lloyd - WEARY RIVER & DRAG
 Ernst Lubitsch - THE PATRIOT

Writing (Achievement)
 Tom Barry for IN OLD ARIZONA & THE VALIANT
 Elliott Clawson for THE LEATHERNECK, SAL OF SINGAPORE, SKYSCRAPER & THE COP
 Hans Kraly for THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY
 Hans Kraly for THE PATRIOT
 Josephine Lovett for OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS
 Bess Meredyth for WONDER OF WOMEN & A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS

Art Direction
 Hans Dreier - THE PATRIOT
 Cedric Gibbons - THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY
 Mitchell Leisen - DYNAMITE
 William Cameron Menzies - ALIBI & THE AWAKENING
 Harry Oliver - STREET ANGEL

Cinematography
 George Barnes for OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS
 Clyde De Vinna for WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS
 Arthur Edeson for IN OLD ARIZONA
 Ernest G. Palmer for FOUR DEVILS & STREET ANGEL
 John F. Seitz for THE DIVINE LADY

FIRSTS
· The ceremonies were publicly broadcast over the radio. Winners weren't announced until the Awards. Runners-up would not receive scrolls.
· The director of Madame X, Lionel Barrymore, conceived the first boom-mike, an overhang that allowed "talking" actors to move about freely on the set.

RULE CHANGES
· Shortly after the ceremonies, the Academy eliminated the easily corruptible means of selection. The judging committees were replaced with a "one member, one vote policy." A technician would now have the same power as a studio chief.
· Artistic Quality of Production, Comedy Direction, Title Writing and Engineering Effects no longer given.

ROLE REVERSALS
Warner Baxter stepped into his winning role only after Raoul Walsh suffered a freak accident that cost him an eye.

UNMENTIONABLES
· Best Actress nominee Jeanne Eagels died shortly before the Awards of a heroin overdose.
· Best Director Frank Lloyd was most famous as a physical comedian. While posing for a publicity still, the bomb he held exploded. He briefly lost his sight, along with two fingers.
· Pickfair, the famous Pickford-Fairbanks estate in Beverly Hills, was the center of 1920s Hollywood society. It was purchased in the 1980s by Pia Zadora and her husband, who promptly tore the mansion down.


And, of course, here's the place where I have to put the disclaimer: This page was created for my own personal use and was intended for educational and entertainment purposes only."Oscar" and "Academy Awards" are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The "Oscar" Statuette is copyrighted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These pages are neither authorized nor endorsed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I cannot take responsibility for any errors or omissions on these pages; i.e., if you lose a bet because of something I missed, don't expect me to pay it off!

Sidebar highlights come from several sources, most notably The Academy Awards® - The Complete Unofficial History, by Gail Kinn & Jim Piazza, and Inside Oscar® - The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards®, by Mason Wiley & Damien Bona.

This page is authored by Gary Moody. If you have comments or questions about the page, please e-mail me at gary@theoscarsite.com.