16th Academy Awards | |
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Date | March 2, 1944 |
Site | Grauman's Chinese Theatre Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
Hosted by | Jack Benny |
Highlights | |
Best Picture | Casablanca |
Most awards | The Song of Bernadette (4) |
Most nominations | The Song of Bernadette (12) |
The 16th Academy Awards, in 1944, was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Free passes were given out to men and women in uniform.[citation needed] Originating on KFWB, the complete ceremony was internationally broadcast by CBS Radio via shortwave. Jack Benny served as master of ceremonies for the event, which lasted fewer than 30 minutes.[1]
The Tom and Jerry cartoon series won its first Oscar this year for The Yankee Doodle Mouse after two failed nominations in a row. It would go on to win another six Oscars, including three in a row for the next three years, and gained a total of 13 nominations.
For the first time, supporting actors and actresses took home full-size statuettes, instead of smaller-sized awards mounted on a plaque.[citation needed]
For Whom the Bell Tolls was the third film to receive nominations in all four acting categories. This marked the first time that each acting category had at least one nominee from a color film.
This was the last year until 2009 to have 10 nominations for Best Picture; The Ox-Bow Incident is, as of 2021[update], the last film to be nominated solely in that category.
Nominees were announced on February 6, 1944. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.[2]
The following 26 films received multiple nominations:
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The following three films received multiple awards:
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