OSCAR

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences organized a dinner in 1927, in that they discussed ways to honor outstanding achievements to encourage higher levels of quality in all areas of motion picture production.

MGM art director Cedric Gibbons took the idea to several Los Angeles artists who submitted designs and the Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was selected to create the statuette the figure of a knight standing on a reel of film, hands gripping a sword. The Academy's world-renowned statuette was born.

Over 2,300 statuettes have been presented since the initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Blossom Room. In 2002, additional new golden statuettes were cast, molded, polished and buffed by R. S. Owens and Company. This Chicago awards specialty company has made the award since 1982.

Initially, Oscar was solid bronze. Then, due to a shortage of metal during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Today, the statuette is gold-plated britannium, a pewter-like alloy. He stands 131/2 inches tall and weighs a robust 8-1/2 pounds. He hasn't been changed since he was first created, except when the pedestal was made higher in 1945.

Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by a nickname, Oscar.

A popular story has been that Margaret Herrick,an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar. After she said so, the Academy staff began calling it Oscar.

The Oscar statuette is one of the most recognized award in the world. Its success as a symbol of achievement in filmmaking would probably amaze its creators, Cedric Gibbons and George Stanley. As a matter of fact, they are so prized that in 2000, only a few weeks before the Academy Awards, the Oscars were stolen while they were being shipped from Chicago. They were recovered a week later, but not before some nerve-wracking days had passed.

The Oscar stands today, as it has since 1929, 13-1/2 inches of acheivement on the mantels of the greatest filmmakers in history.

The Oscar awards for Best Motion Picture from 1929 is listed below........

YEAR TITLE OF THE MOTION PICTURE
1928-29 - WINGS

1929 30 - THE BROADWAY MELODY

1930 31 - ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

1931-32 - CIMARRON

1932-33 - GRAND HOTEL

1934 - CAVALCADE

1935 - IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

1936 - MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY

1937 - THE GREAT ZIEGFELD

1938 - THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA

1939 - YOU CANT TAKE IT WITH YOU

1940 - GONE WITH THE WIND

1941 - REBECCA

1942 - HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY

1943 - MRS. MINIVER

1944 - CASABLANCA

1945 - GOING MY WAY

1946 - THE LOST WEEKEND

1947 - THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

1948 - GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT

1949 -HAMLET

1950 - ALL THE KING'S MEN

1951 - ALL ABOUT EVE

1952 - AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

1953 - THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

1954 - FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

1955 - ON THE WATERFRONT

1956 - MARTY

1957 - AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS

1958 - THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

1959 - GIGI

1960 - BEN-HUR

1961 - THE APARTMENT

1962 - WEST SIDE STORY

1963 - LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

1964 - TOM JONES

1965 - MY FAIR LADY

1966 - THE SOUND OF MUSIC

1967 - A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

1968 - IN THE HEAT OF NIGHT

1969 - OLIVER

1970 - MIDNIGHT COWBOY

1971 - PATTON

1972 - THE FRENCH CONNECTION

1973 - THE GODFATHER

1974 - THE STING

1975 - THE GODFATHER, PART II

1976 - ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEXT

1977 - ROCKY

1978 - ANNIE HALL

1979 -THE DEER HUNTER

1980 - KRAMER VS KRAMER

1981 - ORDINARY PEOPLE

1982 - CHARIOTS OF FIRE

1983 - GANDHI

1984 - TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

1985 - AMADEUS

1986 - OUT OF AFRICA

1987 - PLATOON

1988 - THE LAST EMPEROR

1989 - RAIN MAN

1990 - DRIVING MISS DAISY

1991 - DANCES WITH WOLVES

1992 - THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

1993 - UNFORGIVEN

1994 - SCHINDLER'S LIST

1995 - FORREST GUMP

1996 - BRAVE HEART

1997 - THE ENGLISH PATIENT

1998 - TITANIC

1999 - SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

2000 - AMERICAN BEAUTY

2001 - GLADIATOR

2002 - A BEAUTIFUL MIND

2003 - CHICAGO

2004 - THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

2005 - MILLION DOLLAR BABY

2006 - CRASH

2007 - THE DEPARTED

2008 - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN