theOscarSite.com is a registered Associate of amazon.com®.
When ordering Oscar®-nominated films, please help support this site by using the links provided on our film pages.


Welcome to theOscarSite's yearly Oscars® pages

This page covers the Awards for 1931-32. If you wish, read my disclaimer.

Click here 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 nominated for an Award this year and how it ranks in nominations and Awards! 

"Mr. Beery and I recently adopted children. Under the circumstances, it seems a little odd
that we were both given awards for the best male performance of the year." -- Fredric March

Or use this link to view a larger version of the film.

Outstanding Production Prior to the Awards for 1951, no producer(s) named with nominations
 ARROWSMITH - Goldwyn (UA). [Produced by Samuel Goldwyn]
 BAD GIRL (Won 2 Awards) - Fox. [Winfield Sheehan, studio head]
 THE CHAMP (Won 2 Awards) - MGM. [Produced by King Vidor]
 FIVE STAR FINAL - First National. [Produced by Hal B. Wallis]
 GRAND HOTEL - MGM. [Produced by Irving Thalberg]
 ONE HOUR WITH YOU - Paramount Publix. [Produced by Ernst Lubitsch]
 SHANGHAI EXPRESS - Paramount Publix. [Adolph Zukor, studio head]
 THE SMILING LIEUTENANT - Paramount Publix. [Produced by Ernst Lubitsch]

Actor
 Wallace Beery in THE CHAMP
 Alfred Lunt in THE GUARDSMAN
 Fredric March in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
NOTE: Beery had one vote less than March and rules at the time stated that if any achievement came within three votes of the First Award, it would be considered a tie.

Actress
 Marie Dressler in EMMA
 Lynn Fontanne in THE GUARDSMAN
 Helen Hayes in THE SIN OF MADELON CLAUDET

Directing
 Frank Borzage BAD GIRL
 King Vidor THE CHAMP
 Josef von Sternberg SHANGHAI EXPRESS

Writing (Original Story)
 Frances Marion THE CHAMP
 Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt LADY AND GENT
 Lucien Hubbard THE STAR WITNESS
 Adela Rogers St. Johns WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?

Writing (Adaptation)
 Sidney Howard ARROWSMITH
 Edwin Burke BAD GIRL
 Percy Heath, Samuel Hoffenstein DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

Art Direction
 Lazare Meerson À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ
 Richard Day - ARROWSMITH
 Gordon Wiles - TRANSATLANTIC

Cinematography
 Ray June ARROWSMITH
 Karl Struss DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
 Lee Garmes SHANGHAI EXPRESS

Short Subjects (Cartoons)
 Walt Disney - Producer FLOWERS AND TREES
 Leon Schlesinger - Producer IT'S GOT ME AGAIN
 Walt Disney - Producer MICKEY'S ORPHANS

Short Subjects (Novelty)
 SCREEN SOUVENIRS
 SWING HIGH
 Mack Sennett - Producer WRESTLING SWORDFISH
NOTE: In the original balloting WRESTLING SWORDFISH lost to SWING HIGH by only three votes. Mack Sennett called the Academy's attention to the rule book, which stated that a three-vote difference was considered a tie vote. The tie-breaking vote was turned over to the entire Academy membership -- everybody was called to decide the superior novelty short.

Short Subjects (Comedy)
 Mack Sennett - Producer THE LOUD MOUTH
 Hal Roach - Producer THE MUSIC BOX
 Hal Roach - Producer SCRATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN
 Lou Brock - Producer STOUT HEARTS AND WILLING HANDS NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. Originally announced as one of the nominees in this category, but before the final voting was done, this film was disqualified and was replaced by another RKO Radio short SCRATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN. No documentation has been found as to why this film was disqualified.

Sound Recording
NOTE: These nominations and award were not associated with any specific film title.
 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department
 Paramount Studio Sound Department
 RKO Radio Studio Sound Department
 Warner Brother-First National Studio Sound Department

Scientific Or Technical
Class I (Statuette):
  No award given for 1931-32.
Class II (Certificate):
 Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation - For their color cartoon process.
Class III (Honorable Mention):
 Eastman Kodak Company - For the Type II-B Sensitometer.

Special Award
 Walt Disney - For the creation of Mickey Mouse.

FIRSTS
· Grand Hotel was the first and only film to take top honors without a single other nomination.
· The Academy Awards ceremony was broadcast nationally for the first time.
· Lynne Fontanne and Alfred Lunt were the first couple to be nominated in the same year for acting.
· Fredric March would be the first and only actor to take the prize for a horror movie until Anthony Hopkins scared up a win for The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

RULE CHANGES:
· This was the first and only time a tie would be determined by a 1-3 vote differential. From here on, a tie would be precisely what it means.
· Short Subjects were introduced with three new Award categories. This allowed Laurel & Hardy to collect their first and only stuatuette (Best Comedy Short, The Music Box).
· Only films shot in America were eligible for Cinematography.
· Academy leaves it up to studios to decide if a work constitutes an "Original Story" or "Adapted Screenplay."

ROLE REVERSALS
The dual role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was originally intended for popular character actor Irving Pichel.

SINS OF OMISSION
Picture: Scarface, What Price Hollywood?, Frankenstein
Director: James Whale - Frankenstein, Howard Hawks - Scarface
Actor: Paul Muni - Scarface, Boris Karloff - Frankenstein
Actress: Marlene Dietrich - Shanghai Express

UNMENTIONABLES
· Fredric March had already received his Award when B.P. Schulberg, who was overseeing the Voting Committee, discovered that Wallace Beery had received only one vote less than March in the Best Actor race -- a tie under the Academy rules. Schulberg sent an official to go find another statuette quick and summoned Academy President Conrad Nagel. After Louis B. Mayer had finished his thank-yous for Grand Hotel, Nagel called Beery to the dais. "Mr. Beery, it is my pleasure to announce that you have tied with Mr. March for the best male performance of the year for your splendid portrayal in The Champ." It is reported that Beery accomplished a very graceful acceptance.
· Walt Disney was the original voice of Mickey Mouse.
· The Academy voted down a petition for an exclusionary rule that would prohibit repeat winners.


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.