RULE CHANGES
· From 1934 on, the nominating selection and the Awards ceremony would be in accordance with the calendar year.
· "Assistant Director" added.
· Only films shot in America eligible for Interior Decoration Award.

SINS OF OMISSION
Pictures: Dinner at Eight, King Kong, Duck Soup

UNMENTIONABLES
· Several months before the Awards ceremony, a score of Academy members resigned in protest. The studios had called for a 50 percent pay cut in the aftermath of FDR's "bank holiday," a desperate measure to steady the economy. The writers were the first to walk, forming their own union, the Screen Writers Guild. They were followed by some of the biggest stars in the industry, who founded the Screen Actors Guild.
· Humorist Will Rogers, who hosted the Awards ceremony, played fast and loose at the podium as he handed out the Awards. When it came to the Best Director category, Rogers opened the envelope and exclaimed, "Well, well, well, what do you know. I've watched this young man for a long time. Saw him come up from the bottom, and I mean the bottom. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Come up and get it, Frank!" Frank Capra, his dream finally realized, sprang up from his seat and rushed toward the stage. A spotlight played over the house and Capra jubilantly waved his arms, shouting "Over here, I'm over here!" The light finally settled on the real winner, Frank Lloyd, who strode imperiously to the stage. Capra stood frozen in the middle of the room until someone shouted, "Down in front!" He crawled back to his seat in what he later referred to as "the longest, most shattering walk in my life." Future hosts learned an invaluable lesson from Capra's nightmare: No more announcements on a first-name basis.
· When King Kong star Fay Wray was first told by RKO execs that she would be playing opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood, she thought they meant Clark Gable.
· Charles Laughton's obesity was the result of a glandular condition. His wife, Elsa Lanchester (The Bride of Frankenstein), insisted that she had no idea he was homosexual until he confessed years later. Self-loathing about everything except his talent, he referred to his face as looking like "the backside of an elephant."