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Welcome to theOscarSite's yearly Oscars® pages
This page covers the Awards for 1938. 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!
"All these Oscars! Looks like Bette Davis's garage." -- Bob Hope
Or use this link to view a larger version of the film.
Outstanding ProductionPrior to the Awards for 1951, no producer(s) named with nominations
Class III (Citation): John Aalberg (RKO Studio Sound Department) - For the application of compression to variable area recording in motion picture production.
Byron Haskin, (Special Effects Department of Warner Bros. Studio) - For pioneering the development and for the first practical application to motion picture production of the triple head background projector.
Special Awards Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney - For their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players setting a high standard of ability and achievement. Winners presented Miniature Statuettes.
Harry M. Warner - In recognition of patriotic service in the production of historical short subjects presenting significant episodes in the early struggle of the American people for liberty. Winner presented a Scroll.
Walt Disney - For SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon. Winner presented one Statuette and seven Miniature Statuettes.
Oliver Marsh & Allen Davey - For the color cinematography of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, SWEETHEARTS. Winners presented Plaques.
Gordon Jennings - Special Effects, Jan Domela - Special Effects, Devereux Jennings - Special Effects, Irmin Roberts - Special Effects, Art Smith - Special Effects, Farciot Edouart - Tranparencies. Loyal Griggs - Tranparencies, Loren L. Ryder - Sound Effects, Harry Mills - Sound Effects, Louis H. Mesenkop - Sound Effects, Walter Oberst - Sound Effects - For outstanding achievement in creating special effects in the Paramount production, SPAWN OF THE NORTH. Winners presented Plaques.
J. Arthur Ball - For his outstanding contributions to the advancement of color in Motion Picture Photography. Winner presented a Scroll.
FIRSTS · La Grande illusion is the first foreign- language film to be nominated for Best Picture.
· Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first feature-length animated film.
· Fay Bainter becomes the first performer to be simultaneously nominated in two categories.
RULE CHANGES · "Score" Award divided into "Score" (regardless of source) and "Original Score." Composers, rather than studio music dept. heads, now receive the Awards.
· Extras not allowed to vote for Best Song.
· Assistant Director and Dance Direction no longer given.
ROLE REVERSALS Bette Davis turned down the role of Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, fearing that she would have to work with her least favorite leading man, Errol Flynn, as Rhett Butler.
SINS OF OMISSION Picture: Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, Algiers, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Director: Alfred Hitchcock - The Lady Vanishes Actor: Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby Actress: Katharine Hepburn - Bringing Up Baby Song: "Love Walked In," "Our Love Is Here to Stay," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Two Sleepy People"
UNMENTIONABLES · Spencer Tracy's Oscar® was incorrectly engraved "Dick Tracy."
· Tracy refused to give his Oscar® to Boys Town. "Hold on a minute," Tracy protested. "I won it. I want to keep it." Fearing adverse publicity, the Academy agreed to send a duplicate Oscar® to Father Flanagan and his boys in Nebraska.
· Extras still voted for Best Picture and the acting Awards on the final ballot, but the Academy excluded them from the Best Song selection after the "Sweet Leilani" choice the previous year.
· Studios wooed the majority bloc of screen extra voters with 6,000 jobs just as Awards were sent out.
· The Academy refused to nominate Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, fearing that in doing so it would establish a precedent for cartoons.
· After the ceremony started, NBC Radio called the Academy to ask why it had been double-crossed. The Academy had forbidden any radio coverage but, for several minutes, George Fisher had been broadcasting on local radio station KNX. Fisher, who had helped set up the hotel's public address system for the program, had also surreptitiously hung an extra microphone in the broadcast booth at the back of the room. Academy officials and Biltmore security guards began smashing through the door of the booth with axes, and Fisher decided it was time to sign off.
· Lloyd C. Douglas, the author of Magnificent Obsession, was at the ceremony to hand out the Oscar® for Screenplay. It went to the writers of Pygmalion, based on G.B. Shaw's play. Douglas couldn't resist quipping: "Mr. Shaw's story now is as original as it was three thousand years ago." Shaw was not there to accept, or retort.
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.
Use this link to go to my listing of every film and every person ever nominated for an Award! 
John Aalberg (RKO Studio Sound Department) - For the application of compression to variable area recording in motion picture production.
