19th Academy Awards

The 19th Academy Awards were held on March 13, 1947, honoring the films of 1946. The top awards portion of the ceremony was hosted by Jack Benny.

19th Academy Awards
Date	March 13, 1947
Site	Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, USA
Hosted by	Jack Benny
Highlights
Best Picture	The Best Years of Our Lives
Most awards	The Best Years of Our Lives (7)
Most nominations	The Best Years of Our Lives (8)
← 18th Academy Awards 20th →

The Best Years of Our Lives won seven of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and both male acting Oscars. The Academy awarded Harold Russell—a World War II veteran who had lost both hands in the war—an Honorary Academy Award for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans" for his role as Homer Parrish, believing that, as a non-actor, he would not win the Best Supporting Actor award for which he was nominated. Russell also won the competitive award, making him the only person in Academy history to receive two Oscars for the same performance.

When Olivia de Havilland won the Best Actress Oscar, her sister, Joan Fontaine, attempted to shake her hand, but she refused the handshake, saying "I don't know why she does that when she knows how I feel."^[1]

This was the first time since the 2nd Academy Awards that every category had, at most, five nominations.

Winners and nominees

Samuel Goldwyn; Best Picture winner

William Wyler; Best Director winner

Fredric March; Best Actor winner

Olivia de Havilland; Best Actress winner

Harold Russell; Best Supporting Actor winner and Honorary Academy Award recipient

Anne Baxter; Best Supporting Actress winner

Robert E. Sherwood; Best Screenplay winner

Winifred Ashton (as Clemence Dane); Best Story winner

Johnny Mercer; Best Original Song co-winner

Cedric Gibbons; Best Art Direction, Color co-winner

Charles Rosher; Best Cinematography, Color co-winner

Laurence Olivier; Honorary Academy Award recipient

Ernst Lubitsch; Honorary Academy Award recipient

Awards

Nominees were announced on February 9, 1947. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.^[2]

Best Motion Picture	Best Director
The Best Years of Our Lives – Samuel Goldwyn for RKO Radio Pictures‡ Henry V – Laurence Olivier for United Artists It's a Wonderful Life – Frank Capra for RKO Radio Pictures The Razor's Edge – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox The Yearling – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives‡ David Lean – Brief Encounter Frank Capra – It's a Wonderful Life Robert Siodmak – The Killers Clarence Brown – The Yearling
Best Actor	Best Actress
Fredric March – The Best Years of Our Lives as Platoon Sergeant Al Stephenson‡ Laurence Olivier – Henry V as King Henry V of England Larry Parks – The Jolson Story as Al Jolson Gregory Peck – The Yearling as Ezra "Penny" Baxter James Stewart – It's a Wonderful Life as George Bailey	Olivia de Havilland – To Each His Own as Miss Josephine "Jody" Norris‡ Celia Johnson – Brief Encounter as Laura Jesson Jennifer Jones – Duel in the Sun as Pearl Chavez Rosalind Russell – Sister Kenny as Elizabeth Kenny Jane Wyman – The Yearling as Ora Baxter
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives as Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish‡ Charles Coburn – The Green Years as Alexander Gow William Demarest – The Jolson Story as Steve Martin Claude Rains – Notorious as Alexander Sebastian Clifton Webb – The Razor's Edge as Elliott Templeton	Anne Baxter – The Razor's Edge as Sophie MacDonald‡ Ethel Barrymore – The Spiral Staircase as Mrs Warren Lillian Gish – Duel in the Sun as Laura Belle McCanles Flora Robson – Saratoga Trunk as Angelique Buiton Gale Sondergaard – Anna and the King of Siam as Lady Thiang
Best Original Screenplay	Best Screenplay
The Seventh Veil – Muriel Box and Sydney Box‡ The Blue Dahlia – Raymond Chandler Children of Paradise – Jacques Prévert Notorious – Ben Hecht Road to Utopia – Norman Panama and Melvin Frank	The Best Years of Our Lives – Robert E. Sherwood from Glory For Me by MacKinlay Kantor‡ Anna and the King of Siam – Sally Benson and Talbot Jennings from Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon Brief Encounter – Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean and Ronald Neame from Still Life by Noël Coward The Killers – Anthony Veiller from "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway Rome, Open City – Sergio Amidei and Federico Fellini[3] from a story by Sergio Amidei and Alberto Consiglio
Best Motion Picture Story	Best Documentary Short Subject
Vacation From Marriage – Clemence Dane‡ The Dark Mirror – Vladimir Pozner The Strange Love of Martha Ivers – Jack Patrick The Stranger – Victor Trivas To Each His Own – Charles Brackett	Seeds of Destiny‡ Atomic Power Life at the Zoo Paramount News Issue #37 Traffic with the Devil
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel	Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel
Facing Your Danger – Gordon Hollingshead‡ Dive-Hi Champs – Jack Eaton Golden Horses – Edmund Reek Smart as a Fox – Gordon Hollingshead Sure Cures – Pete Smith	A Boy and His Dog – Gordon Hollingshead‡ College Queen – George B. Templeton Hiss and Yell – Jules White The Luckiest Guy in the World – Jerry Bresler
Best Short Subject – Cartoons	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
The Cat Concerto – Fred Quimby‡ John Henry and the Inky-Poo – George Pal Musical Moments from Chopin – Walter Lantz Squatter's Rights – Walt Disney Walky Talky Hawky – Edward Selzer	The Best Years of Our Lives – Hugo Friedhofer‡ Anna and the King of Siam – Bernard Herrmann Henry V – William Walton Humoresque – Franz Waxman The Killers – Miklós Rózsa
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture	Best Original Song
The Jolson Story – Morris Stoloff‡ Blue Skies – Robert Emmett Dolan Centennial Summer – Alfred Newman The Harvey Girls – Lennie Hayton Night and Day – Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner	"On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" from The Harvey Girls – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer‡ "All Through the Day" from Centennial Summer – Music by Jerome Kern (posthumous nomination); Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II "I Can't Begin to Tell You" from The Dolly Sisters – Music by James V. Monaco (posthumous nomination); Lyrics by Mack Gordon "Ole Buttermilk Sky" from Canyon Passage – Music by Hoagy Carmichael; Lyrics by Jack Brooks "You Keep Coming Back Like a Song" from Blue Skies – Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Best Sound Recording	Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
The Jolson Story – John P. Livadary‡ The Best Years of Our Lives – Gordon E. Sawyer It's a Wonderful Life – John O. Aalberg	Anna and the King of Siam – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little and Frank E. Hughes‡ Kitty – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler; Interior Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer The Razor's Edge – Art Direction: Richard Day and Nathan H. Juran; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Color	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
The Yearling – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis Caesar and Cleopatra – Art Direction and Interior Decoration: John Bryan Henry V – Art Direction and Interior Decoration: Paul Sheriff and Carmen Dillon	Anna and the King of Siam – Arthur Miller‡ The Green Years – George J. Folsey
Best Cinematography, Color	Best Film Editing
The Yearling – Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling‡ The Jolson Story – Joseph Walker	The Best Years of Our Lives – Daniel Mandell‡ It's a Wonderful Life – William Hornbeck The Jolson Story – William Lyon The Killers – Arthur Hilton The Yearling – Harold F. Kress
Best Special Effects
Blithe Spirit – Tom Howard‡ A Stolen Life – William C. McGann; Special Audible Effects: Nathan Levinson

Academy Honorary Awards

• Laurence Olivier "for his outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen".
• Harold Russell "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives".
• Ernst Lubitsch "for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture".

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

• Samuel Goldwyn

Academy Juvenile Award

• Claude Jarman Jr.

Presenters and performers

Presenters

(in order of appearance)^[4]

• Jean Hersholt (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Laurence Olivier)
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Live Action Short Subject-One-Reel, Best Live Action Short Subject-Two-Reel, Best Short Subject-Cartoons, and Scientific & Technical Awards)
• Rex Harrison (Presenter: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Special Effects)
• Lana Turner (Presenter: Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
• Greer Garson (Presenter: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration-Black-and-White and Best Art Direction–Interior Decoration-Color)
• Ann Sheridan (Presenter: Best Cinematography-Black-and-White and Best Cinematography-Color)
• Van Johnson (Presenter: Best Original Song)
• Robert Montgomery (Presenter: Best Motion Picture Story, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Screenplay)
• Shirley Temple (Presenter: Academy Juvenile Award to Claude Jarman Jr. and Academy Honorary Award to Harold Russell)
• Mervyn LeRoy (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Ernst Lubitsch)
• Ronald Reagan (Presenter: Academy Cavalcade of Past Oscar Winners and Academy Parade of Stars)
• Billy Wilder (Presenter: Best Director)
• Eric Johnston (Presenter: Best Motion Picture)
• Donald Nelson (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Samuel Goldwyn)
• Anne Revere (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
• Lionel Barrymore (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
• Joan Fontaine (Presenter: Best Actor)
• Ray Milland (Presenter: Best Actress)

Performers

• Hoagy Carmichael (who was accidentally introduced by Sam Goldwyn as Hugo Carmicheal^[5])
• Dick Haymes
• Andy Russell
• Dinah Shore

Multiple nominations and awards

Films with multiple nominations

Nominations	Film
8	The Best Years of Our Lives
7	The Yearling
6	The Jolson Story
5	Anna and the King of Siam
	It's a Wonderful Life
4	Henry V
	The Killers
	The Razor's Edge
3	Brief Encounter
2	Blue Skies
	Centennial Summer
	Duel in the Sun
	The Green Years
	The Harvey Girls
	Notorious
	To Each His Own

Films with multiple awards

Awards	Film
7	The Best Years of Our Lives
2	Anna and the King of Siam
The Jolson Story
The Yearling

See also

• 4th Golden Globe Awards
• 1946 in film
• 1st Tony Awards

References

1. Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 837. ISBN 0-385-04060-1.
2. "The 19th Academy Awards (1947) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
3. "19th Academy Awards Winners | Oscar Legacy | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2015. Open City on 19th Oscars website
4. "Academy Award Ceremony 1947". YouTube. SuperNoava. May 29, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
5. Jack Benny - JB 1947-03-16 Jack's New Quartet, retrieved April 9, 2023