Oscars

The annual Academy Awards is a night of glamor, suspense and emotionsa, and has cacught the attention of film fans since

1929. Oscar excitement hits, adding on to the increase of statuettes and when millions of people are attatched to their t.v. sets to see who will receive the biggest honors in the film industry. Controversy arises periodically over the academy's choices, but few who are awarded the coveted little golden statue ever say "No Thank You". Many aspects of the awards are appreciated including the history of the oscars, the voting process of the occasion and the random oscar trivia that makes this night so special.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was formed in 1927. The academy started out with 36 members and one of the organization's first undertakings was to make annual achievement

awards to notable films and filmakers. Thus the coveted Academy Awards came into being. It was during the year of 1929 when the first oscars were presented. This awards ceremony took place during a banquet held in the Blossom Room of the famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. There was an attendance

of more than 270 people and the cost to go to the ceremony was 5 dollars. Since then the awards have been held in numerous locations in Los Angeles and the tickets are not available for public sale, attendance is strictly invational. For the first 15 years of the oscars the winners and press were notified proir to the ceremony and in 1940 the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the awrards were presented. As a result, the sealed-envelope system was adopted the next years and it is still used today. The first Oscar ever handed out was given to Emil Jannings for his work in "The Last Command." That same year 15 oscars were awarded, all of them to men except for Janet Gaynor. Then the next year the awards decreased to seven. These included Best Picture, Directing, Writing, Cinematography, Art Direction and the 2 acting awards. Since then the presentations have grown slowly and the fields of achievements has increased.

The system by which award nominations and final selections are made has undergone many changes since the first days, when only a handful of members determine who should be honored. Many procedures have been tried and rejected, and in 1957 it was decided that all nominations and final votes be made by specific branches of the Academy. For example, nominations for best director are made by the Acedemy directors branch. Then all members are eligible to participate in the final vote. Members are given ballots and they have 2 weeks to return their ballots to a professional service firm. Secrecy is strictly maintained by the firm and