Post by Claire de Cerises on Feb 22, 2006 5:54:24 GMT
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was first created by Louis B. Mayer in order to lend respectability and status to the movie industry, the reputation of which was tarnished during "The Roaring 20s." It was formed on May 4, 1927 to "raise the cultural, educational and scientific standards" of film.
Composer and musicals producer Arthur Freed, the Academy's president from 1963-1967, has been quoted as saying that the awards "honor artistic achievement, with little regard for popularity, box-office success or other yardsticks applied by the critics of the general public." Despite many controversial judgements, and occasional submissions to "other yardsticks", the Academy, as a whole, has maintained the standards set at its beginnings. Yet, at the same time, has seldom cut itself off from public taste, and has managed to acknowledge Hollywood's greatest strength: the manufacture of superbly crafted mass entertainment. Perhaps that is why people are more comfortable using the affectionate if slightly disreputable nickname of 'Oscar' to describe an Academy Award.
Until 1931, the 13 1/2 inch tall, 8-pound figure of a man with a crusader's sword standing thoughtlessly on a reel of film was known merely as The Statuette. Legend has it that the Academy librarian, Margaret Herrick, chanced to remark on studying it: "Why, he looks just like my uncle Oscar." Just as likely is the claim that Bette Davis named it after her first husband. Whatever the truth behind its christening, the name stuck forever. Double Oscar-winning scriptwriter Frances Marion once described the figurin as "a perfect symbol of the picture business; a powerful athletic body clutching a gleaming sword with half of his head, that part which held the brains, completely sliced off."
The value of the gold-plated statuettet is around $250, but all winners pledge never to sell it except back to the Academy. But its value at the box office is inestimable.
Until 1934, the awards were based on seasonal not calendar years. To be eligible, a film must be shown in the Los Angeles area for at least one week during the previous year. An exception to this rule is the Foreign Language movie, which only needs one showing in the United States.
For the first nine years, only Academy members determined the awards, but in 1937 voting was extended to some 15, 000 people in the movie industry, although the nominations were limited to Academy members. Later the procedure was reversed, with the industry at large selecting the nominations and the Academy the winners. From 1957 to the present day all voting has been confined to the Academy. The latter is divided into several branches: the acting branch, the writing branch, and so on. These decide on the five nominees for their particular category, although all branches select the Best Picture nominees. The honorary and special awards such as the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian are chosen by the Academy's Board of Governors.
The winners at the first award-giving ceremony, held at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929, had been known for three months before the banquet. During the following years, prizes were announced a week prior to the presentations. Then, in 1941, the policy of sealed envelopes was introduced. As the event became more popular and prestigious, so the venue increased its size. Its present home is now the Dorothy Chandler Pavilian at the Los Angeles County Music Center.
Composer and musicals producer Arthur Freed, the Academy's president from 1963-1967, has been quoted as saying that the awards "honor artistic achievement, with little regard for popularity, box-office success or other yardsticks applied by the critics of the general public." Despite many controversial judgements, and occasional submissions to "other yardsticks", the Academy, as a whole, has maintained the standards set at its beginnings. Yet, at the same time, has seldom cut itself off from public taste, and has managed to acknowledge Hollywood's greatest strength: the manufacture of superbly crafted mass entertainment. Perhaps that is why people are more comfortable using the affectionate if slightly disreputable nickname of 'Oscar' to describe an Academy Award.
Until 1931, the 13 1/2 inch tall, 8-pound figure of a man with a crusader's sword standing thoughtlessly on a reel of film was known merely as The Statuette. Legend has it that the Academy librarian, Margaret Herrick, chanced to remark on studying it: "Why, he looks just like my uncle Oscar." Just as likely is the claim that Bette Davis named it after her first husband. Whatever the truth behind its christening, the name stuck forever. Double Oscar-winning scriptwriter Frances Marion once described the figurin as "a perfect symbol of the picture business; a powerful athletic body clutching a gleaming sword with half of his head, that part which held the brains, completely sliced off."
The value of the gold-plated statuettet is around $250, but all winners pledge never to sell it except back to the Academy. But its value at the box office is inestimable.
Until 1934, the awards were based on seasonal not calendar years. To be eligible, a film must be shown in the Los Angeles area for at least one week during the previous year. An exception to this rule is the Foreign Language movie, which only needs one showing in the United States.
For the first nine years, only Academy members determined the awards, but in 1937 voting was extended to some 15, 000 people in the movie industry, although the nominations were limited to Academy members. Later the procedure was reversed, with the industry at large selecting the nominations and the Academy the winners. From 1957 to the present day all voting has been confined to the Academy. The latter is divided into several branches: the acting branch, the writing branch, and so on. These decide on the five nominees for their particular category, although all branches select the Best Picture nominees. The honorary and special awards such as the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian are chosen by the Academy's Board of Governors.
The winners at the first award-giving ceremony, held at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929, had been known for three months before the banquet. During the following years, prizes were announced a week prior to the presentations. Then, in 1941, the policy of sealed envelopes was introduced. As the event became more popular and prestigious, so the venue increased its size. Its present home is now the Dorothy Chandler Pavilian at the Los Angeles County Music Center.
