1st Academy Awards

The **1st Academy Awards** ceremony was presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).  It was to honor the best movies of 1927 and 1928.  It took place on May 16, 1929 in Los Angeles, California. AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks hosted the show.

Tickets cost five dollars, 270 people attended the event and the ceremony lasted fifteen minutes. Awards were made by Louis B. Mayer. It is the only Academy Awards ceremony not to be broadcast either on radio or television.

During the ceremony, the AMPAS gave Academy Awards (now commonly called Oscars) in twelve categories. Winners were announced three months before the live event. Some nominations were announced without reference to a specific movie.  Examples were Ralph Hammeras and Nugent Slaughter, who received nominations in the now defunct category of Engineering Effects. Unlike later ceremonies, an actor or director could be awarded for multiple works in a year. Emil Jannings, for example, was given the Best Actor award for his work in both _The Way of All Flesh_ and _The Last Command_. Moreover, Charlie Chaplin and Warner Brothers each received an Honorary Award.

## Nominees and winners

Winners are listed first.

|scope="col" style="background:#EEDD82;" ! style="width="50%"|Outstanding Picture, Production|scope="col" style="background:#EEDD82;" ! style="width="50%"|Unique and Artistic Production|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|scope="row" valign="top"|*Lucien Hubbard for Paramount Pictures – _Wings_ **Howard Hughes for Paramount Pictures – _The Racket_ **William Fox for Fox Film Corporation – _Seventh Heaven_|scope="row" valign="top"|*William Fox for Fox Film Corporation – _Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_ **Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack for Paramount Pictures – _Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness_ **Irving Thalberg for MGM – _The Crowd_|
|scope="row" valign="top"|*Lewis Milestone – _Two Arabian Knights_ **Ted Wilde – _Speedy_|scope="row" valign="top"|*Frank Borzage  – _Seventh Heaven_ ** Herbert Brenon – _Sorrell and Son_ ** King Vidor – _The Crowd_|
|scope="row" valign="top"|*Emil Jannings – _The Last Command_ and _The Way of All Flesh_ **Richard Barthelmess – _The Noose_ and _The Patent Leather Kid_|scope="row" valign="top"|*Janet Gaynor – _Seventh Heaven_, _Street Angel_ and _Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_ **Louise Dresser – _A Ship Comes In_ **Gloria Swanson – _Sadie Thompson_|
|scope="row" valign="top"|*_Underworld_ – Ben Hecht **_The Last Command_ – Lajos Bíró|scope="row" valign="top"|*_Seventh Heaven_ – Benjamin Glazer **_Glorious Betsy_ – Anthony Coldeway **_The Jazz Singer_ – Alfred A. Cohn|
|scope="row" valign="top"|*_Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_ – Charles Rosher and Karl Struss **_The Devil Dancer_ – George Barnes **_The Magic Flame_ – George Barnes **_Sadie Thompson_ – George Barnes|scope="row" valign="top"|*_The Dove_ and _Tempest_ – William Cameron Menzies **_Seventh Heaven_ – Harry Oliver **_Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_ – Rochus Gliese|
|scope="row" valign="top"|*_Wings_ – Roy Pomeroy **_(No specific film)_ – Ralph Hammeras **_(No specific film)_ – Nugent Slaughter|scope="row" valign="top"|*_(No specific film)_ – Joseph Farnham **_(No specific film)_ – George Marion, Jr. **_The Private Life of Helen of Troy_ – Gerald Duffy|

### Honorary Award

- Charlie Chaplin
    - "For versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing _The Circus_".
- Warner Brothers Production
    - "For producing _The Jazz Singer_, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry".

### Multiple nominations and winners

The following movies received multiple nominations.
- Five: _Seventh Heaven_
- Four: _Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_
- Two: _The Crowd_, _Sadie Thompson_ and _Wings_

The following movies received multiple awards.
- Three: _Seventh Heaven_ and _Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans_
- Two: _Wings_