Which film won the first Best Picture Oscar and who won the first Best Actor and Actress at the Academy Awards?
The Academy Awards have been giving filmmakers the highest form of recognition for a whopping 89 years.
That means the first ever Oscars were held in 1929, but the awards were completely different back then in many ways.
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Held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California, the ceremony was more like a private banquet back then, and honoured cinematic achievements from 1927 and 1928.
There were 12 categories, the ceremony lasted just 15 minutes, it was not broadcast on radio and only 270 people were in attendance.
This was the first and the last Oscars ceremony to feature silent films exclusively. To top it all, the winners were announced three months before the ceremony. Bit of a buzz kill.
Best Picture was titled Outstanding Picture back then. But who won it? And which talented actors took the first ever acting gongs?
The first ever Best Picture win went to the film Wings, a romantic drama about US pilots, directed by Lucien Hubbard and starring Clara Bow.
The movie beat two rival nominees – The Racket directed by Howard Hughes, and 7th Heaven William Fox, the latter of which still managed to pick up three Oscars.
In fact, 7th Heaven tied with Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (directed by F.W. Murnau) to win the most awards of the night, while Wings won two, the other being for Best Engineering Effects.
Meanwhile the first ever woman to collect the Best Actress award was Janet Gaynor.
Just 23 years old at the time, Janet was awarded for her performances in three movies – 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
This was the only occasion an actress won for multiple roles.
American performer Janet didn’t win an Oscar again despite being nominated for A Star Is Born in 1938.
The Best Actor of the evening was Emil Jannings, a German actor, and to date the only German to have ever won Best Actor.
Much older than Gaynor at 45 years old, he was awarded for his roles in The Last Command and The Way Of All Flesh, the latter of which being the first ever film he made in America.
Though Jannings and Gaynor’s names are not well-known now, and silent film was quickly ushered out in favour of ‘talkies’ after 1929, the first ceremony started a tradition of glamour, glitz and bitter rivalry that continues to this day.
This year’s Oscars take place on the night of Sunday March 4th, and you can find out how to watch it with our handy guide.
You can also check out the full list of nominations here.
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