| 2nd Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 3, 1930 |
| Site | Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California |
| Hosted by | William C. deMille |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | The Broadway Melody |
| Most awards | Seven films each received one award.[A] |
| Most nominations | In Old Arizona and The Patriot (5) |
| |
The 2nd Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on April 3, 1930, at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador HotelinLos Angeles, honored the best films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony broadcast on radio, by local station KNX, Los Angeles.[1][2]
The second ceremony included a number of changes from the first: most importantly, it was the first presentation for which the winners were not announced in advance, and the number of award categories was reduced from twelve to seven. It is unique in that there were never any official nominees; instead, AMPAS conducted further research and came up with a list of unofficial or de facto nominees using records of the films that the judges had given their opinions on. Chester Morris was the first nominee for Best Actor born in the 20th century.
Mary Pickford, a founding member of AMPAS and married to its first president,[2] lobbied to be considered for the Best Actress award, inviting the judges over for tea at her home,[3] while other actresses being considered for the same award were not made aware of their status.[4]
Jeanne Eagels became the first and, to date, only actress to be posthumously nominated for Best Actress, for The Letter. The Divine Lady became the last film to win Best Director without receiving a Best Picture nomination.
This is the only year in which no film won more than one Oscar. The Broadway Melody became the second of seven films to win Best Picture without a writing nomination (preceded by Wings, and followed by Grand Hotel, Cavalcade, Hamlet, The Sound of Music, and Titanic), and the first of three to win Best Picture and nothing else (followed by Grand Hotel and Mutiny on the Bounty).
Nominees were announced on October 31, 1929. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double-dagger (‡).[5]
NoHonorary Academy Awards – then called Special Awards – were conferred at the 2nd Academy Awards ceremony.
In Old Arizona and The Patriot, with five nominations each, tied the record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations. This record was set by 7th Heaven at the 1st Academy Awards (1927–1928). One year later, at the 3rd Academy Awards (1929–1930), the record was broken by The Love Parade, which garnered six nominations. The current record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations – with fourteen nominations apiece – is held by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016). This record has stood for 74 years.
The following 9 films received multiple nominations:
| Nominations | Film |
|---|---|
| 5 | The Patriot |
| In Old Arizona | |
| 3 | The Broadway Melody |
| Alibi | |
| The Divine Lady | |
| 2 | Madame X |
| The Valiant | |
| Our Dancing Daughters | |
| Street Angel |
Beginning with the 2nd Academy Awards (1928–1929), the following changes were made by AMPAS.
As the elder sister in Broadway Melody she got an Oscar nomination, which in all honesty she doesn't recall at all. 'So many people have said it that it must be true.'
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Academy Awards lists
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| Combined major Academy Awards |
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| Combined major awards |
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