The 20th Academy Awards spread awards around, with no film receiving more than 3 awards, the last time this would happen until the 78th Academy Awards.
The surprise winner for this year was Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter despite Rosalind Russell campaigning heavily for her performance in Mourning Becomes Electra.
James Baskett received a special Oscar for portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South, which had the effect of taking him out of the running for a Best Actor nomination. Nonetheless, civil rights organizations were unhappy at what was believed to be an unflattering portrait of African-Americans.
At age 71 Edmund Gwenn was the oldest Oscar winner ever at that time, which was previously held by Charles Coburn who was 66 at the time of his win. He also held the record for many years until 1976 when George Burns won at age 80.
Read more about 20th Academy Awards: Awards
Famous quotes containing the word academy:
“...I have come to make distinctions between what I call the academy and literature, the moral equivalents of church and God. The academy may lie, but literature tries to tell the truth.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)