10th Academy Awards


The 10th Academy Awards were held on March 10, 1938, to honor films released in 1937, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California and hosted by Bob Burns. Originally scheduled for March 3, 1938, the ceremony was postponed due to the Los Angeles flood of 1938.
This was the last year for two Oscars categories: Best Dance Direction, which this year saw the only nomination ever received by a Marx Brothers film, and Best Assistant Director.
The Life of Emile Zola was the first film to receive ten nominations and the second consecutive biographical film to win Best Picture, following the previous year's The Great Ziegfeld. Luise Rainer received the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Good Earth, earning her the distinctions of being the first actor to win two Academy Awards and the first to win consecutive acting awards, following her win for The Great Ziegfeld. Luise Rainer, who didn't think anyone could win in two consecutive years, stayed at home with her husband, playwright Clifford Odets, on the night of the ceremony. She was informed of her win by telephone, hastily dressed herself up, and rushed out the door to collect her second Oscar, which was said to have "jinxed her".
A Star Is Born was the first color film to receive a Best Picture nomination.
Walt Disney's Snow White and [the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs], the world's first full-length Technicolor animated feature film with sound and widely seen as one of the greatest motion pictures of all time, received only one nomination, for Best Original Score. The following year, the Academy presented Disney an Honorary Academy Award "for creating Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon". This is a rare case of a film being recognized in two successive ceremonies.
This was the first year in which every film nominated for Best Picture received multiple nominations.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominations announced on February 6, 1938. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
The Life of Emile Zola Henry Blanke for Warner Bros.
Leo McCareyThe Awful Truth
  • * Sidney FranklinThe Good Earth
  • * William DieterleThe Life of Emile Zola
  • * Gregory La CavaStage Door
  • * William WellmanA Star Is Born
  • Spencer TracyCaptains Courageous as Manuel Fidello
  • * Charles BoyerConquest as Napoleon Bonaparte
  • * Fredric MarchA Star Is Born as Norman Maine
  • * Robert MontgomeryNight Must Fall as Danny
  • * Paul MuniThe Life of Emile Zola as Émile Zola
  • Luise RainerThe Good Earth as O-Lan
  • * Irene DunneThe Awful Truth as Lucy Warriner
  • * Greta GarboCamille as Marguerite Gautier
  • * Janet GaynorA Star Is Born as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester
  • * Barbara StanwyckStella Dallas as Stella Dallas
  • Joseph SchildkrautThe Life of Emile Zola as Alfred Dreyfus
  • * Ralph BellamyThe Awful Truth as Dan Leeson
  • * Thomas MitchellThe Hurricane as Dr. Kersaint
  • * H. B. WarnerLost Horizon as Chang
  • * Roland YoungTopper as Cosmo Topper
  • Alice BradyIn Old Chicago as Molly O'Leary
  • * Andrea LeedsStage Door as Kay Hamilton
  • * Anne ShirleyStella Dallas as Laurel Dallas
  • * Claire TrevorDead End as Francey
  • * May WhittyNight Must Fall as Mrs Bramson
  • A Star Is BornWilliam A. Wellman and Robert Carson
  • * Black LegionRobert Lord
  • * In Old ChicagoNiven Busch
  • * The Life of Emile Zola – Heinz Herald and Geza Herczeg
  • * One Hundred Men and a GirlHanns Kräly
  • The Life of Emile ZolaHeinz Herald, Geza Herczeg, and Norman Reilly Raine, based on Zola and His Time by Matthew Josephson
  • * The Awful TruthViña Delmar, based on the play by Arthur Richman
  • * Captains CourageousJohn Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, and Dale Van Every, based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling
  • * Stage DoorMorris Ryskind and Anthony Veiller, based on the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman
  • * A Star Is BornAlan Campbell, Robert Carson, and Dorothy Parker, based on a story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson
  • The Private Life of the GannetsSkibo Productions and Educational
  • * A Night at the MoviesMGM
  • * Romance of RadiumPete Smith and MGM
  • Torture MoneyMGM
  • * Deep SouthRKO Radio
  • * Should Wives Work?RKO Radio
  • Penny WisdomPete Smith and MGM
  • * The Man Without a CountryWarner Bros.
  • * Popular Science J-7-1Paramount
  • The Old MillWalt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • * Educated FishParamount
  • * The Little Match GirlCharles Mintz and Columbia
  • One Hundred Men and a GirlUniversal Studio Music Department
  • * The HurricaneGoldwyn Studio Music Department
  • * In Old Chicago20th Century Fox Studio Music Department
  • * The Life of Emile ZolaWarner Bros. Studio Music Department
  • * Lost HorizonColumbia Studio Music Department
  • * Make a Wish – Principal Productions
  • * MaytimeMGM Studio Music Department
  • * Portia on TrialRepublic Studio Music Department
  • * The Prisoner of ZendaSelznick International Pictures Music Department
  • * Quality StreetRKO Radio Studio Music Department
  • * Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWalt Disney Studio Music Department
  • * Something to Sing AboutGrand National Studio Music Department
  • * Souls at SeaParamount Studio Music Department
  • * Way Out WestHal Roach Studio Music Department
  • "Sweet Leilani" from Waikiki WeddingMusic and Lyrics by Harry Owens
  • * "Remember Me" from Mr. Dodd Takes the Air – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin
  • * "That Old Feeling" from Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938 – Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Lew Brown
  • * "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance – Music by George Gershwin ; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • * "Whispers in the Dark" from Artists and Models – Music by Frederick Hollander; Lyrics by Leo Robin
  • The HurricaneThomas T. Moulton
  • * The Girl Said NoA. E. Kaye
  • * Hitting a New HighJohn Aalberg
  • * In Old ChicagoE. H. Hansen
  • * The Life of Emile ZolaNathan Levinson
  • * Lost HorizonJohn P. Livadary
  • * MaytimeDouglas Shearer
  • * One Hundred Men and a GirlHomer G. Tasker
  • * TopperElmer A. Raguse
  • * Wells FargoLoren L. Ryder
  • Lost HorizonStephen Goosson
  • * ConquestCedric Gibbons and William A. Horning
  • * A Damsel in DistressCarroll Clark
  • * Dead EndRichard Day
  • * Every Day's a HolidayWiard Ihnen
  • * The Life of Emile ZolaAnton Grot
  • * Manhattan Merry-Go-RoundJohn Victor Mackay
  • * The Prisoner of ZendaLyle R. Wheeler
  • * Souls at SeaHans Dreier and Roland Anderson
  • * Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938Alexander Toluboff
  • * Wee Willie WinkieWilliam S. Darling and David S. Hall
  • * You're a SweetheartJack Otterson
  • The Good EarthKarl Freund
  • * Dead EndGregg Toland
  • * Wings over HonoluluJoseph Valentine
  • Lost HorizonGene Havlick and Gene Milford
  • * The Awful TruthAl Clark
  • * Captains CourageousElmo Veron
  • * The Good EarthBasil Wrangell
  • * One Hundred Men and a GirlBernard W. Burton
  • A Damsel in DistressHermes Pan
  • * Ali Baba Goes to TownSammy Lee
  • * A Day at the RacesDave Gould
  • * Ready, Willing and AbleBobby Connolly
  • * Thin Ice – Harry Losee
  • * Varsity ShowBusby Berkeley
  • * Waikiki WeddingLeRoy Prinz
  • In Old ChicagoRobert Webb
  • * Lost HorizonC. C. Coleman Jr.
  • * The Life of Emile ZolaRuss Saunders
  • * Souls at SeaHal Walker
  • * A Star Is BornEric G. Stacey
  • Special Awards

    Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

    Multiple nominations and awards

    NominationsFilm
    10The Life of Emile Zola
    7Lost Horizon
    7A Star Is Born
    6The Awful Truth
    6In Old Chicago
    5The Good Earth
    5One Hundred Men and a Girl
    4Captains Courageous
    4Dead End
    4Stage Door
    3The Hurricane
    3Souls at Sea
    2Conquest
    2A Damsel in Distress
    2Maytime
    2Night Must Fall
    2The Prisoner of Zenda
    2Stella Dallas
    2Waikiki Wedding
    2Topper
    2Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938

    AwardsFilm
    3The Life of Emile Zola
    2The Good Earth
    2In Old Chicago
    2Lost Horizon