11th Academy Awards


The 11th Academy Awards were held on February 23, 1939, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Frank Capra.
Frank Capra became the first person to win three Best Director awards, to be followed by John Ford and William Wyler. La Grande Illusion was the first non-English language film to be nominated for Best Picture.
This was the first of only two times in Oscar history in which three of the four acting winners had won before; only Fay Bainter was a first-time award winner. The only other time that this happened was at the 67th Academy Awards in 1994. Fay Bainter was the first performer in the Oscars history to receive two acting nominations in the same year, while Spencer Tracy became the first of two actors to win Best Actor two years in a row; the other, Tom Hanks, also did so in 1994.
George Bernard Shaw's screenplay win for Pygmalion made him the first—and, for over 77 years, only—person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award until Bob Dylan received Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 after having won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2001. Shaw protested his win, roaring, from London:
Radio coverage was banned at the ceremony. A reporter, George Fischer from Los Angeles' Mutual Radio Network station, KHJ, which had been reporting from the Academy Awards since 1930, locked himself in a booth and was able to broadcast for about 12 minutes before security guards broke down the door. Partial radio coverage was subsequently permitted again, beginning with the 1942 ceremony.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominees were announced on February 5, 1939. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
You Can't Take It with You Frank Capra for Columbia
Frank CapraYou Can't Take It with You
  • * Michael CurtizAngels with Dirty Faces
  • * Norman TaurogBoys Town
  • * King VidorThe Citadel
  • * Michael CurtizFour Daughters
  • Spencer TracyBoys Town as Father Edward J. Flanagan
  • * Charles BoyerAlgiers as Pepe le Moko
  • * James CagneyAngels with Dirty Faces as William "Rocky" Sullivan
  • * Robert DonatThe Citadel as Dr Andrew Manson
  • * Leslie HowardPygmalion as Professor Henry Higgins
  • Bette DavisJezebel as Julie Marsden
  • * Fay BainterWhite Banners as Hannah Parmalee
  • * Wendy HillerPygmalion as Eliza Doolittle
  • * Norma ShearerMarie Antoinette as Marie Antoinette
  • * Margaret SullavanThree Comrades as Patricia Hollmann
  • Walter BrennanKentucky as Peter Goodwin
  • * John GarfieldFour Daughters as Mickey Borden
  • * Gene LockhartAlgiers as Regis
  • * Robert MorleyMarie Antoinette as King Louis XVI
  • * Basil RathboneIf I Were King as King Louis XI
  • Fay BainterJezebel as Aunt Belle Massey
  • * Beulah BondiOf Human Hearts as Mary Wilkins
  • * Billie BurkeMerrily We Live as Emily Kilbourne
  • * Spring ByingtonYou Can't Take It with You as Penelope "Penny" Sycamore
  • * Miliza KorjusThe Great Waltz as Carla Donner
  • Boys TownEleanore Griffin and Dore Schary
  • * Alexander's Ragtime BandIrving Berlin
  • * Angels with Dirty FacesRowland Brown
  • * BlockadeJohn Howard Lawson
  • * Mad About Music – Marcella Burke and Frederick Kohner
  • * Test PilotFrank Wead
  • Pygmalion – screenplay and dialogue: George Bernard Shaw; adaptation: Ian Dalrymple, Cecil Lewis, and W. P. Lipscomb, based on the play by Shaw
  • * Boys TownJohn Meehan and Dore Schary, based on a story by Schary and Eleanore Griffin
  • * The CitadelIan Dalrymple, Elizabeth Hill and Frank Wead, based on the novel by A. J. Cronin
  • * Four DaughtersLenore Coffee and Julius J. Epstein, based on the short story "Sister Act" by Fannie Hurst
  • * You Can't Take It with YouRobert Riskin, based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
  • That Mothers Might LiveMGM
  • * The Great HeartMGM
  • * Timber Toppers20th Century Fox
  • Declaration of IndependenceWarner Bros.
  • * Swingtime in the Movies – Warner Bros.
  • * They're Always CaughtMGM
  • Ferdinand the BullWalt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • * Brave Little TailorWalt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • * Good ScoutsWalt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • * Hunky and SpunkyParamount
  • * Mother Goose Goes Hollywood – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
  • The Adventures of Robin HoodErich Wolfgang Korngold
  • * Army GirlVictor Young
  • * Block-HeadsMarvin Hatley
  • * BlockadeWerner Janssen
  • * Breaking the IceVictor Young
  • * The Cowboy and the LadyAlfred Newman
  • * If I Were KingRichard Hageman
  • * Marie AntoinetteHerbert Stothart
  • * Pacific LinerRussell Bennett
  • * SuezLouis Silvers
  • * The Young in HeartFranz Waxman
  • Alexander's Ragtime BandAlfred Newman
  • * CarefreeVictor Baravalle
  • * Girls' SchoolMorris Stoloff and Gregory Stone
  • * The Goldwyn FolliesAlfred Newman
  • * JezebelMax Steiner
  • * Mad About MusicCharles Previn and Frank Skinner
  • * Storm Over BengalCy Feuer
  • * SweetheartsHerbert Stothart
  • * There Goes My HeartMarvin Hatley
  • * Tropic HolidayBoris Morros
  • * The Young in HeartFranz Waxman
  • "Thanks for the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938 – Music by Ralph Rainger; Lyrics by Leo Robin
  • * "Always and Always" from Mannequin – Music by Edward Ward; Lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
  • * "Change Partners" from CarefreeMusic and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
  • * "The Cowboy and the Lady" from The Cowboy and the Lady – Music by Lionel Newman; Lyrics by Arthur Quenzer
  • * "Dust" from Under Western Stars – Music and Lyrics by Johnny Marvin
  • * "Jeepers Creepers" from Going Places – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
  • * "Merrily We Live" from Merrily We Live – Music by Phil Charig; Lyrics by Arthur Quenzer
  • * "A Mist Over the Moon" from The Lady Objects – Music by Ben Oakland; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
  • * "My Own" from That Certain Age – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Harold Adamson
  • * "Now It Can Be Told" from Alexander's Ragtime Band – Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
  • The Cowboy and the LadyThomas T. Moulton
  • * Army GirlCharles L. Lootens
  • * Four DaughtersNathan Levinson
  • * If I Were KingLoren L. Ryder
  • * Merrily We LiveElmer Raguse
  • * SuezEdmund H. Hansen
  • * SweetheartsDouglas Shearer
  • * That Certain AgeBernard B. Brown
  • * Vivacious LadyJohn O. Aalberg
  • * You Can't Take It with YouJohn P. Livadary
  • The Adventures of Robin HoodCarl Jules Weyl
  • * The Adventures of Tom SawyerLyle R. Wheeler
  • * Alexander's Ragtime BandBernard Herzbrun and Boris Leven
  • * AlgiersAlexander Toluboff
  • * CarefreeVan Nest Polglase
  • * The Goldwyn FolliesRichard Day
  • * HolidayStephen Goosson and Lionel Banks
  • * If I Were KingHans Dreier and John B. Goodman
  • * Mad About MusicJack Otterson
  • * Marie AntoinetteCedric Gibbons
  • * Merrily We LiveCharles D. Hall
  • The Great WaltzJoseph Ruttenberg
  • * AlgiersJames Wong Howe
  • * Army GirlErnest Miller and Harry J. Wild
  • * The BuccaneerVictor Milner
  • * JezebelErnest Haller
  • * Mad About MusicJoseph Valentine
  • * Merrily We LiveNorbert Brodine
  • * SuezPeverell Marley
  • * Vivacious LadyRobert De Grasse
  • * You Can't Take It with YouJoseph Walker
  • * The Young in HeartLeon Shamroy
  • The Adventures of Robin HoodRalph Dawson
  • * Alexander's Ragtime BandBarbara McLean
  • * The Great WaltzTom Held
  • * Test PilotTom Held
  • * You Can't Take It with YouGene Havlick
  • Special Awards

    Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

    Multiple nominations and awards

    NominationsFilm
    7You Can't Take It with You
    6Alexander's Ragtime Band
    5Boys Town
    5Four Daughters
    5Jezebel
    5Merrily We Live
    4The Adventures of Robin Hood
    4Algiers
    4The Citadel
    4If I Were King
    4Mad About Music
    4Marie Antoinette
    4Pygmalion
    3Angels with Dirty Faces
    3Army Girl
    3Carefree
    3The Cowboy and the Lady
    3The Great Waltz
    3Suez
    3Test Pilot
    3The Young in Heart
    2Blockade
    2The Goldwyn Follies
    2Sweethearts
    2That Certain Age
    2Vivacious Lady

    AwardsFilm
    3The Adventures of Robin Hood
    2Boys Town
    2Jezebel
    2You Can't Take It with You