8th Academy Awards

The 8th Academy Awards to honour films released during 1935 were held on March 5, 1936, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California and hosted by Academy of [Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|AMPAS] president Frank Capra. This was the first year in which the awards were called "Oscars".
The Academy voters, who felt guilty about not awarding Bette Davis a Best Actress award the previous year, assigned her one for Dangerous, which was viewed as a lesser picture. Davis, who showed up to the posh formal ceremony in an informal checkered dress, felt it was a consolation prize that should have been awarded to Katharine Hepburn.
Despite receiving eight nominations, the most of the year, Mutiny on the Bounty became the last film to date to win Best Picture and nothing else, and the only film to receive three nominations for Best Actor.
This was the second and last year that write-in votes were permitted; A [Midsummer Night's Dream (1935 film)|A Midsummer Night's Dream] became the only film to win a write-in Oscar, for Best Cinematography. Miriam Hopkins' Best Actress nomination for Becky Sharp was the first acting nomination for a color film.
The short-lived category of Best Dance Direction was introduced this year; it lasted just three years before the Directors Guild of America successfully lobbied for its elimination.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominees were announced on February 7, 1936. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Special Award

To David Wark Griffith, for his distinguished creative achievements as director and producer and his invaluable initiative and lasting contributions to the progress of the motion picture arts.

Multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Film
8	Mutiny on the Bounty
7	The [Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)\|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer]
6	The Informer
5	Captain Blood
4	Les Misérables
4	A Midsummer Night's Dream
4	Top Hat
3	Broadway Melody of 1936
3	David Copperfield
3	The [Dark Angel (1935 film)\|The Dark Angel]
2	Alice Adams
2	Naughty Marietta
2	Gold Diggers of 1935

Wins	Film
4	The Informer
2	A Midsummer Night's Dream