1st Academy Awards (1927/28): Nominees and Winners

OUTSTANDING PICTURE

The Racket – The Caddo Company
7th Heaven – Fox
Wings – Paramount Famous Lasky

UNIQUE AND ARTISTIC PICTURE

Chang – Paramount Famous Lasky
The Crowd – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Sunrise – Fox

DIRECTING (Comedy Picture)

Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights
Ted Wilde – Speedy

DIRECTING (Dramatic Picture)

Frank Borzage – 7th Heaven
Herbert Brenon – Sorrell and Son
King Vidor – The Crowd

ACTOR

Richard Barthelmess – The Noose; The Patent Leather Kid
Emil Jannings – The Last Command; The Way of All Flesh

ACTRESS

Louise Dresser – A Ship Comes In
Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven; Street Angel; Sunrise
Gloria Swanson – Sadie Thompson

WRITING (Adaptation)

Alfred Cohn – The Jazz Singer
Anthony Coldeway – Glorious Betsy
Benjamin Glazer – 7th Heaven

WRITING (Original Story)

Lajos Biro – The Last Command
Ben Hecht – Underworld

WRITING (Title Writing)

Gerald Duffy – The Private Life of Helen of Troy
Joseph Farnham [1]
George Marion, Jr. [2]

CINEMATOGRAPHY

George Barnes – The Devil Dancer; The Magic Flame; Sadie Thompson
Charles Rosher, Karl Struss – Sunrise [3]

ART DIRECTION

Rochus Gliese – Sunrise
William Cameron Menzies – The Dove; Tempest
Harry Oliver – 7th Heaven

ENGINEERING EFFECTS

Ralph Hammeras [4]
Roy Pomeroy – Wings
Nugent Slaughter [5]

SPECIAL AWARD

To Warner Bros., for producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry.
To Charles Chaplin, for acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus. [6]

ACADEMY NOTES

1. [NOTE: This award was not associated with any specific film title.]
2. [NOTE: This nomination was not associated with any specific film title.]
3. [NOTE: For this awards year, awards were presented in the name of the individual and could honor work on one or more films. Charles Rosher and Karl Struss were both honored for cinematography on this film. It is considered a single nomination for the film.]
4. [NOTE: This nomination was not associated with any specific film title.]
5. [NOTE: Though no specific titles were indicated during the presentation on May 16, 1929, or in the official results from the Central Board of Judges for this honorable mention, Academy records indicate that Mr. Slaughter was most often mentioned in connection with The Jazz Singer.]
6. [NOTE: “The Academy Board of Judges on merit awards for individual achievements in motion picture arts during the year ending August 1, 1928, unanimously decided that your name should be removed from the competitive classes, and that a special first award be conferred upon you for writing, acting, directing and producing The Circus. The collective accomplishments thus displayed place you in a class by yourself.” (Letter from the Academy to Mr. Chaplin, dated February 19, 1929.)]