15th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1943)

©A.M.P.A.S.®

• Date of Ceremony: Thursday, March 4, 1943
• For films released in: 1942
• Host(s): Bob Hope

• Nominations List

Other years:

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The Ambassador Hotel was host to the 15th Academy Awards, which were in turn hosted by Bob Hope on Thursday, March 4, 1943.

Due to wartime shortages, the gold-plated statuettes were replaced with plaster Oscars and the evening included guests from all branches of the U.S. military.

Carrying the colors into the ceremony were two enlisted stars, Alan Ladd and Tyrone Power, who informed the audience that almost 30,000 members of the movie industry were serving in uniform.

Many legends have sprung up about the length of Greer Garson’s Best Actress acceptance speech for Mrs. Miniver with some people probably thinking it’s still going on. According to most accounts, the speech was most likely under six minutes.

Results

Outstanding Motion Picture

• Mrs. Miniver
  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Directing

• Mrs. Miniver
  William Wyler

Best Actor

• Yankee Doodle Dandy
  James Cagney

Best Actress

• Mrs. Miniver
  Greer Garson

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Johnny Eager
  Van Heflin

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Mrs. Miniver
  Teresa Wright

Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)

• This above All
  Richard Day [Art Direction], Joseph Wright [Art Direction] and Thomas Little [Interior Decoration]

Best Art Direction (Color)

• My Gal Sal
  Richard Day [Art Direction], Joseph Wright [Art Direction] and Thomas Little [Interior Decoration]

Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)

• Mrs. Miniver
  Joseph Ruttenberg

Best Cinematography (Color)

• The Black Swan
  Leon Shamroy

Best Documentary

• The Battle of Midway
  United States Navy
• Kokoda Front Line!
  Australian News & Information Bureau
• Moscow Strikes Back
  Artkino
• Prelude to War
  United States Army Special Services

Best Film Editing

• The Pride of the Yankees
  Daniel Mandell

Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

• Now, Voyager
  Max Steiner

Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

• Yankee Doodle Dandy
  Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld

Best Music (Song)

• Holiday Inn "White Christmas"
  Irving Berlin [Music and Lyrics by]

Best Short Subject (Cartoon)

• Der Fuehrer's Face
  Walt Disney

Best Short Subject (One-reel)

• Speaking of Animals and Their Families
  Paramount

Best Short Subject (Two-reel)

• Beyond the Line of Duty
  Warner Bros.

Best Sound Recording

• Yankee Doodle Dandy
  Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department and Nathan Levinson [Sound Director]

Best Special Effects

• Reap the Wild Wind
  Gordon Jennings [Photographic Effects by], Farciot Edouart [Photographic Effects by], William L. Pereira [Photographic Effects by] and Louis Mesenkop [Sound Effects by]

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Woman of the Year
  Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin

Best Writing (Screenplay)

• Mrs. Miniver
  Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, James Hilton and Claudine West

Best Writing (Original Motion Picture Story)

• The Invaders
  Emeric Pressburger

Special Award

• Charles Boyer
  Note: …for his progressive cultural achievement in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference for the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry.
• Noel Coward
  Note: …for his outstanding production achievement in In Which We Serve.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
  Note: …for its achievement in representing the American Way of Life in the production of the “Andy Hardy” series of films.

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

• Sidney Franklin

Scientific or Technical Award (Class II)

• Carroll Clark, F. Thomas Thompson and RKO Radio Studio Art and Miniature Department
  Note: …for the design and construction of a moving cloud and horizon machine.
• Daniel B. Clark and 20th Century-Fox Film Corp.
  Note: …for the development of a lens calibration system and the application of this system to exposure control in cinematography.

Scientific or Technical Award (Class III)

• Robert Henderson and Paramount Studio Engineering and Transparency Departments
  Note: …for the design and construction of adjustable light bridges and screen frames for transparency process photography.
• Daniel J. Bloomberg and Republic Studio Sound Department
  Note: …for the design and application to motion picture production of a device for marking action negative for pre-selection purposes.